Introducing Solids - A reference table for 4-12 month old babies

Hi all moms,

My 5 months old is my second child. But I realised couple of weeks back that I am all jittery when my baby takes her next step as part of growing up: solids. So I paid a visit to the library and picked up couple of books. I liked this particular table. It is nothing very specific, not too many details but a very basic reference point when you start solids. I would like to share this with you. If you have any such tables (note: Tables only!, no recipes), please do share here in this thread

Latha


Introducing Solids – A reference table

Note: Bed-time you still give breast milk/formula milk and also on demand through the night. There is no change in that schedule

- BM = Breast Milk; FM = Formula Milk

Few points to ponder:

• This is just a reference table. For example, it is not a must that you wait until 7 months to introduce fruits as indicated in the table. You can always give a fruit puree after a week of vegetable puree or even begin with a fruit puree.
• Most important is to follow the baby’s cue.

Age (in months)	Wake-up time	Mornings	Mid-day (i.e Lunch time)	Afternoon	Evening
Above 4.5	BM/FM	BM/FM	BM/FM plus Pureed vegetable, then advance to vegetable puree with potato	BM/FM	BM/FM
Above 5	BM/FM	BM/FM	Vegetable-Potato-meat puree (for vegetarians a combination of more than 1 vegetable)	BM/FM	BM/FM
Above 6	BM/FM	BM/FM	Vegetable-Potato-meat puree (for vegetarians a combination of more than 1 vegetable)	BM/FM	Cereal with milk (cow’s or formula)
7-9 months	BM/FM	BM/FM	Vegetable-Potato-meat puree (for vegetarians a combination of more than 1 vegetable) Note: start introducing textures around 8 months. i.e you don’t puree very finely and so the child gets to practice chewing and biting	Cereal-Fruit puree mix	Cereal with milk
10-12	BM/FM plus bread, fruits	Fruit or any other snack like cheese, biscuit	Vegetables, Potatoes, Pasta, Noodles, Rice, Fruits and or cereals	Cereal with fruits	Cereal with Milk

This is again from a book (Das Vegetarische Baby- Irmela Erckenbrecht) that gives a list of postive food items (i.e. non-allergenic) for the 1st year of a baby. Please note that we are vegetarians so i tend to only refer to vegetarian books.

1 to 4 months: Breastmilk (BM) or Formula milk (FM)
(Optional: unsweetened Herbal Tea)

Earliest by 5 months:
Vegetables: Carrot, Potatoes, Fennel
any germ oil (wheat germ oil or corn germ oil)
To drink (other than BM or FM): Boiled, cooled water, unsweetened herbal tea

Earliest by 6 months:
Vegetables: Cauliflower, Parsnip, Cellery (I have heard about cellery allergy so beware), Pumpkin, Zucchini (Courgette), Avocado
Fruits: Apple, Pear, Banana
Dry fruits/Nuts: Apricots, Dates (you can soak them in water, cook and make a puree), Almond butter
Diary: Butter
Grains/Cereals: Rice, Millet, Corn meal
To drink: diluted Carrot juice, grape juice, orange juice, Water, herbal tea

Earliest by 7 months:
Vegetables: Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Spinach, other greens, Beet root
Fruits: Honeydew melon, Peach, Raspberries, Blueberries, Apricots, Grapes (green ones without seeds), Cherries (seeds removed), Kiwi
Dry fruits/Nuts: Plums, Raisins, Tahini (sesame paste)
Grains/Cereals: Buckwheat, Spelt
Diary: Whole milk (note: only for cooking not as a drink), 1 full-boiled egg yolk per week
To drink: Diluted apple juice (unsweetened)

Earliest by 8 months:
Vegetables: Peas, Green beans, Eggplant, Capsicum, Parsley and other fresh herbs, Sprouts
Fruits: Mangoes, Pineapple, Plums, Mandarin/Clementines (peeled, seeded only fruit flesh)
Legumes/Pulses: Red lentils, Chickpeas (as Hummus)
Grains/Cereals: Oats, Barley, Quinoa, Amaranth, Wheat, Wheat germ, Whole-wheat noodles, Whole-wheat bread
Diary: Whole milk, Buttermilk, Yogurt, Cottage cheese, Fresh cheese (like Paneer), mild hard cheese
Soy: Tofu

Earliest by 9 months:
Yeasted bread spreads

Earliest by 10/11 months:
Rye
Cold-pressed oils

Hi Latha,

Thanks for posting such a valuable informative chart. i have a 5.5 month old boy baby and just started giving him rice cereal for a couple of weeks.Giving herbal tea is something i never heard of.....interesting...will bookmark this page for future reference.It is nice of you to share what you read....



pavi

Thank you Pavi. I do hope you enjoy this new milestone as much as I do. With my first child i was very confused but now i'm sort of clear so able to think of many combos.

I think this herbal tea is very German. We get tea bags (mainly fennel tea) for babies to be given right from 1st month. I never gave my son because he didn't like them. So i drank them instead against his colic:) I suppose this is more like 'omam water' that we give in India.

I'll also post puree recipes in the other thread. Though they're just 'purees' sometimes our mind can't even think of varieties.

Latha

Hi Latha,

yeah i am very much enjoying his cute funny lil expressions while eating his cereal.looking forward for your puree recipes.Also it would be nice if you can post how to store them? Like if i puree one apple i assume that i can use it for 3-4 days.i am planning to give home made purees for my baby.
Is it ok to refrigerate baby food? If yes, for how many days can i store it in the fridge? will there be a loss of nutrients while refrigerating? how can i thaw them.i also read somewhere that it is not safe to use a microwave to thaw baby's food since it can cause mouth burns.is it true? is it ok to use lil bit of lemon juice for fruits like apple or banana to prevent discoloration?
oh man, i not even stared giving him any veggie/fruit and already my mind is flooded with so many doubts.i hope to get a detailed reply from you and other experienced mommies regarding this.Thanks....


pavi

Hi Pavi,

From 6th month it's safe to introduce orange juice (diluted) to drink and also in food. Lemon juice i would wait. But for apple puree you don't need to worry about discolouration since the apples are cooked and then pureed. Bananas too we give in small quantities so that shouldn't be a problem. Basically i never added orange or lemon juice to these fruit purees for my son.

This website is the best to learn how to store, freeze home-made baby food. I haven' yet started to freeze but i refrigerate for upto 3 days. If there's any quantity left over i add it to our koottu. I too don't microwave the baby's food. Because it's such a little quantity it can easily burn:( I place the food in a small cup and place it in a bowl of hot water. It re-heats the food very well.

Latha

hi latha,
thanks for posting about baby's food table.it would be useful for many of new mommies.my kid is 3.5 months but wil be useful for my future reference.wil be waiting for your more valuable posts.
nila

Hi Dear Friends,
My daughter is 4.5months, will be completing her 5months by this 17th Jan.

Planning to start solid from today as her paediatrician already asked me to start her solid. I even feel its right time to start as she is good enough now.

I am going to give Gerber single grain rice cereal with formula milk, lets see how she is going to enjoy it.

Keeping my fingures crossed

Hello all,

I ve found so much of information from here, i am so thrilled about it.
its is going to be so useful for me..I be got many apprehension as to what food can i give my seven year old baby..This forum has answered my queries..

Regards
Devjani

Thank you Nila, Gokusha, Devjani for the kind words.

Devjani what do you give your baby now? I give vegetable puree with rice cereal for lunch and fruit puree with oats for dinner. Rest of the time breast milk on demand. Today i had taken my girl for regular check-up. Doctor said i can safely introduce yogurt, butter, lentils (in very little quantities) for her too. I plan to start indian food soon. It's funny.. she'll be 7 months in 4 days but even now she can recognise tastes. She does not like vege purees at all, makes all kind of funny faces. Fruit puree she eats very happily.

Latha