When I had Jackson I was so excited when the doctor gave us the go-ahead to start introducing solid foods at around 4 months old. I proudly put on his bib and strapped him into his high chair and took somewhere around 50 pictures. I love food and in my mind Jackson would take right to eating solids because, who doesn’t love cereal and bananas?
But actually eating is a skill that babies have to learn and with both of my kids I’ve learned that it takes a baby a couple of feedings to get used to being spoon fed. Jackson was tough to get to eat food, maybe a sign of things to come as he is still my picky eater. Though John was a rock star in getting Jack to eat simply by letting him have the spoon to play with, as with anything at that age it ended up right in his mouth.
I decided to hold off on introducing infant solid food till Grace was 6 months. This time around I had a better idea of what to expect when it comes to introducing solids like the confused looks on her face, the way she can’t decide if she likes it, how every time she manages to get more cereal on her face, bib, neck and clothes than she does in her mouth.
Since Grace is breastfed I knew that it was important to start with an Iron Fortified cereal like GERBER CEREAL. Iron is especially important in a breastfed babies diet because the iron stores that babies are born with last about 6 months and breast milk does not contain much iron as a baby needs. Making 4-6 months a great time to introduce an iron fortified baby cereal. Two servings of Gerber Cereal provide 90% of a babies daily iron needs.
4 Tips for Introducing Solid Foods to Babies
Don’t Stress
Keep in mind that eating is a learned skill. Solid foods have a different texture than breast milk or formula and it may take your baby some time to adjust. Also remember your baby is just learning to swallow solids, so it will take some getting used to. So don’t worry if your baby doesn’t take to eating right away, just keep trying.
Keep it Fun
Food should be fun and starting solids should be a milestone that both you and your baby enjoy. So put cute bibs on, take lots of pictures and by all means, do pretend that the spoon is an airplane.
Start Simple
Talk with your pediatrician about what foods to start with. My pediatrician recommended starting with oatmeal cereal because it is easy to digest and you can use breast milk or formula to adjust it to your babies liking.
Take Your Time
I’m always excited to see my kids reaction to new foods but make sure you wait at least 3 days in between new foods to see how your baby responds to them and to watch for allergies. You also want to stick with the single foods, just bananas as opposed to apple-banana until you’ve introduced your baby to both foods.
Starting solids is a fun and nutritional milestone for babies. Gerber cereal offers a variety of options for starting baby on their journey to solid foods. You can choose from oatmeal cereal, rice cereal, and organic cereals. It is also reassuring to know that all Gerber Cereals are Non GMO.
Gerber cereal can conveniently be purchased at Wal-Mart in the baby aisle. Which means no need for an additional trip to the store for babies food or diapers.
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