6 MONTHS and sitting up!
VITAMIN D Reminder: The CDC recommends all infants who drink LESS than 32 oz (1 L) of formula daily to receive 400 IU of vit D. Especially at northern latitudes, and especially dark-skinned infants who have higher levels of melanin to block UV light absorption, vitamin D supplements help ensure a healthy immune system, bones and teeth. See our post on vitamins for more information.
BOTTLE FEEDING Reminder: If your baby takes breast milk or formula in a bottle, always hold your baby while bottle feeding, never prop the bottle, lay baby down to sleep with the bottle, or put juice, cereal or anything other than formula (mixed properly) or breast milk in the bottle. You want your baby to bond with YOU, not to the bottle! Maintain eye contact with your baby while they are feeding. Babies have meals and snacks just like we do, and they won’t always take the same amount. Always hold the bottle in a “gravity-neutral” position so your baby can take the feeding at their own pace, take breaks, and take as much or as little as they need. See our Bottle Feeding Guide for more detailed information.
WHEN TO START SOLIDS: Most babies are ready for solid foods on a spoon at about 6 months, but it is more important to go by your baby’s developmental signs rather than their age to know when they are ready to start EATING food vs just TASTING food. For example, if your baby was born prematurely, they will likely not be ready for solids until a little later.
Signs of being ready for spoon feeding include:
- Sitting up with little support
- Good head control/neck strength
- Showing a very strong interested in food
- Able to reach out, grab, and bring something to mouth
- When you touch your baby’s lips, he opens his mouth and his tongue stays back and flat in his mouth instead of coming forward to suck (he is losing the rooting reflex)
Exclusively breastfed infants need daily food sources of iron after about 6 months. Examples of iron-rich foods include:
- any kind of meat (make sure meat is ground finely or blended to match your baby’s chewing ability)
- liver paté (not more than 2x/week due to high vitamin A content)
- iron-fortified infant cereal, enriched with vit C or blended with 100% fruit juice
- re-fried beans
Otherwise, if you or your baby’s father or siblings have no food allergies, your baby can eat ANYTHING they are interested in, including peanut-containing foods. See the downloadable 2017 peanut-allergy-prevention-guidelines.There are no rules about what foods should be offered first, or how long to wait before offering another new food. Follow your baby’s lead and you can’t go wrong! It can be as easy as mashing the food you are already eating yourself to match the texture to your baby’s developmental ability. S/he may be reaching for food off your plate – let them! You want your baby to learn to like the food you usually make in your household. There is nothing magic or special about commercial baby foods other than convenience. Although infant cereal is convenient and iron-fortified, see FDA information about arsenic levels in rice cereal. Whether you use commercial baby food or not, it’s important to incorporate table foods and different textures to your baby so they can progress with their chewing and self-feeding skills.
If you haven’t yet had a chance to attend, we invite you to come to one of our INFANT FEEDING CLASSES. It is free, offered virtually or in the classroom (location announced monthly) the first Thursday of each month from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. You can bring your baby and anyone else who is interested in attending! We teach you everything you need to know about starting your baby on solids, including showing a video and doing a “taste-test” so that you can experience for yourself how your baby learns to chew and swallow different textures of food. Most parents are worried about their baby choking and we spent time on this topic too. Contact us if you would like to attend this class, and if you can’t attend, review and download the KINDNESS Infant Nutrition Info Packet on introducing your baby to solid foods.
WHEN TO START A CUP: About the time you start your baby on solid food, unlimited water (as much as your baby wants) or a small amount of diluted juice can also be given in a cup (many parents are choosing to avoid giving babies juice altogether because of high sugar content). We recommend you use a NON-spill proof cup most of the time, or a cup with a spout (free-flowing) or a straw to promote cup-drinking skill. Spill-proof sippy cups tend to reinforce a strong sucking reflex, which can delay speech development as well as regular cup drinking skills. The earlier babies are introduced to a cup and the more they practice, the easier it will be for them to wean completely from a bottle when they are about a year old. Follow these practical tips for helping your baby learn to drink from a cup, share them with your baby’s caregivers.
DISCLAIMER: We know when you surf the web for information, you can get conflicting results, and it’s not easy to know whether you are finding evidence-based, high quality recommendations. That’s part of our job here at Kodiak KINDNESS; we are here to support your informed decisions about infant feeding through your baby’s first year. We’ve done some background work, and to the best of our knowledge, this post reflects current best practices. However, the information contained in this post and any links contained herein is for your informational use only; it is not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Furthermore, Kodiak KINDNESS is not responsible for the accuracy of any information contained in this post or links contained herein; it is for you to review at your own risk and discuss, as needed, with your health care professional in order to make a plan that suits your individual circumstances.