First Time Parents Guide on Vegetables and Meat Combination

After your baby is accustomed to the many varieties of plain vegetables, plain meats and cereals, you can provide new taste experiences through serving several strained combinations. Some of these pleasantly combine vegetables, cereals and meat. Some first year acquaintances with mixed flavors is an important step in learning to accept grown-up foods later on.

Nutritionally, the vegetable and meat combinations are quite similar to the plain vegetables. Their proper use in a baby's menu is as alternatives for vegetables. In other words, they would be only part of a meal which would also contain plain meats, egg yolks, cottage cheese, or other high protein food.

Some products lets says Gerber combinations have a just right consistency for babies. Unlike concentrated canned soups for adults, they should not be diluted before serving. This would make them harder to feed and give less nutritive value per spoonful. Serve about the same size portions as vegetables - one-third to one-half jar.

First Time Parents Guide on Vegetables and Fruits for Baby

The doctor will probably recommend beginning strained vegetables and fruits shortly after your baby is started on cereal and or meat. This is likely to be within the baby's second or third month, the introduction of individual varieties being interspersed with that of new varieties of cereal and meat.

The chief contribution of vegetables and fruits is a variety of vitamins and minerals. However, individual items might vary greatly in which and how much of each nutrient they provide. In general, green and yellow vegetables and yellow fruits have high vitamin A values. Most fruits and vegetables contain some vitamin C but citrus fruits are the best contributors of this vitamin. Green vegetables supply appreciable iron. Used in wide variety, vegetables and fruits are among the best sources of trace minerals.

Serving your baby many kinds of vegetables and fruits helps build good food habits. They provide a wide variety of taste experiences when food acceptances are most easily established. This is especially beneficial in later life when parents no longer control a person's diet. Back in 1933, when "baby foods" were new, Dr. Manuel Glazier of Boston reported on a study made on 231 babies to determine what happened when strained vegetables and fruits were fed as early as one month of age. Even young babies digested the strained foods easily. Dr. Glazier concluded,". . . that the study showed the group fed solids early in infancy had better nutrition and better food and bowel habits and fewer food dislikes than the group fed solids in later infancy." The past thirty years have substantiated his findings.

Its a good idea to start with the plain strained vegetables and fruits before introducing those that are mixtures. And, as suggested under cereals, each new product should be tried three or four days, as the only new food, before moving on to another.

No less than two different servings of strained vegetables per day, at least one of them "green or yellow"is a good dietary pattern. in addition, you will want to include at least one, but probably more, strained fruits per day. A word of caution: perhaps you'll discover, as many parents have, that your baby accepts fruits more readily than vegetables. Be careful not to let this result in an overuse of fruits to the exclusion of vegetables which generally have higher nutritive values. In such cases it might be better to serve the vegetables first, while the baby is hungry, withholding the fruit until later.

Baby Tips for New Parents: Cereals – First Solid Foods

Cereals are the most frequently prescribed first solid foods. Cereals are designed to meet the special needs of young infants. They are bland and palatable. Thoroughly precooked and low in crude fiber, they are readily digested.They have a creamy texture and consistency when stirred into milk, formula or other liquid.

Babies have high iron requirements. Milk supplies very little. As usually used, strained foods contribute some but not enough. That's why iron-enriched dry baby cereals have been widely available and prescribed for over forty years. One-half ounce (six tablespoons) of any cereal meets an infant's full daily recommended dietary allowance for iron.

As further aids to your baby's well being, important B-vitamins (thiamine, niacin and riboflavin), calcium and phosphorous are added to cereals. Cereals are good sources of calories and most supply at least moderate amounts of proteins.

Of all baby foods, the iron and vitamin enriched cereals can meet special infant needs for the longest time.They are protective against iron-deficiency anemia throughout the first and even second year.

You will find cereals just as convenient and economical as they are nourishing. They mix with liquids instantly, requiring no cooking or straining. The smallest portion can be prepared without waste of cereal, fuel or time.

In addition to directing when cereal or other solid food is started, the doctor may be quite specific about which one to give first. Definite directions should be followed closely.

Mix the chosen first cereal according to directions on the package. It forms a creamy smooth mixture faster if you stir the cereal into the liquid - not vice versa.

If all goes well, repeat this same food three or four consecutive days before starting on a new one. This is a wise procedure when introducing every new food. Most foods agree with most babies. But if one doesn't, it's easier to spot the offender if it is the only new food given during a few days.

First Time Parents Guide on Starting Solid Foods for Baby

Just as you follow the doctor's advice on your baby's formula and vitamins D and C supplements, you will let him direct the addition of solids. He should decide when your baby is ready for them, suggest what should be served and the order in which they should be added.

Doctors have varied opinions on when solids should be started. There is widespread medical agreement that appropriate cereals and strained foods agree with babies almost from birth. On the other hand, there is seldom a reason why they need to started so early and it takes much time and patience to spoon feed a newborn baby.

That's why the majority of doctors delay the starting of cereals and/or strained food until sometime within the baby's second or third month. The family and baby have made many adjustments by this time, permitting the introduction of solids under more favorable circumstances.

The doctors who start babies on solids in the second and third months don't expect large quantities to be consumed. It is more with the idea of giving the baby plenty of time to get used to spoon feeding before there is a great nutritional need for solid foods. Knowing this, parents can offer the first solids in a relaxed frame of mind, not worrying about how well they are accepted the first day, the fist week or even the first month.

Set the Stage, starting solid foods is a limestone in your baby's development. The "feel" of the spoon and of cereal or strained food will be puzzling. Movements of the tongue and throat muscles, beyond those used in sucking and swallowing liquids, will have to be learned. The occasion merits careful staging so that the first experiences with solids will be relaxed and pleasant.

Timing is important. The first solid food should be given while the baby is in a pleasant frame of mind. Morning is usually a good time. It should be when the baby is reasonably hungry but not necessarily at the beginning of the meal. Babies very greatly in when they are most receptive to new foods. It may take a bit of experimenting to learn what works best with yours.

Prepare a small portion of the first solid food recommended by the doctor. This probably will be pre-cooked cereal but it might be plain strained fruit, vegetable or meat. For the first few feedings, it is well to thin down cereal with either formula or milk. A starting strained food could be thinned similarly but this probably will not  be necessary. Test the food for body temperature by putting a drop on your wrist.

A small, narrow, shallow-bowled spoon is best for early feeding. The preferred style might be described as a  "long-handled, after-dinner coffee spoon."

Take it Easy. When ready to try the solid food, hold the baby in your lap in a comfortable position. This should be similar to that used in breast or bottle feeding but more upright. This familiar position helps the baby anticipate food. Also, the food is less likely to "go down the wrong way." Draw a deep breath, relax and put on your best smile. Remember that it's unimportant whether the first try is successful or not.

Take a small amount of the new food on the tip of the spoon and place it well back on the baby's tongue. His head maybe tipped back slightly at the same time. This offers the best chance for the food being swallowed. Rather than the above method, some people advocate making the food more liquid and letting the baby suck it from the tip of the spoon. With some babies, this may work better. However, it doesn't teach a new skill and there's more chance of the food being pushed out when the baby's tongue encounters a new "feel."

Even with the best method of introduction, your baby may spit out the first few portions of solid food. It has nothing to do with whether he likes or dislikes it. He simply doesn't know what to do with it. Whatever happens, present a calm, unconcerned front. Offer another bite or so in the same casual manner, giving your baby plenty of time to get used to the idea. Avoid antagonizing the baby by holding him too tightly or using force or pressure. Make every effort to maintain the pleasant atmosphere you want your baby always to associate with eating.

Usually a baby will accept a new food or appear merely indifferent to it. The latter simply calls for a little more time and patience. But occasionally there will be signs of determined resistance or serious objection. When this happens, just calmly remove the food and make a fresh start the next day. If the same thing occurs then, it might be better to forget that food for several days, or even weeks, moving on to the many alternates available.

No Food a "Must". It is reassuring to know that there is no one food which your baby must eat to be healthy. Certain amino acids in proteins, certain fatty acids in fats and many individual minerals and vitamins are essential nutrients. But one gets these nutrients from so many different foods. If your baby strongly dislikes some food or one doesn't agree with him, there are any number of alternates choices.

First Time Parents Guide to Catering to Baby’s Likes in Food

Knowing the kinds of foods babies like is helpful in keeping meals pleasant and in building good food acceptances. Infants instinctively accept foods that are sweet, slightly sour and slightly salty. They reject bitter foods and those strongly sour and strongly salty. The basic tastes, in combination with odors, contribute to the overall characteristic flavors of different foods. Most baby foods have flavors infants naturally like or readily learn to like.

The texture and consistencies that infants like vary with age. Newborn babies want liquids only. Within a few weeks, the "feel" if starting cereals, strained meats, vegetables and fruit becomes acceptable. Junior (minced) foods and teething biscuits are favored after the appearance of a few teeth. You can use each progressive stage to add to the total variety of foods known and accepted by your baby.

When served "warm," baby foods should be just above body temperature. More leeway is possible when serving foods "cold." Recent studies have even shown good acceptance of cold formula! Though not necessary, it is still customary to serve formulas, meats, vegetables, egg yolks, dinners and high meat dinners warm. Precooked cereals usually are mixed with warm milk. Fruit juices, fruits, cottage cheese and desserts are more appropriately served without heating. 

SET A GOOD EXAMPLE. Even in the first year, babies react to examples set by parents and older children. They are accomplished mimics at only a few months. Any attitude expressed toward food should be a pleasant one. NEVER indicate or discuss a food dislike in front of a baby.