INTRODUCING SOLIDS

Timing is everything when feeding infants. Feeding solid foods too early may increase the risk that babies will:

• Choke on the food

• Develop food allergies or intolerances

• Consume less breast milk or formula and not get enough calories and other nutrients for proper growth and development.

Feeding solid foods before babies are ready will not help them sleep through the night or make them eat fewer times in a day.

Feeding Solid Foods Too Late

Delaying the introduction of solid foods beyond the time when a baby is developmentally ready for them increases the risk that babies will:

• Not learn to eat solid foods properly

• Become malnourished

• Develop iron-deficiency anemia

• Not grow normally

Most babies are ready to eat solid foods between 4 to 6 months of age.

The USDA Child Care Food Program guidelines for infants are:

• Birth through 3 months of age: offer breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula

• Four months through 7 months of age: introduce iron-fortified infant cereal and vegetables and/or fruit

• Eight months through 11 months of age: in addition to the above, introduce meat or meat alternates and fruit juice (only in a cup). Appropriate table foods may be introduced depending on the ability of the infant and the approval of the parent.

• Cereal or any other solid food should not be put in a bottle or infant feeder. Use a spoon for feeding. Babies fed food in a bottle or infant feeder are forced to eat the food, can choke, and may not learn to eat foods properly.
  

Weaning From a Bottle

It is generally recommended to totally wean babies off the bottle and onto a cup by 12 to 14 months of age. Children still feeding from a bottle beyond 12 to 14 months of age may:

• Be more likely to develop tooth decay

• Consume so much milk that they don’t eat enough solid foods to get an adequate amount of nutrients

• Be delayed in developing appropriate feeding skills.

Source: Feeding Infants – A Guide for Use in the Child Nutrition Programs (USDA)