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Food for thought
‘My first two babies ate like champs: anything and everything I put in front of them was gobbled up. My third baby, however, was very fussy. She never liked baby food from the first bite until I gave up trying to feed it to her. It was very frustrating to have meal after meal refused by her, and I racked my brains trying to think of tasty things I could feed her. I finally figured out that she did not want to be fed by me; she wanted to feed herself! As a result, my third baby ended up eating finger foods much earlier than my other two did!’
Carolin, 35, mother of three.
Is My Newborn Normal?
The moment your newborn is delivered, you're bound to heave a heavy sigh of relief. But if you're like most first-time parents, that relief doesn't last long.
Unexpected birthmarks, a pulsating soft spot, jaundice, skin rashes, eyes that cross, head lumps and bumps: It can all be downright scary and can easily send new parents into panic mode.
"If you don't know what to expect, or especially if you are expecting that sort of 'Hollywood' version of the doll-perfect newborn, seeing and examining your baby for the first time can be quite shocking to some parents -- and even cause some serious anxiety attacks," says Tia Hubbard, MD, nursery pediatrician at the University of California at San Diego Medical Center.
Just in case you are still harbouring some naive idea that you are the one who is in control when it comes to feeding your baby, I thought I'd take a moment to set the record straight: while you are the one who gets to decide what ends up in your baby's bowl, she is the one who gets to decide what ends up in her stomach.
Fortunately, the majority of babies take to solids with great gusto, opening their mouths like hungry baby birds eagerly awaiting the delivery of the next juicy red worm. After all, enjoying a good meal is one of the pleasures of being human -- even if that meal happens to be a bowl of strained squash topped off with a delicious dessert of mashed banana!
In this chapter, we zero in on the ins and outs of infant feeding: how to introduce solids; which foods to introduce first; and how to make your own baby food. But before we get started, let's tackle the £10,000 question: how to decide when your baby is ready for Life After Liquids.
BABY TALK
Do not assume that you need to stop breastfeeding your baby just because she is starting to enjoy a variety of solid foods. The World Health Organisation (WHO) notes that breastfeeding continues to make an important nutritional contribution evenwell beyond the first year of life.
On solid ground
Most babies are ready for solid foods by the time they are six months old (see Table 11.1), and the Department of Health recommends waiting until babies reach that age before introducing solids. Of course, if your baby was premature or is developmentally delayed, you will need to take that into account when deciding when to offer your baby that first gourmet meal of rice cereal.
BABY TALK
According to WHO, babies should be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of life and products such as infant formula and baby foods should only be marketed for the use of babies over six months old.
WebMD Medical Reference from "The Mother of All Baby Books"
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