For months now the only means of nutrition your baby has
received is either breast milk or formula but could it be time
to start adding something else to your child's diet? This
question is one that often has parents puzzled because
information given from pediatricians and healthcare workers may
be very different from one another. So, when should you start
adding some soft, solid foods to your baby's diet?
Just like all babies are different so is the answer to this
question. There is no magic time frame as of when you should
start giving your child solid foods, bottom line; it is you as a
parent who decides when to start giving your child solid food. A
parent can normally judge better than any expert if their child
is no longer being satisfied with only breast milk or formula.
Many experts says that a child should not start getting solid
foods before they get close to a year old or at times even later
but as most parents know, this is not necessarily true. Most
children require food long before the age of one, but the
problem is that many first time parents are afraid of doing
something to harm their child and will therefore follow the
advice of the so called experts even though it might not be
right for their baby.
A lot of people start adding soft solid foods to their baby's
diet as early as 2-3 months old. Naturally they do not take the
child off its main diet but just implement a little solid food
as a part of their daily diet. If you decide to try this, make
sure you start out with something which will be really light on
your baby's stomach, such as applesauce, because anything you
start out with will be hard on a baby's tummy.
When you do start to add solid foods to your baby's diet it
might be good to let the baby have a little more water than what
you normally would give him or her just to make it easier on its
stomach. It can actually take quite a while before your child's
stomach is able to adjust to solid foods so make sure to take it
slow and keep feeding your baby what he is used to whether it is
breast milk or formula.
If you as a parent feel that your child may be ready for
something other than its formula do not be afraid to try it out
but do remember that the baby will most likely encounter some
stomach problems to begin with. This is quite normal and nothing
to be worried about so if you feel that it is ok to start adding
some solid foods to your baby's diet, go for it.
About the author:
Hege Crowton is an established expert copywriter. She is known
for doing in-depth research before writing her articles.
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