Food for Baby's First Year

For the initial 6-8 months of your baby’s first year, the only food that should be given is breast milk, assuming all parties are willing and able, of course. Breast milk provides nature’s “perfect” food and everything your baby will need to grow strong and healthy. No other baby food is needed during this time. So, when should you start to introduce other foods?

My rule of thumb is, again, taken from nature, and it is this: when your baby’s first tooth erupts from the gum, that is nature’s way of providing baby a tool with which to eat, and that is usually a good time to introduce other foods into the diet. Usually, this occurs at about eight months. What follows are recommendations for foods that a normal, healthy baby would enjoy. If your baby has special needs, dietary restrictions or allergies, you will want to check with your pediatrician.

Only buy and feed your baby organic food, wherever possible, and incorporate as much variety as you can to achieve a balance of nutrition. Do not let your personal preferences get in the way. Just because you don’t like peas, for instance, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t offer them to your baby with enthusiasm!

Encourage your baby to try everything and to eat with joy and pleasure. Now is the time that lifelong habits are being formed.

Do not season first foods with salt or sugar. Baby doesn’t need it and would prefer to taste new foods in their naturally delicious states.

Offer plain water to drink. Stay away from fruit juices and sugary drinks, and for goodness sake, no sodas!

Dessert should be a special treat, not a nightly event, and should be offered rarely, if at all.

Babies don’t need the added trans-fats, chemical additives, food coloring and unpronounceable ingredients found in most packaged and fast foods. Cooking fresh baby food at home is the best way to ensure that baby gets the right nutrients to grow.

You are your baby’s best example. If you don’t eat nutritious food, neither will he. If you are picky and scoff at new foods, so will he. Set a good example. Your baby is depending on you to provide good, nutritious food for the first year. Okay, let’s eat!

8 months-

First foods are often cereals, usually finely flaked, such as rice cereal, prepared with water and warmed. Remember, breast milk is warm and baby is used to warm food. Also introduce pureed baby foods. You can buy them prepared in small glass jars or you can easily make pureed fruits and vegetables yourself in a blender.

9 months-

Introduce yogurts, cottage cheese and chunkier mashed produce, in addition to the smooth purees. Remember the more colorful fruits and vegetables are usually the most nutritious. Dark greens, oranges, and reds of spinach, yams, and beets are some beautiful colors and flavors to look for.

10 months-

Your baby will be wanting to feed herself at this point, so small finger foods can be added to the menu above. Small pieces of cooked vegetable, like peas, are ideal, as are fingerfuls of cooked brown rice, cheerios, cooked beans, and scrambled eggs.

11 months-

Try cooked pasta, with or without a tomato or cheese sauce, in all the various shapes and textures pasta offers. (Be careful of spaghetti and long pieces, which can cause choking.) Toast or plain bread, soups, cooked grains such as lentils, bulgur or quinoa, and very small bits of well-cooked chicken or fish will be welcome additions to baby’s diet.

1 year-

Your baby should be almost able to drink from a cup by now and be weaned off of any bottle that they may still be harboring. She can begin to eat with utensils, but don’t expect good manners yet! As tolerated and desired, start to introduce baby to whatever the rest of the family is having at meal time, cut into small bits, and soon he or she will be a healthy, happy, good eater…a gift that will last a lifetime!

Return to Home Page from Food for Baby's First Year