Baby Diaries, A Guide for New Mothers: Part 8 - Baby's Feeding Patterns and Healthy Eating

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A continuation of the Baby Diary Series

No two babies are alike. Even twins have different feeding patterns. Therefore, it is safe to say that the decision about how babies are to be weaned and fed lies only with the parents who know them best. With this in mind we will discuss a loose guide of what to expect during the different stages of baby’s development in terms of how they feed, and healthy eating for both baby and mother alike.

Six to nine months

In the previous article (part seven) we discussed weaning baby from an exclusive milk diet to semi-solids (pureed food). This is usually done according to baby’s needs, when baby is four to six months old.
Baby’s first semi-solids will consist of pureed foods while he/she is learning to chew. However, once this phrase has elapsed, baby is ready for mashed and slightly lumpier foods. It’s important to introduce this type of foods into your infant’s diet because it’s vital for him/her to start learning to work the muscles around his/her neck and jaws. Continuing to feed baby with pureed foods at this age is doing a disservice to your child. Finger foods are also a good idea because your infant can practise picking up the pieces themselves. This is not only beneficial in learning to feed themselves, but also in developing dexterity in the hands and fingers – offering a head start in writing and colouring later on.

Some of the foods baby may be ready for at this stage of life

• Pieces of banana or other soft fruit. Remember that bananas can be very tender and chewy, but also terribly easy to get stuck in the throat if swallowed the wrong way. This is why it is crucial that you stay with your infant when she/he is eating finger foods.

• Cooked vegetables. These are important for a balanced diet and also vital if you want your child to get used to the taste of this important food group for later on. I tried to give my babies a variety of vegetables before they knew how to look on their plates to fuss about what was there, and what they didn’t like the look of. I made sure I included all the vegetables that we ate ourselves.

• Mix colours. You don’t have to know much about nutrition to be able to feed your baby foods rich in various minerals and vitamins. If you include as many foods of different colours on your baby’s plate, you’re on the right track, as different colours generally provide their own specific vitamins. Also it gets baby ready for a later on when they start their growing up phase of eating a varied meal consisting of several textures and different colours.

• Raw vegetables. This one can be tricky, but as long as you’re there with them, you can give your baby some raw vegetables to chew on when they’re teething. This not really for them to eat, it just gets them used to the taste while affording them something hard to chew on to help with the pain in their gums. Favourites of mine used to include sliced carrots, cucumbers and celery. If you’re not sure of these, do not feel obliged to give these to your babies. You’ve got to pay very keen attention when baby’s biting or chewing on raw vegetables.

• Toast or bread. Personally, I preferred toast. This is because my first child nearly choked on bread while I was standing right beside her. I switched to toast because I felt that it was sturdier and less likely to get soggy and stick to the top of my babies’ palate, causing them to gag and choke on it. Again, all babies require constant supervision when eating finger foods.

• When feeding baby from a spoon, breast or formula milk can be added to all or any food to give them a smooth, rich consistency.

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Baby Diaries, A Guide for New Mothers: Part 7 - Weaning Your Baby

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Continuation of the Baby Diaries series

Weaning by no means signals an end to baby needing milk. I have an eleven year old who still has milk at breakfast and a mug full at night. Weaning simply means an end to breast or formula milk as the exclusive diet. Your baby will now be requiring different foods in addition to the milk he/she is having.

There is no set-in-stone age at which an infant must start eating semi-solid foods. Only the parents know their baby, and only they can decide when to start. The guide age to begin weaning baby is between four to six months. My daughters were weaned at about five months old, but my son was ready the day he hit the four-month mark. They were all breastfed, but I knew by the time he was three months old that my body would not be able to sustain him for much longer. He needed something else along with his milk because he was much too hungry.

Points to note when weaning begins

Weaning is a huge milestone in baby’s life (and in yours). It doesn’t work straight away and may take many attempts before baby agrees to let you put something that’s not milk into her/his mouth, so be prepared for this. Obviously, hungry babies may be easier to feed with semi-solids than babies who can’t be bothered too much about food. Here are some notes about weaning that you should pay attention to.

• Choose a moment when both baby and you are relaxed. This will take care and time. Keep in mind that the first few ‘lessons’ are not about any actual eating.
  
• Baby has to get used to a hard plastic spoon in his/her mouth, and to a strikingly different taste from what they’re used to, so give yourself and them a few rehearsals before any food gets past the oesophagus.
  
• Prop baby up with adequate support and be armed with tissues and a bib. Don’t try feeding when baby is very hungry because remember they do not know that this new ‘event’ is meant to be a form of food and feeding. This new experience is just something they’re forced to do when all they want is to be fed. Try feeding in-between feeds until baby makes the connection between the food and feeding from it.
  
• Remember to offer tiny amounts and give your baby enough time to suck the food from the end of the spoon. Keep in mind that it takes a totally different skill to swallow semi-solid foods than it takes to swallow milk sucked from a nipple or a teat.
  
• Don’t switch to pasteurised milk just because baby is now eating semi-solids. Baby still needs breast or formula milk as their staple feed until they’re about a year old.
  
• If you’re aware of family history of gluten intolerance, continue to breast feed and don’t give foods containing gluten to baby before he/she is six months old.
  
• If you start semi-solids too early, baby’s immature digestive system may react adversely to the new foods, giving way to all sorts of food intolerances and allergies as he/she grows older. On the other hand, if you start too late, vitamins and minerals stored in your infant’s body before birth will have diminished, leaving, him/her weak and with vital organs (like the brain) that are unable to grow and develop properly.
  
• Babies, like all children will have a personal taste. They may not like semi-solids the first time it’s offered to them. This will change, however, so don’t give up on them. Make sure that they have a varied diet at the age where they’re not necessarily looking to see what’s on their plate. Doing it this way will invariably mean less work for you later on. As they get older, offer them foods with different textures because many times the taste may be fine, but the texture of the food, if strange, will be a turn off for your infant. It’s something they have to get used to.

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