Post natal care

Usually, around 4-5 months of age (if the pediatrician okays it) rice cereal or a Stage 1 baby food fruit or vegetable can be introduced. Most people start with baby rice, because it’s the simplest food and can be easily diluted with breast milk or formula. It’s not overpowering with flavor, so most babies have no problem with its taste. Usually 1 to 2 feedings of runny rice a day for a few weeks is enough of an addition to satiate their hunger. After that, you can start adding 1 fruit/veggie at a time. My son’s doc recommended we start with a vegetable because SOME babies don’t want to eat the veggies if they’ve tasted sweet fruits before because they prefer the fruit, but that’s not true for all babies. He also said that you should start with a yellow veg (squash for example) or yellow fruit (bananas or applesauce), then continue on with that for at least 2 days before adding another food of the same color. Babies are less likely to have a reaction to ‘bland’ colored fruits/vegetables. Once you have 2 to 3 foods of that color, move on to greens (peas, green beans), and then after 2 to 3 days of no reaction to green or yellow foods, move on to your reds/oranges/purples (carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, peaches). Red foods seem to have a higher instance of food allergy, that’s why they’re introduced last. My son’s doc said not to introduce wheat into his diet until he was 9 months old (teething biscuits, cream of wheat, bread, cereals), and to wait until he was at least 7 months old before introducing meat. All children are different. And, honestly, all pediatric advice varies at least a little, so it’s best to check with your child’s doctor before introducing first foods. This is wordy, but I hope it helped.