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How to for Starting Solid Foods - Our Own Schedule to provide you with an example.

STARTING SOLID FOODS

Remember:

You will probably only manage to have baby eat 1/2 of the tablespoon sized portion the very first times you begin solids.

WEEK 1 - Try 1 tablespoon for the first feedings!
WEEK 2 - Continue with feeding small amounts as baby will still be getting used to solid foods
WEEK 3 - Continue feeding small amounts.
WEEK 4 - Baby may be on a wider variety of foods now. Try mixing those acceptable foods!
WEEK 5 - Offer these foods for 3 or 4 days then move to another food

- Nurse your baby or offer formula bottles before solid foods. Offer solids from 1/2 hour to 1 hour after breast or bottle. Formula and/or Breast Milk are more important than solid foods when baby is starting solids!

- Start solids in the morning or mid-afternoon! If your baby has any type of reaction, either allergic or with tummy troubles, you will have all day to deal with it.

- Starting solids at bedtime runs the risk of disrupting baby's sleeping schedule as her body learns to digest the new foods!

BREAST MILK and/or FORMULA

Week 1-5 - Breast Milk and/or Formula as usual throughout the night and day

Suggested Schedule - http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/startingsolidfood-schedule.htm

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How To Make A Baby Food Purée

1. Start by cooking the vegetable/fruit either by steaming, baking, microwaving or boiling.

Steaming maintains the most nutrients. Steaming, baking and boiling all allow for big batches of foods to be made at one time.

Microwave if you have a small appliance or for when you plan to puree only a full ice tray of food. Many parents prefer to not use a microwave; we suggest that you steam or bake as the preferred cooking method! Read all about the various Cooking Methods and Baby Food.

2. Take the cooked vegetable or fruit and remove them into the machine you have decided to use for pureeing.

3. Set aside the liquid that the vegetable/fruits were cooked in. This will be the liquid you add to make the puree. (Do not use reserved water from carrots or other high nitrate veggies for a baby under 7 months old! Read more about Nitrates ) You may also thin with Formula, Breast Milk or Plain Water.

* Adding this liquid also helps to preserve any nutrients that may have leeched into the water during cooking.

4. Set your machine to puree or grind and begin to mash the vegetables or fruits.

5. As you are pureeing or blending, add the liquid or plain water. You may use formula or breast milk if you so desire. These liquids give a little nutritional boost and add a familiar taste for baby. Pureeing without adding any liquids is also a good idea. Many parents prefer to thin their foods before they will serve them to their babies. We tend to prefer this as well!

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Storing Homemade Baby Food Purée in the Refrigerator

It is recommended that fresh pureed homemade baby food be stored no longer than 48 hours (many food safety authorities say that 72 hour is fine!) in the refrigerator. This limit ensures that bacteria growth in the puree is kept to a minimum and that the food does not take on the "taste of the fridge"! This "rule" applies for veggies, fruits, meats etc.

If you do not plan to freeze your homemade baby food, we would suggest that you make the puree on a day to day, or every other day, basis. For example, one sweet potato may be baked and then you may freeze one half without pureeing it and then puree the other half. This method will help cut down "waste" and also allow for food safety.

Experts say that it takes an infant between 15 to 21 instances of trying a food before a true like or dislike is established. If you are just beginning to introduce solid foods, you really will not be able to determine if your baby has a true dislike for a food until much later.

* Freezing purées allows you to go back and try a "rejected" food over again. Even if you will be strictly following the 3-4 day wait rule, we still recommend freezing baby food purees for optimal food safety!

When Should the Purée be put into the Freezer or Refrigerator?

Visit our Freezing Baby Food page to learn about Freezing Methods and the foods that freeze well.

While the professional food jury is still a bit divided, the most highly recommend food safety advice on storing foods from the majority of food sources is this:

Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods promptly!!

Harmful bacteria can grow rapidly if foods aren't properly cooled. Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods within two hours of purchasing or preparing them.

* If the room temperature is above 90 F, refrigerate perishable foods within one hour. Freeze ground meat, poultry, fish and shellfish if you don't expect to eat it within two days, and freeze other beef, veal, lamb or pork within three to five days. (read the Mayo Clinic Freezing Information page)

Some say that immediately transferring HOT foods to the freezer is NOT good because that hot food will affect the temperature of the foods around it and quite possibly the temperature of the whole freezer.

We recommend transferring the food you have cooked to the fridge and then to package for freezer storage within 2-3 hours.

* You may safely leave prepared foods in the fridge for up to 48 hours (72 MAX) so it is up to you whether you want to immediately move your foods to the freezer.

Should I add liquid to thin the purees BEFORE or AFTER I freeze the purees? What should I use?

You may thin your purees either before or after freezing them. Using the cooking water to thin purees is really great as you will be adding back in any nutrients that may have leached out. For some vegetables like carrots, (see our article on Nitrates), you should not use the cooking water to thin the purees!

Formula and/or breast milk are great for thinning out purees as they not only add nutrients, they add the familiar taste that your baby is accustomed to! It really is an individual choice and is dependent on what you will be using as your liquid (previously frozen breast milk for example should never be re-frozen!). Many parents find it easier to thin their purees first and then freeze. When baby moves on to more texture, it may be easier to simply freeze the purees and then thin upon thawing if needed. Read more about using Formula and/or Breast Milk to thin puree.

Salt and sugar are never needed when making baby food. Omit these items, preferably at ALL times, in your baby's meals! Other spices such as cinnamon, garlic powder, pepper etc. may be introduced as early as 7 months with your pediatricians consult.

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