Tips from Baby Centre

What to feed your baby

"My son reacted to peas 12 hours after eating. It's very important to follow the advice of introducing new foods individually and a few days apart. That way, if a reaction occurs, you can know what really caused it."

"Leave fruit juice until much later. Once your baby tastes it, it will be hard to get him or her to drink water."

"Season your baby's food. Even if it's just a little cinnamon (never give a baby salt), it will help her develop a taste for adult foods. Our daughter loves garlic, onions, and other foods that most kids don't like, and I attribute it to her getting paprika, garlic, pepper, and other spices in her baby food."

"It is harder, but make your own. If you try baby food, you'll understand why babies make that horrible face. I believe babies become better eaters if their first foods taste good."

"You don't need to heat your child's food. If you never introduce hot food, he will probably be just fine with eating it at room temperature straight from the jar."

"Don't let your own likes and dislikes affect what you feed your child. I don't like cottage cheese, but I gave it to my son anyway and he loved it."

"Don't back off on nursing and/or formula. For babies, solids should be an addition, not a replacement."

 

When to feed your baby

"Try to have your meals at the same time as your baby. This encourages her to eat, too."

"Don't wait until your baby is really hungry to feed him. If he's too hungry, he'll get frustrated and reject everything."

 

Handling food rejection

"After a couple of spoonfuls of applesauce, slip in one or two bites of spinach or green beans — anything your baby has been picky about. They swallow it before they realize it's different."

"If your baby doesn't like a food, give him a bite of something he likes after it, or put a little of the food he likes on it."

"Be creative. My baby doesn't accept sweet potato baby food, but loves it when I make a sweet potato in the microwave and mash up spoonfuls for her."

"What they eat from a jar and what they eat from the table later on are totally separate entities. There are foods that my baby wouldn't eat from a jar that she now eats happily from the table. Don't give up!"

"I just assumed that she would open her mouth and eat anything I gave her. She can love something one day and hate it the next. Some days she eats a ton; the next, hardly anything. I just wish I had known to expect this."

"If your baby acts like you're completely nuts when you give him the extremely runny cereal made the way it's recommended for 'baby's first feeding,' try making it thicker. Some children like very smooth, runny food, but others just don't."

"If you wouldn't eat it, why should your baby? I taste-tested everything. Sometimes it was obvious why my daughter wouldn't eat certain foods; they tasted terrible."

 

Handling the mess

"Buy bibs that dry quickly so you can rinse them out in the sink and hang them up to dry before the next feeding."

"Feed your baby in her diaper — it will be easier to clean up afterward."

"It's okay for babies to be messy! We can always clean them up, but we would do more harm if we never let them try new things."