Bump Club and Beyond's Baby Talk Blog: Food introduction for babies 6 months and up

By: Denise Henderson

Founder and Mom

Up until now, it has been mostly breast milk or formula and possible some cereal depending on what your pediatrician suggests. Now it’s time to venture into the land of what foods to introduce first and why. I am a big believer that the every time children eat it is an opportunity to make a positive impact their growth, development and future food choices. Organic superfoods are a smart way to go. Here are a couple of helpful hints to get things started!

1. Download the Square One Organics Superfood Guide and tape it to your refrigerator door. http://www.squareoneorganics.com/superfoodguide.php. We developed this with a Pediatric Nutritionist and a Pediatric Allergist, from Children’s Memorial Hospital. This is a helpful tool that takes the guesswork out of what food introduction. Across the top, we breakdown superfoods into 4 categories

, Vitamin A’s, Vitamin C’s, Supergreens and Supergrains. The left column, shows at what age your child’s digestive system is mature enough to have the foods listed introduced.

2. Download the Square One Organics Daily 6 Month and Up Journal http://www.squareoneorganics.com/6monthguide.php. Also developed with our medical team, these daily journals were designed to give guidelines on appropriate portion size, meal/snack frequency, liquid intake, sleep, wet diaper, dirty diaper and any sort of food reactions. These are great tools for a few reasons: First, they are excellent daily guidelines and record keepers for families who use childcare inside and outside of the home. Second, record any questions or concerns that come up around your daily routine on them and bring them to your Pediatrician visits. Finally, for those of you list lovers, like myself, these were developed for you. These days if I don’t write it down I just don’t remember.

3. We strongly encourage a 5 day food trial. This simply means, please only introduce one new food to your child at a time for 5 days in a row. This is done in case there is any reaction to the new food being introduced. The number of days may vary depending on your Pediatrician. Our medical teams encourages 5 days.

4. Here are some of my most favorite foods for this age group. Avocados, Millet and Papaya, are such important first food for babies. First, Avocados which are nature’s source of unsaturated fatty acids that babies need for brain development. Avocados are ripe when they yield to gentle pressure and feel soft to a 5 finger gentle squeeze. Try to mash and incorporate this amazing vegetable into your child’s routine every day. It is an important food for them to learn to love so that it will continue to be part of their “good fat” food routine.

Millet is another one of my favorite foods for babies this age. It cooks up nicely into a cereal and is one of the most hypo-allergenic grains you can find. Buy it organic in bulk at any Whole Foods Market. To cook millet simmer 1/2 cup in 11/2 cups of water. If you leave it alone as it cooks, you'll get fluffy grains like rice; if you stir frequently and add a little extra liquid during cooking, you'll get a dish that resembles mashed potatoes. It takes about 25 minutes to cook millet by simmering. Make it every Sunday and Wednesday and keep your batch in the refrigerator. At mealtime scoop out what you need dilute it with what your baby is drinking, pop it into a mini processer and infant cereal it is! Store the leftover uncooked millet in tightly sealed jars on the pantry shelf, except during very hot, humid weather when it may be best to keep them in the refrigerator.

Finally, Papaya, I love this food because it is an above excellent, low-acid source of Vitamin C. It contains the enzyme Papin, which ads in digestion. Think about it, happiness is a baby that sleeps, which is what you are working on at this age. Baby can’t sleep if baby can’t poop so feed Papaya to keep those digestive juices working smoothly. Organic Papaya is one of the foods Square One Organics offers. Click here to see where Square One Organics is available near you.