Infant Feeding Guide for 6 - 12 months

As an infant reaches 4 – 6 months of age, nutrient needs become greater than human milk or formula can provide. Supplemental food will need to be introduced to satisfy your infant's appetite and for growth. Two indicators that your infant is ready for solid foods include the ability to hold his head up without support and disappearance of the reflex that causes him/her to automatically push solid food out of his mouth. Commercial infant rice cereal is generally recommended as an infant's first food, as it is easy to digest, high in iron and an unlikely allergen. 

Feeding Tips:

• Begin with infant rice cereal first, followed by vegetables, fruits, and meats. 
• Give your baby one new food at a time - not mixtures. Give the new food for 3-5 days before adding another new food. Adding new foods individually and gradually is important so that symptoms of an allergy or food intolerance (skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, or wheezing) can be easily identified and the offending food avoided. 
• Begin with small amounts of new solid foods - a teaspoon at first and slowly increase to a tablespoon. 
• Do not use salt or sugar when making homemade infant foods. Canned foods may contain large amounts of salt and sugar and should not be used for baby food. Always wash and peel fruits and vegetables and remove seeds or pits. Take special care with fruits and vegetables that come into contact with the ground as they may contain botulism spores that can cause food poisoning. 
• Infant cereals with iron should be fed until the infant is eighteen months old. 
• Whole cow's milk should not be added to the diet until the infant is twelve months of age. Cow's milk does not provide enough nutrients for your baby. Early introduction of cow's milk is associated with an increased risk of milk protein allergy, poor growth, and iron deficiency. 
• Children under one year old should not be given reduced fat diets. 
• Fruit juice without sugar can be started after 6 months, when the baby is able to drink from a cup. Limit fruit juice to 4 ounces per day or less. 
• Feed all food with a spoon. Your baby needs to learn to eat from a spoon. Do not use an infant feeder. Only formula and water should go in a bottle. 
• Do not use honey in any form for the first year because honey has bacteria spores that can cause infant botulism. 
• Do not put your baby in bed with a bottle propped in his mouth. Propping the bottle is linked to choking, ear infections, and tooth decay. 
• Help your baby to give up the bottle by his first birthday. 
• Do not force your child to eat all the food on his plate when he is not hungry. Forcing a child to eat teaches them to eat just because the food is there and can lead to excessive weight gain. Expect a smaller and pickier appetite as the infant's growth rate slows around one year of age. 
• Infants and young children should not eat the following foods which may cause them to choke: 

               hot dogs 

               nuts or seeds 

               round candies 

               popcorn 

               hard or raw fruits and vegetables 

               grapes 

               peanut butter. 

Most doctors suggest that the foods in the list above should not be offered to children until they are at least three or four years of age. Always watch young children while they eat. Insist that your children sit down to eat or drink.