Best foods for your six month old baby

Getting the age at which to start weaning the baby right is very important because this process influences your baby’s dietary patterns and choices for the near future as well as the rest of his or her life. A study published in Maternal and Child Health Journal in 2011 indicates that while introducing solid foods too early may lead to increased risks of chronic diseases, obesity, celiac disease, eczema, low iron stores (leading to anaemia) and diarrheal disease, late introduction of solids can increase feeding difficulties. 

It’s therefore recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) that breastfeeding should be done exclusively for the first six months of a newborn’s life, followed by a gradual introduction of solid foods as complementary feeding. A baby is also considered to be ready for solid foods when he or she shows the following signs:

• The baby is holding his or her own head up, and can sit up straight against the back of a chair or bed.
• The baby is reaching out to grasp objects and occasionally trying to put them in his or her mouth.
• The baby is able to swallow and his or her gag reflex has lessened or is under better control.

At the age of six months, a baby usually needs to be fed four to six times a day. But expect these feedings to be longer because your growing baby’s appetite is also increasing (which is a good sign by all accounts). Remember that while you’re slowly going to introduce solid foods to the baby, the majority of the nutrition will still come from breast milk. This is the food the baby relies on, so don’t discontinue it in the hopes of weaning your baby suddenly or overnight.

Since breast milk is not a good source of iron, make sure the first solid foods you introduce to the baby are fortified with iron. You should include as wide a variety of foods as you can to ensure both nutrition and taste. This includes the following foods:

• Fortified rice
• Egg yolks, cooked
• Dark green leafy vegetables
• Liver
• Lentils
• Fish
• Green peas
• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Applesauce
• Pears
• Bananas
• Peaches

You can mix a little breast milk or formula to make the puree of these foods thinner. Start by offering these foods to your baby twice a day, and once he or she takes to it, you can gradually increase the amount. Try and introduce vegetables before introducing fruits because many babies find the natural sweetness of fruits more appealing than vegetables, and this can create a dislike of veggies early on. Remember that these early months matter a lot and can have an impact on the rest of the baby’s life and food habits.

If your baby adapts to solid foods between six-eight months quickly, don’t expect the portion sizes to be too huge. Your baby will likely be eating between two tablespoons and two cups of food in a day depending on their size, appetite and growth rate.

What you feed your baby at six months of age is important, but so is how you introduce these foods.

Introduce solid foods little by little, but continue breastfeeding as the main source of nutrition. Try not to stop breastfeeding suddenly or reject your baby’s demands for breastmilk—remember that breastfeeding is also a way for your baby to connect with you. 

Try not to force solid foods on your baby. Keep an eye on your baby's poop and poop-time, to make sure that it's not becoming too uncomfortable. If your baby cries when he or she poops and if his or her poop looks like hard pellets, then your baby could be constipated. Remove the last thing you added to the baby's diet and continue adding new veggies and fruits each week.

This apart, there are a few other do’s and don’ts you must make a note of. Keep the following things in mind while feeding a six- to eight-month-old baby.

• Never give honey to your baby as it can cause botulism, a rare but serious illness.
• Do not give cow’s milk to the baby until he or she 12 months old. Babies under the age of one year can have difficulty digesting cow’s milk.
• Do not feed peanuts, peanut butter or any peanut products to a baby this young as it can cause an allergic reaction.
• Use a small spoon with soft edges while feeding your baby.
• You can start giving water to your baby between feedings.
• Offer new foods to the baby only when they’re hungry.
• Give a gap of two-three days between introducing new foods to make sure identifying signs of allergies is easier for you.
• Avoid foods with added salt, sugar and preservatives.
• Prepare fresh food for the baby instead of storing it with other foods in the refrigerator, to reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses.
• Don’t put pureed or mashed baby food in a feeding bottle. Always use a spoon or hands (washed with soap and water, of course) to feed the baby. Only water and formula milk should be put in a feeding bottle.
• Remember to clean your baby's mouth afterwards.

Preparing highly-nutritious food for your six-month-old is very easy. You might want to head to the store and check out fancy baby foods, but cooking for a baby this young is so easy and effortless that you need not take a chance with store-bought baby foods which also have added sugars and preservatives. 

The important things to remember before preparing these foods is to only make a small batch at first, and try one ingredient at a time to ensure that your baby likes the taste or isn’t allergic to it. It’s also best to not add sugar to the baby’s food at this stage of development. Also, do not add salt when it’s not needed. The following are some easy and iron-rich recipes you can try for your baby:

You have to be extremely careful with a baby this young, especially if you’re introducing solid foods to the baby or if the baby tends to grasp random objects and put them in his or her mouth. The introduction of certain solid foods can cause allergic reactions, and accidentally ingesting other things can lead to digestive problems as well.

If your baby is showing any of the following symptoms, you should contact your paediatrician and take the baby for a check-up without delay. 

• If the baby has rashes, swollen eyes, swollen tongue, puffiness around the lips.
• The baby has diarrhoea or very watery stool.
• The baby has constipation and has trouble pooping.
• If the baby spits up more than usual or vomits soon after feeding.
• Babies usually cry inconsolably when in pain, so check for stomach pain symptoms.
• The baby has difficulty breathing or is making wheezing noises while breathing.
• The baby has a temperature and the above-mentioned symptoms.

Many women assume that breastfeeding can be stopped after the first six months of the baby’s life are completed. While you can start introducing solid foods to the baby after six months, you definitely should not stop breastfeeding. This is primarily because breast milk has vital nutrients and antibodies that your baby’s immune system relies on for protection until all the essential vaccinations are completed.

Read more: Benefits of breastfeeding

You should also know that your baby will not quit craving breast milk as soon as you introduce solid foods. Even if you’re a working woman or are unable to breastfeed due to a disease or illness, bottle-feeding the baby formula milk is an option of course. Your baby will take at least six more months to adapt to solid foods—some babies tend to take even longer than that—and the completion of immunizations is going to take more time than even that.

So, it’s best to continue breastfeeding your baby after six months as well.

Read more: How and when to stop breastfeeding your baby