09/01/2024
First foods - what to offer?
We haven’t started solids yet - the closer we get, the happier I feel to just wait it out until the 6 month mark. There is no advantage to starting earlier than 6 months.
At 6 months, the crucial nutrient, and the one that makes it very necessary to start solids, is iron. Babies are born with some iron stores from in utero, which start to run a bit low at this point, and breastmilk/formula no longer has enough iron to meet their needs. So, there should be an emphasis on iron-rich foods as early as possible.
That said, a lot of people start with puréed or finger food fruit and veg just to get baby going on the whole idea of eating and I think that’s great. If you can also use some iron-fortified cereal mixed in, that’s a good idea (although some babies hate the stuff, and I can’t blame them!). Just make sure you crack on with good sources of iron as early as you can (best bet is red meat, but there are other options too - I’ll do a more detailed post on iron-containing foods soon).
