Starting off with baby foods can be a very challenging time in parent lives. You put in those first spoonfuls of cereal, and the sputtering begins. You might even hear that dreaded gagging sound. Don’t worry, you’re now a parent of a normal eater, join the club.
Imagine if you’d never tasted anything except milk. You had never felt anything but liquids in your mouth. Your baby is reacting very normally to their first experience with baby foods. The normal motion of a baby’s eating with breast feeding or bottle feeding is not the same motion they need to learn for eating these new foods. It takes time for your baby to gain these new skills. There are a few things your can try to reduce the problems, and speed up the learning process.
Your baby’s first baby foods is probably rice cereal. Don’t mix the cereal to a consistency you would like, make it more soupy in consistency. Secondly, only put a little cereal on the spoon for each bite. Your baby needs to adjust to this new experience and having a large mouthful of cereal can easily cause the gag reflex to start. Third, instead of trying to put the entire spoon into their mouth, allow them to suck the cereal off of the spoon by inserting only the front portion of the spoon.
Relax during these first attempts at feeding. You may need to try many times before your baby understands the process, and starts eating more successfully. Only use small amounts of your baby foods when starting out, so you don’t have excess waste.
One important thing when you start using baby foods from jars. Don’t feed directly from the jar or container, unless you know they will eat the entire contents. Once the spoon has gone from the baby’s mouth back into the container it should not be kept for later feedings. The bacteria from your babies mouth can rapidly start growing in the opened jar, and the next feeing could make your baby ill.
Introducing new baby foods regularly is a great idea. You want your baby to experience a wide variety of tastes and textures. Start with items you know are challenging for children, like green vegetables. By allowing them to learn these baby foods first, they will accept them more easily. Move into yellow vegetables, then fruits, and finally into meats.
As your baby matures, it will be time to move them off of stage one baby foods and into stage two. Stage two baby foods are not pureed as smoothly, increasing the thickness and texture for your infant. Stage three baby foods are also available to move them up to even more dense foods before moving into normal table food.
One other category of baby foods you will want your child to experience is finger foods. These foods help you child to increase their hand coordination, and prepare them for eating your home cooked meals.
Your child will quickly change from sputtering and gagging on baby foods, to finding it the most enjoyable part of their day. They will enjoy experiencing new flavors, and graduating from only having milk.