Healthy Eating

· Starting Solid Food
· What to Feed Your Baby
· Drinking from a Cup
· Giving Up the Bottle
· Here's What Your Child Should Eat Each Day
· Snacks Are Meals, Too
· Special Feeding

Starting Solid Food

Up until one year, your baby should drink breatmilk or formula. At about four to six months, you can begin to add soft solid foods to her diet. For breastfed infants, water, juice, and other foods may not be needed until 6 months of age. Talk with your baby's doctor, nurse, or a nutritionist about introducing solid foods.

Your baby may be ready to start solid foods when she:

· Is at least 4 months old
· Can sit or hold her head up by herself
· Weight at least double what she did at birth
· Will open her mouth for the spoon

Begin by feeding your baby a small amount of rice cereal on a baby spoon. At first, your baby may spit it out. This is normal. It takes time for your baby to get used to new foods and eating. Keep tying - a little bit at a time. Ii is okay to have a mess!

Do not put cereal or any food in a bottle - it can cause choking. It can also cause your baby's teeth to rot and your baby to gain too much weight.

Keep baby food safe

· Place the food in a dish - feeding from the jar may put germs in leftover food.
· Do not put leftover food or the used spoon back into the jar - it can cause the food to spoil.
· Cover and refrigerate what is left in the jar.
· Use the food within 2-3 days of opening the jar.

If you make your own baby food, do not add butter, oil, margarine, sugar or salt, unless your doctor has told you to. Homemade baby food is cheaper than buying prepared food. When introducing a new food, prepare and serve it without adding anything. Food should be pureed, strained, or mashed. Do not add honey to any of your child's food before the age of one. There is a bacteria in honey that is dangerous for babies under one year.

What to Feed Your Baby

Introduce one new food a time. Wait 3-5 days before you add a new food. Put a check mark when you start new foods. Watch for signs of allergies: skin rash, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea or other change in stools, watery, itchy eyes, or breathing problems.

CAUTION: Avoid foods that can cause choking - popcorn, nuts, seeds, grapes, hot dogs, raisins, chunky peanut butter and any other small hard foods. You can try smooth peanut butter after 2 years of age. Moisten it with applesauce or jelly and spread it thinly. Do not leave your child alone when he is eating.

4 - 6 MONTHS:

Your baby is ready for cereals. Try rice cereal first - it is the easiest to digest. After cereal you can try fruit juices that have vitamin C. You can start a few mashed up fruit and pureed vegetables.

6 - 9 MONTHS:

Try new mashed fruit and soft vegetables. Fruits can be fresh or cooked. From 6-8 months it is also time to add small amounts of protein foods, such as poultry, beans, fish and meat. Always strain or cut them into small tender pieces. At about 8 months your baby will like to pick up small pieces of food and feed herself. Good finger foods include pieces of cheese, chicken, fresh fruits and soft, cooked vegetables. Give one or tow bits at a time. Let her feed herself while you are watching.

9 - 12 MONTHS

Your baby is now ready to eat many chopped table foods. Try egg yolks now, but do not give egg whites until your baby turns one year old.

Drinking from a Cup

At about 6 months, your child may want to try drinking from a cup. Let her hold an empty, plastic cup to get used to it. Drinking from a cup is a new skill and takes practice. Use a spill-proof cup with small amounts of water, formula, breastmilk or juice in it.

Make sure the juice is 100% juice - not juice drinks. You may want to dilute juice water. Limit juice to 4 -8 ounces a day, so that your child will have an appetite for other foods.

Do not use cow's milk before 12 months. At 12 months, your child is ready for whole milk. Your child needs whole milk until age 2 - not low-fat or skim milk.

As your child learns to use a cup and feed herself, she may begin to breastfeed less often. When you decide to stop breastfeeding, it is best to do it slowly. You can continue to breastfeed as long as you and your child want to.

Giving Up the Bottle

At around 12 months, encourage your child to use the bottle less and the cup more. Slowly cut down the number of bottles and increase the number of cups each day. Morning and evening bottles are often the hardest to give up.

As your child learns to drink from a cup, she may still want a bottle for comfort. To help her feel more secure, try reading a story, singing, or cuddling while she drinks from a cup. When she seems distressed, try giving her a hug instead of a bottle. With your help, she will soon learn other ways to comfort herself.

Using a bottle too much can cause:

· Tooth decay
· Poor nutrition
· Overweight

Here's What Your Child Should Eat Each Day

To keep your child healthy and strong, offer a variety of foods from each food group every day. This pyramid shows the kinds of food in each group. The foods can be served at meals or snacks. Serving are smaller for children than for adults. Around age one, your child will be growing more slowly. He may want to eat less. That is okay. He may only like a few foods. That is okay, too. Keep offering other foods.

Snacks Are Meals, Too

Snacks are a good way for your child to get what he needs to grow. Your child may not want to eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Maybe he is too tired or excited. That is okay. Help your child make good food choices. Offer different healthy foods as a snack.

A healthy snack is:

· Low in sugar, fat and salt
· Food from one or more of the food groups

Special Feeding

There may be times when your child needs special foods. Be sure to ask your doctor, nurse or nutritionist if you have any questions about what your child should be eating or drinking.

Foods to help children gain weight:

· Puddings made with whole milk
· Cheese made with whole milk
· Peanut butter on bread or crackers after age 2
· Ice cream
· Milk shades with whole milk, ice cream, banana, and peanut butter

If your baby is under 12 months and needs to gain weight, make sure that you are mixing his formula correctly. Offer it to him more often and for longer. If you are breastfeeding, talk to your doctor or nurse.

Foods to loose hard stools

· Lots of water, juices
· Raw fruits and vegetables
· Prunes
· Whole grains
· Soft, cooked fruit

Foods for children who are vomiting

· Oral electrolyte maintenance solutions, like "Pedialyte" or "Rehydra-ice", if your doctor tells you to
· Popsicles
· Jello

Foods for children with diarrhea

· Water and "Pedialyte" or "Rehydra-Ice", if your doctor tells you to
· Potatoes
· Rice bananas
· Dry toast
· Applesauce

Clear liquids are:

· Water
· Apple or white grape juice
· Clear soup or bouillon
· "Pedialyte" or "Rehydra-Ice", if your doctor tells you to
· Jello

Growing Up Healthy was adapted with permission from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Family and Community Health, Division of Maternal, Child and Family Health. Growing Up Healthy (Creciendo Sano in a Spanish adaptation) was originally developed with support from the Maternal and Child Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services. We would like to acknowledge Gail Ballester and Steve Shuman, the Managing Editors from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the many Massachusetts contributors and reviewers.