Starting solids? Here’s what you need to Know

Starting solids with your bubs can be exciting and special but it can also be slightly daunting and nerve-wracking at the same time. There are so many things to decide from what type of feeding approach you’re going for, what foods to start with, how to introduce potential allergens, and of course how to do all of this safely.It can be a lot!So I thought I would ease some of this discomfort and give you a few tips and tricks that I’ve learned along the way from successfully transitioning both my little cuties to solids. Here’s what I’ve learned…

Different Feeding Approaches:

There are two main feeding approaches when it comes to starting a baby on solids. Purees or baby-led weaning. I have tried both and here’s my experience with them. No one is right or wrong, it’s simply what feels most comfortable for you. You can always change your mind and switch approaches if you decide it’s not working for you.Puree’s - As a newbie mama, I went with purees for Georgia. I was far too scared of choking to go straight into BLW so I blitz everything in sight and had a freezer filled with different combos and little pop-out pumpkin and pear ice cubes that I’d defrost and heat for easy meals. This lasted about a month until I got completely over blitzing everything and went into BLW which Georgia loved and took to straight away.Baby Lead Weaning – I went straight into BLW for Luca as I was confident and relaxed and I loved the idea of being able to serve it some of the same things that I was making Georgia like baked kumara sticks and pasta. It was messy but adorable and meant I could sip a cup of tea at the same time which was definitely a win. He loved this approach and was straight into food from the moment he started eating solids.Combo of both – You don’t have to pick one way or the other you can do a combo. An example of how this works is to have a bowl of pureed chickpeas, kumara, and some spinach that you spoon-fed bubs with, and then you also plate up some avocado toast strips or maybe some tofu strips for baby to experiment picking up and tasting. This can be a nice way to let the baby get messy and have fun while also guaranteeing that bubs actually eats something.

What foods to start with when starting solids:

The advice that I give as a mum and qualified nutritionist is to always start with fruit and vegetables first no matter if you’re raising your child plant-based or not.Babies digestive system is very sensitive so you don’t want to overwhelm them with complex flavours or hard to digest foods.

Here are some great first foods to start with;

• Cooked/ steamed/roasted pumpkin or kumara (I loved baking slices of pumpkin and kumara with the skin off in a little coconut oil and cinnamon. Both my kids loved this combo. It’s sweet, soft, and easy for little hands to pick up and mush. Plus it's safe and great first food).
• Avocado – start with a really small amount though as it can be rich and too much might give the baby a tummy ache. I use to mash avocado and serve it on a spoon for Georgia and I would also slice strips of avocado with the skin half on for Luca to grab and munch on. It was his favourite. You can also sprinkle avocado in ground flax or hemp hearts to add some omega’s and offer an easy way for baby to grip it.
• Steamed/ roast pear – Pear is a great first food. It’s sweet and soft, it steams nicely and you can also bake it with some cinnamon and coconut oil for any BLW babies
• Steamed and blitz Zucchini – Georgia loved zucchini and I use to steam and blitz it with some lemon juice and pumpkin for a great puree during the first few weeks of solids.

Let’s Talk Baby Porridge: Ok so I know a lot of people question baby porridge and if they should give it to their baby. I love baby porridge and gave it both to Luca and Georgia during the first 6 months of solids. The reason I love it is because babies need 11mg of iron per day from 6-12 months of age. That is a huge amount of iron for a little baby who is probably only eating 3-4 tsp of food a day (at the start). Babies grow so much during the first year of life and so they need a high iron diet. By offering baby porridge which typically contains anywhere from 3-6mg of iron you are able to tick off a bunch of that daily requirement with ease.I love the Belamay Organic Baby Porridge.How to super boosted your babies baby porridge to maximise iron absorption and nutrients:I came up with a little recipe for Luca that really maximised his baby cereal and made it taste delicious. What you do is add two scoops of baby porridge to a bowl followed by the juice of a ½ an orange (this increases the absorption of the iron by 3x the amount). Mix in 1 tsp of hemp hearts and chia seeds for omega’s, iron, and protein, a little cinnamon and, ½ a mashed banana for sweetness. I use to give this to Luca every morning and he loved it. He now has porridge like the rest of us but for the first 6 months, he would have this baby porridge.What about salt?Never add salt to food for the first year. Instead, season with herbs and spices. My little ones loved cinnamon, Italian herbs, oregano, and paprika the most.How do you introduce a new food?The advice use to be to introduce new foods once every 3 days but the new advice is to add a new food every day or even two new foods a day. I suggest starting simple with your basic easy to digest foods such as pumpkin, kumara, and zucchini. Do this for the first few days and see how bubs goes. If everything is going well and there are no signs of constipation or an upset tummy then you could start to add in new foods each day. I would look at ticking off fruits and vegetables first with some healthy fats from olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado. I would also add in leafy greens such as spinach which steams and blends really well into purees or pasta sauces.

What do I do if my baby is constipated?A really great puree that you can give your baby whose constipated is 1 pear peeled and steamed, then blitz with 3 prunes. It’s a really sweet mix that baby should love and that will definitely help to keep things moving along. You could offer this as is or mix it into some baby porridge in the morning.What about water? As soon as you start baby on solids you are going to want to offer sips of water with their meal. You can do this with a Sippy cup or from a cup that you hold for them. Water will help to flush the food and prevent constipation that can occur during the first few months of solids.

Allergens:

It's recommended to tick off all the major food allergens during the first 6 months of solids as a way to prevent food allergies from developing. The most common allergens are:

• Dairy
• Soy
• Peanuts
• Tree Nuts (walnuts/ almonds etc)
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Wheat
• Eggs

From memory, I ticked off eggs first and gave Luca a small amount of scrambled eggs to try one day. I then offered it each day for the week to make sure no allergen presented itself. For peanuts, I mixed a little peanut butter into Lucas's porridge and for diary, I gave him a few scoops of yogurt as a snack and offered it for the week like before.The only thing that you should note when introducing allergens is that symptoms can appear within 24-36 hours after food exposure so It’s important to pay attention during that time and to also only introduce one new allergen at a time. I waited at least’s one week between allergens just to be sure.

Starting Solids Equipment and Essentials: 

There are so many different products out there for babies starting solids. I’m not here to tell you what ones you should and shouldn’t buy as I haven’t tried them all but these are the ones I used and loved.Phillips Advent 2- in 1 Healthy Baby Food Maker.If you’re going down the puree route I highly recommend this. It puree’s and steams all in the same blender making it easy. You can also walk away and it will turn off when it's ready which was so handy. I used this every day for Georgia and it was fantastic. Buy it here. Haakaa Freezer Tray – I used to fill these with pureed fruit and veg for Georgia. I would freeze a whole lot and then pop them out and store them in a zip lock bag with a label so I could easily grab one or two fruit/veggie ice cubes when I needed to make her a meal.  Buy it here. Haakaa Fresh Food Feeder and Teether – I have 5 of these at home since Luca loved them so much. I would put pear, banana, apple, and frozen berries into them and he would love sitting in his highchair and munching on the fruit. Perfect for teething bubbas! Buy it here. Stokke Tripp Trappe Highchair – Both my kids have had these high chairs and they are truly amazing!! They look great at your table plus the best thing is they turn into a toddler chair when your little one is old enough. Georgia still sits in hers and it’s the best. Buy it here.Mushie Silicone Baby Bib – I love these bibs. They catch food, are easy to whip clean and they have super cute patterns. Buy them here. Mum2mum Sleeved Wonder Bib – I still put this on Luca from time to time especially if he’s eating spaghetti and it's guaranteed to go everywhere. Essential for BLW babies who get very messy. Buy it here.We Might Be Tiny Silicone Jelly Placie – This is the cutest placemat! I still use these for the kids and love them. They are great at keeping bowls and drinks in place and they also prevent your table from getting stained from food. Buy them here. Petite Eats Suction Bowl and Spoon Set – This is a great starting solids bowl. It's super cute, it stays in place and it’s a great size.Buy them here.Petite Eats - Silicone Suction Plate – If you’re going down the BLW feeding path then this bowl is perfect. You can section out the different foods for baby to grab, it’s super cute to look at plus it also suctions. Buy them here. 

Books/ Cookbooks

Plant Based Juniors – check out their ebook here and their hardcover book here.Vegan Kids Nutrition – starting solids handout, cookbook, and e-course. Learn more here.  Little Veggie Eats – check out her cookbook here .Erin Ireland – What I feed My Vegan Baby blog post. Read it here. My book 'My Plant Based Family' is also filled with easy recipes for babies. I wrote this e-book while I was starting Luca on solids and so a lot of the recipes work for younger babies as well as for toddlers and busy mama's. Some of my favourites include;

• Cinnamon Chickpea Pancakes
• Green Essential Smoothie
• Baby Bircher Bowl
• Banana Blueberry Pancakes
• Lentil Kumara Dahl
• Green Pancakes
• Fried Rice
• Matts Famous Pasta Sauce
• Easy Tofu Scramble
• Tomato Tofu Sticks
• Pesto Pasta
• Banana Nice Cream

And so many more. To learn more about my e-book and purchase it click here.I hope this post on starting solids was helpful but if you have any other questions please leave them below or feel free to email me at renee@wellnessbyrenee.co.nz and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.Renee xx