Solids and when to start?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting solids on crossing the 6 month mark but the primary source of nutrition should still be breast milk or formula milk. We basically start solids at 6 months so that by the time the child is a year old, his or her major source of nutrition is solids; this weaning process takes time. 

Mother can continue breastfeeding even after the one year mark, if she wishes too, but post-one year, breast milk is not for nutrition anymore. Extending breastfeeding is for immunity. We are basically teaching our child to start learning to accept textures and flavors of food. Don’t expect your child to start eating copious quantities of food all of a sudden. This is a gradual process. Don’t get bogged down by comments that your child needs to eat solids and he or she won’t grow. As long as your doctor is clued-in and your child is achieving milestones and is active; most importantly, gaining height is what matters. 

My son’s pediatrician would always say let your child grow like a reed and don’t bother about his weight. Till about 1.5 years my son was a very fussy eater and would only want to have breast milk. It was with a lot of difficulty that he started eating any solids but he was achieving his milestones and gaining height. I was puree-ing all his food in a blender and I felt horrible feeding my son this pureed gunk, but he would choke every time I would try to put even a little morsel of food in his mouth. I would tell the pediatrician that the child barely has any teeth and how will he chew? But the doctor told me if I continued to puree his food I would be doing so till he was about three (since that is when they get all their teeth). 

The thought made me shudder, so I decided to stop puree-ing and giving him soft-solid food. It would take us an hour to finish one coaster-sized parantha, but I didn’t give up. Every meal would take an hour and everyone would look at me like I was crazy and tell me to let him be, maybe he is full. But the mother in me couldn’t quit. I knew we would get there someday; gradually he started accepting and in fact enjoying new textures and food.

 I would recommend to all mothers, never puree your child’s food, they eventually get a hang of eating solids, but puree-ing only slows down achieving the milestone of eating solids. It is such a pleasure to see my son who is 6, to eat now; in the hindsight, if I ever have a second baby I would not stress as every child is different and has his/her own pace and they all eventually end up eating solids. I don’t know any medically fit adult, who doesn’t.

Great solids to start with are - mashed banana, khichdi, potatoes, yellow moong dal and then you gradually move on to khichdi with vegetables and when you see that you child is getting a hang of eating , you can started with roti and moong dal. Don’t start any food without consultation from your doctor, to rule out chances of allergic reaction. They say you should start cow’s milk as late as possible as the infant's intestines are not mature enough to digest this milk and it would only make the child uncomfortable. Eggs, chicken and fish should be started after nine months, in consultation with your pediatrician.

But contrary to what I have mentioned above there is a new school of thought which discusses that a large population of children are developing nut allergies because peanuts are introduced only after the age of 3. But the new theory recommends that peanut in the paste form (whole peanut can be choking hazard) should be introduced as early as 6 months/as and when the baby is developmentally ready to accept solids. 

Studies have shown that babies who were given peanuts had lesser chances of developing peanut allergy versus kids who were not given peanut at all.  Exposing the child to peanuts earlier or amongst the first solids to begin with helps the baby gut in some way develops tolerance to peanuts. Just like kids whose parents are always sanitizing their environment are prone to more allergies versus kids who play with dirt. A lot of kids outgrow allergies as well because with age they develop tolerance to dust, pet dander, pollen etc.

 We need to understand the importance of nutrition for our kids. Our children’s minds are developing at a very fast rate and they need proper nutrition and not just empty calories. We apparently focus only on the outside, when we take them for soccer class, art class, math class and expect them to be A level students; we don’t focus on their internal requirements. Studies have shown that children who don’t consume nutritious meals have lower cognitive skills, fall sick more often at school, hence leading to lower attendance and grades. These days, kids’ diets are full of sugar and no nutritious benefits at all. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and yet a lot of children go to school without eating anything at all. 

Children’s taste buds will always be attracted to sugary processed and fat-filled junk, but as adults it is our responsibility to feed them what is good for them. Inculcating or teaching them to make a healthy choice at an early age helps them to make good educated choices when they are grown up as well. It is a sad state of affairs to see children with health issues like diabetes, obesity and blood pressure. All of this is due to lack of physical activity and an unhealthy diet. Children at this age need vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables, protein from lentils and egg, fish, chicken and good sources of carbohydrate from whole wheat , dalia, rice, sooji. They also need good sources of fat like omega-3 and 6 fatty acids for their rapidly growing brain (neurons rapidly multiply between the age of 0 to 5 years of age).

 We need to restrict their intake of processed foods and foods with empty calories. And we should avoid food with artificial colours for as long as possible. My son was an allergic baby and would have this allergic cough whenever there was a change in season, but monitoring and removing artificial color from his diet really helped. There are many substitutes available for foods which children like. You get jams which are made from real fruit called preserves, please avoid 'Kissan'-type jams, avoid tomato ketchup, and avoid chips and tetra-pack juices and aerated drinks. Fresh juices/fresh fruit is any day better. The best way you can avoid all of this is by not bringing it into your home, as also not consuming it yourself.

The market is filled with processed food and ready to eat type products but we need to refrain ourselves from feeding our kids all of this. It is filled with preservatives, artificial flavor and color. Even though these multinationals advertise that there food products as being healthy and natural – no tetra pack juice can compete with the goodness of real fruit. Please don’t fall into the trap of false advertising. Try to ensure that your children eat balanced home-cooked fresh food mostly, even if you eat out often avoid pizza’s, pasta etc. Children’s guts need a lot of fiber too. They need about 15-20 gms a day – good sources of fiber are fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

My son was very constipated when he was around two years old. The doctor advised me that I should feed him at least two bowls of fruits and vegetables and avoid processed food at all cost. That really helped him. Doctors recommend feeding all the fruits and vegetable of that season , don’t bother with giving them exotic imported fruit , there is a reason there is a fruit of the season and its loaded with all the nutrition your kid needs. Keep their diets as colourful as possible – atleast three colored vegetables/fruits a day. This will also ensure that your child doesn’t need a supplement if his or her diet is balanced. I do give my son a vitamin D and calcium supplement in consultation with the pediatrician once in a while as well as a multivitamin every 6 months.

We are generally bombarded with advice from relatives on how during their time they used to introduce solids at 4 months, water as soon as the baby was born and a top feed (formula milk) before going to bed so that the baby is full and does not wake up. I personally feel that none of this really holds true. There is scientific backing that you start solids at 6 months because babies have generally achieved the milestone of holding their necks upright which reduces their chances of choking on the food they eat, you don’t give water before 6 months because breast milk and formula milk are hydrating enough and at this stage of rapid growth they need a lot of nutrients and immunity building (babies double their weight by 6 months) and why would you want to dilute that with water? Lastly waking up every two hours at night is way of the baby saying “hi, I am doing alright”. This reduces the chances of sudden infant death syndrome and it is an established fact that feeding frequency also strengthens the bond between you and your baby. 

Some relatives will suggest following the tradition of giving the baby honey by an elder of the family but you shouldn’t because honey may be contaminated by clostridium botulism which causes food poisoning. You should wait till the age of one before giving them honey. Doctors recommend not giving your children gripe water but a lot of relatives recommend you do so to soothe the babies tummy. I did give my son Woodworths gripe water because nothing else was working and it definitely did help with reducing the discomfort in his tummy. I personally feel that you should take a call on what your child needs to be given. 

Firstly consult your doctor because he would have scientific backing to what your child should be given or not. You should read up on all the literature there is and then take a call on whether or not you should give your child that particular food. I blindly followed the pediatrician and would tell everyone that I need to check with the doctor first. A lot my relatives encourage that I give my child tea which I was against because it is known to interfere with absorption of calcium. Some would recommend giving the child almonds, honey and brandy, don’t do that either alcohol is not meant for children under the age of 18, it is known to cause brain damage, the same way you are not recommended to have alcohol during your pregnancy. 

Anytime my son would fuss over any food I would try and explain the nutritional benefits to him and surely some relatives would suggest that I could him some biscuits to eat to keep his tummy full. You can’t substitute a meal with biscuits/empty calories. Biscuit is a snack that too not a healthy one. It’s not that I deprive my child of junk, he does get to eat biscuits and pastries and all the sugary goodness but I am teaching him to make the right food choices. 

There are healthier food options out there. Also if you eat junk, your child will eat it as well. But that is one side of the story; relative’s advice can be really great as well. I have learnt a lot of delicious healthy recipes from family as well like making whole wheat pancakes, giving calcrea phos to kids when they are teething, techniques on how to make a fussy child eat.

My son at 6 months was a super fussy eater refusing to put anything in his mouth other than breastmilk. The only way we figured he would eat if we would distract him with a toy, switch on the television (which should be the last option) or someone had to put up an entertaining act for him to see. As he was introduced to more flavors and textures he gradually started accepting some food he did like. The purpose at this stage is to introduce them and train their tummies to accept solids. Like I mentioned before the basic source of nutrition remains breast milk/formula but we are teaching them to eat everything so that by the time they are a year old their basic source of nutrition is from solids.

You know you are a mom when instead of judging the mother of a screaming toddler, your just grateful that it’s not your kid - anon