Solids
Introduction
Options are baby-led weaning vs. feeding different pureed foods one at a time. No major benefits for either strategy, so do what works best for you. What we do know:
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Introducing common allergens (milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish) early on reduces risk that your kid will be allergic to them. Can introduce as early as 4 months - make sure to keep giving them the food regularly! See p. 199 of Cribsheet for more on this.
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Offer kid a wide variety of foods and keep offering them even if kid rejects them at first (takes time for kid to get used to something new). As they get a little older, don’t freak out if they don’t eat as much as you expect (kids suddenly get pickier around age 2), and keep offering them new and varied foods.
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If they won’t eat the new foods, don’t replace the foods with something else that they do like or will eat.
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Don’t use threats or rewards to coerce them to eat; works better if you say things like, “Try your red rice,” or “Tofu is a lot like chicken nuggets so you might like it.”
Links and Resources
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Solid Starts - great database for how and when to introduce various foods to babies
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Great Reddit Thread on introducing veggies and such (e.g. order and effects) - providing veg as first food increases acceptance later on, according to one study! Some evidence indicates only veggies for first month increases later acceptance as well.
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This website was recommended on forums for baby food “recipes” and tips
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On iron (Babies 6 months and older need 11mg a day - chicken liver is one of the best sources, and really cheap; Weetabix cereal is also fortified with iron)
Common Allergens
Peanuts ✔️
Introduce with thinned out (with water or breast milk) peanut butter.
Eggs ✔️
Introduce soft-boiled, scrambled, or in omelet strips.
Fish
Introduce as flaked cooked fish (bones removed!) or make fish cakes from no-salt-added canned fish.
Tree Nuts ✔️
Introduce with thinned out nut butter.
Dairy ✔️
Introduce as yogurt, cottage cheese, soft cheese, or melted cheese. Make sure to keep it full-fat! Keep dairy limited to food (not drinking milk) for the first year, because you don't want baby to be consuming it in large quantities, because it's nutritionally incomplete compared to breast milk or formula.
Shellfish
Yuck. Shelled and de-veined shrimp, puréed crab or clams, or crab cakes.
Sesame ✔️
Introduce with thinned out tahini.
Soy
Introduce as soft tofu, puréed edamame, or puréed tempeh.
Wheat ✔️
Soft pasta, cereal, porridges. Soft bread, homemade pancakes or other baked, salt-free goods.
Foods Arthur Has Tasted
All the different solids he's had so far! Underlined foods are common allergens.
Cauliflower
Puréed with breast milk. He has mixed feelings about this one.
Parsnip
In a store-bought baby food purée (just parsnip + water). He had mixed feelings about this at first, but grew to love it.
Spinach
Boiled in water and then chopped. So far, it hasn't taken.
Sweet Potato
Boiled and mashed. This is definitely one of his favorites by a wide margin - he loves it!
Tree Nuts
Homemade nut butter made of roasted almonds + hazelnuts + walnuts + Brazil nuts, thinned with water. Also the oil from a jar of pecan butter. He seemed to like both ok, though not as much as peanut butter.
Ghee
As a cooking fat. Doesn't seem to impact his feelings about the food that's cooked in it.
Peanut Butter
Watered-down. He seems to enjoy it quite a bit!
Tomato
He gradually warmed up to roasted tomato, but it still doesn't seem to be his favorite. Raw tomato was not a hit.
Pumpkin
In the form of jarred ready-made baby food purée. After initial hesitation, he liked this one quite a bit!
Tahini
Mixed with water. He made a lot of faces while eating it, but did eat all the spoons I offered him.
Garlic
In infused olive oil. He seemed to like it just fine, the little weirdo, although given how much of the stuff his mom eats, it kind of makes sense.
Egg
Both hard-boiled and scrambled. He's not a fan of hard-boiled egg whites, but likes the yolk and scrambled version a lot (probably his favorite food)
Olive oil
Not much to report on Arthur's thoughts on this - he's only had eggs cooked in it.
Kefir
Whole milk and homemade. This one he barely even hesitated with, but seemed to love!
Various Spices
Cinnamon, turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano, cumin - don't seem to impact how he feels about the food they're seasoned with!
Carrots
Mashed from a jar. He seemed to really like these!
Beans
White beans + lupin beans, puréed with oat milk and Parmesan. He seemed to like it ok!
Cheese
Powdered Parmesan, puréed with beans and oat milk.
Oat Milk
Mixed with bean purée. Hard to tell what he thought of it, because I don't think it impacted the flavor much.
Green Onion
Puréed with cauliflower and kefir. Hard to say if it impacted what he thought of the purée.
Weetabix
Mashed into a porridge with breast milk. He seemed to like it quite a bit!
Nutritional Yeast
Mixed with scrambled eggs. Didn't seem to impact his enjoyment of the eggs!
Toasted Sesame Oil
Mixed with parsnip purée. He seemed to be a little less into the purée with the oil mixed in, but still liked it!
Rice Porridge
Mix made with rice and milk powders, reconstituted with breast milk. He really liked this one!
Cottage Cheese
He was not into this one, unfortunately. We'll keep trying
Beef
As part of a baby food "spaghetti bolognese" purée. He did like the purée quite a bit!
Avocado
Puréed with lime juice. He seemed to really like it!
Lentils
Red lentils, cooked to a very mushy consistency with bay leaves. It took him a couple of tries to get into them, but he definitely got there!
Soy yogurt
He seemed to really enjoy this one!
Fennel
As part of a baby food purée. He liked the purée itself quite a bit!
Zucchini
As part of a ready-made baby food purée. He liked the purée
Soy yogurt
He seemed to really enjoy this one!
Fennel
As part of a baby food purée. He liked the purée itself quite a bit!
Solid Recipes to Try
Intriguing recipes from across the web. There are a bunch at Little Foodies that look fun!
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Ingredients: sweet potato + spices + flax egg + chickpeas + chickpea flour + nooch + olive oil + optional avocado Greek yogurt sauce