The First Six Months & Decision to Start Solids

Basic Nutrition in the First Six Months

At the risk of sounding like every other book out there: breast feed.
Breast milk is the perfect diet for your child for the first six months of life and should be continued if at all possible as a compliment to other foods for at least twelve months….or as long as you and your baby are both happy. 
The more you learn about breast milk, the more impressed you will be.  It can keep an infant thriving for months, boost the immune system, get rid of warts, and cure eye infections, not to mention rip the fat off of mom and help her recover from childbirth.  It is also one less thing to pack when taking baby out, which alone is an excellent reason to breast feed for as long as possible. 

The first couple of months are not easy; with a tiny stomach, baby is feeding constantly, but gradually you will find a rhythm that works for both of you, at which point it becomes more manageable (translation: you learn how to be a human cow AND get your evening glass of wine). 

Starting Solids

Deciding when to start your child on “solid” foods (in the loosest sense of the word), has been made into an agonizing decision, much like many others in parenting because everyone has an opinion on when and what and no two sources give the same information.   Many sources now agree that six months is the optimal time for starting solids whether because of a diminished chance of an allergic reaction, loss of the tongue-thrust reflex, or gaining the ability to sit up, and most sources agree that you should not wait too much beyond six months.  Then the question becomes, what to feed first and how many days does one wait to test for an allergic reaction?
Regardless of the age at which you start solids, the golden rule is isolate the new food (i.e. only serve one NEW food at a time) and serve it for three to four days straight, as takes multiple exposures for an allergy to develop . This is not to say that your child must live off of only one thing.  The rule is to simply not serve multiple new foods, so that if there is a reaction, the offending food can easily be determined.
You should also serve the new food for lunch or breakfast, so that if there is a reaction, it would not occur at night.  I also did not start more allergy-prone foods on Friday’s or the weekend, as any reaction would mean a trip to a strange clinic or ER versus my doctor’s office but these decisions should be made based upon your comfort level.