Solid food introduction for Jing Yih

I just started Jing Yih with rice cereal some time ago! I know there are other food around that I could let Jing Yih try as his first food, but I have chosen rice cereal (instant type) for simple reasons:

1. Its easy and fast to prepare;
2. My efforts won’t go wasted if Jing Yih didn’t take on his semi-solid well;
3. In my opinion, the first few tries are just practise session for him to get used to taking food from the spoon as well as practise swallowing, so I save my efforts for later!

Anyway, in the following days or weeks I will start Jing Yih on other food items and follow the 4-day allergy test rule. Am getting so excited already! I have listed down which vegetable or fruit to start off with! I will start with vegetable first before fruits with the exception of my No.1 on the list =)

Which is…….

Avocado (Yes! it’s a fruit)
Many have shared with me that avocado is a great first food to introduce to babies, so this will be first on my list after rice cereal. Its benefits includes:
– Excellent source of unsaturated fatty acids
– High proportion of “good” fat
– Easy to digest
– Contain lots of healthy nutrients and minerals for a growing baby (i.e Vit A & C, Folate, Potassium, Iron, Magnesium & Calcium
– Iron needs Vitamin C for better absorption and this wonder fruit has both in her smooth and creamy package!
– If baby couldn’t finish it, I can always enjoy it myself! I love avocado!
– This can also be a good excuse to make my hubby eat avocados! muhahahahah!

#Potassium gives you healthy blood pressure and heart function
#Iron is something you would want to pay attention to because baby’s stored up iron from birth would have depleted by 6 months
#Calcium is for strong bones and teeth, I was told that if a baby takes in a lot of calcium, their milk teeth will grow faster!
#Magnesium helps support strong immune system
#Folate aids in the production and maintenance of new cells, so it’s very important for baby’s growth!

Squash (Just another name for pumpkin)
There is winter squash and summer squash in which I don’t really know how to tell which is which..apparently not all squash are suitable as a baby’s first food, so I guess the butternut squash will be what I will be using. It’s a winter squash and its also a wonderful first food for babies!
– Loaded with Vitamin A and Folate and also high in calcium
– Contain some Iron in it as well!

Sweet Potatoes
Why are all these food my favourite?? Another excellent first food for babies! Read that it was one of the most complete food too as its loaded with vitamins and minerals!
– Excellent source of Vitamin A & C, Folate,
– Good source of magnesium, potassium and also Calcium
– Its sweet and baby likes sweet food right? so they will be more receptive to this new taste! some may be concern with baby picking up a sweet tooth by introducing sweet foods to them, so I hope introducing Jing Yih sweet potatoes following avocados and squash will not make him a sweet tooth later on =)

Pear (Western Type)
Pear is not something I thought I would introduce to Jing Yih so soon until I read that:
– It has Iron and Vitamin C packaged together too, making iron absorption better =) Other vitamins include A & B
– Contain the mineral potassium
– It’s also a good source of fiber which can help constipation especially when some babies start to have some constipation after started solid.

Banana
An exceptionally easy to prepare food for baby!
– Known for their high level of potassium and fiber ( I actually learn that bananas have potassium from a movie, but I forgot what’s the name of that movie already)
– Contains Vitamin C, B6 & B2 and many other nutrients
– It helps to protect against stomach ulcers too!
– Its sweet and baby will probably like it a lot! but let’s not to give too much bananas else baby may have constipation!
– It’s so easy to take bananas with you while travelling too huh? since it comes with its own packaging =)

#Vitamin B6 is good for brain development
#Vitamin B2 helps to keep our eyes, skin and nervous system healthy

Papaya
This is not so common for a baby’s first food which is why papaya is listed last here.
– It’s loaded with Vitamin C. Since I don’t think I can introduce Jing Yih to citrus food that are known to contain lots of vitamin C, papaya would be a good alternative to get those vitamin C in! Plus, it comes with Iron too! so it helps with the Iron absorption again!
– Of course it also has other nutrients and minerals such as Vitamin A & E, Folic acid and Potassium
– It’s also high in fiber

That’s about the first few food item I would like to introduce to Jing Yih. I hope he will take them well! Yogurt (homemade ones) will be next so that I can then mixed and match some of these food items already introduced!

Disclaimer: Whatever stated on the benefits of these food are based on my own findings, reading and of course sharing by friends.

You are welcomed to comment / share more information on these first food too!

First experience with Solid Food

Lately, I realised Jing Yih didn’t just wake up in the middle of the night because he couldn’t flip himself back but rather that he was hungry. Our usual tactics to get him to fall back to sleep took longer than usual, so my guess is that its time to start solid food for him. He could also be going through another round of growth spurt because he now finishes his bottle rather quick!

I have previously tried to feed Jing Yih rice cereal about 2 weeks ago but it wasn’t a very encouraging event. Mainly because Jing Yih didn’t hold his head up and I can see that he wasn’t too comfortable on the high chair, neither was he comfortable on the rocker too (he wanted to flip over even when placed on the rocker). So I drop the solid food idea completely until a few days ago…

What happened was, Mum and Brother (aka Jing Yih’s naughty uncle) came over for lunch (mummy’s cooking of coz!) and the naughty uncle took a piece of savoury mushroom and place it near Jing Yih’s nose. While Jing Yih’s eye was still fixed on the mushroom, he then ATE IT (with exaggeration), MUNCH IT (also with exaggeration) and ACT as if the mushroom was the world’s most delicious food!

Jing Yih paused for a while before wailing!! Haha! To that my brother concluded that his brain was working hard and seriously thinking about OUR food!

I think that does the trick! the next day after his 11.30am milk feed, we gave Jing Yih some rice cereal and he finished whatever I prepared. Not a lot though, haha! just 1/4 teaspoon before adding some formula.. but he did start to show more interest now. So I guess it helps to do a little tempting a few days before weaning and also to have Jing Yih watch us eat during our meals time so that he could visualise the act of eating (something also encouraged by the book ‘On becoming babywise 2’). If your baby of at least 6 months is still not showing any interest in your food, why wait? make him interested by tempting him a little using his sense of sight and smell!