Breast-milk is the best source of nourishment for the first few months of life.
It provides the infant with all the nutrients required for growth and development, it provides immunity, protects against food allergies, is economical and it is always sterile and safe.
Breast-milk should be the food of choice for all babies.
However, there comes a stage in the infant's life when breast-milk alone is not enough to sustain the baby's rapid growth and development, and the introduction of solids becomes necessary.
When should solids be introduced?
Every baby is an individual, therefore age alone should not be used as the only indicator of readiness for solids.
Once the baby has doubled its birth weight, the nutritional requirements are higher and breastmilk alone is not sufficient. Most babies double their birth weight around four to six months.
At four to six months, the baby's neuromuscular co-ordination has developed sufficiently and the gut and kidneys have matured to cope with a more diverse diet.
Development of neuromuscular co-ordination
By four months, most infants can maintain their posture if supported sitting in a chair. They can also turn their head in response to food or movement.
The new-born sucks at food and spits out food placed on the anterior part of the tongue. This is called the extrusion reflex.
At four to six months, the extrusion reflex is relaxed and the infant can move food from the front to the back of the tongue.
Maturation of kidneys
A new-born infant has limited renal capacity to conserve fluid to excrete renal solute load (nitrogenous waste from the breakdown of food).
By four months renal function has matured considerably and the infant's kidneys can handle the extra renal solute load from a mixed diet.
Development of gut
The secretion of gastric, intestinal and pancreatic enzymes is not fully developed in the young infant.
Salivary amylase, for example, rises to adult levels at three months of age and pancreatic amylase remains low until about six months of age. The absorption of nutrients becomes more efficient with age.
Which solids to start with?
First feeding stage:
An ideal starter food is one that is easily digestible and hypo-allergenic. Many infants are given cereals or porridge as their first solid food.
These should be given for three to four days to isolate any allergic reactions. Only plain vegetables or fruit should be given at this stage and again, one variety for three to four days.
The vegetables that are most suitable for this feeding stage are butternut, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peas, gem squash and potatoes.
Fruits that are appropriate are bananas, peaches, apples and pawpaw. The fruit and vegetables should be fresh.
Vegetables such as potatoes can be cooked with their skin and peeled afterwards to retain most nutrients.
Vegetables and fruit should not be left standing in water and must be cooked in small amounts of water.
The addition of margarine and oils, sugar and salt should be discouraged, unless necessary. The food should then be pureed or sieved together with the cooking water so as to preserve nutrients.
Second feeding stage :
At this stage the baby needs a variety of foods with challenging tastes and textures.
The baby who can keep thin purees in the mouth is now ready for thicker purees. A variety of foods such as mixed vegetables, fruit and yogurts, meat dinners and pudding can be given to the baby.
Third feeding stage:
At this feeding stage, which occurs around six to seven months, the infant is ready for more complex tastes and textures.
Coarser textured foods should be introduced. The baby's food should be mashed with a fork because the baby needs to learn to chew.
Fourth feeding stage:
Babies can eat selected table foods from around a year. The food should not be highly seasoned.
Vegetables must be cooked in the proper way to retain nutrients. Toddlers need small frequent meals due to their small stomach capacity.
Healthy snacks such as pieces of fruit, cheese, yoghurt and bread with peanut butter should be given between meals. - Purity