Starting Solid Food

Hi Abbie!

In between finger-puppet shows and dramatic board book readings, I've been stealing as much time as I can spare researching first-foods for my little guy. He's only three and a half months now, so I still have a little time, but my husband, a fellow food-lover, is itching to get him started on the early side of the usual recommendations (4-6 months). I've found information ranging from the standard U.S. nutritionist's spiel of rice cereal to the local Women's Center's advice that "there is no evidence of any benefit to starting with cereals; you can pick from a variety of fruits or vegetables." My child's nurse recommended we follow cereal with vegetables because the sweetness of fruit might ruin any hope of creating a future vegetable-lover. I've discovered that Canada and the UK both consider meat a good early choice after cereal (to my husbands delight), while the U.S. actively discourages its introduction until later. Also, it seems that even though information on first-foods from around the world can be scarce, many cultures seem to incorporate solid foods earlier than we do here. What is one to do?

I know one resounding concern about introducing solids too early is that it could interfere with the established breast-feeding routine. In our case, unfortunately, my baby is bottle-fed a soy formula, so we have no concerns in that regard. Another major issue seems to be the increased likelihood of allergies with an earlier introduction of foods. I am having a hard time sorting out if this is true for all foods or just foods likely to cause a problem anyway (like shellfish, eggs, peanuts, etc.). Even this philosophy seems fraught with controversy with some studies contending that withholding the potential allergens in early life makes one more susceptible to adverse reactions later.

From what I have found, introducing first-foods one at a time is the favored approach (i.e. no curry until the baby has individually tasted every single component separately and exclusively for five to seven days at a time with no reaction). I can see how this would work out initially, like now we'll start carrots, carrots, carrots, carrots, carrots, but I am already sick of typing "carrots," let alone feeding it to my little new food explorer...bah. I think of my husband, born in Taiwan and most likely fed some sort of fish soup with a dozen ingredients at what we, in the U.S., would consider an insanely early age (*trust me*), and I resent having to feel like I would be a big rule-breaker if I choose to do things at a faster pace with more variety than the established "recommended guidelines" allow. In the paper "Infant Feeding: Can We Spice It Up a Bit," (Blumber, S., Journal of the American Dietetic Association , Volume 106 , Issue 4 , pp 504 - 505), Margaret Begany, a neonatal dietitian at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia says, "I believe it is fairly common in other cultures to introduce a wide variety of foods, including spicy foods, much earlier than we do in the United States." The same paper quotes Melinda Johnson, a spokesperson for the ADA, as saying "infants of parents from countries such as India, China, South America, and the Caribbean have been exposed to more spices than many of their American counterparts." I guess this is a topic for us to revisit a little later, but I already anticipate some concerns...

Jimmy and I are leaning towards waiting until the four-month mark and starting with squash, since it's local, seasonal, affordable, and delicious. I would love to hear how you started with your child and the thought process behind it.

Thanks!
-Marjorie