by updated on November 7, 2014 
The day your baby starts his sixth month, he/she is ready for semi-solid balanced diet. I know it is a bit controversial. Some pediatricians ask NPs to start early, while there are some who wait till the end of 6th month. Well, it really depends on your baby’s weight and digestion. Ideally, anywhere after 4 months is pretty safe though consult the doctor before getting your baby’s taste buds exposed to anything beyond breast milk or formula milk.
Starting with semi-solid diet is a relief for quite a few NPs and pretty painful for others. As for us, it was a bit of a mixed bag experience. Being an exclusively breastfed child, Harshal took a week to 10 days getting used to all the new things that were going inside his little tummy. I must admit that for us it was a little difficult. Initially, he would throw up almost everything. But then I discovered a few tricks and here is what I would love to share with you. Some might work and a few others might fail you but don’t give up. That’s the key. Don’t lose patience and just don’t force feed your child!
1. Mash things up and feed them fresh: Be it fruity pulp (banana, apple, pear etc.), vegetable puree (potato, pumpkin), just serve them fresh. Moreover, TCT recommends not giving cereal in a bottle. It can cause some serious choking.
2. Introduce a variety of baby food items: Again, some of you might disagree, but trust me, it works. Infact it is best to undergo difficulties at the start than regret later. How I went about it was: bits and bobs of fruits for breakfast, a little portion of veggies for lunch and a few spoons of rice water/cereal at night. Initially, your baby might pass stool often (or perhaps the motion could be loose-ish). He/she might throw-up as well. All this usually happens within 4-to-6 hours of having fed the child. But all this shouldn’t bother you much. If this persists for long, then it could be due to an allergic reaction which should be spotted and addressed to.
3. Don’t give-up: Make yourself strong and don’t pity your child. He/she might make faces and wince after tasting it. It’s fine. It doesn’t mean that they hate the taste. Offer atleast 10 times before ruling it out. A little extra sugar and salt should be avoided but if there isn’t much you can do then hmmm, OK! Go ahead.
4. Distract: Sing his/her favorite rhyme, play toon, wear attractive colors/patterns (neon, pink, orange, red, my list shall go on), make funny faces. There is so much you can do. I mean really!
Oh! And don’t forget: – To sterilize all the baby feeding utensils. – Wash them well before & after each feed. – Keep a washcloth handy and wrap a bib around your baby neck.
TCT’s piece of advice: Don’t treat baby feeding as a task. Enjoy the experience with your little one. Rejoice the entire act. Make it interesting each time.
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Filed under: Recipes Tagged: 6 month old baby, 9 months old baby, baby care after birth, baby feeding, breast milk, children doctor, healthy food recipes for kids, recipes for kids
