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Feeding a newborn is fairly straight forward.
But once they hit six months, it can be tough to keep track of the do’s and don’ts. This year, Health Canada changed its recommendations; and some of those changes might surprise you.
At the six-month mark, most babies are ready for their first solid food. And typical baby foods aren’t your only option.
Lindsay Zalot, registered dietician, Hamilton Public Health: “You can offer food of more of a semi-solid texture. So that can be mashed, lumpy, small pieces, finger foods. That’s really giving your baby an active part in the feeding process as well.”
Iron is important. And believe it or not, meat and alternatives like chicken and tofu are great choices.
Health Canada has also changed its recommendations for high allergy risk foods, like nuts and wheat.
Lindsay Zalot: “We do recommend waiting two days after you’ve introduced that food and then you can see if your baby’s had a reaction. And you know which foods caused it.”
Feeding your baby isn’t just about nutrition. It’s also about developing manners and motor skills.
The sippy cup is a thing of the past. You can actually go straight from breast feeding to an open cup. It teaches a baby to use their jaw and mouth in a different way instead of the sucking that they’re already used to.
If you’re up for a new experience as well, you can prepare your baby’s food from scratch.
Megan Kidder is a new mom: “Takes a couple minutes. We’ll get it all ready for the week and she likes to watch and thinks she’s a part of it. So it’s fun.”
It’s easy: Combine a quarter cup of fully cooked food with a tablespoon of water or milk and puree it in a food processor.
Mashing with a fork works for softer items. It’s an easy way to make inexpensive food without added salt or sugar.
Kim Grimard, new mother: “I didn’t realise how simple it was and how simple the tools need to be to make baby food. So I’m pretty excited to get started.”
Before your baby starts solids at six months, Health Canada recommends feeding only breast milk. It provides antibodies that help protect your baby from sickness. There is so much information and so many choices for every stage of feeding. you can find some on these helpful links:
