Love the new rules that have come out about feeding babies! Makes so much more sense to me as a dietitian. Moms have so much more flexibility with their child’s first bites. Glad the research finally caught up! Curious about the change?

Real Food, Baby! Forget the white rice cereal. Start with anything you want. Okay, let me back up a little bit. I don’t want anyone feeding their baby fries or chips for their babies first food. Start with any soft, nutritious food like avocado, banana, cooked sweet potato, or any healthy food you are eating for dinner. Mash it up and add a little breast milk to thin it if you need to. I truly mean anything nutritious: meats, vegetables, oatmeal, fruits, mixed together, or by themselves. Just make sure you start when your baby is really interested in what you are eating. You will probably notice around 6 months.

No more Airplane! If your baby is looking bored or loses interest that means, “Stop.” No more, “one more bite.” We don’t want to encourage our babies to overeat. But do include your baby at the dinner table from that first bite. Your baby will enjoy socializing, and it will help make eating a pleasant experience.

Bland is not for Babies! Add variety and spice now, not later. You have a very special window of introducing foods until baby starts to walk. Take advantage and introduce your child to every vegetable and ethnic food you can think of. Back in the day, it wouldn’t be good if toddlers wandered off and picked berries or leaves that were dangerous. So toddlers are wired to be suspicious of foods.

Don’t Wait! You no longer have to wait 3-5 days in between foods. The new truth: feed your kids new foods rapidly, and it will lead to more adventurous, happy eaters. Don’t delay foods for fear of allergies either. There is no good evidence that delaying any food beyond 6 months to decrease allergy risk – and there is some evidence that the opposite might be true. You might want to be a little more cautious if your baby is on antibiotics or has a tummy bug.

Never Give Up! It takes an average of 6-10 tries before a baby likes an unfamiliar bitter or sour food. (Think veggies.) This rule is not new, but deserves repeating since studies show that 94% of parents give up on foods before six tries, and only 1 or 2 out of 100 would try 10 times. If your baby doesn’t like peas today, try again soon, and again after that!

I think that these new rules make feeding your baby so much easier! It takes away the stress (well at least some of it) of feeding your baby by giving parents more flexibility. You will still want to stay away from these foods while your child is under one: honey and cow’s milk.

Let me know what you think. Do you like the idea of having so much freedom feeding your infant or did you like the old thinking of “scheduled” foods?