Transition from Exclusive Breastfeeding to Solids - Part 1

“Food is the nourishment of the soul and body!” – Unknown (from Internet)

Food is an integral part of my household. In fact, we happily spend a significant amount of our resources on planning, executing and relishing daily meals :-). So when Anu was ready to start solids, after six months of exclusive breastfeeding, I was super excited!

Confusion before starting solids

I was a bit lost/confused at the start of Anu’s solids journey … Many ‘what,’ ‘which’ and ‘how’ clouded my thoughts: Which food to introduce first? What is the right portion of food to serve a baby? How many meals in a day when starting solids? Which utensils and cutlery are safe for cooking and feeding baby? How to cook baby food?

Before solids, while breastfeeding I fed on demand, so there was no doubt about the quantity of breast milk or frequency of nursing. Also, feeding on demand was unanimously supported/encouraged by my GYN, my mother, Anu’s paediatrician, and peers (from prenatal class). But unlike breastfeeding, (and this is a collective experience of many fellow first-time mommies too) when it comes to introducing solids, opinions/guidelines of paediatricians, elders, peers vary by many degrees. For example, some suggested adding one meal in the daily diet every month vs. others who suggested 3-4 meals in a day by the end of one month of solids. Few suggested starting with fruits vs. few others suggested watery daal & cooked rice. Many suggested pureed food vs. few who encouraged medium-sized chunks. Some suggested adding salt/sugar/spices from early on while others advised waiting till one year of age. Suggestion to introduce animal milk for drinking varied from 9-12 months. Such varied opinions did confuse me a bit.

Guidelines I followed for solids

After my discussions about introducing solids with Anu’s paediatrician, elders in the family and few experienced fellow moms, I created my broad guideline to introduce solids to Anu. I tailored the following instructions (for self). The underlying intent was that without disrupting our daily cooking and mealtime routine, Anu got to taste a variety of food items from early on and had balanced meals:

Introduce one meal a month
Continue to feed breast milk on demand till one year of age
Introduce fruits, veggies, grains/pulses, dairy products, eggs and lean meat in that order
Use fresh, seasonal and preferably locally sourced food items
On advice of paediatrician: Give iron and calcium-rich food instead of supplements
Baby’s meal preparation should align with our routine food preparation
Avoid force-feeding
Avoid salt, sugar, animal milk, chilli or hot spices till one year of age
Avoid plastic cutlery
Avoid distractions during mealtime

I was more comfortable with the idea of adding one meal a month, for a gradual weaning from breast milk, rather than to add 3-4 meals in the first month of solids itself.

Also, I preferred to introduce fruits and veggies first (instead of traditional daal/rice water) since they are easy to digest and provide a variety of taste and texture. Doctors highly recommend a protein-rich diet for growth and development of a baby. While breast milk is an excellent (and highly recommended) source of protein for infants, it is recommended to include protein-rich food items in baby’s diet, as baby grows or weaned off. Hence plan was to gradually introduce protein-rich food items (pulses, dairy products, lean meat) after baby accepted fruits & veggies.

Even before Anu was born, I mostly followed ‘fresh, seasonal and local food’ mantra when grocery shopping. So it was the default criteria for choosing baby food ingredients as well :-).

When it comes to preparing baby food, many moms are very resourceful and creative. I admire their patience and creativity (and occasionally borrow their recipes too)! But I was aware that in the long run, I cannot sustain separate cooking for baby and rest of us on a daily basis. So I decided to align baby’s meal preparation with the usual meal preparation at home (simple, wholesome Marathi meal), as soon as possible. I was a bit apprehensive though if Anu would accept it. But in these words of Julia Child, I consoled/reassured myself: “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces—just good food from fresh ingredients” :-).

How to decide what the appropriate meal portion for a baby is? When breastfeeding on demand, the little one decided how much to drink, so I thought its best for Anu to determine how much to eat as well (and not to force feed any particular quantity of solids).

On the advice of our paediatrician, till one year of age, we refrained from adding salt, sugar, hot spices and animal milk to baby’s meals. We did add ajwain (carom), hing (asafoetida) and jeera (cumin) to her food, which are known to aid digestion and help to boost immunity.

Should parents employ audio/visual distractions while feeding their baby? Many experts may recommend otherwise. But babies just move constantly and are easily distracted (by design?). So hard work and a lot of patience may be required (on the part of the parents) to inculcate (in their baby) the habit of eating without distractions. But I believe that eating food with no (or minimum) distractions is a healthy habit which benefits both the child and parents in the long run. And this belief stems from observing the eating habits of kids of friends & family over the past few years. One peculiar thing I noticed was that kids who ate with minimum distractions (no smart devices, toys, books, etc.) finished their meals with minimum fuss. Also, they were more open to eating a variety of foods and seemed to enjoy the food on the plate rather than just go through the motion of chewing and gulping. So I planned to wear my patience cloak and try to feed Anu with minimum distractions :-).

Celebrating start of solids journey

I earnestly wanted to celebrate the moment when Anu tasted solids for the first time! After all, she would begin a lifelong (and a hopefully loving) relationship with food with that first morsel of solids! We celebrated the occasion by performing the traditional Annaprashan ceremony (in Sanskrit: Anna – grain, Prashan – initiation) in the presence of close family members. Anu had a teaspoon of mashed banana and few grains of cooked rice with ‘Daal-paani’ (since Annaprashan ceremony is about the introduction of grain, we fed her rice as per ritual).

To know about the actual transition, from adding new meals, to introducing various food items, cooking baby’s meals, attempts at self feeding and weaning, click on the link below.

Part 2 – Details: adding meals, introducing different food items, cooking baby food, self feeding and weaning

To read about the key Learnings (from Anu’s solids journey so far) and adaptations (we did to make meals fuss free and stress free), click the link below: