Starting Solids – Important First Foods for Baby

By Brooke Bulloch, RD

The information below is based on recommendations for healthy, full-term infants and should not replace advice provided by your health care team/provider.

Starting your baby on solid foods is an exciting time. But this milestone can also bring a lot of uncertainty too. As a Registered Dietitian and mom, a common question I get asked is, “which foods do we offer baby first?”

Signs of Readiness

To start, it’s important to recognize when your baby is developmentally ready for solid food. Health Canada and the Canadian Pediatric Society recommend starting solids around six months of age. By 6 months, an infant shows signs of readiness for solids, including:

• Sitting up with minimal supports
• Ability to lean forward while sitting
• Good head and neck control
• Picking up food or an infant spoon with the palmar grasp and bringing it to their own mouth
• Loss of the tongue-thrust reflex (ie. when baby can hold food in their mouth without immediately pushing it out with their tongue)
• Ability to demonstrate when they don’t want food (e.g. by leaning back or turning their head)

Other signs that your baby is ready for solid food are related to physiological needs, including:

• By 6 months of age, an infant’s iron stores from birth become depleted
• Breast milk or formula are no longer sufficient to meet all of an older infant’s nutrient needs, particularly for iron
• Iron requirements increase from 0.27 mg per day to 11 mg per day by 7 months of age
• Iron plays a key role in an infant’s continued growth and development

Baby’s First Foods

First foods are referred to as complimentary feedings because breast milk or formula remain an infant’s primary source of energy and overall nutrition. Iron-rich foods are the foundation of your baby’s first foods. There are two types of iron:

• Heme iron found in:
  • Cooked meat – pork, beef or lamb;
  • Cooked, boneless and low mercury fish – salmon, haddock, or cod
  • Low sodium canned fish – sardines or boneless salmon
  • Cooked poultry – chicken or turkey (darker meat contains more iron)

• Non-heme iron found in:
  • Cooked or canned (low sodium) pulses – lentils, beans, or chickpeas
  • Tofu
  • Iron-fortified infant cereal
  • Eggs

Both iron sources play an important role in a baby’s overall nutrition status. However, combining iron-rich foods with vitamin C-rich foods will help baby’s body absorb more non-heme iron. So, the second important first food for baby is fruit and vegetables in no particular order.

Tips for Getting Started

• Start slow and work up to offering your baby solid food, twice daily.
• When planning “meals” for baby, combine an iron-rich food with a vitamin C-rich food.
• Offer mashed and/or soft, non-choking textures appropriate for baby’s age.
• Practice responsive feeding – this is where the care provider respectfully follows the infant’s hunger and fullness cues. This feeding relationship helps infants and children to develop into competent eaters.

Winning Combinations for Baby

• Ground pork, turkey, or beef meatballs (log-shaped kebabs easy to grasp) + mashed cooked carrots
• Ground pork + apple stew
• Mashed black beans + avocado on toast strips
• Ground pork or beef + tomato sauce
• Blended Extra firm tofu + blueberries
• Iron fortified infant cereal + banana strips
• Mild lentil curry + mashed potatoes and green peas

Pork Puree

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 mL) cooked pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2 inch chunks and cooled
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) plain water

Directions

1. Place pork chunks in a blender or food processor. Puree, adding a bit of water at a time until a smooth consistency is reached.
2. Serve one portion right away and pour the leftovers into an ice cube tray or food storage containers. Store in a fridge for a day, or in a freezer for up to a month.

Food Safety: Make sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling food. Use clean utensils, counters and containers.

Pork and Apple Puree

Ingredients

• 1 medium apple, cored, peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) pork tenderloin, fat removed and diced
• 2 cups (500 mL) water

Directions

1. In a saucepan bring apple, pork and water to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is no longer pink and cooked through. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. With a slotted spoon, remove apple and pork and place in a blender or food processor. Reserve cooking liquid.
3. Puree mixture, adding a bit of the reserved cooking liquid at a time until desired consistency is reached.
4. Serve one portion right away and pour the leftovers into an ice cube tray or food storage containers. Store in a fridge for a day, or in a freezer for up to a month.

Food Safety: Make sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling food. Use clean utensils, counters and containers.

Pork, Potato & Carrots

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) pork tenderloin, fat removed and diced
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cups (750 mL) water

Directions

1. In a saucepan bring pork, potato, carrots and water to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. With a slotted spoon, remove pork, potato and carrot and place in a blender or food processor. Reserve cooking liquid.
3. Puree mixture, adding a bit of the reserved cooking liquid at a time until desired consistency is reached.
4. Serve one portion right away and pour the leftovers into an ice cube tray or food storage containers. Store in a fridge for a day, or in a freezer for up to a month.

Food Safety: Make sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling food. Use clean utensils, counters and containers.

Learn more about why pork is a healthy choice especially as one of your baby’s first foods.