European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse By Marian Burros. The new York times feeding babies their first solid food is no longer a competitive sport. Thirty years ago the main bragging topic among new mothers fathers mostly brought Home the Bacon was whether their Newborn ate Cereal at 6 weeks or earlier today no one recommends feeding solids to infants until they Are at least 4 months old. Once you know something about an infant s maturation process it is easy to understand Why food / to a 6week-old is ridiculous. V a a. Few people told new parents those things in the 60s. You did what the doctor your Mother and or or. Spock Quot Vytold you to . Today the amount of information available on How. When and what babies should eat is awesome. And new parents take it seriously a some say too seriously a turning child rearing into a scholarly project rather than a natural Loving process. A a a a v a but let s be realistic. For most people being a Parent does not come naturally. of child rearing is on the Job training. By the second child you. May get the hang of n. \. A a a a a a a a a a there is still some debate about what and when to feed babies but so much More is known that it is easier for parents to turn a deaf ear to grandma and make up their own minds or to supplement what their paediatrician tells them. A. -.a. A the most important thing experts say is listen to what your baby wants a and the baby has ways of letting you know a a a x / take matter of feeding Cereal to a 6-week-Oid. Ellyn Satter an expert in eating disorders and the author of child of mine Bull publishing co., 1986a subtitle is feeding with love and Good sense explains that until infants Are about 6 months old they can Only. Suckle. The ability to do More than move the Tongue backward and Forward develops slowly. To eat food the infant must develop enough muscle control to close the Mouth Over a spoon scrape the food from the spoon with the lips and move the food from the front to the Back of the Tongue. A a very Young infant without such control must be Semi reclining and fhe food must be very Runny and placed far Back on the Tongue so it just trickles Down. But experts agree that such Effort is usually unnecessary a As is feeding a baby Cereal from a bottle a because milk satisfies infants nutritional needs. Spoon feeding before a child is ready does not appear to accelerate the maturation process. The transition from breast milk or formula to solid foods can be done with a minimum of fuss said Satter who is a registered dietitian a if you Start solid foods late and Progress quickly to table babies Are ready to begin solids Satter explained when they can sit up and open their Mouths for them. Once Between 5 and 7 months they Are ready to Swallow semisolid foods without gagging or choking. A x Quot. Xxx children gag when they cannot Swallow vigorously or efficiently to get the food from the Back of the Tongue into the Pharynx Quot a a x one thing has not changed in 30 years the first solid a food is still Iron fortified baby Cereal mixed with breast. A ,.formula or whole milk. A Rice Cereal is generally preferred because it is the a Grain to which babies Are least Likely to be allergic. Iron fortification is important because 5-to-7-month-old babies will deplete their stored Iron unless they have Beer taking an Iron fortified formula or Iron drops. Sometimes other foods Are recommended As the first semisolid but they Are not nutritionally appropriate. A \ Yogurt cottage cheese and applesauce for example do not have enough Iron. A. A. A. A. A like adults babies have their own personalities. Some Are cautious and take longer to learn How to use a spoon others accept a new Challenge with gusto. A. A it is important that the Parent observe and respect the child a idiosyncrasies Quot Satter wrote. The Goat is for the baby to learn How to eat from a spoon. As the baby becomes at eating the. Cereal eventually consuming one third to one half cup the Cereal should be made stiffer and Umpier. The next step is diversification of flavors and textures a usually when a baby is Between 6 and 8 months old. Fruits and vegetables follow Cereal. A. Once the process of adding new foods to the diet begins Only one new food should be offered at a time in Small amounts every two. Or three Days to make certain it does not cause an allergy. A a whether a child goes from Cereal to pureed foods or Fork mashed Lumpy foods is an individual matter some children prefer to concentrate on new tastes. They Are not yet ready to Deal with smooth is. Are eager both for new tastes and new textures Page 14 a the stars and stripes its no piece of cake fruits and vegetables that Are cooked soft at Home can be made either smooth or Lumpy it is at the fruit and vegetable stage that the question of baby food comes up. Satter believes baby food products. Are nutritionally sound but generally unnecessary. X x a Quot they done to teach chewing skills,1�?T she said. Her Quot comments about Home prepared baby food Are no More positive Quot a lot of unnecessary work a potential source of a a a x. \ a a parents will find the question of homemade Vav commercial irrelevant if they follow batters advice. Quot the infant who still needs the pure eing does no to need the fruits and vegetables Quot she wrote. A and the infant who is ready for fruits and vegetables does t need pure eing Quot the somewhat Umpier Junior foods Are a bit better than the Standard baby food in jars she said Quot but they Are still pretty thin and smooth compared to table food Quot / Satter acknowledged that there Are some situations. When jarred baby food is needed Lor a premature baby a who is particularly cautious and slower to try new things for a baby born with physical problems for the Normal baby when travelling when the baby has to go to a childcare setting or when the family meal salad for example is inappropriate for a baby for such occasions organic baby food is available if you Are concerned about pesticides a before children move on to Finger foods they must move through the pureed or Lumpy food stage to learn to control the location of the food in their Mouths and to move their jaws up and Down to Mash it. A a a babies learn to control swallowing and to work Over Quot the food in the Mouth before sending it Down. Part of the learning process includes some gagging it is nothing to. Worry about but the baby should be watched closely. Between .7 and 10 months babies Are ready for pieces of soft food such As cooked carrots or banana they Are becoming More adept at using the Tongue. They also learn to bite off pieces of food and to begin to curve their lips around a cup to drink with less Spring. At the same time manual dexterity increases so instead of grasping objects with the fingers across the a Palm called Palmar grasp babies begin to use their h. Thumbs and fingers first the pads and lat a the tips. Because of the increase in manual. Dexterity and the maturation of chewing and swallowing it is appropriate to offer cold cereals children a crackers and pieces of. Bread. At this stage children learn to Transfer food from the Center of the Mouth to one Side or the other. Between 8 and 12 months if All has gone normally. Childre rare ready for modified adult food. And toward the end of the first year a increasingly interested in what is at the family dinner and wants to be part of it. Satter parents ignore babies very obvious signs that they want to join the family begging at the table grabbing for the parents plates making Little noises pointing. They wait for some arbitrary Date or for children to eat neatly Well forget stand be prepared for a mess As the child gets used to Finger foods which Satter and most babies define As Quot anything that hangs together Long enough to get it from Highchair tray to Mouth a a that includes mashed potatoes at this Point in a child a development the nutritional value of solid food is of primary importance bottle and breast feedings Are often Given milk consumption May fall off markedly so it is time to introduce other protein sources Beans eggs poultry fish and meat. Poultry and fish can be cooked until they Are very tender but meat needs to be chopped or Cut very Fine and May need to be moistened. By 10 to 12 months most babies Wilt sit in a Highchair eating family food and drinking from a cup. Satters advice boils Down to this feeding babies is not complicated but there is so much conflicting information that it is hard for new parents to be confident that babies Are in the Best position to know what they need. Just keep in mind that the rules for feeding solids to infants Are not carved in Stone. V a Friday april 26, ig91 the stars and strikes a face Quot s
