Here are some further tips and advice from Leanner Cooper, nutritionist.

If you have a questions on nutrition during pregnancy, for baby or kids – Ask Leanne! Email contact@metromum.com.au

What are the signs that baby is ready to start solids? And how long is too long to BF exclusively? Natalie B.

Starting ahead of time can be disappointing and confusing for parents and impact on baby’s acceptance of solids when he or she is ready. Gagging or vomiting on solids that baby does not have the skills to cope with, in short, can be a recipe for disaster. So starting at the right time for your baby is the best start.

So when is the right time? Some of the priority signs of readiness for solids relate to baby’s physical development. The ability to take in, prepare and swallow food requires the development of certain muscles in the mouth, jaw and neck. Eating is second nature to us, we really don’t stop to think just how complex eating is; it is also intricately connected to respiration (breathing). Have you ever tried to swallow food with your chin on your chest or while holding your breath? It’s not so easy! In order to swallow, baby needs to have good head control, plus their tongue extrusion reflex needs to subside (that’s why some babies end up with more food down their chin than in their mouth). The whole process is quite a departure from the sucking and swallowing of fluid they have perfected over so many months. And lastly, if baby has been making chomping motions this has been good practice for chewing so that is a good sign to watch out for too.  What Do I Feed My Baby book covers all of this and much more in greater detail, don’t forget to grab your copy from the Metro Mum !

Cheers, Leanne (Nutritionist and Author, What Do I Feed My Baby)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I’ve been told by nutritionists that babies don’t need rice cereal for iron & it’s processed = bad. The early childhood centre says otherwise? Also should you start with vegies THEN introduce fruit later? Amanda M

A baby has stores of iron gained in utero and by about 6 months these begin to run quite low. If your bub is already on absorbable iron such as meat or something similar then perhaps you can avoid iron fortified rice cereal, but otherwise it is a good idea.

Now it is high Gi and bland so to improve both I recommend it as the 3rd (or so) starter food. So you might start with avocado for three days, then sweet potato for the next three and if that is fine then you could trial rice cereal (reactions can occur to rice also) by mixing it into one or both of the previous foods.

Hope that helps

Cheers, Leanne (Nutritionist and Author, What Do I Feed My Baby)

For further tips and detailed help with questions like What Do I Feed My Baby? grab a copy of Leanne’s book. It has plenty of easy to follow and hands-on advice. I loved the food recipes and ideas (I would never have thought of half of these myself!)

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