**Sutter County WIC-Introducing Solids**

**Who:** WIC parents and their babies

**Where:** SCHD Auditorium, Richland Outreach, Live Oak Outreach

**When:** Designated class times (20-30 minutes in length)

**What:** Listen to appropriate methods of introducing solids to reduce
allergy occurrences, choking and accidental food poisoning.

**What for: (by the end of the class participants will have)**

1.  Listened to appropriate window period for introducing solids

2.  Listened to appropriate first foods

3.  Listened to what foods not to feed before 6 months and one year

4.  Listened to signs that baby is ready for solids

5.  Listed what foods baby may choke on

**How:** PowerPoint presentation and using appropriate props. Props
include baby food jars, baby food grinder and WIC approved infant cereal
boxes.

**Handouts:** *Making Your Own Baby Food & Feeding Your Baby Birth to 8
months, Homemade Baby food "recipe"*

Slide 1

Hello, my name is \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. In today's class we will be
discussing introducing your baby to solids. The information contained in
this class are general recommendations. If you have any doubts about
feeding your baby, please call your baby's doctor.

Slide 2

Does anyone know what signs say a baby is ready to have his first solid
food? Pause 5 seconds for discussion to start. Here are the usual signs
that your baby is ready for his first food. (Go over list). What are
your questions? Pause 5 seconds for any discussion.

Slide 3

Does anyone know if there are there any dangers to feeding too early?
Pause 5 seconds for any discussion to start. There are some concerns
about feeding too early such as triggering food allergies. Feeding
before the 4th month has also been linked to developing diabetes later
in life according to the American Medical Association. You may also want
to think about feeding too early as wasting the cereal you feed. Babies
usually can not digest the cereal that is fed so no nutrition is being
gained from the food given. Up until the 6th month, babies can get all
the necessary nutrients from breast milk or formula. What are your
questions? Pause 5 seconds for any discussion to start.

Slide 4

Does anyone know if there are any problems with beginning solids too
late? Pause 5 seconds. Feeding too late isn't dangerous, but it can make
getting your baby started on solids challenging and difficult. Starting
feeding after the 6th month and beyond may prove to be difficult at
best. Baby may reject solids preferring to use the familiar route of
getting nutrition...the breast or the bottle. Recently, the American
Medical Association stated that introducing food after the 7th month may
be linked to diabetes later in life as well. So make sure to start
solids when your baby shows readiness in the window period of 4-6
months. What are your questions?

Slide 5

Baby's first food should be single grain rice cereal specially made for
babies. Why do you think single grain rice cereal is recommended as the
first food to introduce? Pause 5 seconds for discussion. Rice cereal is
easy to digest, has low risk of the baby being allergic to it and is
easy to swallow. (Show box for example) Do not put cereal in the bottle
this poses a serious risk of choking the baby. The cereal should be
fortified with iron. Starting around 4-6 months babies need to be
getting iron in their diets, especially breastfed babies. Babies on
formula that is iron fortified are getting iron in every bottle. You may
also try baby oatmeal and barley cereals. Do not buy the cereal with
fruit added. What are your questions? Pause 5 seconds for any questions.

Slide 6

What food is best to serve after cereal has been introduced and there
aren't any feeding problems or allergy? Pause 5 seconds for any
discussion. The usual recommendation for the next food groups to
introduce is vegetables and fruits around age 5-7 months. Start with
pureed vegetables and later introduce fruits smoothly pureed. Why do you
think vegetables are best to introduce first? Pause 3-5 seconds for
discussion. The reason why vegetables are introduced first is babies are
more likely to reject foods that are less sweet like vegetables if
something sweet has been introduced first.

Slide 7

Add one new single ingredient food at a time to baby's diet. Why do you
think this is a good idea? Pause 5 seconds for any discussion. Each new
food that is introduced should be given exclusively for 3-5 days while
watching for any allergic reactions. Allergic reactions include: rash on
skin or diaper rash, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, gas, wheezing or
runny nose. If the baby is allergic to a food, they may grow out of it.
It is okay to go ahead and the offending food again in a month or so.

Slide 8

The most common foods that can cause allergy are: eggs, wheat products,
nuts, chocolate, cow's milk, strawberries, citrus and shellfish. Do not
give whole egg or cow's milk before one year of age. It is okay to
introduce wheat if other grains are tolerated. Introduce the other foods
listed here after one year with caution and observe for allergic
reaction.

Slide 9

What age do you think it is okay to start giving protein foods like
meat? Pause 5 seconds for discussion to begin. Around 7 or 8 months when
your baby is able to grasp and hold onto things, start giving baby some
protein foods. Appropriate foods for baby include pureed meats, pureed
and strained beans, cottage cheese, mashed tofu and plain yogurt.
Cooked, mashed egg yolk is okay to serve, but egg white can be more of
an allergy trigger so wait until one year to serve whole egg or egg
whites. What are your questions? Pause 5 seconds for questions.

Slide 10

Homemade baby food is easy to make, inexpensive and easy on the
environment. All you need is a baby food grinder or home blender, cooked
food that is appropriate for baby's age and development and some liquid
to thin food to proper consistency. Food can be thinned with water,
breast milk or formula. Baby doesn't need spice, salt, sugar or anything
else added to the food! It is important to make single ingredient baby
food to watch for allergies. Extra quantities of pureed foods can be
frozen in small freezer containers or in ice cube trays for later use.
Baby food can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months. What are your
questions? Pause for 5 seconds.

Slide 11

It is important to not serve homemade carrots, spinach, beets, turnips
or collard greens before baby is 6 months of age. These vegetables may
have high levels of nitrates which can be harmful to your baby. Problems
with nitrates are rare, but can be serious. Nitrates are not a concern
when purchasing commercial baby food or when making baby food from
commercially canned foods.

Slide 12

Any ideas what to watch out for when purchasing store bought or
commercial baby food? Pause 5 seconds for ideas. First choose foods that
are single ingredient not in combination with another food. This is so
you can watch for allergies as new foods are introduced. Watch out for
fillers in the food such as: modified food starch or tapioca. These do
not provide nutrition for your baby. Avoid foods that list water as the
first ingredient on the ingredients list. These foods are watered down
and don't offer as much nutrition as foods listing water further down in
the ingredient list. Another important thing to know about jar baby food
is to avoid feeding baby directly from the jar. Baby's saliva can spoil
the food which may cause diarrhea. Use a clean spoon to take food from
the jar into a small feeding bowl. This way if baby does not finish the
jar of food it can be saved for up to 2 days in the refrigerator to be
fed from again. You should not expect baby to eat an entire jar of food
at feeding. Your baby will let you know when she if full by turning her
head, closing her mouth tightly or batting the spoon away. Do not force
your baby to eat. Overeating is a learned behavior and we want to avoid
teaching that behavior by forcing eating.

Slide 13

The next two slides are about things not healthy to give to your baby.
Do not give your baby artificial sweetener like Equal or NutraSweet.
These are for reducing calories which you should never do for a baby. Do
not give anything that is unpasteurized. Unpastuerized products are raw
and may contain dangerous bacteria that can make baby very sick or even
die. Check the label for the word pasteurized when buying juices and
dairy products like milk or cheese. Do not give caffeine containing
drinks they can make your baby nervous and interfere with calcium
absorption. Examples of drinks and foods that contain caffeine are
chocolate, coffee, tea and soda. Do not give herbal teas these are
dangerous for babies and may cause severe illness or disability. There
has been a case where imported herbal tea actually contained cocaine.
This is unusual, but a good of example of why not to give herbal teas to
your baby. Do not give alcohol, not even as the popular home remedy for
teething pain. Alcohol is poison to babies. Do not give any vitamin
supplement unless prescribed by baby's doctor. Vitamin supplements that
are NOT prescribed by baby's doctor can make baby very sick or even die.
Do not give sushi or raw fish. Your baby can get stomach parasites and
get very sick.

Slide 14

Before we talk about anything else today I want to make sure and impress
upon you the importance of not giving a baby less than one year of age
honey. It can be deadly due to spores that honey can contain. (Honey may
contain botulism spores which can paralyze muscles making it impossible
to breath. One of the first signs of botulism in a baby is
constipation.) After one year of age honey is okay because the digestive
system is more fully developed. Examples of foods that contain honey are
honey nut cheerios or graham crackers made with honey. What are your
questions? Pause 5 seconds for any questions.

Slide 15

So when do you think baby can move onto to some foods that are not
pureed? Pause 5 seconds for any ideas. Signs that baby is ready for some
foods that are not pureed are the baby can sit up well without support
and is using teeth and/or gums to chew. This occurs usually around the
7^th^ month. If baby is doing these things it is okay to go ahead and
mash foods with a fork or finely chop soft foods like cooked chicken,
vegetables or fruit. Small cubes of toast or bread are fine as well. Do
a test run of finely chopped foods with your baby and see if he can chew
and swallow finely chopped foods when signs of readiness occur. What are
your questions? Pause 5 seconds for questions.

Slide 16

Babies can choke very easily on certain foods. If you have an idea of
what foods are easy to choke on, please write it on your chalkboard or
say it out loud. Okay, great! Do not give your baby the following foods
due to choking hazard: nuts, hot dogs, chips, grapes, raisins, raw
vegetables, and peanut butter.

Slide 17

Is it okay to give juice before one year of age? Pause 5 seconds for any
discussion.

It is a fact that juice can have more calories per ounce than sodas!
This is just to make you aware that juices are supply a lot of calories.
Sodas definitely are not appropriate to give a baby. Giving juice
starting at the 6^th^ month is fine as long as the juice is served
diluted in half with water. Limit servings of juice to 2 ounces per day
at this age to avoid problems with tummy aches, diarrhea and tooth
decay. What are your questions? Pause 5 seconds.

Slide 18

Let's summarize what we have gone over today.

Who wants to tell us what signs say a baby is ready to start solids?
Wait for volunteer.

Who wants to tell us what foods may cause allergy?

Who wants to tell us why honey is dangerous for your baby?

Okay, last one. Who wants to tell us what foods are easy to choke for
children?

Slide 19

Great! Thank you for participating and thank you for attending today's
class. Your vouchers are at the back table. Does anyone have any
comments about today's presentation style? Thanks!

Sutter County WIC March 2004