Navigating solids at child care
If work requires you to be away from your baby for more than a few hours at a time, you’ll need to introduce a bottle as well as learn how to pump if you want to continue providing your breast milk. And as your baby approaches 4 months of age, you’ll also want to start thinking about how you want to introduce solids, and then get on the same page with your child care provider.
Yes, this is yet another thing to add to your plate at a time when you’re already juggling so much. The good news is that introducing solids is a gradual process, and it starts off slowly. This is less about adding significant amounts of food-based nutrition than it is about creating structures that support a foundation for healthy and happy eating habits.
How to tell when your baby is ready
Most babies are ready to start solids between four and six months of age. These are the main milestones to look for:
- Your baby has body control: To eat solids safely, babies need to be able to sit up, with obvious head, neck, and trunk control; risks of starting before your baby is ready include choking and indigestion.
- Your baby can swallow: Swallowing solids requires a different tongue motion than using a nipple; babies that push spoonfuls of puree out of their mouths with their tongues are likely not quite ready for solids, even if they enjoy the flavors.
- Your baby’s weight has doubled since birth: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a baby weighs twice as much as at birth (or at least 13 pounds) before beginning solids.
- You’re ready: If your provider wants to start your baby on solids before you feel ready, advocate for your own wishes. This is a personal choice that you make along with your pediatrician, and your child care provider should respect that.
Every child care provider approaches meal time differently. It can help to ask a few questions early on, even as you’re making your decision, to make sure you’ve found a good fit.
- Do they provide any meals or snacks—and if so, what, and at what ages?
- Do they heat up food? (If not, send food that is yummy cold, or that is warm in a thermos.)
- Do they keep food cold? (If not, you may need to pack it alongside ice packs.)
- Do they prescribe to a specific feeding approach? And will they follow your own?
- Do they do any food prep? (If not, avoid packing things like mashed bananas and avocados.)
What to offer your baby
There are a few things to consider when it comes to choosing your baby’s first foods.
- It’s generally recommended to introduce one new food at a time. This can help you watch for allergic reactions, as well as give your baby time to become familiar with a new flavor profile.
- If you want to keep things fresh, and save money, make baby food yourself—especially if you have the gear and inclination. (It doesn’t actually take much extra time or effort.) By buying a few small glass jars, you can bring them to your child care provider, then wash and reuse later.
- Focus on iron-rich foods like oats, multi-grains, and meats. Plant sources such as lentils, hemp seeds, and spinach are also great sources of iron, but should be paired with a source of vitamin C (like a squirt of lemon juice) to improve iron absorption.
- Be sure to incorporate healthy fats, which are crucial for development and growth (especially of the brain). Ideas include: carrots steamed and blended with olive oil, broccoli steamed and blended with unsalted butter, full-fat plain yogurt, baked salmon, and mashed avocado.
- Provide a range of fruits and veggies, which are loaded with micronutrients, fiber, and other good things for your baby’s growing body and brain. Try to mix up the produce you serve to ensure that your baby gets a wide variety of tastes, textures, colors, and antioxidants.
- Introduce sour, bitter, and even spicy foods during this food-curious stage. Babies have double the number of taste buds as adults, and are ready to explore a plethora of textures and flavors.
- Don’t be afraid to mix it up. New combinations of foods can be fun for your brand-new eater, who has no idea that your homemade blend of asparagus puree and applesauce is weird!
- Seek out local and seasonal foods. Even the highest-quality baby food sold at the best markets can feel processed in comparison to the local and seasonal produce already on your kitchen counter. Your concoctions will likely be more fresh and flavorful—and offer a lot more variety.
How to introduce solids—and get your child care provider on board
There isn’t one way to introduce your child to solids. With the guidance of your child’s pediatrician, you’ll figure out the right approach for you.
- The traditional route: This method starts with purees and gradually adds texture, with some lumps and thickness.
- The baby-led weaning route: This method skips purees, opting for soft finger foods that your child can grab without choking.
- The combination route: Sometimes called baby-led feeding, this method involves both finger foods and purees.
- If you find that you have a strong preference for how to feed your baby, discuss this with your child care provider to make sure that they’re on board and understand how to do it. Your provider is not a doctor, so follow the plan you and your pediatrician land on. If your provider is strict about certain rules—like only offering purees—then send purees, or stick to giving your baby solids at home.
- Make sure your child care provider has the necessary gear. There’s not as much as you might think—think high chair, spoon, cup, and bib—but if they don’t have what you want, you may need to provide it.
- Be the boss(ish). Your baby controls how much they eat, but you are in charge of what, when, where, and how food is offered, and your child care provider should help you here.
- Stay calm. Things are going to get messy, and while that may involve extra cleanup for you and your provider, it’s developmentally normal for your baby to get food everywhere.
- Keep trying. Your little one might love pureed carrots one day, then reject them the next. Babies may need to be introduced to food an average of 10 times before their taste buds acclimate. It’s up to you whether to keep introducing a rejected food at child care, or strictly at home.
- Be neutral. Babies can eat intuitively, making good dietary choices among their options, so ask your provider to help keep the environment low-pressure and trust that they’ll get what they need out of the options you provide.
When—and how often—to feed your baby solids
How often and when you should feed your baby solids depends on what works for you. That said, there are a few helpful tips to guide you.
- By the time your baby is 6 to 7 months old, aim to offer solids once or twice a day. The number of daytime breast or bottle feeds should stay the same at first, because the majority of your baby’s nutrition will still come from breast milk or formula.
- Offer solids 30 minutes after breast or bottle feeding, and at least two hours before bedtime. This means that your child care provider may only be involved with one meal a day, but should schedule that meal a half hour after giving a bottle.
- Offer two tablespoons per food group (vegetables and fruit, grains, dairy, and proteins) per year of age per meal. Your baby might not eat at all, and that’s fine—trust your little one’s intuition, keep offering variety, and try to keep food time calm and fun.
- If you’re making your own baby food, consider freezing it in silicone ice cube trays with lids. You can fill the trays with various purees, and the lid prevents freezer burn. Each cube is about the size of a tablespoon, so you can pop one out and pack it alongside your milk in the bag you leave with your child care provider.
- At about month 10, babies start developing flavor preferences and can become less interested in trying new foods. This is a phase, so keep experimenting and offering, and ask your child care provider to do the same.
You may have a lot of questions about food allergies, drinking water, constipation, and heavy metals and nitrates. Bottom line: No need to panic. There are dangers to be aware of, but this is overall a time of engaging exploration. You have a whole new world of flavors and textures to share with your baby.
Additional resources
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