The 4 day wait rule and "Forbidden" foods in the first year

The 4-day wait rule
One of the most important things to take note of when feeding baby semisolids is the four-day wait rule.

This means that you introduce only 1 new food at a time in small amounts for four days. If your baby has an allergic reaction, you’d know at once what the culprit is. Symptoms typically occur within 24 hours though.

You can start combining foods once baby has consumed those foods without problem.

"Forbidden" foods
Here is a list of "forbidden" foods for the first year. The list is not exhaustive :)

Honey
Nuts
Egg white
Seafood
Citrus foods
Whole grapes (choking hazard)
Chocolate
Cow's milk (as a drink) - unless given the go-ahead by the doctor

When to start feeding semisolids

Well, it’s exciting to start your precious little baby on semisolids and I’m sure just thinking about it gets every mummy raring to go!




One of the most important things before starting to feed the baby semisolids is to first of all decide when to start! :)

Here is a list of cues to watch out for to check if your baby’s indeed ready (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/readyforsolids.htm):



Loss of tongue-thrust reflex - This allows baby to drink and swallow liquids with ease; with the tongue-thrust reflex still present, baby may simply drink in liquid purees or push the food back out. According to Dr. Jim Sears, in the first four months the tongue thrust reflex protects the infant against choking. When any unusual substance is placed on the tongue, it automatically protrudes outward rather than back. Between four and six months this reflex gradually diminishes, giving the glob of cereal a fighting chance of making it from the tongue to the tummy



Ability to let you know she is full from a "meal" with signs such as turning away from the bottle or breast. This is important so that baby is able to self-regulate the amount of food being eaten. This helps stop baby from accidentally overeating as parents may continue to feed baby thinking that she is still hungry.



Ability to sit up and hold head up unassisted



Interest in your food (we tend to disagree with this one as when a baby reaches the age of 4-6 months, he is interested in putting everything in his mouth.)



Doubling of birth weight



Frequently waking in the middle of the night when a solid sleeping pattern had been established. This may not be the best indicator that your baby is ready for solids. Please keep in mind that a growth spurt will occur between 3-4 months of age, 6-7 months of age and also 9-10 months of age. Baby may also be waking due to an illness or teething.



For Alicia, she was exclusively breastfed till 6 months before I started her on semisolids. Most paediatricians today will recommend that baby starts preferably after 6 months as this is when baby’s digestive system is more developed.

I highly recommend that mummies purchase this book and start reading up about feeding prior to actual feeding. There's loads of information in the book and since it has recipes from 6mths through toddlerhood, it's really a wise investment! The only drawback of this book is probably the lack of pictures. Other than that, it's got tons of recipes! And honestly, there isn't a real need for pictures of the food because I find the instructions on how to prepare the food clear and easy to follow.














Another book to consider is:




Annabel Karmel's famous in the field of baby food so it's really a purchase you can keep in mind!










And if you're more into introducing foods that would suit the Asian palate, you can purchase:

My friend recommended this book to me and I have a copy of this myself. The colours of the photos of the food are invigorating and the (not too complicated) recipes should get you raring to go off to the (super)market to make your purchases and to the kitchen! :)

Tools for feeding

Many mummies tend to think that there are a lot of tools needed to prepare food for baby but really, there aren’t that many things! Here’s the list of what I prepared prior to starting my adventure with Alicia:


• baby cubes (for freezing puree)
This is something that I shouldn't have bought on hindsight. Freezing puree in icecube trays with cover is a much more viable and economical alternative (I read from a forum that Daiso sells good icecube trays with cover as the cover is tight so it lowers the chances of contamination). Besides, when she started to eat more, these cubes weren't enough anymore. After some time, these cubes became little tupperwares for defrosting icecubes of puree and for storing snacks on the go... pretty expensive for normal tupperware usage... but some people swear by them so it's really up to your own preference. Anyway, after Alicia started to like her veggies cooked in stock, I started to use these cubes to store small amounts of stock so that I can thaw what I need for the day.

You can refer to
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/FreezePage.htm
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/baby-food-freezing-chart.htm and
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/heatandthawhomemadebabyfood.htm
for information about freezing and thawing purees.


• food processor

Regarding the food processor, I must say that it was a mistake to have not simply bought a small blender instead. The food processor isn’t good enough for mincing up the harder food so I always had to do it manually. I didn’t want to use my blender for Alicia’s food as I use my blender for making rempah and I was paranoid that maybe that might contaminate her food… hehe…

Well, so if I could have a chance to go back in time, I’d probably have bought a normal blender.
A highly recommended blender by some mummies is this:
















• Tollyjoy food maker set

This food maker set was a gift from my piano teacher and I must say that it came in really handy when my food processor didn’t quite manage the job as well as I wanted it to. :) This set also includes a plate, bowl and spoon so you don’t need to run out to get a separate set to feed your baby!

And yes, this is all that you need!