If there is anything that our modern culture gets totally wrong, it’s how to feed babies and properly introduce solid foods. Pediatricians, dieticians, and other “experts” are quick to recommend that the perfect first food for babies at about the age of 4-6 months is rice cereal.
Not only is this advice completely misguided, it is also extremely harmful to the long term health of the child. Such advice contributes greatly to the epidemic of fat toddlers and the growing childhood obesity crisis.
Rice cereal is not a healthy first food for babies
Rice cereal is an extremely high glycemic food. This means that it spikes the blood sugar rapidly. It also contains ample amounts of double sugar (disaccharide) molecules, which are extremely hard for an immature digestive system to digest. The small intestine of a baby mostly produces only one carbohydrate enzyme, lactase, for digestion of the lactose in milk. It produces little to no amylase, the enzyme needed for grain digestion.
Interestingly, avoidance of allergies is one of the reasons cited by pediatricians for using rice cereal as the first food! While rice may be gluten free, it is by no means disaccharide free. Thus, it can contribute to the development of allergies and other autoimmune disorders just the same as a gluten containing cereal such as wheat or spelt. This is why going “gluten free” does not solve digestive ailments in the majority of children with autoimmune issues linked to grain allergies.
This approach may reduce symptoms somewhat, but it does not solve the problem entirely. The disaccharide molecule is still present in high amounts in gluten free grains. A similarly hard to digest starch molecule is present in grain substitutes such as potato flour, arrowroot, bean flours, etc.
Rice Cereal Now, Weight Issues Later?
Why then, is rice cereal so very popular as a first food to feed babies? One reason is that it is so readily accepted by the baby (who wouldn’t like a food that spikes the blood sugar? It is a bit of a “high” after all) and it fills them up like a lead brick leading to longer and more frequent periods of sleeping and more passive behavior in general. Be aware that there are still some misinformed doctors that advise mothers of babies that do not sleep well to introduce rice cereal as early as 3 months old – sometimes right into the baby bottle if the tongue thrust reflex hasn’t yet disappeared preventing the baby from taking food off a spoon! This is a recipe for childhood weight problems if I’ve ever heard one.
If your baby zonks out right after eating on a frequent basis, this is a major clue that what the child has just eaten was not easily digested (this goes for breastfeeding too .. a poor diet that is not digested well by the breastfeeding Mother will result in toxins in her breastmilk which will have an opiate like effect on the child).
Dr. McBride’s book mentioned above discusses this huge issue of toxins from undigested food and gut pathogens in the breastmilk as well. The same goes for adults, by the way. If you get sleepy after eating, it’s because what you just ate isn’t getting handled very well by your gut. The body is basically compensating for the brick in your stomach by putting you to sleep so that a sufficient amount of energy can be diverted to digestion.
Even Health Canada recognizes the dangers of cereal as a first food for babies and recommends against it.
So What is the Right First Food for Babies?
A baby’s digestive system is much better equipped to handle fats and proteins than carbohydrates. For this reason, a wonderful first food for babies is a soft boiled egg yolk from a pastured hen. Take care to only use the yolk and not the egg white which contains difficult to digest proteins. For my own children, I started giving a taste of a soft boiled egg yolk from my own plate starting at about 4-6 months old. Just a taste! If the child is completely uninterested, then try again in a week or two.
If the child likes the little taste that you put on her tongue or lip, then give her two tastes the next day and three tastes the next day, gradually building up to the entire egg yolk. Never force the child to eat. Remember that egg yolk is an extremely rich food and force feeding any rich food can cause the child to vomit.
Benefits of Egg Yolk for Babies
Egg yolk from pastured chickens contain ample amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and natural cholesterol which are critical to a child’s mental development and may be lacking in breastmilk depending on the quality of the mother’s diet. Children who receive sufficient omega 3 fats in their diet tend to speak clearly and understand verbal direction from the parents at a very early age.
I just went back and looked at my children’s baby books and all 3 of them (even the boys) spoke short sentences by 15-17 months of age. First words (Mama or Dada) occurred around 7 months. While these sentences were very simple (“Get that”, “Don’t want that”, “More of this”) I have no doubt that getting ample omega-3 fats from their diet played a big part in their ease of communicating at an early age. The pronunciation was clear enough to be understood even by those outside the family too.
At 6 Months of Age
At about 6 months of age, grate a bit of raw, grassfed beef or chicken liver into the warm egg yolk for baby to eat. This mimics the traditional practice of African mothers who would chew raw liver and then give small amounts to their babies as a first food.
Make sure that the raw liver is frozen for a minimum of 14 days as recommended by the USDA to eliminate any risk of parasites. Mashed banana is also a wonderful carbohydrate to add around this time. Banana digests very easily due to the copious amounts of amylase present. When the enzyme is present in the food, there is no need for baby’s small intestine to produce it herself.
If you can’t source quality raw liver in your area, desiccated liver powder can be used instead.
At Age 10 Months
At the age of 10 months or so, add pureed meats, fruits and vegetables. Introduce one at a time to reduce any chance of a reaction. Best also to avoid high starch veggies like potatoes and sweet potato. These veggies contain very complex starch molecules. They are much more difficult to digest for baby than non-starchy vegetables. Take the time to make your babyfood at home with organic ingredients, and mash the veggies withgrassfed butter.
It is worth the effort! Organic jarred baby food is not only overpriced. It is microwaved, watered down and contains no healthy fats to facilitate absorption.
Consumption of veggies with a bit of healthy fat like butter increases mineral absorption tremendously! You can freeze your homemade baby food in ice cube trays. A quick thaw in a small sauce pan (not the microwave!) makes for a fast and nutritious meal.
Soups made with homemade broth rank as one of the most nutritious foods for babies at this age. The gelatin in the homemade broth is protective against any intestinal bugs. It facilitates digestion too so that baby absorbs as many nutrients as possible.
When Should Grains be Introduced?
It’s a good idea to delay introduction of grain based foods and starchy vegetables for as long as possible. Grains are the hardest foods to digest of all.
Some experts advise that a child pass his/her second birthday before eating these foods. Whatever you decide, it is wise to forgo them until well after the first birthday. Even then, the grains should be properly prepared. This means they are either sprouted, sour leavened or soaked to ensure maximum digestibility. This careful preparation breaks down some of the hard to digest starches, gluten and anti-nutrients such as phytic acid.
It will take every ounce of your will power to keep the grain based foods out of your child’s mouth until well after her first birthday. In fact, the longer you can delay, the better. Teething biscuits, cheerios, crackers, and bread are all favorite foods for moms to feed as soon as the child can sit up in a high chair and grab from a plate. The first thing most parents give a baby at a restaurant is bread from the bread basket.
Babies may love it, but don’t do it!
Resist the temptation to use these foods as a pacifier. Commit to offering only truly nourishing fare at such a young age. The time will come soon enough when your child will have more control over his/her food choices. Wisely use this time of complete control to make sure every calorie baby eats is nutrient dense and easily digested!
Skip the Fruit Juice!
On a final note, whatever you do, skip the fruit juice! Fruit juice from the store, even if organic, is just sugar water. All the nutrition, enzymes and probiotics has been pasteurized away. It just spikes the blood sugar and increase the risk of obesity.
Juice also kills a child’s appetite for hours, even a day or two. Many a Mom has told me that when she took away the fruit juice, within a few days, a picky eater suddenly started eating!
The one exception would be freshly pressed juice diluted with some filtered water. Fresh fruit juice is full of enzymes and nutrition and would be an acceptable drink for baby on occasion. This is acceptable after age 10 months or so.
Still unsure where to start? This video on how to prepare the best first food for baby can help too!
Bambi, there comes a point, LONG before the age of 2, where Baby switches from nursing quietly in the sling while Mama eats with her other hand (with enough practice, one can even handle chopsticks this way) to grabbing the food on Mama's plate and stuffing it into his or her mouth. That's when it's time to start feeding them regular food in addition to nursing. With both of my kids, this happened at about 6 months–right around the same time they became able to sit up in a non-reclining wooden high chair without propping.
I’m sorry, but just because a baby can grab food off a plate, doesn’t mean that they are ready to eat it. Babies grab EVERYTHING! And everything goes straight to their little mouths to suck on. This includes anything that is within their reach. I have just never understood the argument you have. The majority of babies will get everything they need from breast milk. If the mother has a good diet. (That is not necessarily defined by only eating raw, organic foods either…)
This posted this morning on the WAPF Chapterleader discussion board from Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation. I appreciate your feedback, Sally!
"Excellent article. I like the way you introduce the egg yolk. A key
reason for giving egg yolk is Choline." Sally
Hi Bambi, yes, I would introduce food even if the baby is nursing full time because the vast majority of Moms do not have a good enough diet to supply all the baby needs past about 6 months. Table food is fine (I fed my babies soft boiled egg yolk from my own plate) but only if the table food consists of what the baby should be eating in the first place (meat, nonstarchy veggies cooked in butter, non citrus fruits). I prefer to puree the food as it is so much easier for the baby to digest as they can't chew very well until almost 2 years old when they have some molars and food that is not chewed well contributes to pathogenic activity in the gut. I weaned my first 2 children at age 2 (parent led) as I did not want to be pregnant and nursing as I thought it would possibly take nutrition away from the growing fetus and I just didn't want to take any chances with that. My third weaned herself at about 3 1/2.
I have to disagree with your statement that moms cant provide enough nutrition in their breastmilk past six months. I breastfed twins with no solids till 7 months, and i had to really entice them to eat solids even then. they were not interested and were growing well, never sick etc.
I also disagree. I exclusively breastfed my daughter until 10 months and then introduced solids very slowly. She was and is one of the healthiest kids I know.
I wanted to mention it is perfectly safe for a well nourished mother to nurse through pregnancy. It is also safe for a well nourished mother to nurse both an infant and a toddler.
Agreed. I breastfed my twins exclusively for 9 months before introducing avocados and bananas. They were doing great!
hi sarah, nonstarchy veggies is a big surprise to me, i have visited a lot of real foodie mom’s sites and as they also suggest egg yolks, liver, fish eggs etc instead of rice cereal, they also promote sweet potatoes, carrots and pumpkins, why do you not suggest it?
I will disagree as well! It has always been food for fun before 1! There is no food that can replace the nutrition of breast milk! Babies have a virgin gut, which means it is open directly to the blood stream till 6-12 months! This is for easy and fast absorption of fats and nutrients. the amount of food baby would eat before a year would NEVER benefit baby more then the fats, calories and nutrients in breast milk. My children have not eaten first foods being avocado (because of the healthy fats) and sweet potato till 11-18 months and have always been super healthy and chunky. You should be reminding moms to continue on a whole food prenatal supplement and to not exercise of be concerned with weight loss till after baby is weaned. I have nursed while pregnant and tandem nursed while pregnant. I can assure you that all of us were fine! I got my prenatals and extra calories. By you saying babies should be eating these things to early is no different then the dr’s saying it trying to “supplement” nutrition instead of teaching good eating habits and the things mama needs in her diet while nursing. Eggs are EXTREEMLY allergenic and more so since vaccines came out, I would never give eggs till proly after 2 years or more if at all. Healthy fats like coconut full fat milk/cream and avocado and greens and fruits all fresh are the best most nutrient dense foods available! Eating your nutrients through a third source, through an animal is silly. Eating things raw is the best way to get the enzymes for easy digestion! We need enzymes in our diet. You CAN NOT get proper nutrition without enough raw foods daily. Even little oens who can’t chew or might choke on say Kale can get it through a smoothie. Also you do not mention that eating foods to soon can cause allergies due to the virgin gut! That babies born via C-section do not have all the good gut flora since they did not pass and gain flora from mama. Also that the American Academy of Pediatrics now firmly says that NO foods should be given till 6 months of age and breastmilk or formula (they are still learning lol) should be babies main source of food till a year. You also did not mention that the reason baby cereal was invented is to introduce iron to babies. When formula was pushed and said to be better then breast milk in the 50’s babies got low iron from not being breastfed so they cam with this great idea that they would feed rice cereal fortified with iron…BUT it NEVER WORKED!!!! Sadly it backfired but of course manufactures wouldn’t say that! This article could of been WAY better with more in it! Just cause the person writes that she gave egg yolks and 4-6 months makes it healthy right…so we all should do it right….haha, I think you ought to stick to the logistics and how babies gut works and what it needs not supplementing due to poor diets, and what she does!
Unless you can chew, regurgitate, chew again, regurgitate, chew again and then pass your food through three stomachs…you are not capable of breaking down raw food for optimal digestion. I used to think raw was best too and did my best to eat everything raw. Then I found out my thyroid was misbehaving and started to do more research into this topic of raw food. Turns out, we’re not ruminants therefore for optimal digestion our food must be slightly broken down in order for us to digest it properly. Not to mention the fact that most people do not have the strong digestive systems to do the kind of work that it would take to break down and assimilate raw anything.
Why would you introduce any table food at all if the baby is nursing full time? Why wouldn't you continue nursing until the child weans itself naturally?
Great blog, Sarah, and so dear to my heart. I would put grass-fed/pastured lamb and chicken livers (as well as lamb broth) up there on the list as well. Even more important, keep your baby at the breast until 2yrs old. Consider rearranging your priorities and finances to stay home with your babies/kids indefinitely. You will never regret it. 🙂
I am so glad I got to meet you on Sunday. This post is so helpful and answered all of my questions. Thanks for the shout out 🙂
I run a reflux website ) and completely concur. The first thing the doctor does is advise to add rice cereal to the bottle and suddenly the baby isn't spitting up as much but is constipated and has horrible gastric distress then the mother who tried to pump in order to have something in a bottle to add the rice cereal to switches to non-allergenic formula and discontinues pumping.
The one thing I would add to this is any eggs given to a child that young should be from chickens that are not fed corn or soy and should be organic. Non organic feeds are almost entirely GM corn or soy which I believe is part of the reason for the rise in autoimmune disorders as well. All we eat is food made from GM corn or soy or food that was fed GM corn or soy and is therefore GM corn or soy.
If you are pregnant the best thing you can do is switch entirely to organic foods and get your own chickens so that by the time the baby comes your chickens are laying and second nature for you to care for.
Fantastic input. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Fantastic, Amy Lee! Your daughter will thank you on bended knee one day for your early vigilance with her diet, I have no doubt.
Hi,
I’m 35 weeks pregnant, first baby, 41 years old. Currently on bedrest with short cervix. I’m a fairly healthy, clean eater. A good friend referred me to you site. I have loads of questions. I would love help. I am single in the journey right now, and the folks in proximity to me that may help me the first 3-6 months are not into integrative health. I am gluten free and even find it challenging at times. I want to have a healthy baby and infant and toddler. But I have limited resources. I don’t eat liver so I don’t think I’ll be giving her liver. In fact, I JUST reintroduced grass fed beef into my life 2 weeks ago, after having stopped eating beef 20 years ago. I also do not eat pork. I eat mainly seafood and lentils for protein and eggs….I’m feeling a bit confused as to what else baby should eat at 4 months besides milk and egg yolks. I know the doc will say rice milk. Will just an egg yolk fill her up. and how often does a baby eat/drink just milk after the first 3 months? I wish there was a chart of what babies can eat for each trimester of the first 1 year. Also, If grains are not to be introduced until after 1 years old, what are replacement, healthier snacks instead of cheerios and bread?:-)) I’m a newbie in all of this. But I’m in the middle. Mainly b/c I feel I don’t have the resources or support or enough research on benefits of everything. If I can get some simple basic ideas/tips that I can use for the first 3 months of my baby’s life and then the next 3 months that would be so helpful. Again, I’m new to this. 🙂
THANK YOU!!! My sister in law insisted on giving me a box of rice cereal for my baby. When I got home, I looked at that and wondered, 'How can this be good for my baby?' So it still sits in my cupboard, unopened. She does like steamed veggies of all sorts and she does like eggs too.