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!
I am wondering if I should give my 3 month old egg yolk next month. He has two siblings with egg allergies. He also has eczema, which shows me that something is going wrong with his immune system. My diet great, so not sure what is up. Advice?
My daughter had slight patches of eczema on the back of her legs, even though our diet is very allergen free. We cleared it up by skipping baths (she splashes with her brother about 2 times a week) and using Neutrogena Norwegian formula hand cream on the patches (which my dermatologist had recommended for my contact exzema), and it went away! His skin could be reacting to many many things, not just diet!
And have you considered not rushing the introduction of solids? If you think of breastmilk as all they need for food and drink, you can easily and slowly introduce bits of what you eat. My son and daughter both love slow-braised meats, and they are both great eaters.
I gave my first son egg yolk beginning at 4 mos he loved it. I tried the same thing with my second son, he did not take well to it and after only just a small taste he vomitted all of it up within a couple of hours, so I have tried every month or so to reintroduce but he does the same thing each time he is now 9 mos old. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I have heard that it is common in the second born child? Any thoughts?
Thanks
just curious..
why isn’t there a favorite approach to food based on a simple diluted broth of the selected food,.. skipping perhaps some impractical cases like banana..
Hmm….well….when my sister was a baby she threw everything, I mean, everything up. We fed her rice cereal mixed with her milk and she was able to keep this down. She turned 15 this year, kid has barely been to the doctor in her life. Sometimes there isn’t a monster in the shadow, sometimes it’s just a shadow.
Thanks, Sarah, for this great article. My baby is 6 months old now but was 2 months premature. Her head was so tiny at birth, she weighed 3lb but dropped to 2lb 12oz and spent nearly a month in the NICU. She was diagnosed as small for gestational age. She is also an identical twin, but we lost her twin at 6 mos gestation due to intrauterine growth restriction.
I just want to give my surviving baby the very best chance to develop as I know that there can be problems resulting from prematurity. I’m supposed to follow her adjusted age (4 months) for everything concerning her development. But I was wondering if I could start giving her egg yolk now rather than when she is 8 months (6 months adjusted).
Also I was wondering what books or or other resources you would recommend for diets for breastfeeding moms (well pumping moms…she never did latch so I am exclusively pumping and feeding from a bottle). I was intrigued when I read that if a baby falls asleep instantly after feeding that it may be signal that something is not right with the milk. My baby also has developed severe gastro-intestinal distress. She has so much gas that I’m shocked all of that could come from such a tiny body. She wakes suddenly screaming in pain. I am at a loss. I know my diet has been terrible. I have never really eaten well (and scarcely know how) but it’s been especially bad lately as I believe I may be depressed still over the loss of the other baby. My husband and I have been trying for years to conceive and these were our miracle babies with the help of fertility treatments.
I truly want to help this little one thrive. She has not been gaining weight well lately. I am willing to eat/do what I need to for her (since I haven’t been able to do it for myself). Any suggestions? (Sorry for the long post. I tend to be wordy when I’m sleepy. Thank you to anyone who read this far down!)
Elise
Elise, if she is getting her nutrition from your milk, she is basically eating the same things you are – both good and bad. So getting your own nutrition back to optimal status is of key importance. Healthy Home Economist has some great information on this, but to start off with, the most important things to do are to eliminate all packaged foods (because they have so many nasty chemical preservatives!) and make sure you get healthy fats in your diet, like good quality pastured butter, coconut oil and organic pastured milk (raw if you can obtain it and are comfortable with it.). Oh, and adding fermented cod liver oil supplements into your diet will also be great for your nutrition.
I would also recommend you take a good probiotic. Bio Kult is a good one, you want one that has the most different strains of probiotics in them – the kind you get at the grocery store usually has only one strain. Your baby will get some beneficial probiotics through your milk, and if she was a C-section baby, she did not get the initial colonization of probiotics that happens during vaginal birth. In order for the gut to function properly, she will need some healthy flora in her gut, and you can help her get that through your milk.
Do you have a growth chart or some kind of idea where babies growth should be at in their first year as far as weight, height, head circumference, etc?? I just took my 8 month to a ped for a check up and according to her and their growth chart, my boy is in the low percentile to the point that she doesnt think he’s getting enough nutrition. I haven’t fed him any cereals, rice, etc. Since he was 6 months he has had an egg yolk with some flax seed meal and a whole banana every morning, and a serving veggies in the afternoon, a little kefir every day, with some sweet potato or melon or avocado on occasion. I feed him 4x a day, and when he has trouble with breastfeeding (which is 50% of the time) I’ve supplemented with either raw goat milk, (more recently), and your homemade formula recipe. My ped thinks I should stop the goat milk altogether (even if I made it with your homemade formula recipe).
Anyway, I guess I am just wondering if my baby is fine where he is because he is lean…and if he is in the “low percentile” according to THEIR chart because “most” babies have rice cereal and are maybe “too heavy/chubby…” ? He is 16.5 lbs and 24 inches long. Do you know what your babies’ measurements were at 8 months?
Personally, I think you doctor is correct. Of course, i differ from the writer of this article, I acutally have formal education in the filed of pediatrics. (Gasp) i even make my living doing it on a daily basis!
So I looked it up. Your child is in the 4th% for his weight and the 2nd% for his height.
In other words 96% of the kids in the developed world weigh more than him, and 98% are taller then his is. These are all kids the same age as him AND the list includes kids with chronic health issues! (Could that be a hint that something is wrong?)
Most doctors would be putting the child in the hospital to test for any illness that can cause them to not grow properly. They would also put him on a (gasp!) regular formula to see if he gained weight.
If they could not find any illness that would prevent or slow his growth and development, and the child gained weight on a regular formula and diet, then Child Protective Services would be notified. They then have the option of removing the child from the home due to malnutrition and neglect.
The big question is what is the child’s FOC. The FOC is the size of the baby’s head. Taking into consideration the child’s height and weight I am willing to bet that it is undersize. HERE IS THE BIG ISSUE! It is a well-documented fact that children with head growth that is delayed are at very, very high risk for mental defects and lowered IQ later on in childhood! This is a permanent condition and will not improve as the child get larger and older.
But don’t worry. All you need to do is to keep following the horrible inaccurate and incomplete information you read here and you will have no problems-because you will have no child to worry about. Instead you will have a piece of paper where you parental rights have been terminated.
Actually, I took him in a few weeks later at 9 months and he was up to an average percentile that satisfied the pedi. I had been trying to keep breastfeeding, but at that point I was barely hanging on to 1 or 2 feedings a day…I’m thinking he wasn’t getting enough from me (as I was drying up), and so I just stopped altogether and switched entirely to Sarah’s homemade baby formula. Then I just added a third meal of veggies and/or protein (no rice cereal). And that’s all it took to help satisfy the pedi and her charts 🙂 Now he’s 1 and healthy, never touched rice cereal, and has been on primarily the homemade formula and organic produce and proteins (meat and beans). Lots of people comment to me on how “sharp” and “smart” he seems for his age 🙂 So…I’m not worried. I know he’s healthy and amazing, and has an amazing destiny.
So now your child is up to the 6th or 7th percentile, and the Dr. is not not saying anything. How does that make your actions the best for the baby? The fact is that many times the Dr. simply quits making comments because he/she knows that they are wasting their breath.
I have another question. I am a grey headed old fart and have been around a while. In my 50 plus years on this earth I have NEVER, not once, seen or heard of anyone telling a mommy “your kids as dumb as a brick,” or any other comment that could be seen as insulting. Tell a mom that her kid is “sharp” and “bright” is a normal.
I myself made those exact comments to a monther of a child the other day. The I went and discussed the causes of the child’s severly delayed development with the doctor.
So has YOU ever heard anyone make horrible, insulting remarks about a baby?
Personally, I hope your child is a genius and finds the cure for AIDS or something. Lord knows we need all the help we can get on this earth.
I will also be the first to admit that when I was a 19-year-old single father trying to raise my child alone, I was a total idiot. I had no idea what I was doing.
Lucky for us, kids are a tough bunch. Try as we may, it is actually quite hard to screw them up too badly.
Thanks. He probably will find the cure to AIDS. 🙂
Really, whatever insults and condescending things you decide to spout off means nothing to me and won’t make any difference in the readers’ lives, so you might as well save your breath. No one is going to listen to a bitter “old fart” who makes assumptions and rude comments and is just plain disrespectful.
My, are we testy. Did I hit on a sensitive subject?
I was not trying to be insulting. I was however trying to point that you were assuming that since the baby gained weight he was getting proper nutrition. He would have gained weight on a diet of Snickers and Cheetos. That in no way means it is a healthy diet. Fact is, the vast majority of people truly educated on the subject would find much of the nutrition information on this very appalling.
When you are talking about my being insulting and condescending, I can only assume you are talking about my comments about people being polite. However, I never said anything to imply that your particular child was not sharp or bright. I just pointed out that what is common polite conversation is not evidence of anything. Surely you have made comments at least once about how cute someone’s child was when what you were actually thinking was “that would be a great kid if that child was not such a holy terror!”
I went out of my way to say I hope you have a great child that grows up to do great things. I then even went to the point of insulting myself!
In fact, the only thing I insulted here was the horribly inaccurate information posted in this blog.
I am sure that you found the information in my first post upsetting. But however upsetting it is to you, that does not make it any less true.
In my daily life I have had to deal with many cases of children who have been abused, neglected and even harmed unintentionally by well-meaning parents. That all tend to find these same facts upsetting.
Perhaps the most upsetting thing I keep running across in this blog is half-truths about breastfeeding. I think breastfeeding is a great and wonderful thing. However, I keep seeing the blogger talk about breast fed babies as being smaller and thinner. Having dealt with literally thousands of babies in the last few years I can assure that this is simply not true. Most breast fed babies are fat, plump and very healthy.
The breast fed babies that are small are the ones that are generally transitioned to other feeding methods. I noticed that you said your child’s growth rate increased when you added more produce and proteins. As for Sarah’s homemade formula, it is a viable replacement for breastfeeding, abet a very poor one.
I think you are mistaken. You have not offended me in the slightest. I tire of reading your comments, and usually stop after a couple sentences. My point is, what you are saying has no weight or significance to those of us who respect Sarah and this blog. That’s all I just hope you can find something else to spend your time on.
Hi Sarah!
Really enjoying your website and all the information I’m learning. I’m new to real food and the horrors of conventional “food”.
At the time when my daughter, coming up on 4yrs old, was born and getting into solids I didn’t know thing one about Real Foods and just how harmful conventional foods where to her and us. Sadly, I fed her just as the pediatrician prescribed. She has had major problems with allergies (seasonal, pet, hard water, pollen, molds, and from certain laundry soaps/softeners..etc) AND eczema. Both are now still also getting worse despite lotions and creams (prescribed and non-prescribed). Problems for children that you just described are basically exactly what we’re battling with and my daughter is uncomfortable daily because of it!! The only advice several of her doctors have been able to give me is steriod prescrip creams and 24hr childrens over-the-counter allergy medication to be administered daily. No preventative advice, just sympton management. I hate giving her these things, but seem to be the only thing that give her relief for just a little bit. I want to throw all of it out!! What treatments and foods can I give my daughter to banish these problems and undo damage once and for all? please help!!
We will soon be foster parents to a four-month-old and I will be required to follow certain protocols regarding formula-feeding and health care. Any suggestions on nourishing and boosting a little one’s immune system within the guidelines set forth by the system?
I’m sure it’s very pricey, but have you looked into breastmilk banks? At 4 months, breastmilk would be ideal, but thank goodness formula is an option!
Thank you so much for all this info 🙂 I have a question about starchy foods like potatoes and sweet potatoes. My daughter is 15 months-at what age do you think it is safe to introduce starchy vegetables, if ever? Thanks so much!!!
Rachel
Hi Sarah
I am a first-time mother of a 4 month baby who prefers the bottle to my breast. I want to make the formula you show on your video as I am sure the commercial one (organic….. yes, they are all the same…) is making my baby gassier but I have a problem: folks from Radiant Life do not ship to where I live (Norway) and I do not know what to do… at least I have access to raw milk from pastured cows but it is the only thing I have access to now. Can you possibly give me some insight in order to fix this problem? Maybe another brand?
I also do not know what to do in order to get that FCLO and the butter oil….
I also have access to eggs from pastured hens. Is it enough to give my baby the yolks + your baby formula (if by any chance I can get the other ingredients) + avocados/bananas from 4-6 months (not all of these every single day I think)? Are soups with good bone/meat broth enough from 6 months on? Could you give me another insight about this?
Thank you SO much 🙂