The first year of your baby's life is a time of rapid growth and development. After 12 months, your baby may be taking her first steps, saying her first words and even eating solid foods. It's imperative, however, that you feed your baby only the foods that she's ready for as she becomes ready for them. This helps prevent choking and ensures that your child experiences as smooth a transition as possible to new types of food.
Milk or Formula
Most babies can comfortably subsist on breast milk or formula alone for the first four to six months of life. According to the University of Michigan, breastfeeding mothers can wait longer to introduce solid foods since breast milk is essentially the "perfect" food for babies. Your baby will give you signs that he's hungry by either rooting or making sucking motions with his mouth. By the time a baby begins crying from hunger, he has been hungry for too long. You should continue feeding your child milk or formula after he begins eating solid foods.
Rice Cereal
Your baby may be ready to begin eating rice cereal if she can sit up with assistance, holds her head up on her own and demonstrates an interest in foods the rest of the family eats. If your baby is breastfed and nurses more than eight times daily or drinks more than 32 oz. of formula a day, she may also be ready to begin solid food.
Always begin your baby on small amounts of rice cereal specially formulated for babies. If your child tolerates the rice cereal well, you can also try feeding her oat or barley cereal. Mix the cereal with plenty of breast milk or formula. It should be watery to begin with, to help your baby adjust to the new food and prevent choking. You can provide your baby with slightly thicker cereal once she becomes accustomed to eating solid food.
Fruits and Vegetables
Once your baby is well accustomed to cereal, you may introduce fruits and vegetables. The Ohio State University Extension recommends that you only introduce one new food every few days, to be sure your baby is not allergic to any foods. You may purchase prepackaged baby food in a jar, or make your own by straining and mashing soft fruits and vegetables. Most babies will only eat 2 to 3 tbsp. of fruits or vegetables at eat sitting. Your child will turn his head away or push the food out of his mouth when he is full. Never push your baby to eat more than he wants.
Finger Foods
Your baby can begin eating finger foods at around 9 months old. Finger foods, such as crackers, chunks of soft fruit, and pasta, help babies develop fine motor skills since they can pick up pieces of food and feed themselves. Take care to only give your baby soft finger foods. Avoid giving your baby raisins, hard cheese, white bread and whole grapes until after 1 year old. These foods present a choking hazard. Hot dogs are also a common choking hazard. You can, however, give your child a well-cooked hot dog provided you cut it up into very small pieces.
