In the first 4 months or 6 months, baby should be just fed with breast milk or formula milk. No water should be given to the newborn according to the World Health Organization. This means you should not dilute the formula milk and do not need to give breastfed baby extra water.
When your baby lost his or her tongue extrusion thrust, he or she is ready for solid food. For some babies, they lost this extrusion reflex at 4 months, some babies will take a longer time. This reflex acts as a mechanism which helps to prevent choking, but at the same time mean your baby will throw out any solid food introduced. That is why we need to wait until your baby loses his or her tongue extrusion reflex.
Many people choose rice soup or porridge as the first solid food. This is because it is relatively simple to prepare and it is easy for the baby to digest as well.
No sugar or salt should be added to the baby food in the first year, you do not need to worry that the food will be tasteless without sugar or salt. If you have tasted formula milk before, you know it does not taste good for you as well.
Other than porridge, fruit puree or vegetable puree can be introduced to your baby. Apple puree, pear puree, avocado puree can all be introduced to your baby when he or she is 6 month old.Food that are available in the market that can be introduced to the baby include rice cereal and some fruit puree. However, it is recommended that parent should avoid those fruit puree. If you want your baby to have some fruit, make sure the fruit is fresh, do not use processed food.
As baby grows, you can introduce more and more food to him or her. However, you should wait at least three days before introducing a new food. That is to ensure that your baby does not show any adverse reaction due to the food such as allergy.
For more information on infant feeding, you can refer to infant feeding schedule for more information.
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