Guide to Foods for Baby’s First Year

The first year of a baby’s life is the most disturbing and exciting. A baby learns to hold a head, sit, crawl, walk, and eat adult food. Parents always worry about each new episode in their baby’s life. How to secure every step of a child? When is it time to learn to sit and walk? What food to choose to give a baby enough strength and vital supplements?

We cannot answer all the questions about parenting in one article, but this one will help you learn more about the food choice for a newborn and a formula feeding chart.

Best Food for Newborns

Only natural food is healthy. There is no need to explain that sugar, salt, flavors, chemicals, and GMOs should not accompany powdered milk in baby formula. Unfortunately, many companies use stabilizers, thickeners, sugar, and growth hormones to get the desired consistency and taste in their baby food products. 

Companies that produce organic food try to replicate breast milk that fits a baby’s organism best. A mother’s organism develops the best food for infants because everything about nature has an explanation. Europeans fill their stores with organic products because they let people get all the required nutrients. Consequently, organic baby formula safely provides infants with the needed vitamins, fats, minerals, carbs, and proteins. 

Why is organic infant formula safer compared to non-organic alternatives? Non-organic food contains:

• synthetic preservatives;
• synthetic nutrients;
• sugar;
• flavors;
• thickeners or stabilizers.

Different baby food manufacturers use various sources of protein to prepare baby formula. Parents can choose vegan and non-vegan types to satisfy the needs of an infant. 

Vegan formulas exclude animal proteins derived from cows and goats milk. They are made of almond, oat, coconut, pea, or hemp seeds. Not all non-animal formulas provide the desired amounts of macronutrients and micronutrients. That is why pediatricians recommend adding the missing ingredient to the prepared mixture. Nevertheless, one shouldn’t do that independently because it can lead to adverse side effects such as vitamin deficiency or hypervitaminosis and, eventually, the exhaustion of a baby’s organism.

The traditional formula is based either on the cow or goat powdered milk. The organic formula reproduces breast milk, so it is the best option for a newborn. Moreover, one can purchase hypoallergenic or anti-reflux formula for kids with digestive problems and gasses. 

A Formula Feeding Chart 

A human organism loses its vital powers if it overloads the stomach with food. That is why consuming meals with a three-hour break is essential for non-breastfeeding kids. A traditional formula feeding chart is usually like that:

When children are 6 months old, feeding frequency decreases as a result of parents introducing new adult foods to them. In other words, baby formula or breastmilk remains the primary source of nutrients for babies, but other food makes meals less frequent.

Best Food for Kids from 6 to 12 Months

When a child is 6 months old, it is time to try adult food. A baby is ready for adult food only if it:

• can sit independently
• controls its head
• opens mouth when a spoon touches it
• shows interest in new meals

The first meals must be smooth, mashed, or in safe pieces. It is necessary to introduce one teaspoon of new food at a time and not to add new products within a week. The serving portion should be increased gradually to let a young organism adjust to changes. Moreover, it enables parents to reveal allergic reactions early and effectively.

One should start weaning with organic cereals, vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, greenery, and legumes. The healthiest drink is water. One should avoid adding salt, sugar, and other taste enhancers to meals and drinks to let a baby get used to the natural taste of food and develop healthy eating habits.