There comes a stage in your baby's life when milk alone is not enough to sustain rapid growth and development, and the introduction of solids is necessary.
When is baby ready?
Age versus Milestones
A baby's age should not be used as the only indicator of readiness for solids. The developmental milestones are important, as age is merely a guideline and does not predict eating readiness. The level of a baby's activity will however determine what foods and how much food you should give your baby. With the help of local paediatric experts, Purity has created a link between the relevant developmental milestones and the Purity Feeding Stages. These milestones, indicated by colourful baby icons, will now appear on all Purity products. The intention is to help mothers to decide which Purity Stage is right for their baby.
The Purity Feeding Plan
The Purity Feeding Plan has been developed according to the four feeding stages. It makes it easy for you to see what to feed your baby at each stage of development. Like all good plans, the Purity Feeding Plan offers a guide that is easy to understand.
All Purity jarred foods and cereals are clearly labelled 1: First Foods, 2: Second Foods, 3: Third Foods and 4: Fourth Foods to correspond directly with the first, second, third and fourth feeding stages.
The combination of meals, cereals and juices within each stage provides the optimal quantity and combination of vitamins and minerals whilst providing the right tastes and textures for babies. Purity jars and cereals are colour coded according to te various stages: Orange for First Foods, Red for Second Foods, Blue for Third Foods and Green for Fourth Foods. In jars each stage may be further broken down into subcategories that include: meals (blue ribbon), fruits and vegetables (green ribbon) and desserts and yoghurts (pink ribbon).
STAGE 1 - Introducing Solids
When is your baby ready?
Your baby is ready for solids when 3 or more of the following apply. Your baby:
- when lying on stomach, can lift head and can place weight on forearms
- has doubled birth weight
- can hold head steady, when sitting fully supported- smiles
- listens to voices
How to feed
Choose a time when your baby is well and happy. Breastfeed or give a normal milk feed first, then offer solid food. When feeding, put a little food on the tip of a small feeding spoon and put it gently into baby's mouth. Baby may push the food out in the beginning, but keep trying, because eating solid foods is a new technique your baby needs to learn. Take it slowly and do not expect too much. Two or three spoonfuls is a good start. Increase the quantity gradually as your baby demands.
What foods are best?
Baby's first solid food should be easy to digest and not contain substances that cause reactions like cramps, runny tummy, skin rash or vomiting. Cereal-based foods such as Purity's First Food cereals have long been trusted and recommended as the first solid food for babies as they are gentle on the tummy, easily digestible and least likely to cause allergic reactions.
About a week after introducing baby's first cereal, you can begin to introduce vegetables or fruit. Purity First Foods range includes single variety fruits and vegetables designed for easy swallowing and digestion.
Purity Rice Cereal and Maize Cereal are fortified with Vitamin C and Iron however the addition of a teaspoon or two of one of Purity First Foods fruit or juice variants will not only add appetite appeal but will further assis the absorption of the Iron present in the cereal. Cereals should be given with a teaspoon and not in a feeding bottle.
Home-cooked vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, butternut or sweet potato should be steamed and strained. Offer one variety at a time for a few days, and then, if there is no adverse reaction, try another variety. Start with one or two teaspoons once a day and increase the amount gradually, according to your baby's appetite. It is preferable to introduce vegetables before fruit - if you introduce the sweeter fruit first, you may have difficulty in getting your baby to eat vegetables.
Introducing solids too early or too late are both undesirable.
Problems associated with starting solids too early
- Increased risk of allergic reactions
- Reduced breastmilk intake
- Cramps or Discomfort
- Constipation
- Overfeeding
Problems associated with starting solids too late
- Difficulty in adapting to solid foods and home cooked foods
- Slow development of chewing and speech skills
- Undernutrition
Remember that every baby is different and should be treated as an individual.
STAGE 2 - Introducing Tastes
When is your baby ready?
Once your baby is comfortable with eating starter foods, he or she needs to start learning about new flavours. It is important to introduce variety to your baby's diet in order to provide your baby with the extra vitamins and minerals from various food sources and to encourage the acceptance of new foods. Your baby is now ready for the second feeding stage when 3 or more of the following apply:
- sits with cushion support and can move head from side to side
- when lying on stomach, can extend arms completely, lifting head and chest
- responds to sounds
- gets excited at the sight of food
- laughs
What foods are best?
Purity has provided for this stage with a large variety of Second Food jarred foods and cereals, to help you to provide your baby with the right food choices at this stage of his or her development. The choice of delicious flavours encourages babies to discover a variety of new tastes, so that they are more open to accepting different flavours at later stages of development.
Cereals in this stage are also more filling that Purity First Food cereals and an excellent source of Iron, Calcium, Phosphorous, Zinc and Minerals essential for healthy growth. It is also at this stage that your baby needs extra energy and nutrients from different food sources. Purity helps to ensure that your baby has a balanced diet by providing a combination of vegetables and fruits and adding meat meals, pasta meals, fruit and yoghurt and desserts to the range.
STAGE 3 - Introducing Textures
When is your baby ready?
There comes a time when babies are developmentally ready for more complex tastes and textures. This occurs at around 6 to 8 months. At this stage they are ready to learn to chew regardless of whether teeth have appeared or not. Your baby is ready for the third feeding stage when 3 or more of the following apply
- sits alone, but uses hands for extra support
- from lying on back can roll onto stomach and back again
- passes objects from one hand to another
- can move food in mouth with tongue, babbles, makes vowel sounds
What foods are best?
Coarsely textured foods teach your baby to chew. If you miss this stage, your baby could refuse to take home-cooked food unless it is smooth, which can make for feeding problems later.
The introduction of texture is also important for the development of babies' chewing and speech skills. Your baby may struggle to accept new textures at first, but persevere - even if you need to try the same food again a few days later.
Once again Purity has provided for this stage with its range of Purity Third Foods. Purity Third Food jars are ideal for this stage as they are moderately coarse-textured, provide a variety of flavours and have ingredients from the three food groups: namely starch, protein, fruit and vegetables to help ensure that your baby receives a good balanced diet.
Purity Third Food Cereals not only offer exciting new flavour combinations to meet your baby's growing needs, but also have the ideal Calcium and Magnesium ratio ensuring that the calcium is better absorbed.
It is also at this stage that your baby can have cooked egg yolk. Wait until he or she is 12 months old before introducing egg white. The protein in egg white may trigger an allergic reaction.
STAGE 4 - Adding more textures for toddlers
From 10 months onwards baby can suddenly become an extremely fussy eater. Perhaps there are too many distractions as the toddler's world gets bigger with each step he/she takes.
But the period of 12 to 24 months is a vital growth phase during which your toddler needs balanced nutrient-enriched meals. Iron, Calcium and Vitamins A, B and C are especially important nutrients at this stage.
When is your toddler ready?
When he/she:
- stands and walks with suport
- can grasp and release small items
- will try to pick up objects
- says a few first words - Mama and Dada
Mothers can ensure balanced nutrition for their toddler by feeding Iron and Vitamin enriched cereals, continuing with fortified milk products/formula as long as possible and including Purity Fourth Foods in their child's diet. These are nutritious and energy rich, thus providing essential protein, carbohydrates and fat for normal steady growth and development.
Purity's Fourth Stage cereals also: provide 50% of the RDA for Vitamin C for 1-3 year olds; are rich in Vitamins especially the Vitamin B group, which is essential for early brain development; contain more than 50% of the RDA for Iron and Zinc, which are essential for growth and development and are oat based making them filling and unlikely to cause allergies.
Toddlers need frequent, nutritious small meals. A typical meal/snack schedule for a 1 to 3 year old should be based on 5-6 servings including a variety of hand-held nutritious foods.
Foods from each of the main food groups are important.