- Banana
- Avocado
- Peaches
- Apples and pears (you can boil apples and pears to make them softer for baby)
For vegetables, you can feed your baby some soft-cooked:
- Potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Broccoli
- Squash
- Carrots
- Peas
Do not forget to mash or puree these vegetables using a fork or a food processor.
Whole Grains
Grains, specifically whole grains are packed with fiber, carbohydrates, and protein that is needed in your baby’s diet.
Iron-rich infant cereal with breast milk or formula is the first grain food babies usually eat.
As you go along, you can add different types of grains to the cereal so your baby can adapt to different textures of food.
Here are some grains your baby can enjoy:
- Cooked rice (try using brown or wild rice)
- Oats (boil in water until soft and mix with breast milk or formula when it’s feeding time)
- Pasta (cook longer, so it’s softer than al-dente; mash it with the sauce)
- Bread and pancakes (try cutting it to smaller-finger sized bits)
Dairy
Milk products such as cheese and yogurt can be introduced to your baby in small amounts, as long as there is no history of milk allergies in the family.
At 6 months, breastfeeding is still recommended alongside complementary feeding.
In the Philippines, Executive Order No. 51 otherwise known as the “Milk Code” was established to promote breastfeeding. Some of the principles included in the Milk Code are: (1) exclusively breastfeeding are for infants ages 0 to 6 months, (2) there is no substitute or replacement for breast milk, (3) appropriate and complementary feeding is to be given by the age of 6 months in addition to breastfeeding, and (4) breastfeeding is still recommended for children up to two years old or beyond.
When giving these foods to your baby, make sure to give a few sips of water afterward as well. Mixing foods is also a nice way to introduce your baby to other tastes and textures.
With continuous feeding, you will be able to determine how much food your baby needs, as well as when your baby needs them.
When Can I Feed My Baby?
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants ages 6 to 8 months must receive complementary foods 2 to 3 times a day. Now that you’re transitioning to solid foods, here’s a sample schedule for your baby’s feeding time:
- Breakfast – (7 AM): breast milk or formula, (8 AM): 2 to 4 tablespoons of infant cereal
- Lunch – (10 AM): breast milk or formula, (noon): breast milk or formula + 2 to 3 tablespoons of puréed fruits/vegetables
- Dinner – (2 PM): breast milk or formula, (4 PM) breast milk or formula + 2 to 4 tablespoons of infant cereal
- 2 to 4 times of milk feeding before bedtime until over the night
- You can also give your 6-month-old no more than 3 ounces of cooled, boiled water per day.
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