Here is some (proven) useful tips for mommies that begin to feed solid food (MPASI) for your babies:
– Don’t give MPASI too early
Even though the physical condition of each baby is different, while some babies might have more readily digestive system for solid food than others, but you cannot be really sure about it. The safest & proven recommendation for starting MPASI is 6 months, unless your pediatrician suggest others (in some cases, you can start to introduce solid food from 4-6 months). For preterm babies, you should consult first with the pediatrician whether you should delay the introduction of solid food or not.
– Start with the fruit
There are various recommendations about the first solid food that should be given to your baby. However, there are 2 things you must consider when choosing the first solid food: the food consistency & easy to be digest. Fruits are match to both criteria because you can adjust the consistency (by using juicer/blender) & it contains simple carbohydrate that easier to be digested than other complex carbohydrate source (such as: rice, potato, corn or bread)
– Give the same food for 2-3 days before move to the other food
This is important to trace back if there is any food allergy/diarrhea/constipation occurs. If you give various new foods in a day, you cannot know which food that causes that problem.
– Gradually increase the amount, variety & food consistency
It really depends on your baby ability to accept the solid food, but you can use this general guideline for reference (Apriadji, 2012):
| Months | Type of food | Consistency | Food | Description |
| 6-7 | Fruit juice | Watery | Single fruit | Simple carbohydrate until 2nd week |
| Fruit puree | Thick | Single fruit | Simple carbohydrate after 2nd week | |
| Smooth porridge | Thick | Single starch | Complex carbohydrate (but easily digested) | |
| 7-8 | Fruit juice/puree | Watery/Thick | >1 fruits | Simple carbohydrate |
| Soft congee | Thick | Starch + easily digested vegetable | Complex carbohydrate (but easily digested) | |
| Fruit juice/puree | Watery/Thick | >1 fruits | Simple carbohydrate | |
| 8-9 | Soft congee | Thick | Starch + easily digested vegetable | Complex carbohydrate (but easily digested) |
| Filtered porridge | Thick/Rough texture | Starch + easily digested vegetable + easily digested protein | Complex carbohydrate + easily digested protein | |
| Fruit juice/puree | Watery/Thick | >1 fruits | Simple carbohydrate (easily digested) | |
| 9-10 | Soft congee | Thick | Starch + easily digested vegetable | Complex carbohydrate (but easily digested) |
| Filtered porridge | Thick/Rough texture | Starch + easily digested vegetable + easily digested protein (various) | Complex carbohydrate + easily digested protein | |
| Fruit juice/puree | Watery/Thick | >1 fruits | Simple carbohydrate (easily digested) | |
| 10-12 | Steam food | Close to family meal, softer | Starch+high fibre vegetable+easily digested protein+meat | Complex carbohydrate+ complex protein (meat) |
| Snack |
– Never give up but don’t push too hard
Sometimes you’ll get frustrated when your baby refuses to eat or eat very slowly. In any case, keep smile & continue to give the meal patiently. Wait until your baby open his mouth instead of forcedly push the spoonful of food into his closed mouth. If your baby looks bored, stop for a while — you may give him drink or ask him to play before you continue with the meal. If he doesn’t like certain food at the 1st attempt, he may like that at the 2nd or 3rd attempts, so keep trying. Make meal time to be fun time. You may also sing some songs to get him interested & continue to eat. Discard any remaining food after 1 hour.
– Gradually, teach him to feed himself.
You can intensively teach him since 10 months using finger food. It would be messy at first but sooner or later, he will become expert on it. Keep watching him all the time to prevent chocking.
– No sugar, salt & gluten before 1 year old
You might think that the meal will be too plain without additional sugar/salt, but the baby’s palate is more sensitive than ours. Let them enjoy the natural taste of food, so later they won’t be addicted to sweets or salty food. You can add the herbs & spice gradually since they are 10 months before they start to eat table food/family meal at 1 year old. Gluten (often found in bakery, biscuits & pasta products) is also not recommended for baby less than 1 year old, because it is hard to be digested. Always choose gluten-free food in the meantime.
– Always check the label carefully, avoid any food additives
Food additives such as MSG, preservatives, food coloring, artificial sweetener, etc should be avoided as long as possible. If you need to buy processed food that allowed for baby (for example: cheddar cheese, yoghurt, or ready to eat-baby food), choose the one that has no food additive in the composition.
– Make a note, as detail as possible
Last but not least, don’t forget to make a note & record all the solid food that your baby consume from the start, as detail as possible. It is important so you can trace back your baby’s development, what food he like/doesn’t like, what food that cause allergy/any problem, what time & amount of food that he can finish each day. You can use the note as the guideline before continue to more advance solid food or finally table food.
REFERENCES:
Apriadji, W. H. 2012. Makanan Bayi Sehat Alami Cetakan I. Jakarta: Pustaka Bunda.