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DrGreene Content
 What is the difference between 1st Foods and 2nd Foods? Can I skip 1st Foods all together?
 A youngster toddling across the family room towards loving, outstretched hands began that journey as a newborn cradled in mother’s arms. Learning to walk didn’t happen overnight (though once that milestone has passed, it seems like it did). There were important stages along the way: lifting that heavy head, struggling to roll over, learning to sit, striking out to scoot across the floor, the triumph of pulling up to stand. Each stage was important.
Learning to eat shares much in common with learning to walk.
Before babies are born they get all of their nutrition directly from their mothers through the placenta. Next, newborns live on an entirely liquid diet of breast milk or formula. The journey onward toward a healthy diet of table food takes place in several stages.
Infant cereals and 1st Foods are single ingredient foods that have been selected because they are nutritious, easy to digest, have a smooth texture, and pose a low risk of allergic reaction or intolerance. They are healthy foods that address growing babies’ changing needs as the gastrointestinal tract matures, the allergy-immune system matures, and nutritional needs increase. It is never wise to skip these single ingredient foods which are specially tailored to young babies’ needs.
These are the ideal foods to use to teach your baby to eat from a spoon and to enjoy a variety of tastes.
Pears, peaches, green beans, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and more – a garden of exciting new flavors to experience. Even some of these 1st Foods may be so intense that babies need to acquire the taste (and they can, with the right help).
When a new food is introduced, the baby should receive that food for several days to look for signs of intolerance or allergy. Those signs might include a skin rash, irritability, or gastrointestinal upset.
Changes in stool might indicate a problem – but they might not. As a baby progresses from a liquid-only diet, the stool normally has a greater variety of colors, consistencies, and smells. True diarrhea or constipation, though, would be a sign that something isn’t right.
When the single ingredient 1st Foods have been happily mastered, it’s time to begin looking ahead to 2nd Foods. Begin with 2nd Foods combinations containing individual ingredients that have been tried before with success.
2nd Foods carry the feeding adventure forward with greater variety, combined ingredients, and larger portion sizes for the growing appetite. The gastrointestinal tract is now mature enough to introduce dark green vegetables. 2nd Foods are designed for the baby who eats with a spoon easily and has begun striking out across the floor – rolling, scooting, or crawling to explore the world.
As you continue exposing your baby to new foods, the wonderful increase in variety will increase both the enjoyment of eating and the availability of nutrients from varied sources. This lays the groundwork for a lifetime of good nutrition.
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