A 6 month old needs more iron than any other stage in their life

Starting your little one on solid foods can be a really exciting time but we also understand that it can be challenging and somewhat stressful. When do I feed my baby? How much do I feed my baby? What do I feed my baby? These are probably some of the questions you are wondering too.

As you might know sleep is not one dimensional. There are sooo many things that can get in the way of a good nights sleep, it’s not just about awake windows or whether or not your little one has the ability to self-settle. It’s a multifaceted topic which is why we take on sleep challenges using a holistic approach. To keep it simple this means us looking at EVERYTHING, everything that has the potential to make or break sleep and guess what one of those things is?

THE DIET.  

As holistic sleep consultants, we know part of getting the right amount of sleep and quality of sleep comes from having a diet that supports great sleep too.

Of course we aren’t dieticians or nutritionists so for anything we aren’t specialised in ourselves we bring in the health experts so that we can support you in these other areas that are so relevant to sleep 💤

Melissa Hohaia, naturopath specialising in women’s and family health for over 15 years has provided us with some great information about the introduction of solid foods. You’ve probably heard how important iron is for babies? Here’s some tips from Mel:

For about the first six months of life your baby used iron stored in their body from when they were in the womb. They also got some iron from breastmilk and/or formula. But as your little one grows their iron stores go down and by around six months, they can’t get the iron they need from breastmilk or infant formula alone. An iron deficiency in children under 2 years of age can have irreversible effects on their brain development and learning.

The form of iron contained in iron fortified foods is very difficult for your baby to absorb and can often cause constipation. It is more ideal to offer your baby foods that naturally contain a good amount of iron such as:

🥄 red meat

🥄 liver

🥄 poultry

🥄 eggs (not raw or runny under 1 year of age)

🥄 salmon

🥄 lentils

🥄 pulses

🥄 beans

🥄 dates

🥄 figs

🥄 tofu

🥄 leafy greens

Interesting Facts:

Did you know that pairing these foods with a Vitamin C source will boost the iron absorption by up to 3x more? 

A six-month-old baby requires more iron (11mg per day) than they will need at any other stage of their life

Other helpful tips from Mel 👇

✔ First foods can be pureed, mashed, chopped, diced or gently softened – it is really up to you. Your baby needs a variety of food textures. This helps your baby learn how to chew – and chewing helps with speech development. It also helps to encourage self-feeding and prevent feeding difficulties as your baby develops.

✔ Even though not all of their food needs to be pureed to a smooth consistency, some foods (like meat) is often easier to ingest when it has been pureed. Over the coming weeks or months, you can slowly increase the lumpy texture of these foods so that your little one learns to cope with the chunkier textures.

✔ In the start you may want to consider introducing one food at a time and starting with non-allergenic foods like vegetables, fruits, meats, oats, chia, rice etc. is advisable. This will allow you to identify if your baby reacts to any food and make it easier to identify which food is the culprit. Single food purees can be transitioned to combination purees and then onto more complex flavour profiles with the inclusion of herbs and spices as your baby proves to be coping well.

✔ Please keep in mind that you will need to keep exposing your baby to foods that they have previously rejected – continual exposure to a food will give your little one a chance to develop a taste for it. It is a natural evolutionary protective quirk that babies will favour what is sweet – because in nature the sweetness would signal that something is ripe and ready for eating (FYI breast milk is also naturally sweet). This means that you will need to be patient and perseverant with your infant as it learns what flavours are safe and edible. Try and try again!

Worried about allergenic foods & intolerances?

Another worrying element of solid food introduction is the occurrence of allergic reactions to certain foods. It has been advised that all babies (including the ones at high risk of allergy) should be exposed to the common allergenic foods - which includes peanut butter, cooked egg, cows dairy and wheat, before they turn one.

When we talk about food allergies we are talking about symptoms like redness, swelling, hives, itching, or anaphylaxis generally being triggered within an hour of ingesting a certain food.

If you are concerned about your child having a potential allergic reaction with a food introduction, I would suggest introducing that food during the day, away from a nap, in the presence of another adult or in close proximity to a hospital (I have had some parents introduce peanut butter while sitting in their car in the hospital carpark). It will be important to only introduce one of the allergenic foods at a time so that you can easily identify if a certain food results in a reaction. Please note that a reaction to an allergenic food will generally become more intense with subsequent exposure, so if you notice a mild reaction on the first introduction you may want to be more cautious when you test that food for a second time.

 Top allergenic foods include:

🥄 tree nuts – peanuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia, pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts

🥄 cow’s dairy – milk, cheese, yoghurt

🥄 eggs

🥄 fish and shellfish

🥄 wheat

🥄 soy

🥄 sesame

Food intolerances can also be worth paying attention to. These can be more delayed in their onset (sometimes not showing up for days) and symptoms can range from bloating, excess gas, diarrhoea, constipation, cramping, irritability, fussiness, more frequent waking through the night, congestion, or skin rashes.

Often the symptoms can be subtle and go unnoticed, so if you feel like your baby has had a change in bowel habits or is less settled after starting solid food then you may want to seek out more support and guidance to make sure you are looking after their digestive health in the best way.

Mel talks more about solids and a range of other common infant health concerns in our Slumber Articles section of Slumber School. You can also access a range of other helpful  articles from a team of experts covering toilet training, obstructive sleep disorder, breastfeeding, postpartum diet, how to give medicine to your baby, what to have in your first aid kit and more. Join us here.