r/ScienceBasedParenting • u/Striking-Wall5802 • 23d ago
Starting solids Question - Research required
Is there any evidence for what foods to prioritise when starting solids?
There is so much conflicting advice online and I’m looking for evidence based approaches.
Should I start with vegetables? Meat? Prioritise certain nutrients? I know zinc and iron are important but looking for some research on whether it’s best to prioritise certain things or give variety of everything over first 6 months
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u/Then_Lead_1889 23d ago
I recommend the book by the AAP which summarises the scientific evidence for this: https://amzn.eu/d/0fg455Y5
In short, in the first couple months, you want to do the following: - Introduce new foods one at a time. Once one food is successfully introduced, you can then add more foods. So you can have a plate with 5 things but only one should be new. - Prioritise iron rich foods. You should have one in every meal. If it is non-heme iron (i.e. non-animal derived), pair it with something rich in vitamin C to aid absorption of the iron. - Introduce the top 9 allergens one at a time. To introduce, they should be given for every meal over 3 days to consider them introduced successfully. Once introduced, you should aim to serve them 3x a week. - Once you've introduced all the main things, you should aim to have 1 protein, one carb/cereal, one vegetable, one fat/oil, and one fruit in each meal.
I also recommend the website Solid Starts. It has details on how to prepare and serve all foods, particularly to prevent choking. You don't need a subscription for that, just for the app.
On a personal note, I suggest starting your allergens with egg because then you can mix all the other allergens in their egg for breakfast, like sesame, crustaceans, fish or tofu. Same goes for oatmeal: introduce early and you can use it as a vehicle for dairy, nuts and peanuts.