Not very long ago, the common recommendation was to avoid meats until baby was 9-12 months of age. I’m sure many doctors and other experts still advise the same, however, there’s a growing number of professionals who advise that meats be among the first foods offered to baby rather than the last. The biggest reason is because at the age of 6 months or so, babies begin to require more iron and protein from their diet than they previously did.
That doesn’t mean that you need to go rush out to the store and buy every iron-fortified baby product you see (and there are a lot!). No, no. Remember, babies are small, and too much iron can be as much of a bad thing as not enough. Furthermore, supplemental (aka, fake) iron is not nearly as effective or as well absorbed as naturally occurring iron.
There are also those who suggest that maybe Baby doesn’t need as much iron now as s/he did before, hence the depleting supplies, and the truth is that I don’t know enough of the biology and development of babies to be able to say whether or not that is the case. However, my conclusion is that beyond the age of 6 months, it isn’t going to hurt Baby to introduce some naturally occurring iron into his diet, and it may be helpful at that. If baby is ready to eat solids in general, then she can probably handle some meat with the beneficial iron and protein.
The problem with meat is that it in its normal cooked state, it’s not soft enough to mash with the gums, therefore for any babies younger than 9 months and without teeth, it’s useful (although not 100% necessary, especially if you are following the Baby Led Weaning method) to puree the cooked meat first.
I just puree a little bit of whatever meat I have prepared for the family; which in this case was chicken. I used my Baby Brezza machine , but any blender or food processor will work. There’s no need to cook up a whole batch of baby-specific food, especially since he’ll eat so little of it. Honestly, I pureed about 1/2 cup or less of meat over a week ago, and he’s still working through it (I keep the extras in the freezer).
A few tips to keep in mind when feeding Baby meat:
Watch for reactions, as with any other food. My Certain Little Someone is allergic to beef, of all things, and there was a time we were concerned that he was allergic to turkey.
Meats can be difficult for Baby to digest, so there’s no harm in holding off if they cause intestinal distress for your little one. You can try re-introducing meat a little at a time by adding in tiny bits of it to foods that are well-received by Baby (like applesauce or pumpkin, for example).
Baby might not like plain old meat, but don’t despair. Mix it in with something she does like! Baby Boy was not at all excited about plain meat, even though it was tastefully seasoned. I mixed it in with some mashed banana – one of his favorites – and suddenly he was all over it! Since then, he’s had it in green beans, applesauce and sweet potato, and has loved it each time.
Puree with a bit of chicken broth for added nutrients and flavor. Breast milk is a good liquid to add as well, if you pump.
Not very long ago, the common recommendation was to avoid meats until baby was 9-12 months of age. I’m sure many doctors and other experts still advise the same, however, there’s a growing number of professionals who advise that meats be among the first foods offered to baby rather than the last. The biggest reason is because at the age of 6 months or so, babies begin to require more iron and protein from their diet than they previously did.
That doesn’t mean that you need to go rush out to the store and buy every iron-fortified baby product you see (and there are a lot!). No, no. Remember, babies are small, and too much iron can be as much of a bad thing as not enough. Furthermore, supplemental (aka, fake) iron is not nearly as effective or as well absorbed as naturally occurring iron.
There are also those who suggest that maybe Baby doesn’t need as much iron now as s/he did before, hence the depleting supplies, and the truth is that I don’t know enough of the biology and development of babies to be able to say whether or not that is the case. However, my conclusion is that beyond the age of 6 months, it isn’t going to hurt Baby to introduce some naturally occurring iron into his diet, and it may be helpful at that. If baby is ready to eat solids in general, then she can probably handle some meat with the beneficial iron and protein.
The problem with meat is that it in its normal cooked state, it’s not soft enough to mash with the gums, therefore for any babies younger than 9 months and without teeth, it’s useful (although not 100% necessary, especially if you are following the Baby Led Weaning method) to puree the cooked meat first.
I just puree a little bit of whatever meat I have prepared for the family; which in this case was chicken. I used my Baby Brezza machine , but any blender or food processor will work. There’s no need to cook up a whole batch of baby-specific food, especially since he’ll eat so little of it. Honestly, I pureed about 1/2 cup or less of meat over a week ago, and he’s still working through it (I keep the extras in the freezer).
A few tips to keep in mind when feeding Baby meat: