When should I start giving my baby complementary foods? Between 4 and 6 months of age, you can start giving your baby complementary foods whenever your baby is ready. Until then, breastmilk or formula will provide all the calories and nutrients your baby needs and can receive. Before the age of half a year, most babies’ digestive systems are not ready to digest complementary foods. Therefore, you should be patient and wait until your baby is able to accept and digest complementary foods before you start adding them to your baby’s diet. This will greatly reduce your baby’s risk of allergic reactions, and will also shorten the transition time from spoon-feeding to your baby eating on his/her own. How do I start adding complementary foods to my baby? The general rule of thumb is to start with rice flour paste first, as it is gluten-free and less likely to cause allergic reactions compared to other foods. You should breastfeed your baby first, then mix the rice flour with enough formula or breastmilk to make a semi-fluid paste and give your baby one or two spoonfuls of rice flour paste. Please use a baby spoon with a soft rubber tip to avoid hurting your baby’s gums. At the beginning, just hold a little bit of rice flour paste at the tip of the spoon and give it to your baby. How do I know if my baby is full? Your baby’s appetite varies from meal to meal, so you can’t tell if your baby has eaten enough based on a strict amount. If your baby leans back in the chair, turns his/her head away from the food, starts to play with the spoon, or doesn’t want to open his/her mouth to take another bite of food, he/she is probably full. Of course, sometimes babies don’t open their mouths because they haven’t finished their last bite of complementary food, so be sure to leave enough time for your baby to swallow the complementary food. Does my baby need to continue to take breastmilk or formula after complementary feeding? Yes, babies need to eat breastmilk or formula until they are 1 year old because they provide important vitamins, iron and proteins that babies can digest easily. During the first year of life, complementary foods are not yet a complete substitute for all the nutrients contained in breast milk or formula. How can I add more types of complementary foods to my baby? You should add other complementary foods to your baby’s diet gradually, one at a time, and wait at least 3 days after adding a new complementary food before adding another food. This gives you time to see if your baby is allergic to a particular food. Symptoms of allergy may include diarrhea, bloating, increased gas (burping or farting), or a rash. If you have a family history of allergies, or if your baby has an allergic reaction to the addition of a complementary food, then you should wait more than 1 week before adding a new food. How many times a day should my baby have complementary foods? Initially, your baby should only have semi-liquid rice flour paste once a day after the introduction of complementary foods. By about 8 months of age, your baby should be able to have 3 complementary foods a day, and a typical daily recipe at this time may include: 1. Breast milk or iron-fortified formula. 2. 2, Iron-fortified rice or other cereal powders. 3, Yellow and green vegetables. 4, Fruits. 5, Small amounts of protein-rich foods such as poultry, tofu, and meat. Does my baby need special tableware after adding complementary foods? You just need to prepare a baby high chair and a soft rubber-tipped spoon (to prevent hurting your baby’s sensitive gums). As your baby’s meals get bigger, you may need to prepare bibs, plastic plates with suction cup bottoms and small floor mats so that your post-meal clean-up task will be much easier. What time should I feed my baby complementary foods? If you want to develop good meal habits in your baby, such as sitting at the table rather than eating in front of the TV, a good way to do this is to have your child eat his supplements in a high chair whenever possible. Giving your child small foods while he is moving around can cause choking and can get food all over the floor. If your baby is not yet able to sit properly in a high chair, then let him sit on your lap, just make sure that your baby sits up straight and can swallow smoothly.