Once you’re ready for your baby to start on solids, it’s time to decide what first foods you’re going to introduce to them. Lalo’s co-founder Michael Wieder talks to Kim Grenawitzke, feeding expert at Solid Starts, about the best first foods to start with once your baby is ready to start solids. These are different for everyone and may include some unique foods that you would not expect to be on the starting list. Wonder if you can guess what they are?
What are the top 5 foods you think every parent should start with?
Kim: So the cool thing about starting solids is that essentially any food can be made safe and is a great place for your baby to start.
My favorite first five foods are going to be different from yours, Michael, that are going to be different from someone in Germany, that's going to be different from someone in Mexico, then maybe different from my neighbor across the street. The beauty about starting solids is that it is your first opportunity where you get to share your food culture with your baby.
I share this story every single time and I feel like it helps people kind of get in the groove here:
I was pregnant for the first time in 2020. The first time that I felt my daughter move, I was eating pineapple. And so the first food that we gave Maeve was pineapple because it just felt like a full circle moment.
With my second daughter, we had just moved to the Midwest from California, and I was really missing my California roots, and so we started my second daughter on Taco Tuesday with Steak Fajitas, so strips of steak and strips of bell pepper. Now, for me, that was really special, because again, it just felt like I was bringing them into something that mattered to me.
What are the most nutritious first foods when starting solids?
Kim: There are two buckets. You can think about things that are iron-rich and super nutritious, and then you can think of things that are super easy for baby to handle, and then you can think of things that are maybe easier for you to watch. So let me explain that.
1: Iron-rich foods, we're thinking about things like meats, leafy green vegetables, beans, lentils, these are foods that have lots of iron, which are really important for your baby at this age.
2: Things that are easy for your baby would be like oatmeal that's spread on their tray, or put on a spoon. You can hand the spoon over, they can put that in their mouth.
These smooth textures are really similar to what they've been managing in their mouth with breast milk and formula, so most babies can be pretty successful with these right off the bat.
What are resistive food teethers?
Kim: I love to talk about resistive food teethers. People are like, what in the world are you talking about? This would be rib bone with the meat removed, your corn on the cob with all the kernels cut off, your mango with all the flesh cut off, so it's just the mango pit. These foods may seem really weird because they're not like foods, but they are something that you can eat at the same time, and your baby is just practicing the skills for chewing. They don't have to manage anything. They're just practicing all those skills and you get to see how capable they truly are.
Michael: I love that. I love that, like, for every parent, the first 5 foods can be different, and there's no set way. The first foods can be different, but each family has to find what works safely for them.
This is not medical advice, speak to your pediatrician with any questions or concerns regarding starting solids.
