Baby Nutrition You've heard it from your pediatrician from the very start: breast-feeding is best. Breast milk contains living ingredients that help a baby's immune system. Breast milk is sterile, is always delivered at the correct temperature and breast-feeding helps mother and child bond. Breast-feeding can even help prevent post-partum depression. Selecting the right foods during these early months is important to an infant's development. After all, an infant will grow three-fold during the first year.

During your baby's first four to six months of life, breast milk (or iron-fortified formula) will suffice. He'll be hungry! In those early weeks, your child will eat every two to four hours. Then as the months progress, your baby will be ready to try solid foods, which are the consistency of pudding. This process will begin once your baby reaches about six months of age. You can continue with breast milk, however, for another six months or more.

How do you know when they're ready for solid baby food? Some yardsticks are built right in! By the age of four to six months, your baby will be able to sit up with help, will suck on everything and will weigh in at about 12 pounds. This is around the time he can turn his head away when he's full or doesn't like what you're dishing out.

Watch your baby to see if your baby pushes the food out. That may mean he's not ready for solid food…or simply doesn't like the stuff. Which foods are ideal for an infant? Select food that your baby can metabolize. Typically, a good first food is iron-fortified cereal, served by spoon, not a bottle. Very few children are allergic to cereal.

Other foods to try:

• Vanilla pudding
• Applesauce
• Plain yogurt
• Vegetables cooked soft
• Cooked chicken or beef, that has been blenderized

Foods to avoid:

• Honey or corn syrup
• Foods rich in sugar
• Foods heavy with salt
• Seafood
• Citrus fruit juices until your baby turns one year
• Egg Whites
• Pork
• Regular white milk (harder to digest)
• Hot dogs of any kind
• Peanuts
• Hard candies

Cook foods by steaming them, instead of boiling. This preserves more of the vitamins and minerals. Then let the foods cool in the refrigerator and then carefully test the food to make sure it's not too hot. (Generally, babies like cold food anyway.)

Don't put your baby to bed with a bottle of milk or fruit juice. The sugars can rot incoming baby teeth. Instead, if your infant wants a bottle at bedtime or one to carry around during the day, fill it with water.

By introducing one new food every week or two, you can also tell if your infant has an allergy to particular foods and recognize which types he likes best.

All facts, data, and useful tips provided are for informational purposes only and should not be used as a replacement for medical advice.