You’ve consulted books, logged onto websites, and asked your friends — but you’ve still got niggling questions about feeding your baby safely, and no one seems to know the answer — until now. To help you sort through the confusion, we rounded up top pediatricians and baby safety experts to answer some of your most burning baby food questions. Bonus: their answers might even save you money!
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Q: Is it safe to put a partially-eaten jar of baby food back in the fridge for next time?
A: You can stash it in the fridge for later as long as you haven’t fed your baby from the jar (or yogurt container). If that’s the case, toss it. Harmful bacteria from your baby’s mouth can grow and multiply in the jar. If your baby typically doesn’t eat a full jar, spoon a portion into a bowl and put the jar in the refrigerator for later, but keep in mind that the clock is ticking.
Opened jars of fruits and vegetables will keep for up to three days in the fridge. Meats are good for one day. You’ve got two days, tops, for meat and vegetable combos. Put the date on open jars with a permanent marker so you’ll know what went into the fridge when.
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Q: How long can I leave infant formula or pumped breast milk out?
A: You can leave prepared infant formula or pumped breast milk out of the refrigerator (without a cold pack) for two hours. If it has been sitting out longer than that, you’ll need to throw it out. That includes other perishable items, too, like baby food, dairy products, and meat. But play it safe and throw them out after an hour.
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Q: Are there any special dietary recommendations for breast-feeding, like there are when you’re pregnant (such as avoiding soft cheese and raw fish)?
A: There are, but not many. When you’re breast-feeding, you’ll need to continue avoiding fish high in mercury, just as you did during pregnancy, as per U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendations. Don’t eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury. And if there’s a family history of serious food allergies, such as peanuts or shellfish, you may be advised to avoid both, even if it’s your partner who is allergic.
“Otherwise, you can go ahead and eat your normal diet,” says Jennifer Trachtenberg, MD, a New York City pediatrician and author of “Good Kids, Bad Habits.” If you’ve heard that avoiding drinking milk yourself can prevent your baby from becoming gassy, or that sticking to a bland diet prevents colic, don’t believe it. They’re not true, Trachtenberg says.
Similarly, you don’t need to avoid soft cheeses like feta, Brie, and Camembert, or sushi or sashimi like you did during pregnancy, because the bacterium that may be found in these foods that could cause infection, Listeria monocytogenes, doesn’t transfer to breast milk.
Caffeine and alcohol also aren’t off limits, if your baby is healthy and not preterm or past due, “but moderation is the best thing,” she says. Ask your baby’s pediatrician for advice if you want to consume either.
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Q: Do I need to shell out money for a bottle sterilizer, or is the dishwasher good enough?
A: The dishwasher will do the job, especially if you have city water (not well water), which is chlorinated, as chlorine kills harmful bacteria that may be present, says Charles Shubin, MD, director of pediatrics at Mercy Family Care in Baltimore. Just wash your bottles in the top rack of the dishwasher. Or, wash bottles in hot tap water with dish-washing detergent and then rinse them in hot tap water. If you have well water or nonchlorinated water that doesn’t meet current safety levels, talk to your pediatrician. Instead of relying on the dishwasher, you’ll probably be advised to use a sterilizer or boil bottles in water for five to 10 minutes before using them.
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Q: When preparing infant formula, can I just use tap water or do I need to buy bottled water?
A: “You can use tap water to prepare infant formula unless you have your own well,” Shubin says. (Yes, we’re back to that pesky well issue again.) If you have well water, before making infant formula, have it tested. Contact your county health department, or the Department of Natural Resources’ statewide office in your area. They should have a list of certified labs available from your state.
All babies under 6 months of age are at risk of nitrate poisoning, according to the EPA, which can cause a condition called methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome,” which robs the blood of oxygen. Public water supplies are tested regularly for nitrates. If your water doesn’t meet EPA’s standard for nitrates, and your baby is less than 6 months old, talk to your pediatrician. You can’t eliminate nitrates by boiling water. It actually concentrates the levels. So you’ll probably need to use bottled water.
You’ll also need to worry about lead. Whether you have city or well water, your baby can still be exposed to lead from the pipes in your home. To avoid exposure to lead, as a general rule, use water from the cold tap for making baby formula, drinking, and cooking. Also, if you haven’t turned the water on for six hours or more, the EPA advises letting it run for a minute or more first before filling your baby’s bottle.
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Q: What’s a great way to save money on baby food?
A: “Make your own,” Shubin advises. The main difference between baby food and regular food is that it’s pureed, but a small hand grinder or a blender can take care of that, he says. If you do buy jarred baby food, which is especially convenient when you’re traveling, you’ll save by choosing single-ingredient meats, vegetables and fruits, then mix them to your baby’s liking instead of buying ready-made combos, like herbed chicken with pasta.
When your baby is ready for solid food (typically around 4 to 6 months), always introduce one food at a time and wait three days. Start with iron-fortified infant cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. Then, slowly introduce pureed vegetables, fruits and meat according to your pediatrician’s time table. If your baby doesn’t get a reaction, such as diarrhea or rash, the coast is clear. Go ahead and add another food to your baby’s menu.
Don’t spike your baby’s food with sugar or corn syrup, and no honey for the first year. Also, during your baby’s first 12 months, steer clear of foods loaded with fat and sugar, such as bacon, lunch meat, hot dogs, French fries, creamed veggies, pudding, cookies, candy, cakes, and sweetened drinks such as iced tea and soda.
And don’t give your baby hot dogs, peanuts, whole grapes, berries, raisins, hard candies and popcorn, as they are choking hazards.
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Q: Besides infant formula or breast milk, what else can my baby drink during his first year?
A: You’ll need to keep feeding your baby formula or breast milk through the first year, even when your baby starts eating solid food. But when your baby is 6 months old, you can add 100 percent fruit juice (check the label to make sure) to your baby’s repertoire.
Go easy, though. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting 100 percent fruit juice to no more than 4 to 6 ounces per day from 6 months to 6 years of age, and making it part of a meal, not a snack.
Too much juice can cause diarrhea and gas, contribute to tooth decay, and fill your baby up so that he has less room for more nutritious foods. To limit juice, offer 1 to 2 ounces at a time in a sippy cup, not a bottle.
The juice should be pasteurized (flash-heated to kill pathogens). Fresh-squeezed juice isn’t pasteurized. And keep in mind that juice fortified with calcium isn’t a substitute for formula or cow’s milk, which your baby can have after his first birthday.
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Q: How can I help my baby switch from infant formula to cow’s milk?
A: After your baby’s first birthday, it’s safe to make the switch from infant formula or breast milk to whole cow’s milk. But if your baby’s not buying it, try introducing whole cow’s milk gradually. Over several weeks and months, add a little whole milk to the formula you prepare and slowly increase the proportion of milk to formula until your baby is drinking straight cow’s milk.
Don’t buy low-fat milk, thinking it’s healthier. A baby’s rapidly-developing brain thrives on the high percentage of butterfat whole milk contains. Just think: a child’s brain grows to 80 percent of its adult size by age 3 and much of that development happens by age 2. After your child’s second birthday, brain growth begins to subside. That’s when it’s time to switch to foods low in artery-clogging trans and saturated fat, such as low-fat and nonfat milk and yogurt. For more on what to feed your baby, visit www.kidseatright.org.
