The Best Baby Food for a 2-Month-Old

Appropriate Foods

• The only acceptable foods for a 2-month-old infant are breast milk and formula. A baby's stomach is not capable of digesting solid foods at this age, and such foods could cause her to choke. Give your baby breast milk or formula only at this age.

When to Introduce Solid Foods

• Introduce solid foods at approximately 4 to 6 months. You can tell when your baby is ready for solid food when he is able to hold his head upright, keep food in his mouth and swallow it without attempting to spit it out, can sit upright while he is supported, starts making chewing motions with his mouth and seems hungry, even after being breastfed or bottle-fed eight times each day.

First Solid Foods

• The first food you give your baby should be infant cereal that has been mixed with breast milk or formula. When your baby has been eating cereal successfully for a while, you can also give her a few spoonfuls of fruit or vegetables with the cereal. Start with bananas, applesauce, peaches, pears, carrots, squash, or sweet potatoes. Use premade baby food or blend homemade baby food to a very smooth consistency and strain. Some experts feel you should introduce yellow and orange foods first because they are easier to digest. However, this could cause your baby to develop a distaste for green vegetables. Giving your baby a wide variety of foods will not only provide her with proper nutrition, but it will also help her develop a love for many different types of healthy foods.

Food Allergies

• If a baby ingests a food that he is not yet capable of digesting, his body could treat the food as a foreign substance and cause an allergic reaction. This could trigger a lifelong allergy to that food. When you first introduce a particular food, feed your baby that item alone. Do not mix different flavors together for babies who are just being weaned. In the event your baby has an allergic reaction, you will easily be able to determine which food was the culprit.