Watching your baby grow and develop is an exciting and rewarding experience for new parents. You spend all of your baby's wakeful hours introducing her to the world, exploring new sights and sounds, and playing games together. Your baby likes to hear your voice and tries to use the same sounds and patterns. She is also very responsive to your facial expressions, smiles and laughter.

Each new phase of development brings you and your baby closer. At around 6 months old, your baby is sitting up and looking around, using her hands to reach and grasp, and putting things in her mouth. Discovery on a minute by minute basis takes a lot of energy and concentration for your baby.

Along with this discovery and growth phase comes the excitement of introducing your baby to a whole world of solid foods, above and beyond regular breast milk or formula feedings. Below are some tips to help your baby learn and enjoy the solid food experience:

• When introducing solids, start with single-ingredient foods first to check for allergies. Most pediatricians recommend starting with a single-grain cereal because it's easier for babies to digest. Once baby has tried a single-grain cereal, start introducing single-ingredient foods, one at a time to detect allergies, for three to five days.

• The best way to ensure that your baby is prepared to take on the day is to start with a good breakfast, like Beech-Nut Good Morning cereals, that contain a healthy balance of carbohydrates from whole grains, along with protein, vitamins, minerals and no added refined sugar.

• Each breakfast, your baby can have up to one gram of soluble fibre per serving for a slow release of energy that keeps your baby alert and ready to learn and play all day.

• Read labels to ensure the baby foods you choose are made with all-natural ingredients and some are even formulated to feed babies the right kind of food at the right time of day. This keeps your baby satisfied and contributes to better attention span, concentration and memory, the essentials to good learning.

This is the time to relish and enjoy your baby's developmental phases. Start the day off right for you and your baby with a nutritious and enjoyable breakfast.
For further information on healthy nutrition for your baby, call the Beech-Nut Helpline at 1-800-BEECH-NUT (1-800-233-2468) weekdays 9a.m. to 6p.m. Eastern Time.

Credit: www.newscanada.com