Bounty feature

Your 7-month-old

• Planning ahead
• Breastfeeding and work
• Introducing finger foods
• Vital vitamins

Try a toy
Good toys for a 7-month-old are rattles with different musical sounds, such as bells, beads and chimes. Your baby will find some easier to manage than others, so will develop her motor skills trying to get them to work, and nurture her budding musical talents!

Car toys have been specially developed to help keep your baby entertained on long or short journeys. Some hang from above, some fit on the back of the seat in front and some can be attached to the straps on the car seat on short rings, so that even if your baby throws it away, it won’t go far.

If your baby is crawling, things that roll along, whether balls or wheeled toys, can provide enjoyment. Babies soon learn to bat the ball further and then ‘chase’ it.

Ten keys to safety
Childproofing isn’t something you do once and forget about. New dangers can crop up every day as your baby becomes more mobile, and more things are within reach.
So here are ten keys to a safe house:

1. Use locks on cupboards, particularly those containing dangerous household products such as bleach
2. Use locks on drawers that may pull out completely or which contain objects that you want to keep safe from your baby, such as heavy cutlery, or drawers containing special documents
3. Check your house for possible poisons such as medicines, vitamins, cigarettes, toiletries and other toxic substances; move them out of reach or lock them away
4. Some houseplants are also poisonous; if you have houseplants, find out which, if any of them, are poisonous and get rid of them. Use a houseplant text book from the library if you haven’t got one
5. To stop your baby falling, use stairgates, window locks, and block wide railings. Never leave your baby alone on sofas, beds and changing tables. Always use safety belts in high chairs and supermarket trolleys
6. Use corner cushions on sharp table or cupboard corners to prevent nasty bumps
7. Pets and their poo can be a hazard. Keep your baby away from cat litter and dog poo, and unpredictable pets that bite or scratch
8. Little fingers can be trapped in doors, use doorstoppers where needed
9. Prevent burns by keeping hot food and drinks away from the edges of tables and work surfaces. Don’t carry your baby and hot food or drink at the same time. Don’t hold your baby while cooking, and turn pan handles away from the front of the hob
10. Check batteries in smoke detectors monthly and if you haven’t got any detectors installed, get some NOW! Plan an escape route in case of fire; you won’t have time to think in an emergency.

Planning ahead
If you have a freezer, you can make up a batch of your baby’s favourite purées and use them over several weeks. Make the purée and then divide it into sterilised ice cube trays or storage pots. Freeze until solid, then tip the food cubes into a freezer bag.

Tie and label. Take out one or more cubes and allow them to thaw at room temperature. This will take about four hours. Then reheat the food until it is piping hot. Allow to cool before serving. Throw away any left over food.

Get in touch
If you want to meet other mums, or find other babies for your little one to get to know, ask your health visitor about local baby and toddler groups, National Childbirth Trust coffee groups and postnatal support groups, or Meet-a-Mum groups. You can also visit www.bounty.com for details of organisations that can put you in touch with other mums, and to share ideas for activities with other parents.

Watch out!
To protect your video and DVD player from inquisitive fingers, use a lock and consider moving everything up out of reach.

Breastfeeding and work
If you’re breastfeeding and back at work, treat yourself to one or two duplicates of your shirts and tops. Make sure that the identical ones are at work. That way, if you start to leak breastmilk and it marks your shirt, you can change into a fresh one without anyone asking you why you’ve changed. Keep supplies of breastpads in your desk, too.

Babies this age

• can probably sit unsupported
• reach for things and scoop them up with one hand
• put everything in their mouths
• may cut their two upper front teeth about now
• learn that they’re an individual, with their own feelings
• play peekaboo.

Feeding a 7-month-old

Foods your baby might love:

• baby pasta with tomato sauce
• baked potato insides mashed with butter or cheese
• mashed chicken casserole
• custard with banana lumps
• rice pudding
• mango.

Lumps and texture
Once your baby is happy eating solids, it is important to introduce minced and mashed small, soft pieces to encourage your baby to chew. Try to do this by ten months, because babies introduced to lumpy food after ten months eat a smaller range of family foods and are more likely to have feeding difficulties.

Introducing finger foods
Most babies love to feed themselves, and being independent about eating will encourage your baby to try lots of new tastes and textures.

Also, chasing foods round a highchair tray is good practice for hand and eye co-ordination skills!

Try some of these ideas at this stage:

• rusks
• toast soldiers
• coarsely grated cheese
• strips of banana
• slices of apple or pear
• cooked vegetables strips
• grated raw carrot and apple.

If your baby chokes
Most babies cough and choke a bit when they are learning to eat, and that is why it is so important always to stay with your baby while she is eating. Be prepared for a few splutters, and here’s what to do if they happen:

• if your baby coughs and splutters, she is trying to remove food that is in her way; help her do this by putting your finger in her mouth to clear some of the food
• babies may put too much food in their mouths, and then they cannot swallow; take some of the food out and she will be able to swallow what’s left
• if your baby has got some food stuck in her mouth, lift her out of the highchair and pat her firmly on the back two or three times while you hold her with her face pointing downwards.

Vital vitamins
When you prepare foods for your baby, how you cook them (especially fruits and vegetables) will affect how much of their ‘goodness’ they keep. Some vitamins are destroyed when vegetables or fruit are cut, boiled, or kept warm for a long time, and Vitamin C dissolves in water.

To preserve those vital vitamins:

• if you want to boil vegetables, add to the pan just enough boiling water to cover them, and cook them until just tender; serve as soon as they are cool enough
• try steaming foods whenever you can, this not only retains vitamins but also keeps the food’s natural flavours; again, serve as soon as they are cool enough
• if you have a microwave oven, you can use it to cook vegetables and fruits; put them in a suitable dish, add a little water, cover, cook until just tender and leave to stand to even out any hot spots before serving
• use the water you cooked the vegetables in to thin a vegetable purée to the right consistency
• offer your baby some raw vegetables and fruits.

Frozen fruit and vegetables are a good way of introducing a variety of tastes to your baby. They are frozen soon after they’ve been harvested, so they may even contain more vitamins than fresh produce that has been stored for a long time. If you use tinned fruit and vegetables, choose fruits canned in natural juices rather than sweet syrups, and vegetables in plain rather than salted water.

Look at the labels
Check out baby foods that you buy in shops to make sure they are right for your baby. Check:

1. The age the food is recommended for; it should say on the jar or packet. Don’t give your baby any food that is too ‘advanced’ because it may be the wrong texture or contain unsuitable ingredients
2. The ingredient list so that you know exactly what’s in it. The label will tell you if the food has added sugar, salt, eggs, nuts, or artificial flavourings or colourings. Artificial sweeteners are not allowed in baby foods
3. The ‘use by’ or ‘best before end’ date and storage recommendations; some foods need to be kept in the fridge after opening. Store dried baby foods in a cool dry place. Always store jars of baby food in the fridge once they are open and check how long it can be kept once opened.

Safety first

Why not take an Infant First Aid course?

Then you’ll know what to do if your child seriously chokes on something or has an injury at home.

See the ‘Who can help’ section at the back of this book for contact details for the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance, which both run First Aid classes for parents.

Milk – how much?
Milk is still the most important part of your baby’s diet. The changeover to solid foods needs to be very gradual. These early foods will be in addition to your baby’s milk feeds. Once she has really learnt how to deal with solid foods and is taking a fair amount, she will begin to need less milk. So don’t cut down on the milk you offer her at this age, but you may notice that she doesn’t seem to want to stay at the breast for as long as usual, or finish the milk in her bottle.

For the next You and your growing baby guide Chapter, Your 8-month old, Click here