Klikdokter.com – babies always follow their instinct since they were born, including time to eat. they only wants to eat if they feel hungry, and stops after they feel full and satisfied. That means, you can only give breast milk or formula milk when they are showing the signs of hunger. When they are  full – usually they will stop drinking or eating – then it is time for you to stop feeding, although there is still milk left in their bottle. Experts from The American Academy of Pediatric recommend to give breast milk until 6 months, exclusively. But if you experience difficulties in giving breast milk to your baby – whatever the reasons –  then formula milk can be an option. After 6 months full of exclusive breastfeeding, you need to add more nutrition by giving solid food to help baby’s growth and development. However, sometimes there are baby who doesn’t want to eat because she is used to drinking breast milk. Here are some tips so that you can make sure your  baby wants to eat solid food :

• Start with soft food such as baby’s cereal. Iron in cereal is good for baby’s supplementary nutrition. Besides, it can reduce risk of allergy.
• Introduce new food every 2-3 days. Baby can be bored. You also need to know which food can trigger allergic symptoms to your child.
• When you’ve given solid food, pay attention to signs that tell the baby’s still hungry or full already. Don’t force them to finish all of the meals.

When baby reaches 12 months, it means they are ready to eat what’s on dinner table, together with other family members. You should make it a habit to sit the baby at the dinner table on dinner time. By doing this way, they can be used to healthy dietary habit. Written by: Dyah Novita Anggraini, MD Member of medical editorial staff Klikdokter.com