Perfect Baby Tips

Your baby is ready for a real-food fest when he meets some key developmental markers—he sits up with support, holds his neck steady, and shows good head control—and he reaches twice his birth weight. If you eat with your 4-to-6-month-old baby at meals, you’ll begin to notice entrée envy: He may reach out and grab for the food you’re eating. And you’ll be able to spoon-feed your baby without resistance. At about 4 months, most babies lose the tongue-thrust reflex, the tendency for an infant to push his tongue against the roof of his mouth when a spoon is inserted. Still, your baby has a way to go before he is nibbling from your plate. (Learn how to keep your baby's food safe.)

The first solid food your baby will eat is likely to be a soupy mixture of a tablespoon or two of dry infant rice cereal combined with breast milk or formula. Breast milk or formula will still be on the menu until your baby is a year old or so and makes the switch to cow’s milk. If your baby doesn’t demonstrate an allergic response—rashes, repeated vomiting, diarrhea, or constant fussiness—after three to five days, you can gradually make the cereal thicker. When your baby is 6 months or so, you can begin to introduce, one at a time, yogurt, oatmeal, barley, wheat, and puréed fruits, vegetables, and meats that you buy in jars or make yourself. (See our video on organic baby food, available to subscribers.)

To learn about the next steps for baby's food, check back here tomorrow.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control put pregnant women, children 6 months and older, and people caring for infants under 6 months old on their list of the first groups to get immunized against swine (H1N1) flu when the vaccine becomes available, probably sometime this fall. See the full Health blog post.

A recent large study shows how closely children's daytime activity was tied to the onset of sleep. Even modest changes in activity (for example, walking to school rather than driving) might affect how quickly a child falls asleep—not to mention their overall fitness. See the full Health blog post.

A disturbing number of kids–more than 2,000 each year–get seriously hurt, and a few die, after reaching, climbing, or falling into washers and dryers, or toppling down from them. What makes these easy hiding places is that the doors on these machines are often left open as a strategy to minimize mold growth. See the full Safety blog post.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control put pregnant women, children 6 months and older, and people caring for infants under 6 months old on their list of the first groups to get immunized against swine (H1N1) flu when the vaccine becomes available, probably sometime this fall. See the full Health blog post.

A recent large study shows how closely children's daytime activity was tied to the onset of sleep. Even modest changes in activity (for example, walking to school rather than driving) might affect how quickly a child falls asleep—not to mention their overall fitness. See the full Health blog post.

A disturbing number of kids–more than 2,000 each year–get seriously hurt, and a few die, after reaching, climbing, or falling into washers and dryers, or toppling down from them. What makes these easy hiding places is that the doors on these machines are often left open as a strategy to minimize mold growth. See the full Safety blog post.

Get more quick shopping tips in the 10th edition of the Consumer Reports Guide to Baby Products, and learn more about baby thermometers and taking baby's temperature in our full report.