The following chart indicates the approximate time at which various foods can be started if desired. Actually, the infant doesn't need anything besides milk for the first three to five months.

1. Additional points: At 12 weeks of age the baby may be started on a few teaspoonfuls of cereal once daily. The cereal is mixed with a small amount of water of formula. If the infant takes his cereal well, it may be given to him twice daily and then, after a week or so, a small amount of vegetables may be given after the cereal. Do not force feed. Your foods prepared with a blender are more healthful than jars of food which contain chemicals, rodent hairs, paint chips, mold, etc. Newspapers report contamination with all these materials, and I believe they are not fit for human consumption.
2. We prefer to start vegetables before we start fruits since we find that the infants will take the vegetables easier if they are not accustomed to the sweet-tasting fruit. The vegetables are usually given at the noontime feeding initially.
3. Increase the amount of solid foods in the diet slowly. There is no set rule on the amount of food an infant will take. Do not add more than one new food to the baby's diet in any four to five day period. Occasionally an infant will have an allergic reaction to a certain type of food, and in this way you will readily be able to detect the allergy-causing food.
   
   Again, it should be repeated that this is a suggested feeding schedule. You need not adhere to it strictly, and the likes and dislikes of the infant will require substitution of one food or another.
   
4. The maximum amount of milk that should be given is 24 ounces a day. The infant should be given foods to chew between six to seven months of age, even though he has no teeth.
5. After the introduction of new food in the diet, an infant will occasionally have loose stools and pass mucous. This in itself is of little importance unless the characteristics of diarrhea stools appear. Sometimes infants pass a small amount of blood in their stools during the first few days of life. Should this persist, a physician should be consulted.
6. When a child has an upper respiratory infection, one of the first complications is diarrhea (i.e. more frequent and loose stools). The treatment for mild cases of diarrhea is to take the child off formula and solid foods and substitute clear fluids. Should the diarrhea persist, the child should be seen by a physician. Kaopectate should not be used under the age of six months unless a physician is consulted.
7. Occasionally the infant will have hard, infrequent bowel movements. The addition of Karo to the formula or the addition of one to two ounces of prune juice two to three times daily may be indicated. It is best to avoid the use of laxatives unless prescribed by your physician.
8. You will note that we do not recommend whole eggs be started in infants until they are at least 15 months old. We have encountered many infants who have shown allergic tendencies toward egg white.