When to start food?

Annaleigh - posted on 01/08/2011

I plan on starting my son here soon...by the end of the month. I try cereal first, but my daughter didn't like it and would only eat baby food. He is not interested in food at the moment so there is no rush. =)

Brenda - posted on 01/03/2011

I didnt give rice cereal cause i didnt want my son constipated so i give sweet potatoes. I did find a whole grain cereal, that is made from brown rice flour, that i will try. brown rice is good for not constipating them up. or you can make your own but grinding up brown rice, very very fine ( i use a coffee grinder) and cooking it and I found the recipe at wholesomebabyfood.com. they have lots of homemade baby food ideas, even for cereals!!!!

Brittany - posted on 01/03/2011

My daughter has been eating 1st foods since 4 months, she handles it all very well, except I would be careful adding a lot of bananas and rice cereal, my daughter was awfully constipated, it broke my heart I had to due a suppository and due prune juice and prunes. now I only give her bananas and cereal every once in a while. Her absolute favorites are sweet potatoes and pears...

Brenda - posted on 01/03/2011

I started my son because he was really seeming hungry so I feed him sweet potatoe for dinner and he now sleeps the nights..more or less. The reason i didnt start with cereal is cause I wanted him to have something that was home made and sweet potato has fiber in it so helps him poop.

NeQuitta - posted on 12/27/2010

I started my son on cereal early. I started giving him a little at a time and started uping it. I started my son on solids when he turned 4 months. He took to them very good. Like he's been eating for a while, lol. And just because I started him at 4 months DOES NOT MAKE ME STUPID. He was ready and if he's ready, I'm ready. Some babies are ready early but some are not. My son was one of the ones who were ready. And trust me, honey, I'm not trying to rush him to grow up too fast, believe me.

Julie - posted on 12/22/2010

Hi. My daughter has just turned 5 months and I have only just started thinking she may be getting ready for solids. She has 4 8 ozs bottles a day and sleeps 13 hours a night! Am I just lucky?

Brenda - posted on 12/22/2010

My daughter is 5 months and is not interested in solid food yet.You will know when your baby is ready.

Alex - posted on 12/20/2010

i was always very determined to start feeding at 6 months but my bub decided otherwise it got to a point were she was eating 500 mls a feed and the doctor said its actually worse for them to drink that much milk then it is to start on solids because they become bloated and have gas from to much milk. My bub was grabing at food and watching me eat and could sit by herself and was very hungry when i started her on solids and she was 2 weeks away from being 5 months she absolutly loves food and when she see sa spoon she opens her mouth and calls out to me lol, i really think u should watch ur baby let them tell you what they want. good luck :)

Doti - posted on 12/01/2010

I had my 4 month check up with her Doctor yesterday and we are going to start single cereals this week. Only around dinner time and see how it goes and gradually add in more. I am only doing single singles such as rice or oatmeal.

Jessica - posted on 12/01/2010

My son will be 5 months on the 3rd and he was 6 weeks premature. I started him on rice cereal right before he turned 4 months. He just tried Green beans for the first time last night. I would start with vegetables. Try a a different one each week. This way if he has an allergic reaction to a food you know which one it is from . So try a veggie first for a week and then add a new one. I did it with my 2 year old and worked great.

Nikkole - posted on 11/29/2010

My daughter has bad reflux and we have been adding rice ceral to her milk since she was 2months we started her on fruits and veggies at 4months and she does very well and she does NOT have any weight problems shes actually small for her age! But my son didn't have reflux and we started him on fruits and veggies at 4months and he did fine also! I say do what YOU think is best

Lisa - posted on 11/29/2010

And i only give him half a jar of stage 1 at a time! :)

Lisa - posted on 11/29/2010

My son's doctor says 4 months! My son just turned 4 months and i have been feeding him baby food and rice cereal for a few weeks. His dr did tell me to do orange vegetables first though!!

Treava - posted on 11/29/2010

My daughter is 4 months old and is eating rice cereal at the moment. it helps them feel fuller especially at night and she has been sleeping very well through the night since i started giving it to her! i started putting it in her bottle and then we moved to eating it off the spoon. i plan on not starting the veggies and fruits for probably another few weeks. when my son was little i started him on rice cereal then went to veggies before fruits and i personally think its the way to go. my son eats every veggie you put in front of him. veggies are an aquired taste so i started him with those first and he loves them. Some doctors may tell you to wait until the baby is 5 months or older to start food but really your the mom you know when your child is ready. Good Luck!

Crystal - posted on 11/28/2010

I started feeding my daughter Gerber solid food at 3 months. I give her a variety of fruits and vegetables. Gerber solids stage one also had foods such as mac n cheese, chicken noodle soup, mixed rice ect. I started to feed her rice cereal at 2 months, and graduated up to oatmeal cereal just shy of 3 months. She is now 4 months and she is taking the soild foods well. She actually prefer it to just plain formula. Also she is still average height and weight.

Amira - posted on 11/28/2010

my baby now almost five month,but i have started feeding him and i didn't notice anything up normal happening with him.

Marion - posted on 11/28/2010

i think you should start feeding then when u think there ready you are the only one who knows your child and you will know when there are ready. so there is no real time when to start as all children are different

Amanda - posted on 11/27/2010

I agree with Natasha, no needs to be called stupid for doing what they feel is right for their children. My pediatrician told me to go ahead and start solid food with my son that is just over 4 months. He is already 18.5 pounds, but is over 28 inches tall! He just wasn't getting enough food with only the formula. We were at 6-8 ounces every 3-4 hours just so he would be full! I'm glad that we were able to start on the solids because now he takes baby food and 4 ounces of formula at breakfast and supper with the rest of the family and has 6 ounces of formula at lunch and bedtime. I think that only the parent/caregiver knows when it's the right time for their children!

Natasha - posted on 11/18/2010

I have been to a doctor, a health nurse and a peadeatrition and they all advised me now my son is 4 months it is ready to start solids, they did say he doesn't physically need it. but they all said he was definately ready. It used to be 6 months but new studys better tech has now said 4-6 months...every child is different and that is why they had the guidelines to when the child is ready:
can hold head up
sits well with support
makes chewing motions
has gained healthy weight
is curious about what your eating

the baby should have all the signs when ready not just a few. it is the parents decision for when they start but no one should be called stupid for starting earlier or even later

Janine - posted on 11/17/2010

Doctors, Midwifes and Health visitors do not recommend it until they are 6 months... because they just get fat and want more food but they are not even crawling yet to loose the weight... some mums do like to rush there kids into growing up...

Stephanie - posted on 11/17/2010

I just recently started my son on cereal and vegetables he's 4 1/2 months old. Hes not taking to well to it but hopefully soon. The pediatrician recommended that I start him on vegetable first and get him eating them for about a month before I start vegetable otherwise he will always prefer the fruit to vegetables.

Hollyann - posted on 11/17/2010

I started my baby on rice cereal at just shy of 3 months...with a tiny tiny bit in the mike before he went to bed. He was eating every 2 hours still and the cereal only pushed him to three, but we all know that one hours is amazing to have! lol I kept him on cereal just thicking it up a little more when he got to 3 months and now 4....But I started the jars of food just shy of 4 months. My mom told me, babies have a natural reaction to push out solid objects with there toung when they are first born...but as soon as they dont do that anymore then they are ready to start foods. Its like the body telling you that they can have them. I started with thicker rice cereal in a bowl with the spoon....he pushed it out and didnt swallow any for about 2 weeks and I tried every 3 days or so...and then he started to swallow =) Its a happy moment knowing your baby just moved up to the next level! So about a week ago I started him on peas (which he loves) just once a day, around dinner time, and only half a jar.

Kirsten - posted on 11/15/2010

i started feeding my son rice cereal at 3 months. and he is moving to baby food stage one and he is 4 months!

ROBYN - posted on 11/12/2010

Ive just begun feeding my baby gerbers 1st foods my doc advised me to begin him on rice cereal and fruits 1 a week and veggies 1 a week. So far he is doing very well and is loving tasting all these new tastes. You will find that if they show alot of interests in what you are eating and can hold up their heads well they are usually ready to eat baby foods.

Kim - posted on 10/28/2010

I have been feeding my son applesauce and rice cereal at 3 mths old.

Kristi - posted on 10/28/2010

Also when u start foods u should always start with veggies, and u can always mix foods too. Like green beans and bananas..or peaches and carrots. But ya you should start with mixing cereal or rice with formula first to get them used to eating from a spoon and then gradually introduce veggies and then fruits. Another thing that is recommended is to mix cereal into the baby food to give different textured here and there so they dont get bored with eating the same thing over and over

Kristi - posted on 10/28/2010

if you look at the jars of baby food especially on GERBER it says when to start feeding them Like stage one is sitting with support, stage 2 is sitting or standing with or without support and i think stage three is walking. All of there snacks like the teething biscuits and the yogurt melts and the cereal puffs are coded the same way. But my doctor told me that as soon as they can hold there head up good they can start eating foods. I started feeding my middle child baby food when she was 3 months and she handled it just find. but my youngest is three months now and im debating on when im going to start her, and plus by the time all of my kids were 2 months they had a mouth full of teeth so they were able to start earlier too

Krista - posted on 10/28/2010

Just a word to the wise. If you start your children on sweet food (such as banana) he or she will be reluctant to eat other foods (such as peas or beans). Both of my doctors have told me to start with rice cereal first and then go to veggies before fruits.

Emily - posted on 10/28/2010

they say between 4 and a half - 6 months but usually wait til 6 months unless bubs is showing signs of wanting to eat food (watching you eat, opening mouth when you put food near etc). If you try too early they still have the reflex to push everything out with their tongue (this reflex disappears around 6 months). Having said that I'm thinking of starting around 5 months as my 16 week old is still not sleeping through the night and i'm hoping it will help!! I have Farax Rice cereal ready to go in the pantry as this was reccomended by the maternal health nurse.