3 month old baby.. is it safe too feed him baby food

Felicia - posted on 02/07/2011

I too have concerns about this very question, my almost 3 month old is ALWAYS hungry ALL the time, I've been told to put cereal in her bottle to help her stay fuller longer, and it seems to be helping her, I've also started her on Gerber Stage One bananas only, and she seems to be taking quite well to that as well. If it wasn't for giving her cereal in her formula, she'd be eating 12 6 ounce bottles a day! She's not an overweight baby either by any means, but she sure is a hungry one LOL

Leianne - posted on 02/24/2010

The doctor told us to start oyr son on cereal at 4 months. However...at 3 months formula didn't seem to satisfy him. We called the doctor and he said we could start him on 4 tsp a day of cereal.

April - posted on 02/08/2010

thank you everyone for your help. i have just given my son just one of the baby spoons full of purayed veg and beef, he ate it with ease and seemed to enjoy it. so thank you for you advise :)

April - posted on 02/08/2010

his drinking about 180ml to 240 ml's depending on him at the time, and his having like 7 + bottles a day.

Andrea - posted on 02/08/2010

Definitely wait until he's 6 months old...it even says that on our baby food jars. If they start earlier than 6 months they can develop food allergies and their stomachs are not mature enough to digest solids. If a baby can't eat solids off a spoon, then they aren't ready for them! I always felt like I had a bottle in my son's mouth at 3 months old...but he wasn't ready for solids.

Catherine - posted on 02/08/2010

my daughter was a very hungry baby so i decided i wasn't gonna keep boosting her bottles up and i started weaning her at 3 months. she took to the spoon very well. now she is nearly 10 months and is enjoying her food.

so if your baby is hungry feed them, theres nothing wrong in feeding your baby if they're hungry

Krystal - posted on 02/08/2010

i started giving my son solids at 3 months i did ask my doctor and she gave me the ok, hes 9 months now and has 3 solid meals a day with his formula. i started out with rusk mixed with his formula 1 meal a day because he wouldnt eat baby rice so then after a week i went on to baby poridge then i introduced veg then fruit and then meat.he has home made food because he doesnt like the jar food. he loves his food and is very healthy and puts on weighed steadily and is in the percentile for his age. they actually say that the earliest you can give baby food is 17 weeks. but some prefer to say wait till 6 months but thats not always the way it goes, if he is still hungry then try a bit if he likes it then go from there. but if you want more info and advice i would go see your doctor tell them how your son is and how hungry he is they will help you. best wishes and good luck. :)

Karla - posted on 02/08/2010

My son throw-up a lot as a baby, so as soon as he could hold his head up by himself (about 2 1/2mo) I was feeding him oatmeal babies cereal. That really helped and got rid of the vomiting almost completely. Soon after I started adding in different vegetables (the veggies are easier then fruits for the baby to digest) I think you should do whatever you are comfortable with but if you ask your pediatrician they will tell you not to introduce solid foods until at least 6mo. Not matter what you decide remember not to introduce more than ne new food a week. That way if they end up having a food allergy you will now exactly which food it was that caused the allergic reaction.

Donna - posted on 02/08/2010

my son is 2 months getting 3 and i add cereal to his milk because he so hungry and likes to eat so 2 me its nt a prob

Catherine - posted on 02/08/2010

i did i put the baby food in with his milk and he ate it just fine

Cassie - posted on 02/08/2010

my mom always let us try food as soon as we started wanting it. i am the oldest of 6 and we all started eating early, and my daughter started trying foods soon too. it doesnt hurt to let them try it out since getting them to eat baby food insteadt of just having bottles all the time can be a challenge

Becca - posted on 02/08/2010

The world health organization and most research these days supports the idea of waiting until the child is 6months because giving baby food before 6months can take away from the nutrients that they are getting from milk, can increase the chance of developing allergies, and can upset the natural bacteria in the bowel making the child more at risk for illness.

At this age if your child is eating more all of a sudden it is likely due to a growth spurt and will calm down in a few days. The only time that you should give baby food to a child under six months is on the advice of a physician.

We had to give solids at 5 1/2 months because my son was no longer gaining weight well and after a medical investigation (blood tests, etc.) it had become clear that there was nothing else medically wrong and that it was probably hunger causing him to feed every 1-2 hours (he'd been feeding like that for over 6 weeks and had gained less than a pound so it clearly was not a growth spurt).

Siobhan - posted on 02/08/2010

I fed my oldest son rusk mixed with milk and rice pudding from 4 weeks old and it never affected him in anyway and he is a healthy 5 1/2 year old boy and it never affected his weight either, my advice is it depends on whether or not you think your baby is ready.

Marciel - posted on 02/08/2010

Well to be completely honest after having 6, we did the do it your self stuff like one of your previous posters. The main danger when you start feeding them at an early age is: A) there tummys aren't usually ready for harsher foods than formula. B) Food allergies (either getting them or already having them). My daughter that is 8 months has been eating the vegetables (blended) since I believe 3 months. I waited with my first one, but like I said by number 6 ...well you become a little more lenient and realize that everything they do,eat,etcetera doesn't have to be by the books!!:) Good luck!!

Suzanne - posted on 02/08/2010

SPEAK TO YOUR DOCTOR FIRST... BUT ITS ABOUT 6 MONTHS BEFORE YOU START FOOD/BABY FOOD

Casey - posted on 02/08/2010

The age in Australia is 6 mths before starting solids, the age on the baby food is wrong. At 3 mths babies go through a growth spurt they just need to be feed more often. The negative reactions can vary with feeding a baby too young, they can be more prone to food allergies and also simply if they do have a reaction they are less able to handle it think of the difference between a three and six month child is huge. I feed my first at 5 and a half months on the doctors advice and I really felt this was too early but he was ready and a big boy. I feed my boy every 2hrs during the day and he cluster fed between 5 and 7-8 of a night before bed time and then through out the night (no idea how many times now). Also if your baby is sleeping through he will need more feeds throughout the day to make up for what he is missing out on during the night. This seemed to be normal from the other mums I knew who were breastfeeding. Try feeding him milk (breast or formula) more often before starting solids. And if your BF and think your supply isn't enough try fenu greek seeds(not sure spelling), 4 tsp 2 times a day soak in hot water drink the tea and eat the seeds. You can get tablets but they don't seem to work as well. Hope this helps you.

Emilie - posted on 02/08/2010

I started both my kids at 3 months. I didn't give them very much variety at that age though. Mostly apples and/or rice cereal mixed with formula. Each baby is different, some are ready at 3 months and some aren't ready until 5 or 6 months. Each mother needs to use her own judgement to know when their baby is ready.

Karen - posted on 02/08/2010

when my son went for his 4 month check up they told me to start him on rice cereal because he was big enough for it (he weighed 16.5lbs). you should check with the dr first though, my friend started her daughter at 4 months and she wasn't big enough - ended up with a rash all over from it, she waited another couple months, tried her again and she was fine.

Jenny - posted on 02/08/2010

They say giving little ones food too early makes it more likely that they will develope food allergies. It's not fun to have a kid who can't eat dairy, wheat, peanuts ect. Are you breastfeeding? Because breastfed babies digest faster than formula babies, so if you are comparing him to formula babies it may seem like he's eating all the time, but that may be normal for him. If he is formula fed, I would just feed him more often!! Baby food might make him feel fuller but nutritionally he still needs breastmilk or formula.

Amanda - posted on 02/08/2010

my kids dr. said that you shouldn't start before 4 months because their stomachs can't digest it yet and it might keep them up more at night cause their tummies will hurt. if you're worried about him not getting enough to eat you could try rice cereal once and see how he does with it.

Heather - posted on 02/08/2010

u can feed ur baby badyfood i never give my kids babyfood they always eat table food

Christiane - posted on 02/08/2010

absolutely, 3 of mine had failure to thrieve, so they had to go on solids. they started when they were 2 months old. and 1 i gave him solids to slow him down a little. and the other wouldnt touch solids until 10 months so if they r hungry u can only try them

Roxanne - posted on 02/08/2010

You really should wait. Thier insides aren't ready for it. Frankly 4 months is pushing it but 4-6 months is a good starting time. I've generaly waited to 6-7 months and started with cereal and avacodos. The best thing you could do is ask the babie's dr, they're really the best ones to tell you.

Sarah - posted on 02/08/2010

my daughter has acid reflux so my doctor recommended putting her on rice cereal when she was about 2 months old. then at 3 months i started her on baby food. make sure you start with veggies, not fruit or he will not eat veggies. my daughter didnt get fruit till almost 5 months. if your son is hungry, go ahead and feed him baby food! =)

Erin - posted on 02/08/2010

just add baby cereal to his milk or feed it seperate to him it will satisfie him instantly.baby food is only intended at 4 months and up.dont want to screw up there digestive system.good luck

Carly - posted on 02/08/2010

Supermarkets do have a hungrier baby milk that you can try first off if your baby has a very large appetite to see if that supresses his hunger. If you have already tried this or you try it for a few weeks & it doesn't seem to be helping you can get Cow & Gate baby rice. It's basically a powder you mix with baby's milk so it taste's similar to help the process of weaining & is extremley sensitive on small tummies. But I wouldn't try anything without consulting your health visitor first and trying the hungrier baby milk too. :) Alot of people will put things like it will damage babies tummy's.. etc.. & although I didn't give my baby food until the reccomended age, my Mum gave me & all my siblings farleys rusk from 12 weeks & we are all in perfect health! I would definetly of thought about it if I had a hungrier baby xx

Breanna - posted on 02/08/2010

Not usually a good idea, their stomachs arent fully formed by that time...

Penny - posted on 02/08/2010

I started both my girls on solids at 3-4 months of age. There is no harm in giving him jars of baby food, baby rice, pureeing fruit, vegetables etc. I know people who started even younger so please don't worry. Milk is just not enough to satisfy them at that age - plus their taste buds are developing more and more. I'm sure his tummy will be very satisfied once he's started eating.

My kids started on mashed bananas and then I used to puree carrots and potatoes, amongst other vegetables and fruit. You could have a whale of a time with different recipes. In fact if you google 'baby food recipes' I am sure you will be given lots of helpful tips and there's lots of recipe books out there too. Bon appetit

Manu - posted on 02/08/2010

i didn't start before 4 months and didn't feed jars at all (i believe in do-it-yourself :-)

the first food i gave alanah was rusk, crumbled into warm milk. the consistency was more like thick milk, rather than proper food. it helped keep her full over night for a couple of weeks, before we moved on to banana etc.

don't feed him wheat or meat. do some research on good first baby foods. speak to your health visitor or gp as well. i'm sure they'll tell you to wait until 6 months though... (mine did but i must admit alanah was a hungry girl so i listened to my mum :-)

how much milk is he taking? are you breast- or bottlefeeding?