Starting foods to early

Ellen - posted on 01/15/2010

My ped told me to start my son on rice cereal at 3 months and then on veggies at 4 months followed by fruits and then meats at 6 months hes now 10 1/2 months and eats just about anything, obviously I make sure he gets his fruits and veggies but he pritty much eats what we do! I've talked to his ped and she told me it was just fine and he's doing great!!

Melissa - posted on 01/13/2010

I started mine at five months that what the doctor said with milk

Katie - posted on 01/13/2010

You're not the only one but it surprises me how many moms start their babies early. Especially before 4 months! I made a post all about starting solids on the breastfeeding board just yesterday but no one replied. I think I'll post it on this board too because I think there's some important info that moms need to be aware of...Keep an eye out for my thread if you're interested.

Melissa - posted on 01/13/2010

I dont think it really matters either way. I started mine early but that dosnt say you are wrong. My kids hated any baby food so I kinda had no choice.

Denay - posted on 01/13/2010

I started my Daughter on cereal at 3 months and she is just fine. My Dr. asked what she was eating at her four month appointment so I told her and there was no concerns from her, she just asked if she was pooping ok and she was. My family is very old school and they start babies on things before they are recommended these days and all the babies are healthy and happy so I know you are not the only one. Do what you think is best for your child.

Julie - posted on 01/13/2010

I started giving my son some solids at 4 mths. He was on regular solids by around 5 mths though. I just felt my baby was ready, I think every baby is different and 6 mths is not a magical number that you HAVE to wait for. Also, I am not sure that waiting is always a good thing. Sure there are studies out there that shows you should wait, but there are also studies out there that say waiting is acutally causing more allergies in our children. so you just gotta believe what you believe and do what is best for your baby, while not being too judgemental of other's choices (not that you were in your post, that was a general statement.)

Whitney - posted on 01/13/2010

I am just worried about developing allergies to foods if given too early. He still loves his bottle.

Sarah - posted on 01/13/2010

If what your doing is working then keep doing it.

Maryke - posted on 01/13/2010

I only breastfed my son till he turned 6 months, nothing inbetween! No water, No juice Nothing! He was / still am a perfect picture of health! Because everything he needed was in the milk he got!

They also say that you shouldn't rush into giving your child solids, its also like a safety precaution, because in the first 6 months they are most likely to have an allergic reaction for about anything, after 6 months the chances are smaller for them to develop allergies.

The first thing I gave my son was mashed bananna ~ he loved it!



I know they say, when your little one can pick up a pee with her / his thumb and index finger thats when they can show you they are ready for Solids.

Kimberley - posted on 01/13/2010

waiting is fine, as long as he is not hungry straight after the bottle or constantly chewing on his hand which is a sign to start food, he will be fine. normally you start around 6months

Denise - posted on 01/13/2010

I think it depends on the child, i gave my kids baby food and juice starting at 3 mo.... well my oldest was 4 months but he was 2 mo. premature, i just didnt think they were satisfied. I took a parenting class and they said a child knows when they're hungry and the bottles just didn't seem like enough. My son is big, but let me say he's littler than a child a mo. younger, and he eats good, my other son, doesn't eat as well as my youngest but is still in the 50th percentile for his age, so it hasn't affected anythingas to their growth. But some babies stomachs can't take some foods. Childhood obesity is a big problem today, so i have read in various articles, and i think that is why dr's and nutrcionists don't suggest early feedings!!!

Mariette - posted on 01/13/2010

if baby stay full with only bottle for 3 - 4 hours,there is no need to rush food.

Melissa - posted on 01/12/2010

I agree that is depends on the baby. If your child is doing great without the food then great start him wen he is 6 mo. I started mine on baby food when they were four and a half mo simpley b/c they werent getting enough from their bottles and cereal. My daughter started eating some applesauce and that kind of stuff before she got other foods due to her constipation issues. again purely up to the baby. :)

Joseline - posted on 01/12/2010

u can start your baby on baby foods right now. most mother's usually start to give their infants foods at around 4 months. i wanted to follow the book too, but now that i have my second child i will do what i feel is right. once u feel like your baby just isn't staying full he's ready for foods. and putting a little bit of cereal in his bottle is ok too.

Adrienne - posted on 01/12/2010

If your baby doesn't show any signs of wanting or needing food. Then I would say wait to start your baby on solid foods. Both my boys showed signs they were ready for solid foods at 4 months of age. I asked the doctor about it and said that it was ok to start them. If my boys didn't show any signs I would have waited until they were 6 months of age.

Abbey - posted on 01/12/2010

My baby boy is 4 months old and is already on veggies. He also has breast-milk and cereal everyday. (Rice and oatmeal so far) He was wanting to eat every hour for weeks (not a growth spurt) The doctor suggested that we add solid foods to space out the breast-feedings so that he would get more than one ounce of breast-milk a feeding. Currently he is 15 lbs and 8 oz and 27 inches long. A big boy and a big eater. He jumps for the spoon and cries when the food is almost gone. Starting him on solids was definitely the right decision for us and he was clearly ready for it. I think it really just depends on the baby. Something fun to add variety to the babies diet is to freeze breastmilk or formula in ice cube trays and let the baby chew on it in a munchkin teether or freeze to where its slushy and feed it by spoon. My son loves this, it teaches them to chew and helps sore gums if they are teething.

Jami - posted on 01/12/2010

I just started my daughter on cereal in her bottle on Christmas. She was only about 3 weeks old by then. I had initially been breastfeeding her, but she wasn't satisfied. so at 2 weeks I quit breastfeeding and gave her formula. Then I had to add a little bit of cereal. And last night, I started making a couple bites of cereal. I mix the cereal with formula that I make, give her a couple bites, then let her have the rest of her formula. It is the only thing that satisfies her now.

Nikki - posted on 01/12/2010

it all depends on the baby, I started my son on Veggies at four months, he was sitting up on his own at three months and was always wanting to eat what we are eating plus he would eat about 12 ounces of formula every two hours and it was just not enough and it was just too much liquid, when we introduced veggies he didnt push the food out either. Every baby is different, your baby will let you know when they are ready, I had planned on starting at six months but obviously my son was ready much earlier

Nora - posted on 01/12/2010

I didn't start my son on rice cereal til he was 5.5 months. He was a good nurser and our dr told us to wait when we had our 4 month check up. He hated the rice cereal when we did start and quickly progressed to veggies at 6 months.

Leilanie - posted on 01/12/2010

i tried to start my girls at 6 months, they really weren't into it. Yes all the books, magazines, blogs are going to tell yuo to start them at 6 months, but it's really up to your baby. try feeding him once and a while, he'll let you know if he wants it or not. the good thing is if he goes to day care they can do all the dirty work for you and be persistant with him. if not then you just keep at it, eventually he'll figure out that hey this stuff is for me and it's super yummy!!

Jessica - posted on 01/12/2010

I started my son around 4 months on rice cereal because he was really interested in what we were doing at the table and I'm all about letting him explore new things at his own pace, if he wants to do something and show signs of interest i'm not going to hold him back. Starting him early wasn't about the food taking over for the breast milk it was to let him learn and explore the new textures and tastes, I always fed him with breast milk first to the point where he wouldn't be hungry enough to eat much cereal. I only slowly started to introduce other foods at 6 months and now at 8 months he eats anything, I have no problems.

Mary - posted on 01/12/2010

Hi. I started both my children at just about 6 months. From what my doctor (who was my doctor as a young child so I know and trust him well) has told me, the age you can start feeding your baby solids is anywhere from 4-6 months. But that's not even for nutrition it's pretty much just to get them used to the idea of eating food. Apparently babies don't actually start "needing" food for nutritional value until closer to 9 months. Before then, the breast or bottle should remain their main food source.

Alot of people rush into it sooner because they think it will help their babies sleep longer, or they are under the misconception that milk isn't enough.

Start your baby on solids whenever he is ready and don't worry about what other people are doing. That would be my advice! :)

Cori - posted on 01/12/2010

i waited on solids for a couple reasons 1 my husband was deployed and i wanted him to be here for our sons first "real" food other than breast milk and he was getting home when baby was turning 7 months, and 2 we had a boy, boys have a higher chance of being allergic to anything so even though my husband and i both have no family history of allergies, we figured better safe than sorry. i am not sure why people rush, its like when babies start walking or crawling! you are so excited for it to finally get there, then they are getting into everything pulling everything down, falling! then you want them to be little jelly bean babies who just snuggle all day...

Rebekah - posted on 01/12/2010

It is really a matter of preference and if you baby is ready. A lot of moms will give a 4 month old rice cereal in bottles to help them sleep at night and some moms just want to start the introduction of food early to make sure they can handle it. I am sure there are other reasons as well but since I am not one of the moms that have done this it is just speculation. I have given my 3.5 month son rice cereal in his bottle at night only. And I do it so that he sleeps for a longer period. I am in no rush to actually start baby food. And in fact I do not give him the cereal every night.

Amber - posted on 01/12/2010

Some babies are ready for solids as early as 4 months, some aren't which is why the general guideline for starting solids is 6 months. Babies don't need anything besides breastmilk or formula up to 6 months but it is fun to start sooner if your baby is ready! Sometimes a doctor will recommend starting earlier as well, just depends on the baby :)

Sara - posted on 01/12/2010

It really depends on the baby, if he is showing interest in your food I would go ahead and give him cereal. I started my daughter on cereal at 4 months and Jar food around 5. She was watching my every move when I would eat. It's said that they do not need anything other than breastmilk for the first year. Formula is different because it does not have everything that the baby needs as the child gets older. You don't have to rush it but I would definetly encourage my child if he/she was showing interest. It's definetly good to have some variety!