When should I start cereal, and baby food?

Roxworld wrote: I know that this is usually a heated topic on most boards, but i'd really just like to know all of your experiences, and when you started. Aidan is almost 15 wks old, and his Ped told me on his last visit, that after his 4 month visit, which is coming up in a couple weeks, that i should start him on stage 1 baby food. Actually now that I think about it, she didn't even mention cereal. I've talked to alot of people about this, and have gotten alot of different answers. Some say to wait til he's 6 months old, or longer, some say they started at 2 and 3 months. others say to wait til he shows interest in your food....etc etc. What do all of you think? TIA

MommyToAshley replied: Our Ped recommended 4 months too. And, that is about the time I felt Ashley was ready -- she was sitting up good, showed interest in food, and when we tried it she was not spitting it back out after a couple of bites

We started rice cereal first because it is suppose to be the most gentle and have the least chance of causing a reaction. But,I have heard of some people starting veggies first.

You should wait at least 5 days before introducing a new food so that you know if there is a reaction.

HTH

Roxworld replied: Dee Dee, thanx for your response. So how many times a day do you feed the cereal or baby food in the beginning....once a day, then gradually add more? And how many bottles do they keep getting? I know all babies are different, but how much is Ashley eating? Thnx again.....i'm so excited to start spoon feeding..hehe.

momofajcl replied: Hi Roxane My ped recommended 4 months too. Nicholas was ready and getting some solids in him during the day helped him sleep better at night I think I started him on cereal at first but he hated it so my ped said to start with the yellow veggies. So we started him with sweet taters. At first he was getting solids once a day in addition to his normal nursing every three hours. You feed him the solids in addition to the bottles (or nursings) so you don't cut out any bottles. What I do is nurse Nicholas then wait 1.5-2 hours and feed him solids. I introduced solids at dinner time because they say mommy's milk supply is at it's lowest at the end of the day...but since Adian is bottle-fed, I would assume you can introduce it any time of day Good luck and let us know how it goes

MommyToAshley replied: Yeah -- what she said.

The cereal supplements the bottles/nursing. I started her on cereal first at night for the reason momofajcl said -- milk supply is lowest at night. Although, since then I read that it is a good idea to start a new food in the morning because then you can watch for a reaction during the day. But, I have also read that it can take 48-72 hours before you see a reaction so then it shouldn't matter when you do the feeding.

Ashley still eats every two to three hours. I started her out on cereal in am and pm (roughly 10 am and 6 pm). Per the Ped, I added a lunch, but then she started not eating much at any of the meals so I cut it back to two times a day. She is eating better so I will eventually add the lunch back.

After she was on cereal for a little over a week, I started yellow veggies too. They are suppose to be less gassy. I started with carrots. Then, I did pears in her cereal, which is suppose to keep them from getting so constipated. Then I think we did sweet potatoes (her favorite) and squash.

Oh, be sure to have your camera or camcorder ready for that first bite... the expression is one you are going to want to get on camera!

Kaitlin'smom replied: I am in the same position, I look foward to giving Kaitlin food, I have tried cereal but she did not like it, i think it upset her tummy, so I have not tried it again for several weeks. It interesting with all the different ways and Ieads, i was told to start with fruits one at a time and then veggies. Humm but I guess its up to the individual. She seems to be getting ready to try it...

MommyToAshley replied: I kind of alternated veggies and fruits...but started with veggies. I gave her veggies by themselves and gave her fruit in her cereal. I would introduce a veggie one week, then another veggie the next week, then a fruit in her cereal. The reason is my Ped said (and I heard) that once they taste the sweetness of the fruit then they won't like the veggies. But, like you said, it is up to the individual.

Kaitlin'smom replied: huh, I was wondering about that. I would hate for her not to like veggies. Maybe I will try them first. Which ones are the best to start with?

mummm veggies

supermom replied: My ped said fruits first (around 6-8 months, when the baby seems to be ready) because they had a better flavor?? Don't know, but they seemed to like it - then we added some cereal to the fruit, and then the veggies - meats last because my ped said if you start them too early, it can cause stomach problems. Actually, by the time we got around to meat, they were pretty much eating what we were eating, so we never did much baby food.

We did a lot of mashed up, cooked or not, (fresh or frozen, less salt) "Adult" food - bananas, rice, cooked crumbled ground beef, cooked peas and carrots, etc, etc. Not only did they enjoy trying to feed themselves, it also gave us a chance to eat our dinners too....lol.....sometime with very little interruptions because they were so absorbed in "playing" with their food. Thank goodness for the dog, we'd just let her in after the baby was done, and viola, clean floor!!

So, they'd try to feed themselves, then we'd help them after we had ate, then the dog would finish it up - what a system!

And yes, this was in addition to the regular nursings every 3-4 hours. The food never did help mine sleep thru the night, but I did the nighttime feedings first for the same reason (low milk supply), then added breakfast (well, more like brunch - lol) and sometimes we still only do two "meals". Although, with Anders, he's a "light" eater - when it's light out, he's eating He woke up at night until he was about 2 1/2, it didn't matter how much he'd eaten or not. My oldest slept thru the night at 2 weeks, and didn't change when he got solids either.

Actually, if you are BF, the baby has already been exposed to a variety of tastes, and I had said this in a previous post. Your BM changes tastes regularly, depending on what you eat. I read that BF babies are more likely to be accepting of all different tastes if the mother herself has ate them sometimes in the past, because the baby has already "tasted" it in the BM. That is why, so they say, that BF babies are more tolerant of accepting new foods than non BF babies. That is just something I've heard, all my babies are BF so I don't know the difference!

Kaitlin'smom replied: thanks for the info supermom. I want to give her solids but not just yet, I dont want to rush it. She will grow up fast enough. She is staring to get real interested in what I am eating so I think in the next couple of weeks we might try something, maybe cereal again or fruits or veggies. We will see

dhoppygirl replied: Peyton started cereal at 4 months, we started with rice and then introduced Barley and Oatmeal for variety. THen we moved onto veggies...we did veggies first because we wanted it save the best for last! We started just once a day, but now at 6 months we feed him cereal with fruit in the morning and veggies at night. He is still eating (either BM or solids) every 2.5-3 hours, except at night; he is finally sleeping through the night!!!
Our ped told us not to start cereal as a reason to make the baby sleep through the night; that it is usually a coincidence of age of when they start solids and sleeping through the night rather than the solids themselves...that is what he told us anyway....you hear tons of different things!!
HTH!!

Dawn

Roxworld replied: Thank you so much for all the input. I think i'm going to give it a try in a couple weeks, and see how it goes. if I feel like he's not ready i'll stop....but I have a feeling he'll like it....we shall see....I'll keep ya posted. Thnx again

Schnoogly replied: Hi Rox--we did have a war about this on pp didn't we???

I think we'll probaby wait till 6 months because I don't want to change anything while Iain is recovering from surgery, but he is sure interested in our eating!! He stares totally in awe when we eat, like WHAT ARE THEY DOING??? Looks fun. My dh jokingly held a pizza crust in front of him and he lunged for it!! I think he's totally going to want to eat solids in a few weeks. He is almost sitting up on his own too!

Steph

Roxworld replied: Hey Steph! Oh yeah, there was a major blow out about this....why I don't know! Wow....lain is almost sitting up on his own? That is great!!! Him and Aidan are only a day apart. Did you go full term, I can't remember? Aidan has been pushing his head forward for the past couple weeks....so he's trying...hehe. Today was the first day he really started noticing when we ate....he was watching us eat cereal this morning.....and it was so cute, cause he was watching the spoon go into my mouth, and he'd get that look like you were talking about....and then he'd smile really big...lol.
I can't wait to see that 1st expression when he gets food.

MommyToAshley replied: Before we started Ashley on solids, she would watch us eat and she would immitate us. Her mouth would move like she was chewing. LOL

HomeIsCool replied: The AAP recommends waiting until the baby is at least 6 months before starting solid food.

La Leche League and their medical board of Advisors, recommend starting with either a banana or avocado ... if baby is ready and tolerating that well, go to meats as their second food as breastfed babies are depleting their stores of iron by about 6 months of age and no matter how much iron mommy takes, you will not be able increase the iron baby gets that way.

If you are not breastfeeding ... I still don't see why that schedule would not work.

The baby cereals are fortified in iron and have a tendency to cause constipation in babies.

I have used 1/2 a box of baby cereal and 2 jars of baby food TOTAL in raising 3 kids. It is so not necessary to buy that stuff ... you can grind your own foods or wait until baby is ready for things mashed from your plate.

That is what works for me!

Barbara

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Hi... I give Zach EVERYTHING!!!

I started with Peas, he LOVED them!!! He couldn't get enough of them. He'd refuse the bottle until I put some peas in a spoon.

Then I'd give him a bit of peas, and some cereal with a fruit mixed in.

I've been giving him food since 3 months old, because he just wasn't satisfied with the formula. I guess you could say that he started on cereal...even if it was a couple spoon fulls mixed in his bottles....

Now, he's jsut past 7 months old, and eats anything. He'll eat chicken casserole, corn, peas, carrots, potatoes, beef & vegetables, apricots, bananas, custard, tapioca pudding, soggy bread, apple or cranberry juice, he's tried ice cream (compliments of el' dad...), he eats cookies (arrowroot or other baby cookies), cheerios, rice krispies, rice (I only give him white rice...more to play with than eat... but he picks them up off his tray and will eat them, if he can get them to his mouth! )

I've even gotten some food spat back at me, when Zach decides to blow a raspberry mid-mouthfull!

I can't wait for his 1 year birthday...we're throwing himj a big party with all his "friends" from Daycare...and some family, and OUR friends...can't wait to get those pictures of a face covered with cake!!!!

Good luck...and it's YOUR baby!

Schnoogly replied: Rox, yes, Iain was full yerm (1 day shy of 39 weeks). I was due on new years but got a christmas baby instead. Our poor kids will never get separate birthday and Christmas presents (I didn't and my bd is Dec 10th). Iain will sit up almost unaided if I put him on my knee with his legs dangling over the sides of my leg and have my hands next to his sides ready to catch him if he leans a little. He leans forward in the swing a lot but can't quite stay there. He'll also sit up in his boppy but tends to lurch to the side a little. I am so happy he is developmentally normal since lots of kids with heart defects are delayed--I can't tell you how relieved I was when he started to hold his head up at 1 month. He doesn't roll over yet though. I think he did once but he was in a "dip" on our bed so he had help. He doesn't reach for things either, he is pretty content just to gawk at them. He will hold a rattle for a few seconds if we put it in his hand but that's all.

Steph

MommyToAshley replied: Hey Schnoogly... I wouldn't worry about him not rolling over yet. He may be like Ashley, and sit up first. That's not the "normal" sequence babies reach their milestones, but it happens. I think it is because she hated tummy time so much and loved to sit! Although, once she did roll over, she kept on going and rolled both ways the same time. And, hasn't stopped since!

CantWait replied: I started Robbie on rice cereal at 2 months, my mom had done the same thing with me. It helped him sleep more through the night and he wasn't hungry as often. He wasn't breast fed so that's probably one of the other reasons I started him so early. I guess I just don't trust the fake stuff lol.

Juices and fruits and vegetable started soon after one by one. He couldn't get enough of the stuff.

Mama2Jack replied: Hi, We started Jack at 6 mos. We waited because the cellular structure of a babys stomache may not be fully fused until 6 mos. What that means is that if there are spaces in the stomache on the cellular level, and solids are introduced they may cause allergies...... it was really hard for me because Jack was so interested in food and he's a big guy (21lbs @ 6 mos.) I was nursing non stop it seemed..anyway, he's on fruits and veggies now and LOVES them! I am happy I waited, but it was difficult (plus I was anxious/excited to start) Good luck with whatever you decide. It's messy but so much fun! Take care! Amy...Mom to Jack 9/12/02

ediep replied: I waited unitl Jason's ped said to start. He was about 3 1/2 months. The doc has a criteria that they go by...at leat 15lbs, good head control, and eating at least 32oz of formula a day. Jason met all criteria so we started rice cereal for breakfast. After about 3 weeks, we tried oatmeal. Then about a week later we added the cereal for dinner too. He continued drinking his bottles at the regular times.When he saw the doc again the next month he said to introduce fruits and veggies. Now Jason is 6 1/2 months and we are just about ready for the stage 2 foods.
Hope that helps

Guest replied: We just started Lily on food yesterday (she was 7 months old yesterday). We have a family history of severe food allergies and we know that Lily has severe food allergies already (she drinks Neocate, an amino acid based formula, since she's allergic to the milk based, soy based and hypoallergenic formulas and my breastmilk). Her allergist said that we should definately wait past 6 months to give her system a chance to develop more in the hopes she'd have less allergies. Though we don't have the typical situation. If there's any family history of allergies, I'd wait until 6 months. But, thankfully, most people don't have the history we have.
She (the allergist) suggested that we start with rice, pears, bananas, squash, sweet potatoes, peas and green beans. She said to hold off on apples, peaches, cherries and any berries, plus carrots. We just tried squash and it was a big hit. She also suggested waiting a week between trying new foods and said that for most she'd suggest 3-4 days but said 7 days for Lily. Hopefully all will go well with Lily and eating.

girlzmommy00 replied: That was my post above about Lily. For some reason, it came up as guest? Sorry.