When to Feed Baby Foods

We started my daughter on Gerber 1ST Foods when she was 4 months. We realized that she was allergic to carrots because her face broke out, but other than that she adapted EXTREMELY well . I truly believe that feeding her at 4 months to helped her have the great eating habits she has today.

The AAP recommends waiting until 6 months for introducing solids. And we completely skipped baby cereal as it's pretty much void of nutrition.

A great website to show you what to introduce when:
www.wholesomebabyfood.com

The "books" tell you between 4-6 months. Both of my girls were around 4 months when we began foods. I felt like you did they needed more than formula at that point. Both are healthy kids!

I have charts if you send me your e-mail 4-7 months Dry Infant Cereal 0-3 T for Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner

6-8 mo 2-4 T and a fruit or veggie 1-4 T
Introduce one food at a time. Buy n1-2 yrs they are eating it all. G. W

Oh my goodness! You're only 36 and have been married for 20 years? Did you have to get your parents' consent to get married at age 16? (just curious!)

Anyway, they say to feed an infant baby food between 4-6 months, so you can start your baby on baby food now (but check with your pediatrician just to get the okay). You're supposed to feed the same food for 3 days in a row before you switch to a new food to make sure there are no allergies. Have fun, and congratulations for being married so long!

I would ck with her pediatrician. My baby's pedi said we would start her on cereals @ 4 mos. She just turned 3 mos. today!

I really recommend you to start now I started my girl at 4 mo and she is been healthy and loves vegetables. Buy chicken breast, carrots, squash, first start with each vegetable just boil the vegetable and then make it like cereal blended or do it with a fork try each vegetable for a week to check if baby is not allergic to that vegetable if everything is fine then make her a chichen soup with the vegetables and give them to her all together . Ped. say it's necessary but your baby will grow healthy it's not going to hurt the baby you are giving her better stuff not only formula and boxed cereal. do the same thing with fruits. Also you can start to give her water but on a cup teach her how to drink from a straw but first with a cup NOT a zippi cup a regular cup this will help you so when she turns 8 or 9 months you can take her off the bottle with no trouble, she will not notice after that give her the milk in a zippi cup this will help her gums and future teeth. i hope this will help you

What my doctor told me to do is introduce rice cereal at 4 months. Then at 6 months start to introduce the 1st baby foods. Also, I have read that you should introduce the green foods first, and then all of the other vegetables. Then introduce the fruits. Also, all of the food should be introduced for 5 days in a row...ie 1st week feed peas for 5 days, then the green beans for 5 days and so on. Also at 6 months we started introducing a sippy cup with water. Now my son at 14 months is drinking very well from a sippy cup (its the only thing that he drinks out of during the day). However we di not introduce juice until he was one year old. So I hope this helps.

She should be getting the bulk of her nutrition from formula or breast milk and not solids. Solids just don't have the nutrition and calories they need. Solids the first year are just an experiment. Most peds recommend delaying them now until 6 months and/or when the child shows true interest in eating. You don't have to start with cereals either. You can start with either fruit or veggies.

It is best not to start the baby foods too soon. Why do you think she isn't getting enough from formula. Your doc should be able to help here.

Espically cereal in the bottle (like rice for instance) at night really satisfies them. I think she could have some veggies now. And although sweet potatoes are very good for them , don't get alarmed if they turn a little (yellow) some it effects skin and others not.

Hi T. -

I am a proud mom of 3 and we started all of our girls eating cereal first with a little fruit if you choose. There really no way to tell until you try it to find out whether she's ready or not. Make it very smooth not to thick until she gets the hang of swallowing more substance. i know pediatrics think they know everything but each child is different. I have a friend who's baby didn't really start eating until she was 7 months and she has spent a tremendous amount of money on formula because of it...her baby just wasn't ready. You little one will let you know the first couple of times you try it whether or not she's ready. Whatever you do never put the cereal in the bottle. One thing I wouldn't recommend is putting cereal in her bottle. Good Luck!!!

Start her on rice cereal-- today! You can even mix it into her bottle, which is what we did for our girls, but you either need to get a cereal bottle or cut the holes on your regular nipples just a bit.

Because my son was incredibly long for his age (27.5 inches) and on the slender side with severe GERD his pediatrician suggested I start him on solids at 4 months. I started with organic rice cereal from Earth's best and over the past 7 weeks my baby has tried LOTS of veggies and fruits. He just started eating meats this weekend. I have made most of his baby food from organic produce following recipes from Anabel Karmel's books. His favorites have been butternut squash puree and blueberry/peach puree. If you are in a rush you can mash part of a ripe banana, avocado, papaya and/or mango. You do not have to cook these foods first and any combo of them tastes good together. When I make the purees I freeze them in ice cube trays, store them in ziplocs in the freezer and just pop them out and warm them when it is time to eat. I have not had a chance to make any of the meat-based recipes yet from the book, but I am impressed with Earth's best wide variety of dinners. Tonight my son had Chicken Tomato Pastini and he loved it! Good luck to you!

talk to your pediatrician! if you are truly concerned about her "not getting enough" from formula, you need advice from a professional, not moms.

We started cereal at 4 months. i think its fine, but it can never hurt to check with your doctor.

My pediatrician gives us wellness notes...reminders of what should be occurring at each wellness check in regards to food, sleep, and other milestones. They are great. If you doctor isn't providing this type of information, maybe you should visit mine. It's Fort Worth Pediatrics. All the docs are great. And getting in to see a doctor has always been good, not too long of waiting time. All my kids go there and all my sis's kids go there.

We started our son on cereal & fruit w/formula at 4 mos and he is doing fine--we use all organic. You just need to be careful that you aren't loading up the food to get a sleepy baby...I think that does no good and leads to childhood obesity. The least you can do is feed them properly and get them started on healthy living. Are you also getting enough play & sleep too? You might also check your nipple size. You may need to move up to a better flowing nipple.

Good luck!

Rice cereal mixed with formula can be started at 4 months. Mix it thin at first. She will most likely spit it out for several days until she learns to push it back and swallow it. After she gets the hang of it, make it thicker, then you can start adding baby food to it. Like Trish said, she needs to eat the same food for at least 3 days in a row to make sure she is not allergic. Also give her a little water with it so she can wash it down. I only fed this to my daughter for breakfast at first, then I added it to dinner, and now she finally eats 3 meals of table food, 1 snack, and 3 bottles a day. She is 9 months old.

I started my son at 4 months on the rice cereal.My peditrician told me I could start the first foods also.I started withe the veggies.they say that is better because once they taste the fruit they might not like the veggies.My doctor told me to do it by colors.Like do carrots and sweet potatos for a week and then do peas and green beans for a week.To make sure there is no allergies.If the food is to thick jusst add a little water.Also I found that the spoons with a small end covered in rubber were the best to start with.You might also want to take a look at the handle cause some of those spoons just have a metal handle and I found them to be very uncomfortable on my hands.If you get baby bowls try to find the kkind that have suction cup bottom they will pay off later trust me after you baby dumps a couple of bowl of food in her lap you will know what i mean.Sorry i know I gave a lot more advice than what you ask for.i was just remambering all the questions i had.I am a first time mommy of a 10 month old so I was where you are not so long ago.Oh yeah they also told me that if more food stays in the babies mouth than what comes out you will know they are ready

My son was eating soft things like mashed up avocados and mushed up bananas around 5 months. He is now about to be one. He is my first (we are expecting in Dec too) and I am 37. He is a FANTASTIC eater now. I think it was partially because we gave him that stuff before we really gave him traditional baby food. he literally will eat anything. Salmon, artichokes, crab...you name it. I went to some seminars at Destination Maternity that were on feeding and found them very helpful and not at all what I expected. You can go to their website and search the stores in Dallas...there are 2 locally that offer classes and stuff. I found it to be a great resource. and it was FREE!!!

Hi T.. I understand how you must be feeling but I do watch alot on the news and read a bunch about what to do and not to do. Pedis recommend not to give baby food (veggies etc) until 6 months because the baby's intestines cannot break down the food well. Our pedi recommended started with the rice cereal. We tried that but he doesnt really like the cereal and it just pretty much a filler. We were told at 6 months to start him on veggies 1st because if we started on fruits he wouldnt want veggies anymore. He has been doing good with that. But at this point the formula is still where he gets the most nutrition from. He is just testing out foods to get used to them for when he gets older. Remember to try one at a time and stay on that one for 3-5 days to make sure she doesnt have a reaction. Then after you go through them all (green, yellow, orange veggies) you can mix them up with things. We also give our baby "yo baby" yogurt. He likes that alot. Good luck :)

now is a good time to give her 1st stage fruit. but do one fruit per week or longer to make sure she isn't allergic to any of them. just ask your dr next appt. don't start any meat or veggie until the dr. approves first. some people say to feed rice ceral, thats good too but until you actually try to feed your 4 month with a spoon, you'll learn for now to get a nipple with a big hole, a 2nd stage nipple is big and it works and feed it to them that way. i tried with a spoon when my son was young like that and it was a mess. but i also didnt have a high chair yet. good luck! go with your gut, its your child you know her better than anyone including the dr. i say that b/c sometimes drs don't listen.

I started my son on rice cereal at 4 months. I think that the ceareal is to help get them used to eating solids. My pedi said to try that for 6-8 weeks, til he was used too it, but I started veggies after only a week b/c he couldn't get enough! His doc said to take cues from my baby as to when to move on. Start w/veggies b/c if she likes the seetness of the fruits, she may not like the veggies after that. Start one new food a week, though, to watch for signs of allergic reactions. You know your baby, so go with what you think is best for her!

When you decide to start her on rice cereal make sure you feed her formula first and end the meal with cereal. The AAP recommends starting solids at 6 months, but if you feel like an extra boost of calories from cereal is what she needs then just make sure that the bulk of her nutrients is coming from the formula. In other words you probably shouldn't decrease the amount of formula you give her in a day; keep giving her the same amount you normally do. Just use the baby food as an addition to her diet.

Congratulations on your little one. My twins are 5 months and our doctor just told us we can start giving them some rice cereal and puree fruit. Usually you should be able to start with rice cereal at 4 months. So go for it! I would suggest making the baby food if you have the time. It's really easy and cheaper and healthier.

Congratulations, T.! I have a 5 month old! I have always been advised by our doctor that rice cereal mixed with formula or breast milk 2 times a day at 4 months is ok- but do not put it in a bottle. Eating with a spoon helps develop the mouth and tongue (and eventually helps with talking) :) I have also always been told to wait until 6 months before introducing any baby foods such as fruits and vegies to help avoid food alergies. Hope this helps!

You can start feeding her Rice Cereal and mix with formula. You can also add some Baby food to it. Just be sure to use the same food for three days to make sure she doenst have a reaction. If you do one day apple sauce the next meal bannanas and she has a reaction you wont know to what.