At what age do think is a good time to ween a baby on to food?

Answer 1

well it's all up to you know one but you knows your child. I started both of my breastfed children on rice cerel at 3-4 months and by 6 months i was at stage two foods. If your child is grabbing for your food of imitating you as you eat ( moving tounge) Then chances are they are ready for food. Every baby and person is different so there is no real right answer. But when you d o start be sure to use the same food type for a week at a time until they have most friut and vegi types. This way if they are allergic you'll know what food causes it. If they do have a reaction wait a month or 2 then try re-introducing the food because chances are they will no longer be allergic

Answer 2

My son had green beans at 3 weeks old. When they aren't satisfied and can move the food with their tongue without gagging/choking, that's when I would start. I even mixed cereal in wtih his milk and cut the nipple a little bigger so the thickened mixture could get thru. He slept so much better at night because his little belly was full. Doctors will tell you that's way too young, but my son is very healthy and was a lot happier baby because he wasn't hungry all the time. Think if all you could have was milk. You'd never be satisfied.

Answer 3

Babies stomachs are sensitive and need time to adapt to solid food so at 5 months is when the doctor says to start and also to have sterilized water to drink from a sippy cup after 2 or 3 bites of baby food. Only one type of food at a time. Follow doctors directions is very inportant.

Answer 4

At 4 months baby's can eat rice cereal. At 6 months start on veggies, then fruit. Meanwhile, you are still giving the bottle. At about 10 months, I started to give my baby a touch of table food now and then. Things like mashed potatoes, french fries(not to crunchy), dinner roll, etc. No chocolate, honey or peanut butter before 12 months. Have fun!!

Answer 5

You don't ween them onto food. You give them a bottle until they're one year old. After that it is bad for their teeth. You start them on infant cereal at or around 4 months. Some people put some in their bottle, but with both of mine I just gave them a bowl of cereal mixed with formula or infant juice at bedtime. Then around 5 months I started them on stage 1 foods. At like 7 months I went to stage 2. I skipped stage 3...both of my kids hated the stuff. At like 11 months, I started feeding my children table food. I just didn't salt it much until I got some out for them. My daughter is 13 months and eats everything we eat. If it's meat or something like that, I just give her really tiny bites. Just make sure they're getting plenty of the important nutrients and they will be fine. And remember every child is different....you need to make your own decisions about what to feed your child and when.

Answer 6

Try between three and half mths and four mths, but you will know because your baby will want more milk.The thing is there is no such thing as a text book baby, some are happy to take solids early,some are not. All you can do is just introduce it slowly and see how well your baby takes it.Try just half an oz with some baby cereal. But don't worry if baby gags alittle or is alittle bit sick, it's perfectly natural.

Answer 7

Most babies are ready to start solids between 6 and 12 months old. But instead of looking at the calendar, look at your baby. Signs of readiness for solids include the appearance of teeth, the ability to sit unsupported, and the development of the "pincer grasp"--when a baby picks up small objects with the thumb and *one* finger. If your baby has at least 2 of these, she/he may be ready for solids.

But it is best to continue to nurse for at least 2 years--the recommendation of the World Health Organization.

Answer 8

The earliest you can wean a baby is at 4 months, but this really depends on the baby. Some babies are not weaned until 6 months and beyond. Your health visitor or doctor would be able to provide you with better information based on your own babies health and weight.

I weaned my son at three and a half months after the advice of my health visitor and doctor as he was a poor feeder and was not gaining weight as rapidly as we would have liked as he was really very colicky. The colic disappeared as soon as I weaned him.

Answer 9

Depends on the child really I suppose. starting from about nine months onwards you can start introducing bits of food into their diet i.e mashed cooked carrots, mashed potatoes with a bit of milk you should not just stop instantly make it a gradual process ie substitute one of the meals in a day with that sort of thing or something. to total get the child on food I would say 21/2 ;3 in preparation for preschool etc.

Answer 10

I agree with . When milk no longer satisfies your baby's hunger talk to your doctor and he/she will tell you whether it's a good time to start on baby cereal. I started my daughter on rice cereal when she was 4 months and then my doctor recommended giving her some simple vegetables like carrots and sweet potato. Stay away from fruit until baby is a bit older. Good luck

Answer 11

I am a nutritionist

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, and many other health organizations recommend that babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or other foods) for the first 6 months of life. Some doctors may recommend delaying solids for the first year if there is a family history of allergies. I'm not going into the many health benefits of delaying solids here

Solids readiness depends on both the maturity of baby’s digestive tract and baby’s developmental readiness for solids. Although the maturity of baby’s digestive system is not something that we can readily observe, research indicates that 6 months appears to be ideal for avoiding the allergies and other health risks of too-early solids. After this point, different babies are ready for solids at different times -- developmental readiness for solids cannot be determined using a calendar. Most babies are developmentally ready for solids somewhere between 6 and 8 months.

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

* Baby can sit up well without support.
* Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
* Baby is ready and willing to chew.
* Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
* Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.

Four- to five-month-old babies are sometimes very eager to participate at mealtime, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are ready to eat solids - more often it's just the normal developmental urge to do what everyone else is doing. Research studies tell us that there are many health advantages to delaying solids for about 6 months for all babies, not just the babies who are not yet interested in mealtime.

common myths:

weight:
The American Academy of Pediatrics/World Health Organization recommendations for starting solids at 6 months or later has no exceptions for babies who weigh more. The research that I've seen on the health benefits of starting solids at 6 months and later holds for all babies, no matter what their weight.

It's the maturity of the digestive tract and baby's developmental readiness that makes the difference, not baby's weight.

sleep:
The popular belief that feeding solids at night will help baby sleep through the night has no basis in fact.