is 3 an a half months too young to start baby food?

Question

she is exclusively breastfed.

Answer 1

You are doing a wonderful job breastfeeding your baby. So the question is, why are you in a hurry. Is the baby breastfeeding all the time? May be that she is going through a growth spurt (happens at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months). They want to nurse constantly for a few days and by doing so they increase your milk supply. They will go back to less frequent nursings after that. Until the next growth spurt.
Is it because you want to spoon feed her and think it will be fun? Sooner or later she will eat from a dish and spoon and the longer you wait the more prepared she will be to do a good job. Young babies (usually under six months) thrust with their tongues. Their mouths are not coordinated enough to just move the food to the back of their throats and swallow. So when you feed a younger baby, everything you put in gets tongue thrusted out. You scrape it off and shovel it back in. If you wait until 6 months she will know how to handle the food going into her mouth. Now the only reason to feed sooner is if your doctor tells you to because her weight gain or growth has slowed down.
Be careful what you ask for. It is a lot nicer, cuddleier, and easier (no jars, spoons, etc) to breastfeed than spoon feed. Enjoy it for as long as you can. At six months or a little younger, she will be eager to eat, will indicate this by watching everything you put into your mouth, and will be easy to feed. Good luck, enjoy that little thing.

Answer 2

Yes, too young. Why would you even consider it if breastfeeding is going well? Six months is the right time since baby is more ready for it (less prone to allergies and their system is more accepting of it). If you're looking to get more sleep out of the baby by using food... it's understandable. If that's the case, try giving formula as the last meal since it will be a bit heavier. Otherwise, don't rush it, or you may regret it later.
I breastfed my son exclusively for 7 months... and will do the same with my next child.

Answer 3

It depends on the baby. my son was 3 1/2 months when we started him on rice cereal mixed with breast milk. He was exclusively breastfed up to that point. We started because he show interest in our food. I thought that we could try to see if he would accept the food. The reason to start feeding solid food is for the learning potential, not for nutrition. Good luck!

Answer 4

Most doctors say to wait til they're anywhere from 4-9 months (I personally think they're getting some major support from the formula companies). Our grandmothers and great grandmothers started feeding their babies at very young ages, and they were just fine.

My oldest was breastfed until 18 months. I started giving him cereal at night to make him less hungry when he was just a few days old. I made it very runny, and mixed it with breastmilk. He was one of those babies that "snacked" every 30 minutes instead of nursing once every 3 hours, and that got very annoying at night lol. He never had any food allergies, is thin (not overweight by any means), and is very healthy now at 8 years old. He didn't get his first taste of formula until he was 5 months old.
My middle couldn't be nursed because of serious health problems. She took formula from a bottle til 12 months, when I switched her to a cup. She started cereal and some fruits at 4 months. She's also thin (actually a little underweight for her height), has no food allergies (that's one thing they say can be caused by feeding too early), and is extremely healthy.
My youngest was breastfed exculsively til 1 month. She started cereal at 1 month old, had her first taste of formula at 9 months old and nursed until a few months before her 4th birthday. She's also very healthy, has no allergies, and is not overweight.

If the baby is able to swallow the food without gagging, without poking it all back out with the tongue, and without getting constipated or having other tummy problems, go for it!!
A baby can live on nothing but breastmilk until at least 1 year old, probably longer. My youngest and oldest pretty much did, because neither of them liked baby food much. My middle lived on formula because she was very immature due to being such a tiny preemie, and she wasn't able to swallow anything too thick until she was over a year old.

Another option is making your own baby food, which could be healthier and cheaper than the bought stuff, and your baby probably like it MUCH better.

And doctors do NOT always know best. They're not our babies' mommies. They THINK they know best, but do you know how many mistakes doctors make every day? Way too many to count.

Answer 5

Too young for a meal of solids, yes. But you could give her a tiny taste if she seems interested. Just start with rice, and don't offer her any other foods (besides her meals of milk) for two weeks, to be sure if the cereal has caused a problem or not.
My doc told me I could start a giving a meal at about 5 months. My daughter was exclusively breastfed too, but LOVED the cereals!

Answer 6

When your baby can hold her head well without support & doesn't have the tongue thrush reflex (instintively pushes things out her mouth) & starts looking starvingly at your food, you can put her on solids. Because from doctor to doctor the prognosis will change. Start slowly though. Try mixing a little cereal with your breastmilk first so she can get used to it (if it's her time to start). Try to get a small narrow spoon (like a tea spoon). Wider spoons are harder for baby and may have too much on the spoon. If she refuses that's ok. She's new to the solid food game. Try a couple of days later and so on until she starts to eat it. Will not be instant so patience is a virtue.

Answer 7

Absolutely. Wait until your baby is 6 months old and since you're exclusively breastfeeding then you don't even have to really worry about what she's eating till she's a year. Before a year, food is just for fun and taste and texture. We never gave our daughter baby food. We just started her on food from our plates (but we eat whole organic foods...) at 7 months. It's cheaper and healthier to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months!

Answer 8

I always went by what my mom said. But on the beachnut baby food bottles it says from 4 months and up. But most doctors don't recommend it because of allergies. But all 3 of my children started rice in their milk at 1 1/2 and baby food around 3 to 4 months.

Answer 9

you should wait until at least 4 1.2 months.... usually five months - for some babies, 6 months is more appropriate. You should consult your pediatrician to make sure your baby is developing 'normally'.

My son was 4 weeks early - we waited until he was about 5 1/2 months before we started rice cereal. Once he got the hang of that, we moved cautiously through a few stage 1 foods. He is now almost nine months old and we are starting some table foods. (finely mashed potatoes, tastes of other smushed foods). He still doesn't do well with dairy -- i tried some 'yo baby' yogurt a few times. It has always ended up coming up. I'm going to wait awhile before I try that again.

There is no rush to start solids -- your baby is getting all of his/her nutrition from either your breast milk or the formula you are making for him/her.

good luck :)

Answer 10

Yes it is.Babies only need formula or breast milk this young.You can feed cereal from a spoon at 4mths & baby food at 6mths.They have everything they need in the milk.All the sugar in baby food is bad for them at such a young age.The same goes for juice.Way to much sugar.When u do start food try 1for a few days b-4 adding a new one.