How should I start out my baby's baby food??

Question

My baby just turned 4 months and I know they can have cereal and baby food starting at 4 months but how much do I give her?? What's good to start out with??

She's already had cereal in her bottle. When she was about 2 1/2 months my doctor said she can have a little in her bottle and I can increase it in a month so she's had a little cereal in her bottle since she was 3 months and I just now started adding a little bit more. But I want to know when I can mix it up in a bowl and spoon feed her.

Answer 1

you can start out with rice baby cereal, make it so that it is runny the consistency of her milk. I wouldn;t give very much to start with, and she should still be having more formula or breastmilk than solids at this point.

You should always start out with veggies, if you start out with fruit mnay time the baby will ove the sweet tatse so much that she will reject veggies. You should feed only 1 new food for three whole days to test for allergies.

Also I reccomend making your own fruits and veggies, they tatse SOOOO much better and are much cheaper. You can make weeks and weeks of food for your child for only a few dollars.

Answer 2

First off, cereal IS babyfood. So if he's eating cereal, he's already eating babyfood. Second, it's really up to you. SInce you've already started solids fairly early (6 months is the usual recommended time to begin), there is no real reason you can't begin to offer some jarred foods if you wish. OTOH, if there is a family history of allergy, the longer you wait to offer other foods, the better. Stage one foods are all pretty much the same. (None contain additives, salt, sugar or starches.) You can buy organic brands like Earths Best or Gerber organics, or you can buy regular Beechnut/Heinz/Gerber. Depends how picky you are about organic issues. If you're not too picky, go by price and availability. And you can start with any food you like. Giving fruits first will not make baby reject veggies. Most babies like orange veggies, so carrots or squash might be a good option -- but it really DOESN'T matter. You could start with peas or applesauce if you want. It's all just for fun at this point, so whatever he enjoys, and whatever you enjoy feeding him is ok. The main thing is to go slow. Because it is just for fun, you don't want him taking so many solids that he cuts back on his milk. Once a day is ample at this age -- twice if you must. Maybe give cereal at one meal and jarred food at another, but whatever works for you is fine.

Answer 3

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RE:
How should I start out my baby's baby food??
My baby just turned 4 months and I know they can have cereal and baby food starting at 4 months but how much do I give her?? What's good to start out with??

Answer 4

Start with Rice cereal. Don't make too much, a couple of tablespoons at most. See how she does. While all my kids have been eating by 4 months old, some pediatricians will tell you to wait. It all depends on the doctor. I would check with your's before starting anything. Tell your doctor if you do not think that milk is cutting it and she needs something more.

Answer 5

There's all kinds of debate about whether cereal before 6 months is good for baby. (Lots of people give it before 6-months to get them to sleep longer and most books say this doesn't actually work.) APA recommends around six months to start solids.

I had a good sleeper so we never had to consider this and we started with rice cereal 5 days before her 6-month birthday for a month.

I started giving my daughter little tastes of things (that weren't common allergens) off my finger at about 4 months, but not feeding her with a spoon. Most baby's digestive systems aren't ready to handle baby food until 6 months and many still have the "tongue thrust reflex" that makes it nearly impossible to feed them anyway. Don't force it, or she will fight spoon feeding even when she is developmentally ready.

If you're going to give your baby cereal before 6 months I'd recommend talking to your pediatrician first. Some pediatricians recommend it before 6-months depending on the growth of the baby, the doctor can tell you how much would be appropriate.

I started with a tablespoon of dry cereal to 2 tablespoons of water. Gradually making it thicker. Most babies only take about half a teaspoon at a meal when they start, anyway, so it's not like they need it for nutrition; it's more to help them practice HOW to eat.

Now at 11 months my daughter eats 5 tablespoons of cereal to 5 tablespoons of water for breakfast, (she still gags on anything thicker than that) plus a motts container of applesauce.

We did new pureed veggies, fruits etc. every 3 days (to rule out allergies) starting at 7-months because I was waiting for her 6-month check-up which had to be rescheduled.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Start out by adding 1 tbsp of rice cereal to your baby's bottle. Day 2, take it up to 2 tbsp., then 3 tbsp on Day 3. You will have to increase the size of the nipple to a later stage so that the cereal flows easier.
I use Doctor Brown's bottles and I use Level 3 nipples.
After you are done with Rice cereal, go to oatmeal the same way, then Mixed Cereal.
You can also mix it thicker in a cereal feeder for nighttime or breakfast and it holds them better. I mix it up like cream of wheat. You have to make sure you use a Cereal nipple for those types of feeders.
Next, I start with Veggies. Day 1 give them 1/4 jar. Day 2, 1/4 jar. Day 3, 1/2 jar. Day 4, 1 jar. I start with something yummy like sweet potatoes. My babies liked that. Then, squash, carrots, peas, green beans. Once you finish with the veggies, try fruits. My theory about starting with veggies is they learn to like the taste of veggies (which at this point are bland) before getting the good stuff. If you start with the yummy stuff, then try peas - forget it! REJECTION.
After fruits, do the same with meats. Sometimes you can mix some fruit with the meats and they take it better.
They only need one meal a day in the beginning, then you can do two meals. They will eat 2 jars of food a day in no time. I usually open two or three jars at a time for variety and give them those for lunch and dinner.
Best of luck.

Answer 7

Start out with cereal, mixed with breast milk or formula. Then you can move on to cereal with water, fruit and veggies, and lastly meat (which you'll want to wait a few more months to start.) For a 4 month old, a little cereal once a day is plenty.

Answer 8

Start by adding a little cereal to the baby's milk at bedtime. Rice cereal is always the best one to start with. Add just enough to their milk to give it a little consistency. You may have to enlarge the hole in the nipple to get it to flow right. Watch them for constipation from the cereal. If they do have a problem, cut back on it. If they seem to do well on it, gradually increase the amount of cereal in the milk until it has an runny oatmeal type of texture. As they get older and can handle more cereal, you can add diluted apple juice to the cereal. It will give it more flavor and the apple juice will help to keep them regular.

Answer 9

Rice cereal is always good once she does the rice cereal and you start other foods to get her use to them you, should mix like a vegetable with the cereal to get her use to the taste, always start veggies first cause they taste worse than fruits and if she starts on fruits first you might not be able to get her to eat veggies. Always make sure once you start a food to make sure you keep her on that one food alone for at least a week before trying anything else new to make sure she isn't allergic.

Answer 10

Rice cereal is a good one to start out with. You'll have less food allergy stuff to deal with. It is suggested that you only make a couple of tablespoons per feeding. It needs to be thin, but not thin as formula. Expect her to spit out most of it as they are having to learn how to swallow "solids". At first, she will push most of it out with her tongue. Soon, she will get the hang of it in no time! Good luck!!