Baby food?

Question

This question is for parents. I know every book and magazine says that newborns should only have breastmilk or formula for the first four to six months. But I was wondering when did you actually start giving your babies things like jar baby food and rice cereal?

Answer 1

My mother-in-law put cereal in my daughter's bottle when she was about 2 weeks. (Yeah, I was pis**ed) But we started giving her cereal ourselves, when she was 2 months, then baby food, when she was about 4 months. Just remember, that back in the day, mothers didn't have WIC and doctors telling them what they could or couldn't feed their kids, and majority of their kids turned out fine. Just do whatever you and your baby are comfortable with.

Also, thanks for the thumbdowns I'll get. I Love It!

Answer 2

I never gave any of my kids formula, rice cereal or jarred baby food I made my own baby food from what I made for my husband and I to eat, but I started doing that when my oldest was 7 months, my twins were about 6 months and my youngest was about 6 1/2 months it just depends on when the child is ready.

Answer 3

My daughter is 6 1/2 months old. I had been (and still am) nursing her, and I started giving her a very small amount of rice and oatmeal cereal when she was 4 months old. As long as your baby can hold his/her head up, sit up well with assistance and will accept a spoon, you can start them on their first solids. First, start with a small amount of rice cereal thinned with some breastmilk. Try that for at least three days, one to two times a day and maybe just a tablespoon's worth in the beginning. After about 3 weeks of just cereal, I then started her on the yellow veggies (i.e., sweet potato, squash & carrots), and the same thing - try just one at a time for at least 3 days to determine if there are any allergic reactions. Once you start the veggies (or fruits such as bananas, pears or applesauce, if you prefer), you can give the baby some cereal in the a.m. and some fruit or veggies for lunch. Just gradually build up the amounts and as long as the baby has no reaction to the foods being introduced, you can include it in their daily diet so that they eat, for example, cereal and fruit for breakfast and veggie & fruit for lunch. Check with your pediatrician - they should be able to give you some helpful guidelines. Also, most pediatricians will tell you to hold off introducing meats until around 8 months. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I waited until 6 mos to give my son non-breastmilk items. The rice cereal thing at night never worked for him. It's really between you and your doctor. No one on here can adequately tell how mature/progressed your child is.

I think it would be interesting to see the weight differences in the children of the parents who answered. My son is deemed "light" because the average weight of the children has increased so much. He's the same height as the other kids, but about 5-10 pounds lighter. The doctor wants him to eat more, but he eats constantly. The only difference is he snacks on veggies and fruits - baby carrots, lettuce, oranges, apples, etc.

Answer 5

My baby is three months old last sunday and he's getting nothing but breast milk. I'm tempted to feed him early cause he's really starting to show interest in food...but you really should wait ask the pediatrician what he/she thinks...If you feed too early you could bring on unwanted food allergies. Their digestive systems just aren't ready yet...no matter how tempting it may be to see their face the first time you feed them some banana or some peas...lol.

BY THE WAY - Rice cereal did nothing but make my baby sleep heavier...not any longer...and it took three days to get out of him...so the whole rice in the bottle thing doesn't work for everyone...

Also...baby's wake up because of immature sleep patterns...it's not always hunger...so stuffing them with rice won't solve the problem if hunger isn't the reason he's waking up.

Please ask the pediatrician before going headlong with any advice you get from us.

Answer 6

My son was eating every 1-2 hours so i decided to feed him some rice cereal when he was 3 months old. I held off on jar food until he was 4 1/2 months. He turned out fine!

Answer 7

My pediatrician recommended at 4 mo mix a little cereal with formula and spoon feed to get accustomed with swallowing and then start solids at 6 mo. The solids now have recommended ages on the jars that tell an appropriate age to feed your child that particular food. That can be a helpful guideline as well. I followed this when my son was young and it worked well for us.

Answer 8

They say 4 months to start giving rice cereal from a spoon. I started rice cereal at 21/2 months from a spoon because the formula was just not enough for her. She would eat 7oz and still cry for more, and she ate every 2 hours. I didn't care about getting her to sleep all night because she was already doing that, I was more concerned about satisfying her. I put her on rice cereal from a spoon and she did awesome. The doctor was fine with it, he just adviced me not to give any veggies till 6 months. Shes 4 months and shes doing great on rice cereal and formula.

Answer 9

Depends on how your baby is. I started both of my sons on rice cereal at about 1-1 1/2 months. My 4 month old is on Alimentum formula, which is really thin so my Dr. said to thicken it with rice cereal. Worked Great! Slept better at nite. I started him on the Gerber's 1st foods at 3 months. Start your baby out on the fruits first. Try 1 fruit out for at least a wk to be sure your baby isnt allergic to that fruit. Then, try other fruits and then go ahead with the veggies. Goodluck! email me if you'd like! :)

Answer 10

Rice cereal at 4 months. Baby food such as veggies and fruit after 6 months. Meats at 8 months. This is what my son's doctor recommend. Hope this helps.

Answer 11

I started giving my baby cereal when she was 6 months old it works you just have to be patient i also gave my baby regular milk when she was about 6-9 months because i sometimes couldn't afford formula it sometimes just gave her diarrhea but she got used to it and then i would give her formula gave her diarrhea because i change what she eats just as long as you put her into one kind of liquid then that will be fine but it will be better to give her formula with cereal.