What is the appropriate age to start introducing food to a baby? Why?

Question

What are the effects if you start early?

Answer 1

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 4-6 months minimum, and the World Health Organization recommends waiting until at least 6 months.

The minimum age pediatricians recommend these days is 4-6 months, though most ask that you try to wait until as close to 6 months as possible.

In addition to causing severe food allergies if introduced to foods too early, babies' digestive systems are often not developed enough to break down some solid foods until 6 months of age. This can cause increased gas, fussiness, and tummy aches, and sometimes make them sleep worse due to the tummy upsets.

That said, there are times when pediatricians recommend starting solids within the 4-6 month window. Most pediatricians do not want a baby to start eating more than 32-40 ounces (depending on the doctor, mine says 32) of breast milk or formula per day. If a baby starts to reach these levels, and is still hungry, they often suggest starting them on cereal once per day, to lessen the amount of fluid intake, and then increasing to two feedings after you have established the first. Some people are advised to skip cereals altogether and go straight to veggies and fruits if they have a child like mine who has severe constipation issues, since cereals often make constipation worse.

If you are unsure of when it is right to start your baby on solids, let your pediatrician know how much your baby is eating and how they are acting and follow their advice on what timing is right for you. then follow your babies cues and I am sure everyone will be happy.

Answer 2

It has been proven that baby's digestive systems are not formed enough to digest food too early. I know for a fact that all three of my baby's were not satisfied with formula or breast milk and had to start cereal early. My 8 lb. 15 oz boy drank his entire bottles in the hospital every time and the nurses said that was very unusual. He started rice cereal the week he came home.He was about a week old because I had trouble and had to stay longer than normal. I made about 2 Tblsp of runny cereal and he ate it and drank his bottle and would be satisfied for the next 4 hrs. He is 37 now and has never had digestive problems.So it is a decision every mom has to make or listen to her dr.I saw a program the other day on tv and they said that starting a baby on rice is just starting him on a starch and that it would be better to start them with a plain fruit and then non-roughage veggies.We have too many hooked on starches for diets and that there is no reason to get a baby hooked on starches such as the rice. Best wishes!

Answer 3

When the baby starts looking at food you are eating and wanting some, it's okay to give them baby rice cereal. I started feeding my daughter cereal at four months or so. Earlier than that is okay, it just isn't necessary. The first feeding should be really watered down. If it's too thick, the baby will gag because of the feeling of food instead of liquid.

Don't give babies other types of food until six months, when you can introduce soft/pureed baby food. (The baby food jars say right on them which level or age it's appropriate for.)

Foods like bread, crackers, and soft chewy things can be introduced when your baby has several teeth and can pick up things in her fingers and put them in her mouth. My baby gagged a lot, even on mashed potatoes, just because she wasn't used to the feeling. Don't worry...just don't give her very big bites to start out with, and offer a sippy cup if she needs a drink in between bites of food.

Foods to avoid until babies are at least a year old: citrus, honey, egg whites, chocolate, wheat (can cause allergies).

Answer 4

You should not start solids until your baby is 6 months of age for 2 reasons:
1) prior to that age babies have a natural gag reflex that makes them spit out any foreign bodies that enters their mouths. The end result is a very frustrating time for both parent and child. Not only will this cause upset, it will make your baby not enjoy mealtime which can effect their eating habits later.
2) Introducing solids too early has also been known to cause allergies in infants. The digestive system of a young infant isn't ready yet to consume solids as it will treat the food as a foreign matter which will increase the release of histamines causing a reaction.

Prior to 6 months your baby will be getting all of the nutrients he/she needs from breast milk or formula. Don't rush it, trust me the time flies by so fast.

Good luck!

Answer 5

There is no set age for starting a baby on solid foods. Most docs will tell you to wait until they are around 6 mos old before introducing foods....but i started 2 of my own children on solids when they were only weeks old. They just weren't getting full on the formula and I wasn't able to nurse them.

If you are nursing or even bottle feeding your baby and he/she seems to be full (not waking or crying every couple of hours) then I would probably wait until he/she is at least 4 or 5 mos old. But if your baby is like mine were and always hungry...then I would introduce some rice ceral thinned way down with either formula or breast milk.

Answer 6

No reliable link has been shown between allergies and the early introduction of solid foods. A baby has to develop enough to be able to move food to back of his mouth and swallow it; usually that can't happen before around 4 months of age. If you were to go straight to a very solid food too early, the baby might choke.

We've been testing the waters by basically feeding the baby milk (with a tiny amount of rice cereal) out of a spoon. Once he seems to get the hang of using his tongue, we'll start thickening the cereal.

Answer 7

I started my little girl on rice cereal at 2 1/2 months old as 7oz of formula was not even satisfying her, so the doctor approved rice cereal from a spoon and she did great. Shes now 5 months and still having rice cereal at night and oatmeal in the morning. The doctor said starting solids early is ok but you don't want to push it to much as their stomachs are still developing, so its not good to start veggies or fruit till 6 months.

Answer 8

My pediatrician started my son on solids at 5 1/2 months. He said that if you started before 5-6 months you could cause severe food allergies in your children. You start slowly with introducing new foods and by 9 months you are completely on table food. It worked really great for my son and now he eats what we eat.

Answer 9

My son is 3 months old. I haven't started him on solids yet. Everyone has told me that I should start him around 51/2 - 6 months. I gave him a little taste of stage 1 applesauce last week. My boyfriend didn't want me to, but I figured that he wouldn't mind tasting something else besides formula. Next month I will start to feed him cereal and then when he turns 5 months I will slowly introduce him to a food. Maybe one type of food once a week as to get him comfortable eating it.

Answer 10

even as your toddler is waiting! 6 months is the earliest something except breastmilk (or formulation) might want to be presented by using open gut. sturdy meals are regularly for practise, as 80% of their food till 3 hundred and sixty 5 days comes from breastmilk (or formulation). a toddler can certainly thrive off of no longer something except breastmilk (or formulation) till 365 days. So in case your toddler isn't waiting at 6 months, do not stress.