What should I feed my four month old cereal or baby food?

Question

My four month old son is eating every two hours (breastfed) and eating for thrity to forty-five min's. He always acts hungry. Should I start feeding him baby cereal and baby food or just the baby cereal. How many times should I feed him baby cereal ( morning and night or just morning).

Answer 1

Firstly you need to know that breastfed babies never need infant cereal and that the iron in infant cereal may interfere with the absorption of iron from breastmilk and cause anemia. Infant cereal is over processed crap that is full of oils.

Secondly there is no way that a 4 month old is developmentally or physiologically ready for solids. The new rule amoung health nurses here, and it is a good one, is "If it has to be pureed the baby is too young". It's a good rule, baby's development of the skills to pick up food, place it in the mouth, chew, move the food back with their tongue, and swallow keeps pace with their ability to digest foods. How do you think humans survived? More on baby-led introduction to solids:
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/rapley_guidelines.html

The more common rules for starting baby foods are as follows:
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.

However almost every reputable health organization and medical professional group worldwide says that solids should NOT be started before 6 months:
Health experts and breastfeeding experts agree that it's best to wait until your baby is around six months old before offering solid foods. There has been a large amount of research on this in the recent past, and most health organizations have updated their recommendations to agree with current research. Unfortunately, many health care providers are not up to date in what they're telling parents, and many, many books are not up to date.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html

The following organizations recommend that all babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or any other foods) for the first 6 months of life (not the first 4-6 months):

World Health Organization
UNICEF
US Department of Health & Human Services
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Dietetic Association
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Health Canada
Most babies will become developmentally and physiologically ready to eat solids by 6-9 months of age. For some babies, delaying solids longer than six months can be a good thing; for example, some doctors may recommend delaying solids for 12 months if there is a family history of allergies.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html

Please don't mistake the very short 4th month growth spurt with developmental readiness for solids. Trust me, my son was 20lbs at 4 months and he didn't require solids at all. He started solids once ever 2-3 days at almost 7 months. All babies need is breastmilk. Now at almost 1 year he is 28+ lbs and thriving.

Answer 2

I always started my babies on plain rice cereal once a day (usually in the morning). Rice cereal is least likely to cause allergic reactions. You could add apples or bananas if he refuses the cereal (some babies don't like the taste of rice cereal alone). Even though he's nursing constantly, you really don't need to feed him anything solid yet. He could just be going through a growth spurt. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Answer 3

Four months of age is one of the many ages at which babies have growth spurts. The best thing you can do for your baby at this point in time is to nurse him as often as he asks so that you can give him what he really needs to grow and so that your body can adjust accordingly and produce more milk for him.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months at least, and there are many benefits to holding off on solids until at least eight or nine months of age. I put several links at the bottom to help you decide when is the right time and how to start your baby on solids. I hope you will do a little research on this before jumping into things, since you can really upset your little guy's digestive system or even cause him to develop allergies by starting too soon.

Answer 4

It's true that your baby's digestive tract is more developed now and his tongue-thrust reflex is starting to fade, so it seems a logical time to start feeding him some solids, such as pureed baby food or cereal. But there are good reasons to wait, too.
Starting solids later may cut down on possible allergic reactions, and ensures that breast milk or formula won't get crowded out of your baby's diet. And if you're hoping that eating solids will help your baby sleep through the night, studies have shown that you can't count on that happening.
The debate over when to start solids continues. If you're unsure about when to introduce them to your baby, talk to his doctor.

Answer 5

Typically, a 4 month old does not need any solid food. If you are sure he is that hungry, you may want to try a little rice cereal in between feedings. Just make it with breastmilk and keep the consistency very loose so he can swallow it. Don't give him much at first as it will take him awhile to get used to it. Also, do not substitute breastmilk for cereal. Breastmilk is still more nutritious that any solid food.

Answer 6

I started with cereal once a day for a little while (usually before bed). Now at 6 months old he has cereal w/fruit in the morning, baby food around lunch and dinner, and a bottle w/cereal in it before bed. He also has formula throughout the day. He is now 6 months old and I started this around 4 months old

Answer 7

Just start with cereal at first. Rice cereal seems to be the best thing to start with, and at first just start in the mornings (or evenings, whatever is best for you both) and then work your way up to twice a day. After that, you can start introducing other baby foods.
A good article on the topic:
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding/113.html#2

Answer 8

wow..poor thing! It is possible that your son is not getting enough breastmilk from you..you might want to consider supplementing formula on occasion to ensure that he is getting enough to eat..and maybe freeing up some time to yourself as well. About the baby food...definitly start with just rice cereal..it has low levels of protein so your baby should have an easy time digesting it. They say wait until the month after you start with rice cereal and introduce veggies first (because fruit is sweet..and we want them to love veggies right?) and then the month after that do fruit. But my twins pediatrician told me to wait until 6 mo to introduce fruits and veggies..but rice cereal is great for them. Start with once a day and gradually work your way up. But best thing to do is to ask your sons pediatrician to see what he says!!!

Answer 9

I started my baby on both at around three and a half months because I had the same problem as you. We had no problems with any of the foods. She loved applesauce and squash as well as rice cereal. Start only one new food per week though, incase he has an allergic reaction... this way you'll know which food caused it.
Good Luck!

Answer 10

I know some people will say go ahead but he is still a bit too young. His digestive system is not quite ready to handle solids of any kind. When he is about five or six months old, start with rice cereal and a little bit of fruit, see how he does, and go from there.