I just started feeding my 4 1/2 month old baby food. She has been exclusively breastfed. Is this okay?

Answer 1

of course it is, as long as your pediatrician has checked for signs that your baby is ready for solids (great neck control, less drooling, watching you eat, etc.)

Most moms read their kids really well. They recommend 4-6 as the time to introduce foods. Rice cereal is the best to start with, then veggies, and fruits for last. Wait a few days,like others have said before moving from one thing to another. And continue nursing too.

Answer 2

I hope you discussed this with the pediatrician first! Some say 4 months, some say 6 months. I started my son at 6 months, but you have to do the 4-day rule. Give a new food for 4 days so if the baby has an allergic reaction, you will know what caused it.

Please talk to a doctor about this if you haven't already and check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com. It shows what foods you can give at each age!!

Answer 3

No. My understanding is that is USED to be recommended that you start your infant on solids between 4-6 months of age... but NOW the recommendation is to wait AT LEAST 6 months before introducing anything. It's wonderful that you've been exclusively breastfeeding. Great job Mama! Your baby will be healthier because of this gift you are giving. I would stop solids and just continue nursing exclusively until your baby turns 6 months old.

Best wishes.

Answer 4

Its really best to wait until at LEAST 6 months.
If you wait until the baby can pick up food and feed themselves, you can skip "baby food" altogether (best option!)

There are several reasons to wait, but amung the most important (IMO) is Iron. Breastmilk contains very little iron, but it is well obsorbed. When you introduce any other food into thier diet, they don't absorb the iron from your milk as well any more.

Also, until a baby is ready for additional food, they have what is known as an "open gut". This basically means that what goes into thier tummies goes directly into thier bloodstream. Starting too early, before this has closed, can cause food allergies.

I know how exciting it is to get to play with food for the first time, but its really the best thing to wait. Theres no nutrtional need for solids until a year or later, why take the chance of allergies or anemia?

For fun, you can consider making breastmilk slushy... or even breastmilk yogurt might be okay...

Please check out the link below... I was anxious to start too, but after researching, i decided to wait. It worked out perfectly, letting him feed himself from the start. I highly reccomend it.

ETA: rice cereal is just about the WORST thing to start a breastfed baby on. Nasty stuff.

Answer 5

You should wait until your baby is at least 6 months old. Any earlier and you risk creating allergies. The baby's intestines aren't ready for anything more than breastmilk, even if it seems like it, until 6 months. New studies prove that. Of course many people still introduce food way too early because that's what doctors said to do years ago before the recent studies were done.

Answer 6

Technically speaking, a breastfed baby doesn't require "regular" food at that age, but many parents feel that the baby is still hungry at mealtimes. As the other poster mentioned, don't introduce more than one food at a time. Remember, the first foods to be introduced are cereals, like oatmeal, barley, etc.-not the regular kind, the special finer baby cereals.

Isn't it a blast watching those babies eat for the first time? They're like little birds with their tiny mouths hanging open, waiting for the next spoonful-absolutely precious!

Answer 7

Sure. Just introduce a strained veggie or fruit one at a time. Wait to see if there is a reaction. Stick to the same food for a few days before trying something new. I nursed for 17 months. I introduced fruits and veggies at 4 months. Baby refused meat until he was 3! I also used to make my own baby food by using a food grinder and frozen or fresh vegetables.

Answer 8

Yes it is okay. Just make sure when you feed her the baby food that you feed her one kind a day for five days. This will allow you to notice any food allergies she may develop. If you feed her a bunch at one time and she becomes allergic to something, it will be difficult to tell. So for example: start with vegetables and do carrots for 5 days. Then potatoes for five days, so on and so forth. Then move to fruits and do the same thing. Make sure you keep a note of what she is allergic to.

Answer 9

You should talk to her ped. My daughter's ped told me to start her on infant cereal stage one - not baby food b/c she wasn't gaining the weight that she was suppose to. You should talk to the ped first before starting solids. My daughter was exclusively breastfed too. I started her on cereal at 41/2 months and baby food at 6 months as well as breast milk. Good luck.

Answer 10

My doctor said that people still introduce food too early because it was done that way in the past because people didn't know any better. He said to wait until my son was 6 months old or older before starting rice cereal.