dilemma! wasnt planning on feeding solids til 6 months, but....?

Question

so my son is 4 1/2 months old and i wasnt planning on giving him cereal or baby food til 6 months because my family dr and his pediatrician recommended that. however, hes showing most of the signs that hes ready...

hes teething, when we're eating he stares at the food and reaches for it if its close enough, he eats about 32 oz of formula per day and has been for just over a month now, which does seem to keep him satisfied...

i dont know whether or not i should dive into giving him a little bit of cereal in the morning and at night. should i just wait until hes 6 months anyways, even though hes showing signs of being ready?

Answer 1

WAIT...

my daughter showed signs at 3-4 months too... but she also signs of being interested in my shrimp, my diet cola, and at using my make up..... lol

so really wait until ALL the developmental signals are ready... plus the development of his digestive system that we cannont see (usually closer to 6 months).

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.

Answer 2

I would go ahead and feed him some cereal. I know my son would chug the bottle down and scream for more. I was going crazy because i had twins. His sister was happy with just the bottle and he wasnt. Every child is different and some are ready sooner than others. If he can sit up with support and doesnt push the food back out with his tongue, then he is ready. If you dont want to spoon feed him the cereal, put a little in his bottle with a fast flow nipple so it doesnt get clogged. My doc was the one that told me to try that and he was only three months old. He has no allergy problems at all so far and he will be one year in a few days. If you family history has a lot of allergies then it may be best to wait until he is a little older to be on the safe side, but if not then i say feed away!

Answer 3

why is there so many thumbs down for the people that suggested 4-6 months of age for starting solids? that is the recommended age!! if your baby isnt ready, they will let you know anyway, so theres no harm in trying at 4 months. Also if u look at alot of baby cereal products etc., they say not recomended for infants under 4 months.. it is ok to give solids from 4-6 months! jeez.
look it up people, many people suggest 6 months as the best age to start, but most say that 4-6 months is fine to start trying for solids. They just might not eat much til 6 months +. Start out with somthing simple and easy like a little bit of rice cereal mixed with formula once a day for a few weeks, til they are older and then try for vegies and things like that.

Answer 4

My pediatrician told me to give only rice cereal to my 4 month old, when I asked about the 6 month minimum she said it was for solids but rice cereal is fine. She even said to put some in her bottle at 6 weeks because her reflux was so bad. Since I breast feed she only got 1-2 bottles a day with a little cereal to thicken. I'm now making 1 ounce of formula with 1 tablespoon cereal for a soupy batter consistency and giving it with a spoon. My baby spits most of it out but she does open her mouth to the spoon. She takes about 10 bites before she wants to stop by getting fussy. I don't think this is hurting her digestive system or will give her allergies. At this age it's not their complete source of nutrition only a learning stage. It's a learning stage for parents too. We need to see what our babies can and can't do.

Answer 5

You have to do what is best for your child. 6 months is a guideline, not the rule. If your child is showing interest, then give him cereal. Just make it a little bit thicker than his milk or formula. Don't' feed it to him in a bottle, use a spoon. You know your baby better than anyone. Trust your instincts. My kids were about 5 months old when they started on solids too. They are 5 and 7 now. Neither has a single allergy, both are within normal weight guidelines, and they are healthy.

Nobody followed the rules more closely than my sister.
My sister breast fed her son exclusively until he was 7 months old and he's allergic to practically everything (wheat, tomatoes, corn, oranges, stagnet water, dust and a bunch of other stuff), and he has asthma. I think it's just the luck of the draw sometimes.

Answer 6

I worked with infants at a daycare for about a year or maybe a little more and every one of them was different. If you don't think he is getting satisfied with just the formula then he is probably ready to start on some cereal. That is a lot of formula in one day. All you can do is try!! But I would go ahead and try it now! Your baby knows when he is ready for cereal, not necessarily the doctors, 6 months was only a suggestion and recommendation. Go for it!!! Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

I'd wait until 6 months. Showing signs of being ready needs to be paired with the appropriate age to start solids. There's no real nutrition in the cereal. Babies need only formula and/or breastmilk for the first 6 months.

Answer 8

My son is almost four months and weighs over sixteen pounds.(The doc said he had to go on a diet) He loves to eat and since he has reflux, he gets AR formula which I guess is what is making him gain so much weight. That, and the fact that he consumes over 36 ounces of formula in a 24 hour period. But he is always hungry. I started him on rice cereal this week and so far he's doing great and it helps keep him fuller longer. You know your baby best, do whatever you feel he is ready for. Everyone told me it was too soon for my son, but I had to try...and it's working.

Answer 9

Reaching for food or staring at it isn't a good indication.

My baby wants to stare and eat my cell phone, it's not like I'm going to feed him my phone.

Babies were biologically designed to eat at milk for at least 6 months, they don't need cereal before then.

Even if baby is showing all kinds of external indications, that does NOT mean that their guts can handle cereal. You can feed your baby cereal at any age, that doesn't mean it's good for them or won't cause them harm later in life.

Wait until 6 months, at least.

Answer 10

mystic posted a really interesting article on baby led introduction to solids yesterday...I'll see if I can find it.

okay here it is, have a read of this before you do anything

Personally I would wait, it's only another six weeks to go and then you'll know he's physically ready.

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/rapley_guidelines.html#choke

I've fed early with all mine so far, but with my current baby (four months) I'm going to wait. I've read so much recently on how much better it is to wait until at least six months, that I've become convinced. When I do start, I'm going to use the methods outlined in the article at that link.