First Baby Food

Usually baby's are ready for cereal at 6 months. I started mine on rice cereal a day before her 6 month birthday. Signs for readyness are that she can control her head and sit with little/no support. She should also open and close her mouth for the spoon. She should be showing an interest in eating by watching (staring more like it) you eat.

Always introduce cereal from a spoon. Never put cereal in a bottle. That is something that was suggested decades ago and has been discovered to be unhealthy for the child. Mostly it is grandmas that suggest this because they don't know the rules have changed.

Start with rice cereal because it is the lowest allergen, one time a day. Most people start it in the evenings. I followed the directions on the box for first feeding and used expressed breastmilk (don't microwave with breastmilk). Now I just use water because it's easier. Feed her until she is not interested but never make a child finish something. This undermines her ability to regulate food intake and leads to weight problems.

My daughter also started waking up 2-3 times a night around 5 months of age and is still doing it at 7 months. Unfortunetly starting cereal doesn't help. Keep in mind there is a growth spurt at 6 months of age. If she is waking and not hungry she could be teething. Try giving her a chilled teething ring or tylonol. It is typical that 6 month olds will wake up at least once to feed at night.

Hey C.,
I know that this post is a little bit later than the other mom's but I thought that I would add a little advice. I see that you got a wide range of advice from a lot of people. I am a mother of five kids and I have a lot of experiences in the difference of each kids needs and problems that they had. I have 3 sons; 12,3,1 and 2 daughters, 9 and 6. I agree with some of the other mom's about not putting it in the bottle. Bottles should only have milk/formula in not food. As for food consistency I always started out my cereal real runny like, almost liquid like and held the bowl close as it will be messy. You want them to start to get used to the taste of something a little different but not at a pace that it turns them off. It is good to mix it in with milk or formula depending on which you are feeding her now so that she is eating something that she is familiar with. She may only eat a little at a time so start out small. Gradually you can let it get a little thicker(slowly, not too fast or she'll push it away) until it is the consistency of rice cereal as you would think oatmeal to look like;but a little smoother looking. I know that a lot of people had said to add fruits and veggies,but you need to wait for that because if you introduce too many things at once she may just reject it all. I always made sure my children had gotten used to the cereal at the consistency that you feel comfortable with and then after a while(some kids may take up to a month or more with this) then add fruit to the cereal but keep putting in the milk/formula. Just like you were giving a little cereal at a time start to put just a little fruit in at a time to get her used to it, like to start out with just put a little in to let her get a taste of it-I find that starting out with the sweeter fruits like bannanas make it easier because the apple and peaches sometimes can be a little tart. Once she has gotten used to it you can gradually increase the amounts you give her. You will eventually come to a point where you don't have to mix it in with cereal and can feed her it solo, but let me warn you she may pull back just like she did when she started out the cereal at first because even though she was eating it in her cereal she may reject it at first straight from the jar because it is a little different apart from the cereal. If it helps you can give her a bit of cereal and then give her a bit of fruit alone so that she can gradually get used to it on its own separate from the cereal. I also wanted to let you know that even if you try this and she doesn't take to it do not worry. Not every child is ready for food in the "time frame" set by doctors and what other people say. Some aren't ready until later and that is fine. My son, Caelib wouldn't eat until he was almost 8 months old. I tried over and over and he just wouldn't have it. I know that a lot of people say that you can give your child food as young as 4 months but I always agreed with what my doctor said to me when I had my oldest;giving babies food too early can cause stomach problems if they aren't ready or their stomachs haven't matured enough to handle it. Some people are ready, but a lot of other's aren't and can have problems later in life if you do it too early. So follow your instincts as you know your daughter better than anyone else.I made it a rule of thumb to start or try to introduce it at six months and let them dictate wheather they are interested or not. My youngest wouldn't have anything to do with it either until he was almost seven months and that is okay. Do not feel that you need to rush your baby because as one of the mom's said they eat us out of house and home soon enough anyways and the feedings at this point are to just get them used to food not for them to rely on this for their nutrition, that is to come from breast milk and/or formula. As a lot of the other mom's stated,she probably is teething or it could be seperation anxiety that is causing your daughter to wake up during the night or maybe she just wanting extra cuddle time with you. I know that you are tired but it won't last forever and this too shall pass and it will be done before you know it and even though you enjoy your sleep you may actually miss those late night cuddling sessions after awhile.;) Sorry this got to be so long. Good luck and enjoy your bundle of joy!
J.

I have two children (ages 3 and almost 1) and started them both at six months. Do not put cereal in the bottle, the idea is to get them used to a new consistency in a new fashion. We used the Gerber rice cereal for my son and he hated it. I switched to jarred oatmeal in about a week. I tasted the rice cereal too and it's no wonder he didn't like it. Based on that learning, I started my daughter on the Gerber single grain oatmeal (also in the box). In both cases, I made the cereal with breast milk but start pretty thin. My daughter liked it so much, we went through four boxes!

At about 10 months, I switched both kids to regular instant oatmeal, Quaker Oats.

Your daughter could be waking due to hunger, teething or just a growth spurt. There's no telling what causes some of the ups and downs of an infant but try to enjoy them because they are over way too soon. Remember those late night feedings are something only you two can share, very special!

C., I put my son on rice when he acted like he was starving every timehe ate- I just put some in his bottle at night- when I got the the ped he agreed it was ok. I know they say mothering in a natural instinct- and maybe in the wild it is, but for me it has been a total challenge. Do this, dont' do that- and everything has changed from what I remember when we were kids. I tend to go with my gut- not with what they "suggest" is best for me- (I have found that the Old fashioned way of doing things has worked for me best) My son is nearly 8 and is still kicking!
Good luck

Try putting a little bit of cereal (not too much- it has to be watery enough to still get thru the nipple) into her bedtime bottle. Hopefully that will hold her over til morning =) Good luck! I know it's hard when you're not getting enough sleep!

My daughter is 6 months tomorrow too! We are going to start giving her rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk, on Saturday at supper (we are having supper with both sets of grandparents and thought it would be fun to start solids with them there). We are going to have our daycare provider give her one serving at lunch time and we will give her one serving at supper. We are going to spoon feed her. I found some good information on www.askdrsears.com about starting solids. Also, if you are breastfeeding, I was told that in order to not interfer too much with your milk supply, you should nurse first then give the solids, because the nutrition should be coming from breastmilk/formula for the first year.

I am with you on the sleep thing! My DD started daycare last week and she is not eating or sleeping very well there, so eating more and sleeping less at home! I hope starting solids there next week will help. Another thought about the sleep, at this age I have been told they can start with some separation anxiety, which could explain why she is waking up and not eating sometimes. Maybe just wants mommy? And you are right, it could be teeth! Seems like everytime I have things figured out with my DD, she changes! Good luck!

My daughter had a spell of waking 2-3 times during the night right around 6 months old. She'd be up for over an hour each time! The difficult part is that she shares a room with her 2 year old brother and would wake him up. So for a few night, one of us would take her brother to our room to sleep while the other slept on his bed and only had contact with her when she cried. We found she quickly went back to sleep after realizing it wasn't any fun to be up at night! It took about 2 weeks to break the cycle but it worked!

Also, I agree with a lot of what was said here about the feeding, but a word of advice - some babies (both of mine!) will get gassy the first few days after a new food is introduced - don't get discouraged though! I also recommend the gerber website for advice on feeding, they have a great chart that lays out what to introduce and when, based on babies abilities, not their age.

Good Luck!

I know you've gotten lots of responses, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents:)

We started with pretty runny cereal, making it thicker as our baby got used to spoon feeding.

We mixed it with breast milk if I'd pumped extra or formula. He became pretty constipated, so our doctor suggested mixing it with a 1/2 and 1/2 apple juice/water mix. He always eats it well, and is now 10 1/2 mos. The juice really helped with the constipation, though.

Good luck:)

i gave rice cereal to my girl at 6 months....she liked it okay, but not totally into it....definitely a spoon, i've read the bottle thing is discouraged....

night waking....please check out dr. harvey karp's "happiest baby on the block" skip all the reading except for the middle 2 pages that tells you the five S's at a glance...this method of soothing baby worked AWESOME for us...or check out the video from your library and watch it.....it's worth a try for better sleep for mama!

also....just wanted to tell you about something i found that you might find useful at this exciting time of baby eating solids....

it's the kidco foodmill....i wanted my natalie to eat good organic non preservative filled food, but i'm not too gifted in the cooking category...so making baby food was not an option for me...this foodmill can take a pear....peal and all....and make it baby friendly.....it can seriously take the chicken and broccoli that you are eating for dinner and turn it...right there on the spot....into baby food for your toothless tulip!

i think my girl didn't really take to solids at all until at least 9 months, even though i tried at 6....at 12 months she really kicked into gear with it all.....

good luck on your solid food adventure!

My daughter started eating rice cereal at 6 months.

Our doctor told us not to put it in her bottle. We were told to spoon feed it to her and to give it to herin the early afternoon.

I started Gordon on cereal a week before he turned 4 months. It takes them a week or two to get the hang of eating something besides a bottle. I gave him just that for solids for a month. I always gave him the cereal first. Because I figured if he had his bottle first there would be NO WAY that he'd even be interested in trying and getting use to eating solids. I made my cereal with formula so it still had all the nutrients in it that he was getting from his bottle. I would start with giving the cereal at the last feeding. Because then that will help the child sleep through the night.

C.,
I would say now that she is old enough for rice cereal. I actually started both of my girls on cereal when they were 4 months old. I fed it to them from a spoon. I also added a litlle bit to their formula at night before they went to bed. Both of my girls slept threw the night after we started the cereal. When they would wake up it was due to needing their pants changed. But I hope this helps. I would try giving her cereal in the morning, and then baby food at lunch time, then possibly, some fruit with cereal in it at supper time and then a bottle about 1/2 or so before she goes to bed, with formula and a little cereal. But you also want to make sure if you use a bottle, that you make sure the hole in the nipple, to let it go threw but not big enough that she chokes. Hope this helps.

Oh C., you poor thing. It is so hard when your baby gets on a good sleeping routine and then suddenly it all gets disrupted. I know, cuz I am going through that right now with my 7 month old. His issue is teeth though, so I know there isn't anything I can do until the little sucker pops through.
Anyway, about rice cereal...yes, you can give your 6 month old rice cereal in her bottle at night, in fact, most moms probably reccommend it from about 4 months on. It helps fill them up and lets them sleep longer at night. By 6 months your baby should not be waking up because of hunger, because she actually needs about 10 hours of continuous sleep right now more than she needs food. So start her on rice cereal tonight. The rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon of cereal for each ounce that is in her bottle. (7tbsp = 7 ounce bottle) You will need to go the store and buy a cereal/thicker liquid nipple, because it will be thicker. And if she is on 7 ounces, don't be concerned if she doesn't finish the entire bottle, but make her take most of it. She will be full faster with cereal in it. Sometimes my son will finish all but 1/2 ounce of the bottle when it has cereal in it. I know that Avent makes a cereal/thicker liquid nipple but not sure about any of the other brands, but I would assume they would all make one.
Good luck and try that. If she is still waking up hungry, after the cereal then for sure talk to your doctor about it.

My doctor and the WIC nurses all had me start cereal at 4 months. We started with 2 Tbs in the morning with formula/breastmilk mixed in and we spoonfed our little ones. After 2 weeks or so (once they are used to eating it) we went to 2 times a day. My kids prefered theirs mixed with juice though... don't tell anyone LOL. Then at 5 months they were started on fruits and veggies. I have a 4 1/2 year old and a 10 month old and they both went by this schedule (both had different docs as babies).

I found my son was waking at that age too because of teething. He would nurse, not for food, but because it felt good on his gums. We started cereal in his breastmilk, (I work full time so he gets bottles while I'm away) when he was 5 months because he had reflux. It really helped him and we didn't need to use medication. We put one tablespoon of cereal in 5 ounces of milk. We didn't feed it to him because he was abosulutely not interested in food at that time. We started spoon feeding him at 6 months.

Hi C.,
I started my daughter on rice cereal in the bottle first at around 5 months using the directions on the side of the box for baby's first cereal feeding. She is now six months and we started feeding her by spoon. (she won't even take it in the bottle anymore). Funny about the sleeping...our daughter is going through the same thing. She was sleeping great through the night and now all of a sudden waking up during the night...I think it is teething. We usually see if she can soothe herself back to sleep..we give her 5 minutes to see if she will just fall asleep. Otherwise we give her a bottle and rock her back to sleep. Hope that this helps a little anyways! Good luck!

Should be spoon fed. I practiced breakfast, lunch, dinner with the family. The cereal (at first) is really meant to give the baby practice in swallowing something different and more solid than milk. Milk flows so freely, babies hardly have to swallow intentionally and feeding with a spoon forses the baby to swallow intentionally instead of instinctively.

At first, the solid foods are not really meant as a nutritional source of meal and not to replace a nursing/formula feeding. (That comes later)

When we started rice cereal, our pediatrician told us to give it to them AFTER they were given the breast/bottle. That way they were not filling up on just cereal. At first our twins just took one or two spoonfulls at a time. At first much of it got spit back out, but it was fun! Good luck!

Hi
My kids were about 10 days old when I started with cereal.
I believe it was oatmeal. Make it very thin, diluted with formula. And always use a spoon. It's hard to remember as my 2 kids are 42 & 37. Of course all things are different now.

On our doctor's advice we started giving our little girl cereal at 4 months around dinner time. She was definitely interested. We spoon fed her and it was so fun for everyone. We very quickly got bored with cereal and started with vegetables right away. She loves all of them, but is still primarily fed by formula. Now we can have fruit. She was teething the whole time. She absolutely loved it when we would give her a pickle spear. The coldness and the taste was better than any teething ring in the world. Also, lemon wedges were something she just loved. Trying food is just fun for now I think. My girl finally got her first tooth and right away has another trying to poke through with two more (according to her pediatriation) on deck. Sleep was really hard and still is off and on. I guess I just feel thankful for the good nights and cope with the bad ones. Seriously though, give your baby a pickle and satisfy your desire to give her food, her desire to eat like mommy and daddy and it will really quench her teething feelings.

Your daughter is very hungry!! Since she is going on 6 months, feed her with a spoon. My first started cereal at 1 1/2 months, my 2nd and 3rd both started cereal at 3months and then jar food at 5 1/2 to 6 months old. They all were sleeping threw the night by 6 to 12 weeks.

Normally it is recommended not to start baby food/cereal until 4 months of age. When trying new foods only try one new food for a few days in a row to ensure that your child does not have an allergy or sensitivity to it...most of the time there is no issue with it. Start with the thinnest foods and mix the cereal pretty thin to start (think a creamy soup consistency) after that you can progress to thicker foods. At 6 months your child is old enough to have foods/cereals a few times a day. Ask your pediatrician for more details or go to the Gerber website....they have good info on feeding ages and foods.

I started at 5 months with both my girls and started the baby foods at the same time. I gave veggies and then fruits alternating weeks to make sure there were no allergies.

Doctors will want you to avoid giving formula in a bottle because they say it causes obesity.

Spoon feed it and I started them with it runny and increased to a thicker consistency gradually.

Hello! I am starting to give my daughter rice cereal at 4 months. I am giving it to her by spoon bcause that is what my pediatrician told me to do. She does not like it but every day I keep trying. Good luck to you! I am still getting up 2-3 times a night as well to feed her because I do not produce enough milk for her to stay full all night.

My son will be 2 next month and we started cereal at 4 months and jar food at 6 months per the peds doctor. Your daughter may be hungry and needing something more than milk/formula and therefore is not sleeping well. At first you want the cereal pretty thin. You will just need to see what works best. Good luck.

Spoon fed rice cereal - 3 months.
Baby food - 4 months.
Table food - 6.5 months.

Basically we started rice cereal when it was obvious our son wasn't satisfied with just formula, and was taking in over 40oz of formula a day.

What to do?

If the baby is hungry, feed her. If she's not satisfied with formula, give her something else.

There's no formulaic method to raising children nor their feeding schedules. As no one wants to let people experiment/research on *their* children, the "experts" can only gather data and make assumptions; assumptions that aren't always correct and certainly are only generalizations, not rules. You can't screw this up, there's no magic date or age at which babies are ready to eat - each of them is an individual and it sounds like you're seeing that your daughter needs more than just formula/breastmilk.

If she's waking up during the night more now it could also just be that she needs more during the day to sustain her. Cereal can help supplement her feedings so she's getting more, but more breastmilk/formula can also achieve that goal. Given that the goal is to get children off milk and onto tablefoods, it sounds like it's time to start giving her some cereal, at least.

its probably teeth waking her up. sleep habits will never be "normal" or through the night. just get used to it... having a baby changes your life, and thats not just a during the day sort of thing!

as far as feeding solids, you dont start until baby is ready. this means she has to want the food (not just the spoon, try giving her the spoon, if that satisfies her, its the tool, not the food thats interesting her) she has to be able to hold her head up and sit up on her own (not just sit supported, get to sitting and sit there on her own)

shes probably ready "age wise" but theres no nutritional need for solid foods until after a year, so dont stress about it. you can feed her solids, but you dont have to. the way i think about it is kids eat you out of house and home soon enough, why rush into it when they are babies? ??

i started my son at 5 1/2 months and that was because he was literally grabbing the spoons out of our hands, and eating the food off of it... ! we couldnt keep him away from food any longer. i wanted to wait WAY longer to start solids, but he was ready and MORE than willing LOL. but i still took it slow

no food in baby bottles. they should learn food as food not as drink. usually they wont drink it anyway because they are used to the bottle being formula or milk, and thats it. dont give juice in the bottle either, only formula or breastmilk (if and when you start regular milk, which shouldnt be until after a year old, it should be in a sippy cup, however, soy almond or rice milk is better nutritionally for all humans)

anyway, www.askdrsears.com is a great resource!

Anytime between 4 and 6 months is ok to start rice cereal, yeah for holding off this long though and letting her little tummy grow and mature to better handle food. Definitely spoon food, it can be really runny at first but the only thing that should go in a bottle is formula or breast milk in my opinion. My son was so excited to start "solids" we made his cereal really runny and just thickened it up at each feeding to see what he could tolerate/liked best, by 7 months it was oatmeal consistency. She may be ready but as for sleeping through the night it could be a number of things, teeth, growth spurts, change in routine. Stick to your bedtime routine and dont go in as soon as she wakes, give her a few minutes to see if she will soothe herself back to sleep, if not try rubbing her belly/shhing her back to sleep without getting her up, use feeding/rocking as the last resort to get her back to sleep or she'll soon start waking just for the mommy time and it will be a habbit hard to break. Hope things smooth out soon, its hard when you're used to getting a full nights sleep again then they start to wake up more. :-)

Do you do a pacifier? You could give her that to see if she'd be satisfied with that versus getting her up to feed her. Otherwise, one of the things we did before my son would sleep through the night was to dream feed him at like 10pm before we'd go to bed. Cereal isn't going to give her any more calories so it won't sustain her hunger if that is the issue. In fact, when we started solids at 4 months - my son stopped sleeping through the night for a couple nights just cause of the new routine of it all. She's definitely at the age where she could be teething so that is probably it. Good luck! I hear you about that owners manual - lol!

Cut up some soft fruit or vegetables C. and see if she takes them and eats them. If she eats them, she's hungry for food. If she's not interested, she's not hungry.

Starting babies on whole fruits and vegetables will always be a better choice than processed cereals (even whole grain cereal is processed).

Feeding them with a spoon is not going to be as healthy as letting them feed themselves (hand/mouth activity stimulates brain development). Once they are able to put food in their mouths, cut up fruits and soft vegetables makes sense.

Whether or not she eats food is probably not guiding her sleep habits. Many things contribute to the changing sleep habits of babies including how much stimulation they get during the day. What's nice is that this stage does not last long. Once a child is a year old, they will typically sleep well.

Anyway, rice cereal should follow soft fruits and vegetables if you insist on it. Babies all over the world never touch rice cereal and grow just fine. Let your daughter be the guide to her food choices. Offer her healthy whole foods and she will let you know how it's going.

Sounds like she is hungry, but she could also be teething as well. Usually you start a baby on rice cereal between 4 to 6 months, so she is definitely ready for it. Do not bottle feed any type of cereal because of choking hazards, and because she needs to learn how to eat off of a spoon. Thin the rice cereal (or multigrain or whatever) with a little milk or breastmilk or water (water doesn't taste as good) and give it to her on a spoon. It will probably take many tries before she figures out how to eat off the spoon, and it will be messy, but she'll get better at it. Thicken the cereal bit by bit as she figures out how to eat it/as she gets a little older. Age-wise she is able to start trying vegetables and fruits and other pureed baby foods- start with stage one and in a couple months she will probably be ready to start stage 2. If she starts choking a lot then you may have to play with how thick the food is until she is able to eat it well. I would take a week or so and make sure she is eating the cereal just fine, then add in the vegetables one by one, then start with the fruits. Feed her several small meals a day, because she may not take all that much at a time in the beginning. Make sure she gets something at dinner, and maybe even a little snack about an hour before she goes to bed so her tummy is full when she goes to sleep. She may not seem hungry to you when she wakes up in the middle of the night, but really it's probably that she is hungry, and not thirsty. Babies get to the point where they know whether they are hungry or thirsty, and what they need. I think she is at that point. Ask your pediatrician when to start different foods and how much to give, etc. They probably have a chart or some information they can give you to help you. Good luck.

Babies technically don't need the nutrition from food until about a year, so for now it's just getting them interested in other foods and learning how to eat them and getting used to different tastes. Our doctor recommended starting with cereal at 4 months and veggies at 5 months. Now that our daughter is 7 months she's eating pretty much any fruit or veggie we feed her. In reading articles online it seems to be mixed on if it's a good idea to put cereal in a bottle or not. I decided to stay away from it, especially since my daughter did pick up on eating from a spoon pretty quickly.

As far as how often and how much, we started with once a day with the cereal and a week or two later I sent cereal to daycare to add a second feeding mid-day. As far as amount, I started with a tablespoon of cereal and about 3 tablespoons formula, but quickly transistioned to about 2 tablespoons formula since my daughter didn't seem to need it that runny. After being on cereal about 3 weeks, we added orange veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potatoes) once a day. Two weeks later, we added a second portion of veggies and started fruits and green veggies. And that's pretty much where we've been since. She gets cereal twice a day and usually one fruit and one veggie. She'd probably eat more, but the current amounts just seem to work well in our schedule. At each sitting, I feed her until she's no longer interested in the food, which is usually about the 2-3 tablespoons of cereal or one container of 1st foods.

We do feed her shortly before bed to help fill her up. Though we also went through about a month of her waking up once or twice a night again around the 5 1/2 month mark after sleeping through since 5 weeks old. It seems to be a common posting at this age on both Mamasource and some other boards I read. They can start waking up more before a major milestone. My daughter started crawling last night, so I'm thinking that may have been it.

Hang in there, she will get through this stage!