Starting Solid Foods - Latonia,KY

It doesn't matter. A four month old doesn't form tastes for life based on the first foods you give her (if that was true, we'd all be addicted to milk!). If you offer a variety of fruits and veggies over the course of months and years she'll learn to like both. If you give her only foods she likes and cater to her every food-related whim, you will have a picky eater on your hands.

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We started with avocado before cereal, and our baby loved it. Avocado has tons of good vitamins, etc. and she eats it every day (she's now 11 months). Just mash a ripe avocado and mix it with breastmilk into the consistency of thick soup. Eventually you can decrease the liquid, as he starts getting used to thicker food. I think of it as the superfood for our baby because she loves it and it's really good for her developing brain and body.

Most sources say to wait 4-7 days before trying a new food. So you should be fine introducing something new now. People I know advised me to start by going through all the fruits and veggies, then grains (rice, oats, millet, not wheat yet), then legumes around 10 months, then animal proteins. That's pretty much what we've done. She seems to prefer orange veggies to green ones, generally--but the green ones are pretty bitter, in some cases. Just keep trying different things so he gets a good sample over time.

I really like the book Super Baby Food (more info here: http://www.superbabyfood.com/) so you might want to look for that, too. Good luck!

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I started my son on veggies. I figure we all have sweet toothes and it is easy to adapt to the fruit. But I wanted to get him hooked on the veggies first. His first veggie was squash. I held of on carrots for until he was older. An awesome book is "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. I differ a little with her on her supplement recomendations, but everything else she says is great. My 20 month old son now eats anything (I know I am blessed with a not so picky eater), but I think that only giving him an option for healthy foods has bent his tastebuds towards good whole some food. So to get off my tangent - I say start with veggies. Baby/children's diets is something I feel passionately about. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk more or need tips to make feeding baby easier - ____@____.com Good Luck!

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I actually started my kids on both fruits and veggies. I would give them fruit, wait 3 days and then give them a veggie. You can introduce both at the same time too, as long as you give it a few days in between to make sure there is not going to be any type of possible allergic reaction. Allergic reactions do not happen right away in all cases. My kids doctor told me to give them one food at a time and wait for 3 days before introducing another one. It worked well, and I never had any problems with it, nor did any of them have any type of allergic reaction to anything.

D.

I am 31 and have been married for 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7, and 4.

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I agree. Veggies would be best to start out with. I started my oldest out with veggies first, but did the fruits with the other two. My oldest is to this day, my best veggie eater. That may just be a coincidence, but it certainly won't hurt to try out the vegetables first. The fruits could set her up with the sweet tooth factor. Also, even if your baby doesn't like it at first, you can keep trying or try something else and go back to it afterwards. They develop different tastes along the way. I'm sure the pediatrician mentioned this also, but try to only introduce one food at a time. If the baby has a aversion or reaction, then you'll know which food caused it. This is probably more importatnt in the fruits.

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Why not try both.Give the fruits in the morning and veggies at the evening meal-see how she does. Have fun. Best of wishes to you. R.

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We started both of our boys out on applesauce and pears, respectively. They are the easiest on the stomach, for starting out. They're very mild. And don't let anyone tell you that if you start your child out on fruits that they won't take veggies later, because it's just not true. Both of my boys ate every veggie...and they still do, at ages 8 and 2.

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I have 4 children under the age of 7 and started them all off with vegetables and then went to fruit. I started with the greens first and went down the line to the lighter colors. My kids all like vegetables but don't eat much fruit (maybe its b/c I don't buy it alot). My sister on the other hand has 4 children and her children eat fruit more and that is what she introduced first.

My understanding is that it takes them 10 tries before they really know whether they like it or not. So don't give up w/the first puckered face.

So its really your take - best wishes!

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It doesn't really matter - fruits or veggies first. Young children naturally prefer sweeter foods - they are born with it. It has nothing to do with what foods are given 'first' because fruits/veggies are NOT given first. Breastmilk is naturaly sweet so that is why babies are born with a sweet preference. Like everyone, some have a stronger preference than others. Not everyone's tastes buds are the same... some are more sensitive to certain tastes like sweet and bitter.

On the flip side, young children are born highly sensitive to bitter foods and most 'greens' are bitter. Why the preference? Because many poisonous plants taste bitter. That doesn't mean much to us today but up until a 100 years ago it was common to have a 2 or 3 year old playing outside in woods... it dimished the urge to try to eat plants that could be harmful or even fatal.

So... back to your question. Feed your child whatever you want. Mealtimes should be fun and natural - not stressful. You'll find alot of contracting advice about when to start which foods. However, please now that almost all that data is very outdated. There have been a few independent studies released in the past year that prove no relation between when a food is introduce and allergies. For instance... it used to be thought to wait on eggs until a certain age or they would be more likely to be allergic to eggs. That doesn't matter, actually. You can give eggs at 4 months or 10 months and if the child is allergic, they are allergic.... giving eggs earlier won't 'cause' them to be allergic to it.

The only foods you should wait on is honey (because of botulism which is often fatal in babies) and peanut stuff (because if they are allergic the younger bodies are less able to deal with the reaction than toddlers).

Also... the best way to raise a good non-picky eater is to introduce a WIDE variety of tastes and textures before 12 months old. At 1 year, the appetite dimishes greatly and they dont' like trying new foods. Note that means you can't wait a week between introducing foods... or your child will only have eaten a few dozen things. Many allergies don't become apparent until after eating something a half a dozen times (or more) so there's no reason to feed 1 food for 4 days and then move on because more than likely if the child is allergic the reaction won't come for another week... after you've moved on to another food anyways. Starting at around 6 months, just fork-smash whatever the rest of your family is eating and give to baby. Or cut into pea-size bits that they can pick up. And ignore teeth... most babies don't have the 'chewing' teeth until well into the 2nd year and they gum pretty much anything (none of my kids had a tooth until 12 months old and were eating 100% real food by 7-9 months).

And regardless of what it seems like, VERY FEW babies have food allergies. There are a bunch of intolerances, which they outgrow and alot of circumstancial stuff like random normal 'drool rashes' or whatever the parents mistake for allergies.

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Really, I think either way is fine. The first food I gave my son was sweet potatos (after cereal), and I just kept going. One of his favorites was eggplant (which tastes kinda like applesauce just not as sweet). Keep a good variety going and they will eat anything - seriously my son will eat guacamole, beans, you name it and he will eat it!
Side note, it's very strange that your doctor has a 4 month old on cereal and starting solids this early!!!

HI,
I am thinking that your baby is pretty young to be starting foods?? Maybe it is just me! I waited til 6 months. At 5 months they had rice cereal and then I added mashed bananas. From bananas we went to carrots, then squash & sweet potatoes. I think after they did well with that I would vary the fruit in the morning.......apples, pears, prunes..etc...
It worked for my five children (ages 1, 1, 3, 6, & 8) they are all great eaters of veggies & fruits.
Have fun!

I suggest definitely starting with veggies first simply because they are more bitter and those tastes may take more time to become accustomed to. You can smash or blend up whatever veggies you eat for dinner: peas, carrots, yams, yellow potatoes, green beans. Those were my kids favorites.

Both my sons began eating fruit right away. There wasn't really anything they didn't like. Some berries, oranges, and pineapple were too acidic and would tend to give them diarhhea, so I might stear clear of those. I started my boys on applesauce, peaches, pears, bananas. They really liked those.

My boys never liked the number 3 foods with the combined foods like turkey dinner, macaroni dinner, veggie stew. I tasted them, and they were horrible. At that point, I would just stick with the single or double ingredient items instead of those mashed up meals by Gerber.

I think it is good to start with veggies just because they aren't usually high in sugar and once they get that taste for sugar it is harder to get them to eat other foods.

I lived in France for three years and they sold this baby food maker called the Beaba (brand name) Babycook. I just saw it on Williams Sonoma website. It is available here!! (almost makes me want to have another baby!!) It is about $150 but worth every penny.

You can throw in fresh or frozen fruits or veggies....they steam cook, then you open it and flip the basket over and purée the steamed food. So you can just mix up what the family is eating (before salt and spices) And you can make several days worth and freeze the portions in ice cube trays and put them in ziplock bags for later meals. Just remove the cubes and microwave.

I really saved a lot of money on baby food this way. And besides...canned stuff all the time can't be good for us let alone a baby.

Good luck!

Oh...check out the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It is so great!!

We started w/fruit I think but my son is now almost 3 and he eats both veg and fruit. Whatever you are comfortable with you should start with.

Our ped told us to start our son (who is 5 1/2 months now but 4 months at the time) on orange/yellow veggies and fruits first but not bananas (our son has poop issues so the bananas would have defeated the purpose). I started both my kids on sweet potatos first because I was also confused with so many different approaches. I just figured the sweet potatos were the best of both worlds. For the record, my daughter eats very well. Fruits, veggies, fish etc. And like I said, we started with the sweet potatos. Neither of my kids liked the peaches but pears seemed to help them keep things moving as they were transitioning away from straight formula/breas milk. I think your own eating habits and behaviors you display will determine if your child is a good eater in the long run. I am pretty sure no perminent damage will be done if you start fruits or veggies first. Enjoy!

You know, I was disappointed that I didn't start my little girl on veggies first, but, at 18 months, she'll eat anything! Lettuce, tomato, cukes, green pepper, LOVES a good stir fry, canned peas, fresh peaches, fresh apples, fresh pears, bananas... HATES canned fruit, even applesauce - which was BIG for her when we started with it at 6 mos. I only wish that I would have started with veggies simply for the variety of it, but she's fared just fine. Good luck!

I started with peas forst then peaches. The reason I started with a veggie is because I wanted my kids to get used to the non sweet flavors first. Both of my kids loved their veggies and even to this day they still eat them, especially my 22 month old. But, you need to go with your own insticts and not every kid will eat like their neighbor kid, so don't stress if she doesn't take to something right away, it takes at least 6 to 7 tries before they get used to the taste.

Jesus, I'm so tired of these posts. If your doctor says it's ok to start solids before the baby is ready (around 6 months) it's time to get a new doctor. No baby needs stage 1 or 2 foods if you wait until 6 months. Breastfeed your baby until 6 months and then start with soft pieces of table foods or thick mashed foods and don't worry about what you feed your baby. They have found that it doesn't matter what you feed first, fruits or vegies.
Quit feeding foods that your baby isn't ready for and wait until she's actually ready. If you want to know the signs for solids readiness, PM me. 4 months is too soon and 2.5 months is nuts.
As a researcher, I'm surprised you decided it was ok to start cereal before your baby could digest it and solids before she was ready.

My kids are 8yo twins and I'm not sure what they say now, but I was always told to start with veggies (orange colored then greens). If you start with the fruits they will, of course like the sweetness to them and then when you go to do veggies they will not want them at all because they aren't as sweet. Whatever you do start with one thing at a time and give that one and only thing to them for about 5 days to make sure they're not going to have any food allergy to them.

We started our daughter on veggies first per our peds suggestion. We tried about 4 veggies (introducing one at a time) and then tried fruits. Fruits seem to be too tart for her still at 10 1/2 months but she loves bananas and is starting to like peaches and pears without having to mix them in her cereal. I'm sure you'll get a lot of suggestions from other moms but I hope this helps.

IMO, 4 months is too early to be introducing solids. Years and years ago, this was the recommendation, but now the American Academy of Pediatrics has changed their recommendation over the past few years!!! They say 6 months now, but unfortunately a LOT of pediatricians haven't kept up with the latest information. :(

If you're interested in letting your baby just be a baby for a couple more months, you could just drop the solids for now - breastmilk or formula is MORE nutritious for them at this age than rice cereal and solids. Here are 2 links that talk about this more, if you're curious:

Pediatrician Dr. Sears - Solids Readiness
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp#T032001

Solids - Why Wait? Developmental Signs of Readiness
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html#exp...

Waiting until 6 months is just another idea to consider - there are lots of health benefits to waiting. Check it out and see what you think! :)

Start w/ the things that ARE NOT sweet.....veggies..... and introduce the fruits one at a time. If they like the sweet, the veggies won't be so appealing! They will learn to like the veggies..or at least some of them FIRST...before introducing the sweet fruits.

Might want to get a copy of FEED ME I'M YOURS by Lansky

Start with a Veggie. When people say it doesn't really matter, than I say why not start with veggies. We started with veggies at about 4 1/2 months and our little girl loves all fruits and veggies. JUst watch out for anything with added seasonings, she hated those...

I read that applesauce (surprisingly) is binding, so be careful! My 6 1/2-month-old granddaughter started on carrots, which are sweet, and then avocodoes, and then bananas and apples. My daughter prepares all her food; her doc said to introduce one new food a week, offering it at two meals, besides her cereal, and cereal in the morning and night before bed. She's doing terrific! She also has had green beans, peas and maybe something else I'm forgetting. Have fun!

When in doubt, without evidence not to, always follow your Peds advice. That is what they are there for. You have the added advantage of having your mom and grandma agree, which is where a mom gets most of her grief. By starting a fruit now, you can add variety to her cereal by adding fruit to it in order to give it a different taste. Baby may not care, but makes me feel better as a mom.
R.

Hi A.. My son is almost 9 months old now, but when he started out on solids, his pediatrician told me to start with orange/yellow vegetables. She said they were easier for him to digest. When my now 2 year old daughter was starting on solids, her pediatrician said it didn't matter what she started out with. I think I started her with fruits. I hope this helps.