When to Start Other Foods

First of all, in is dangerous to give cereal in a bottle. Alot of people, over the years, have believed this was the proper way to help a baby sleep more soundly. But medical and nutritional experts agree that this is not a good idea. I would suggest you hold off an further cereal feedings in the bottle. Instead, give her some cereal thinned with formula or breat milk, with a spoon. You can try now, but don't worry if she can't swallow it. Just wait a couple days and try again.

The current medical evidence is that a baby gets the best nutrition from formula or breast milk for the first 6 months. However, this is not to say that you CAN'T start earlier. It's largely up to whether your baby can handle solids. Once she's able to handle a single grain cereal for a few days, without a reaction, you can cycle through the rest of the single grain cereal varieties. Then the mixed cereals are fair game too. It's not really necessary to feed your baby every type of cereal, though. It's kind of up to preferrances. When you think she's ready, you can try on the fruits and veggies. Through consulting with an infant nutritionist, I discovered that it is a myth that you have to start veggies before fruits. As long as the waiting period is honored, to identify allergies, fruits and veggies introduction order is flexible. She told me that babies will manage to get what they need. Besides, most people start with the carrots and squash anyway. And those are rather sweet veggies. I know that alot of the information out there is conflicting. That is why I talked with a nutritionist about it, and did some research from American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. Although, the biggest thing I discovered in all of this research is that by following your heart and mother's intuition, you'll do just fine.

Hi L. ~

I started giving my daughter cereal at 5 1/2 months, twice a day. I did that for about 2 weeks straight and then introduced each vegetable for about 3 days each, then I did the fruits. I don't think you are starting her too soon at all. You do want to make sure that you wait a couple of days after you start each vegetable or fruit to make sure they don't have a reaction to it. Some people do fruits before vegetables, but I did the opposite because I didn't want my daughter to prefer fruits over vegetables.

Good Luck!

I started my son on cereal at 4 mos-- but use a spoon not a bottle. It takes awhile for them to get the hang of it-- but keep introducing it and in a week or some she'll gobble it down.

At her age she should be able to start taking cereal with a spoon. Once she does that for about a week or two, and assuming she tolerates it well, I would move her on to veggies. Then I would incorporate fruits about two weeks after that. That's what I did with my 7 month old son and it worked out very well. Always use your instincts though as each child can be different. Best of luck to you!

If she can't eat cereal off a spoon, she shouldn't be getting it. My pediatrician says all it does is make babies fat that way. Some paretns think it helps babies sleep through the night but that is a myth, it just overfills their stomach. Any cereal that she should be getting should be thinned and on a spoon. The only thing in her bottle should be breastmilk/formula.

Start her with thinned cereal on a spoon at 5-6 month and see how her tongue reflex with the texture is, if she is spitting it all over and not able to work it back it is fruitless to try anything else. You then go to vegetables only (fruits are much sweeter) and only 1 different kind every 4 days or so. You have to give her time to show an allergic reaction if she is going to and you don't want to be trying to figure out which food it was that caused it. Once you are through the vegetable you can go to fruits. If all else fails, ask you pediatrician but the Gerber website has a lot of good info about eating and introducing foods on it. Avoid wheat cereals and multigrain until she is older due to things that could be allergens.
Good luck,
C.

My doctor told me to serve food with a spoon from the get go. My oldest( Now 15 )started eating cereal at 3 months. from that day on it was only with a spoon.It will take some time for her to get it,but she will. You don't want her to rely on the bottle. it will be to hard to break her from it later,if she knows she is getting "food" from it.

Hi, my name is J. and i have a 2 yr old boy. I started my son on cereal when he was only a month old. also by a spoon. then when he was about three months when he mastered the spoon i started him on baby food. he did really well with both. he never had any problems with taking any of them. It never hurts to try. every child is different.

Good Luck

My daughter is almost 4 months old. Her ped told me to put a tablespoon of cereal in her bottle for every 2oz. of breast milk/formula I was giving her. I started this at 2 months old. He told me on the 26th of Feb. that I can go ahead and start spoon feeding her cereal. As for the vegetables, he told me we will talk about that at her 4 month appointment and see how well she is taking the cereal. As long as she is doing alright wtih the cereal that we can give her some veggies.

L.,

you shouldnt be putting cereal in a bottle. Up until 12 months of age- the baby gets all of their nutrition from breast milk or formula..

solid foods are just to practice eating. the baby doesnt learn anything about eating when you put cereal in a bottle.

your baby can start to eat cereal on a spoon. but just a tablespon of cereal made very runny with formula. she probably wont like ti at first- but then they get used to it.

when she gets used to eating cereal on a spoon - you can start veggies and fruit. it doesnt matter what order you start with. your baby may like one thing and hate another. My daughter loved peas, and green beans - but hated sweet potatoes and carrots..

i kept my daughter on one meal of solid foods a day until 8 month. I did solids in the evening. There is no rush to introduce solids. If she doesnt like eating on a spoon wait a a few days or a week and try again.

Hi L.,
It's okay to give your daughter cereal at 5 months. My son just turned two and he was 3 months when we started him on cereal on a spoon. It's messy but you'll be able to tell she's getting filled up. You can feel how full she gets by gently pushing on her stomach before she eats, then while and after eating gently push on he stomach again and you will feel how hard her stomach gets. The harder it gets the fuller she is. Just make sure that she's still getting plenty of formula/breast milk as it should be her main staple.

I can't comment about the vegetables... I can't remember (sorry).

J.

I started giving my twins cereal in the bottle about 2 months ago per doc. orders to help weigh down the formula (reflux issues).
Although our twins were 3 months early the doc gave us the okay to start on veggies at our 6 month appt. They will NOT take cereal from a spoon but they love the veggies!
We started out with carrot...waited 4 days (to make sure there were no alergies) and now we are on squash.
We still feed them the same amount of formula per day as be did prior to starting the veggies. We feed them each 1/2 a can 2 times per day in between two different feedings. That way they are still getting all the nutrition + learning to love veggies.
Good luck...it's so much fun!

I agree with the others. I waited until my son was 5 months old to start the rice daily though. He was on that for about 3 weeks, then I did 1 new fruit or veggie a week. Giving the same veggie or fruit for 5-7 days straight. Usually half a jar the 1st and 2nd day, then a full jar after that. Some moms say to finish going through all the veggies before giving the fruit because some babies won't eat the veg after tasting sweet fruit. My son will eat anything lol.
Remember, it can take 10-15 tries for the baby to like it. Then again, I'm sure if you ate something you didn't like 10 times, you'd just get used to it.

My son had to take a teaspoon and a half of rice cereal when he was like 2 months old because of GERD, but we stopped that with in 2 1/2 weeks cause it wasn't helping. Some people believe that giving a baby rice cereal in their bottle at night makes them sleep longer cause their fuller, thats not true. Since 5 months, per his pedi, no rice cereal in the bottle. It's a choking hazard. He only had it that way for medical reasons and couldn't have it for middle of the night feedings because he was too sleepy and could choke more easily.

The Gerber website has a GREAT guideline for what to feed baby and at what age. It tells you which foods to give, but you obviously use only what baby has had already. I always watered his juice down. Because a child has the rest of their life to eat, IMO some moms feed their babies solids to soon, so I recommend Gerber's guidelines.
~B.

Do what is best for you and your little Alexia. When she is ready you will know; and you need to be ready for the challenge. She should be able to sit up a little with assistance and be interested in what you have...grabbing at the spoon and Not spitting all the cereal out. The cereal in the bottle is fine...some may tell you not to, but I see no problems and had none of my own. My daughter had cereal in her bottle at 2 months just before bedtime only though. And she did not become a chunky baby. It keeps their tummies fuller longer and helps them get on a sleeping schedule. just watch for constipation. And you should start vegitables first really, because if you try the sweet fruits first their taste buds will be set on the sweet stuff. Always try something 6-8 times before you think baby likes it or not. At this stage the tastebuds are being fine tuned to what is put in their mouth. Solids other than cereal should be done at 4-6 months or so. Again when you and baby are ready really over all.

My Daughter started getting cereal in her bottle at 3 months old and it's not dangerouse as long as its not thick, It shoul be mixed with the milk, and only like a spoon full should be mixed in! And yes you can start spoon feeding her cereal. My baby stared getting spoon fed at 4 months. A lot of the times babys start getting really hungry and they can't get enought milk and they cry a lot! So if thats happeng then definatlly spoon feed her! By the time my baby girl was 7 months old she was eating our food and no more baby food!

I started cereal with my kids around 4 months. I waited a few weeks...I think until they were eating 3 meals of rice cereal and getting the hang of the spoon...until I started veggies. Then a couple more weeks until fruit. Wait 3 or 4 days in between new foods to make sure there is no reaction to anything. Especially if you have allergies in your family.

Putting cereal in a bottle is a choking hazard. Not just when she is eating but if she spits up during sleep or in the car when you can't help her. Instead of flowing out of her mouth like would normally happen it can pool in the back of her mouth blocking her windpipe. I would suggest you stop giving cereal in a bottle...it is really not necessary and very very dangerous. Not to mention you are depriving her of the nutrtion found in her Formula...every spoonful of cereal in her bottle is one less spoonful of formula she can consume. Formula is the MOST important thing she could consume for the first year, it has the essential fats, and nutrients that her growing body *and BRAIN* needs.

The only food she should be getting for the first 6months is breastmilk or formula. After that she can start "tasting" other foods. And honestly IMO Cereal is the least important food...it is nutritionally void for the most part, just a calorie filler. The reason Dr.'s reccomend cereal to start is because Rice is the least allergenic choice for a first food (unless you're lucky like me and have Kids who can't digest Rice HA!)

We started veggies and fruits at 8months old, when my boys were able to start finger feeding themselves a little bit. Just whatever we were having for dinner cut up tiny. Around 10months we introduced things like Spaghettie that they needed a little help eating but still could use their fingers to help shove it in their hungry little mouths :-)

They are both good eaters now.

Good luck

WITH MY SON, I STARTED WITH THE PLAIN CEREAL AROUND 4 MONTHS, AND I THINK HE WAS 5-6 MONTHS WHEN I STARTED VEGGIES. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU KNOW, BUT, ALWAYS WAIT 3-7 DAYS BETWEEN NEW FOODS INCASE OF A REACTION.

There is no problem with you introducing cereal (by spoon) to your 5-month-old! You can mix the dry cereal with either breastmilk, formula or juice to feed to her. After you have successfully introduced the cereal into her diet and she is tolerating it well, then you can begin to introduce the fruits and veggies.

You could do cereal for breakfast and then try a fruit or veggie for dinner. When you begin to bring in the baby food, you will want to ONLY introduce one type for at least 4 days. For example, if you start with sweet potatoes, then you need to stick to sweet potatoes for the next 4 days. The reason you do this is because if any allergic reactions develop, you will be able to easily pinpoint waht the source of that reaction was. After 4 days, you can then continue with the sweet potatoes and add green beans. For the next 4 days, stick to those so again you will be able to indentify the source of any reactions. Continue this until you have tried all of the different kinds!

Good luck and have fun . . . it gets messy! :o)

i would follow the pediatric guidelines of introducing baby foods; technically she shouldn't have started on cereal til 6 months but her body may have required it earlier; well if she's content on the cereal then i would keep her on that until 6 months but at this age you can use the spoon; there's no real reason why you can't other than the first few times it's very messy and it takes time for her to grasp the concept. it just takes patience. and when you do move on to veggies ( i would wait til 6 months to be honest) start with one veggie a week, then if she does ok (no allergies, no upset digestive system) introduce another; alternate between orange and greens and complete the veggie groups before moven onto fruits; that way she won't develop a preference to just sweets; and if she gags or balks at the veggies the first time; try it again; it may just take her a couple times to determine if she likes it or not. good luck!!

I started my daughter on Rice at 4 Months old, Veggies at 5 Months, Fruit at 6 Months. Remember to Give only one new food at a time. I gave her Sweet potatoes first for a 4 days then changed to another. NEVER give a new veg and then a new fruit, due to the fact if he/she is allergic to one you will not know which. I was very confused about feeding, feel free to ask me any questions. I finaly have it down!!