I Need Your Advice. - Happy Valley,OR

Not before 6 months, but the longer you stay on exclusive breast milk (up until a year) the better. It is not an old wives tale about allergies at all, in fact it is the opposite. It is only recently (last 5-10 years) that doctors/researchers realized that the forming digestive tract and other systems need to knit together before introducing anything but breastmilk (if possible). For the first year, there is NO better nutrition for a baby than breastmilk, so basically anything you give the baby after 6 months should be highly nutritious, as it's taking the place of the best nutrition. In fact, there's really no reason to give rice cereal, as it is just bulk with very little nutrition, all it does is get the baby's system introduced to digesting something different than breastmilk. I found quinoa flakes and gave a little of those. Here's a site with a lot of good, supportive information. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/index.html

When he is developmentally able(can swallow without sucking, can sit up unassisted) and shows interest, which is usually between 4-6 months. Also, hand feed just a tiny amount-1 or 2 spoonfuls(his spoon size) at each serving. The rest of the serving you can let him explore with his fingers and spoon at his own pace. At this age he does not need to eat for nutrition, but more for allergy testing and to learn eating practices/coordination through sensory discovery.

I started both my daughters on rice cereal at 5 months. My doctor said if we had no food allergies in our family that it shouldn't be an issue. The 6 month guidelines (as well as other food guidelines) are aimed at people who may have a family history of food allergies.

She said go ahead and try one thing at a time so you know if your baby has any reactions.

Starting solids is fun, we loved watching our daughters try new things!

My goal was 6 months. I started a tad earlier with my first son after the ped said it might help my extremely huge baby sleep longer stretches. He was not the least bit interested and it just caused stress and frustration, so I regret not just waiting until he showed interest.
My 2nd son I was determined to wait but he was way interested by 4 months so I started soon after that. I decided that making him wait was no better than pushing my first too early.
I also read more and more between kids and started my 2nd on fruits and veggies the first month, and then introduced cereal. The idea being that other foods have more nutrients, and also the point of those early months of foods is to start practicing eating and getting used to new tastes. Cereal is bland and boring, doesn't give much of anything.
The first month I did 1 "meal" a day (a tablespoon or 2, even if he wanted to keep going I'd stop at that) and would do the same food for about 4 days in a row. The 2nd month I added a cereal (barley, oatmeal, wheatfree mixed cereal...but skipped rice) at another time of day. I think I gave the real food early in the day, so I could see if there was a reaction.
And I much preferred giving him food I'd made. I'd just puree a bit of something I was going to eat, a slice from a pear, a couple pieces of zucchini or cauliflower we had steamed. That way it had the actual fresh taste and a bit more texture than jarred baby foods.
It's hard to compare the 2 kids, my first has some sensory issues and has always had food issues--strong gag reflex, smell/taste/texture issues...so his diet is rather limited because of that. #2 is a great eater, will try anything. The other day he was holding a piece of candy in one hand snatching the broccoli of my plate with the other, and shoving it in his mouth. Ya never know!

Alice,

Six years ago when my son was born the advice I got from my doctor was to start introducing solids at 4-6 months. Two and a half years ago when my daughter was born the advice from the same doctor was nothing until six months old.

That being said, when was my daughter was roughly 5 months old I got the go-ahead from my doctor to start introducing solids. I brought up the six month thing, and she said yeah, the *guideline* is six months to reduce allergic reactions and allergies. But, I was also told that as long as she was interested in food, and could sit on her own and hold her head up on her own we could start introductions before six months. She wound up reacting to almost all the Gerber pureed fruits, but was fine with real fruit cut bite sized for her.

Every child is different and I'd talk to your child's doctor before starting anything.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

The dr's all say 6 months and I wouldn't go any sooner. Some do and they are fine but I personally was a breast feeder and I just preferred to go as long as I could because I thought it was best.
They say anything any earlier can cause allergies. Don't know if that is an old wives tale or not but I still think that you should wait till at least 6 months but there again, that is pure personal preference.

My daughter still breastfeeds, no formula, and is almost a year. She started being interested in food around 5 months but she did not really eat it till closer to six. Just holding the spoon was enough for her.
You could start by putting him in his high chair and having him join the family at dinner.
Also at this age eating solids is more about learning textures not nutrition. What we did was make eating solids part of activity time not eating time. this helped to keep my milk supply up and made sure that when she was trying foods she was not starving and getting frustrated.
Congratulations on your new baby and for breastfeeding!

Hi Alice,

There tends to be a slight range of opinions on this. Usually it's recommended that you wait until at least 6 months before introducing other foods to your little ones digestive systems. If you decide to try then, do a test run and see if it seems to irritate your little guys tummy, or if he seems to handle it ok. If it doesn't seem that his digestive system is handling it well yet, try again in another month. A good thing to keep in mind when doing rice cereal is to mix it with breast milk (if you have a pump available). I waited a little longer with both of my boys, but that was just by choice. A mothers intuition is very important in all aspects of a child's life too. Always trust it and do what you think is best. :o)

I recommend that you talk to your pediatrician about this too.

Best of luck to you! Hopefully you're getting enough sleep. :o)

I started my boys at 4 months, this is when my Ped. said to start with one feeding a day. I would give them a spoon full and see if they could use their tongue to move the food back and swallow without gagging. If he can, he is ready, if he can not wait 3 or 4 days and try again. My oldest needed a couple of tries, my youngest got it the first time. The rice cereal is for getting them used to it. I moved to oat cereal after 2 weeks, and then introduced vegis 2 weeks after that, one a week until he is eating all of them. Never add more then one new food at at time so you can watch for allergies. My Doc. said that you should introduce all vegis first, then fruits, since allergies will be more common with fruits. And no Berries, citric, peanuts, eggs, or dairy until after one,(some later, ask your Doc).

The current guidance is to wait for six months of age, and to introduce one food at a time. Super Baby Food is a book that lot of people like that goes through eating plans and schedules..

You will want to be more careful if you have a family history of eating issues (allergies and whatnot) than if you don't, and you can always ask your pediatrician next time you're in.

Hi Alice,
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months is the goal. As others have said, some babies show a lot of interest before then. I ended up starting both my kids on solids at about 5.5 months because their interest was so high.
Another thing to look for is if the "tongue thrust reflex" has gone away. If you put an empty spoon into your baby's mouth and he pushes his tongue out then he still has the reflex and isn't developmentally ready for solid food.
Also, it's good to remember that when they do start solid food, they're only eating very small amounts of it usually. They are learning to eat--trying different textures and tastes. It's less about nutrition and more about the process of learning to eat so make it relaxed and fun and go at his pace. :)

I second 6 months, I was given the same guidelines.
However, I did let my daughter "taste" food before that (starting at about 5 month)for example by letting her lick some off my finger. We have no food allergies in the family so I felt pretty confident that that it was going to be ok for her.

You could try him on rice cereal now. :D You could put it in his bottle with some of your breastmilk to start. I did a little, but was worried about my child aspirating it. So, just be careful should you do this and make sure to add just a little for a few days and up the amount slowly over a few days course each time you do. :D Since you're just breastfeeding, he's already getting all the nutrients he needs from just that.

Hi Alice,

At 4 months I started mixing a little breastmilk into rice cereal and feeding it with the spoon (I was never a cereal in the bottle person). It takes awhile for them to be able to use the spoon, so get your camera ready, but 4 months is when we started it. At 5 months we added veggies and so on. It's amazing how fast they catch on :)

i started both of my kids at 6 months

My pediatrician's guideline was nothing but breast milk for six months.

Current recommendations are that babies be exclusively breastfed for at least the first six months. There's no reason that you need to start him immediately at six months, but he shouldn't start until then at least. You also don't need to start with rice cereal. Avacado is a great first food as long as you don't have a family history of latex allergy. Sweet potato and squash are also great first foods.

I would wait to offer solids until at least 6 months, as is the current advice...but if your son is 6 months old and still completely content with his breast milk feeds then there is no need to push solids at that time. Wait until he is still hungry after a full breast feed or if you notice that he cant last quite as long between a full breastfeeding as he had been doing (and it's not just a normal growth spurt).

I know that things change A LOT from year to year. I have a 5 year old and an 8 year old, and I am pregnant with my third child now.

I started my older kids on cereal when they were about 4 mos, as their Ped. suggested. I mixed the cereal with breast milk that I had pumped. My son got the hang of eating food much more quickly than my daughter, so don't be surprised if it takes some practice. It's normal, just like breastfeeding. We would like to think that because it is a normal and healthy process that it would be an easy one- however like many of us have experienced-
it too takes practice, and LOTS of patience. :)

Anyway, if nutrition is your concern, consider mixing the cereal with breastmilk. It worked for us. Give your baby as much time as possible to adjust to all of the other fun foods they will be introduced too soon.

wow! Such variety in responses. I say, follow his interest. My firstborn was grabbing at our spoons at 4 months and was SUPER happy when we started feeding her (avocados were her first food). My second child was closer to 5 months but showed those same signs. She just turned 6 months and LOVES a variety of food. Our pediatrician reminded us that when we (my husband and I) were tiny, they started solids closer to two months! In many countries, babies start solids sooner (and eat much more spiced food sooner), in addition to nursing for much longer.

I kind of agree with the post about cereal. We found that rice cereal caused constipation and used oatmeal that we processed ourselves. Sweet potatoes and other foods have much more nutritional value in them. Avocados are full of rich oils that digest easily and are good for brain development. Cereal is just training the gut to digest I think. We never used more than a box for our two kids.

When you are ready, there's a great book called Super Baby Food that has more info and recipes than you can imagine!

Have fun!

If he is not pushing you, wait untill 6 months.