5 1/2 month old and solids

Question

My 5 1/2 month old is rejecting her rice cereal. Should I continue to try and give it to her everyday or give her a break from it? This is the second time we are trying to give her cereal. We tried when she was 4 1/2 months for about 4-5 days. This time we have been doing it for about aa week and a half. Is this normal?

Answer 1

Give it a couple days off and try again. My son didn't want cereal the 1st couple times we tried it either. And you don't HAVE to do cereal. It's recommended as a starter, but you can try any stage 1 foods if the cereal just doesn't work.  

Answer 2

We started cereal at 4 1/2 mos with our daughter and it took a little while for her to get used to the texture.  Also it may help if you mix it with expressed breastmilk or formula...it will keep a similar taste.  Keep trying it, it takes them a while to figure out how to put the food to the back of their mouth for a swallow, so more may end up on her face than in her tummy for the first week or two.  You can also try to introduce some other foods and mix them together.  Good first foods are banana, avocado and sweet potato.  At 5 months you can start peaches and pears too.  My daughter is also easily distracted, so we have to make sure the dog is outside or she is too concerned about where the dog is to eat.  Good luck!

Answer 3

My pediatrician told me to move on to other Stage 1 foods.  She said to only spend a couple days on one food (to see if there are any allergies) and then move on to another.  You can then start adding rice to the baby food.

Answer 4

She's too little for solids.

They're not supposed to be introduced until 6 months at the earliest.  

Answer 5

Every baby is different.  It could just be she doesn't like it.  I know my oldest wouldn't eat rice cereal at all.  But she would eat all the other cereals out there.  The only way I could get her to eat rice cereal was to mix it with fruit or veggies when they were introduced.

Let's put it this way... have you actually tried tasting rice cereal???

Answer 6

She may just not be ready.  Does she still have a strong tongue reflex?  Almost spitting it out?  Can she sit up on her own?  Does she stare longingly or grab at your food when you're eating?  Most moms get the suggestion to wait until they are 6 months old, and even then, they might not yet be ready.  If you think she is, give her a little break until she's 6 months, then try offering it just a couple times in the morning about 15 minutes prior to the time you nurse/formula feed her.  That way she's not too-too hungry when you're trying and babies are usually more receptive to this in the AM and more cranky in the PM.  So not the first morning's feeding either as she may have gone a little longer without eating due to sleeping and might be a little groggy and non-receptive.  Just keep offering it daily and if she 'rejects it' 2-3 times during a feeding, just be done and nurse/bottle feed. her.  For her to be interested one day and not the next is totally normal.

Answer 7

I read that they would most likely reject new foods the first couple of times, but to keep trying. Worked for my baby