I always had the understanding that..?

Question

babies started gerber veggies/ 'solids' at 6 months and rice cereal around 3 months. my pediatrician is great, very well known, and extrememly trustworthy - but she told me yesterday at dylan's 4 month visit to start him on veggies once a day and cereal twice a day and then in a couple weeks to start him on fruits.

he went from the 9th to the 60th percentile in weight/ height in 2 months... does that have anything to do with it? hes 15 lbs 6oz and 25 inches long... is this okay to be doing? i started giving him peas and he seems to be doing just fine with them now..

Answer 1

I had never heard of babies starting cereal at 3 months, that seems extremely young.

Our pedi told us to start our son on veggies at 4mo, we waited until he was 6months. He told us to skip the cereal, it is competely unecessary & we skipped it. He told us that giving a baby an apple gerber is like giving him an apple taco, so i make his food, sometimes i mash it, sometimes i give it to him in pieces to 'experiment'.

We did our own research & went with what we thought was best for our son. He's 6m3w now & on veggies and fruits & has had a few tastes of cheese and chicken.. He gest 2 'meals' a day.

You do what you think is best for your son. No one knows what he needs better than you.

Fun Fact

The American Academy of Pediatrics & the World Health Organization recommend keeping babies exclusively on breastmilk/formula until they are *at least* 6months old.

God Bless

Answer 2

We started Emily on one to two tablespoons of infant oatmeal cereal at 4 months. She didn't enjoy it and we quit until just before she turned five months, at which point we resumed. At five months we started veggies one time a day. At six months we started fruits. Once we started the fruits we started doing a half a container of each, twice a day. So Em's schedule looks like this:

6:00 a.m.- 5 ounces formula

9:30 a.m.- 5 ounces formula

11:30 a.m.- 1/2 container veggies, 1/2 container fruit, 4 ounces water

1:00 p.m.- 5 ounces formula

4:30 p.m.- 5 ounces formula

6:00 p.m..- 1/2 container veggies, 1/2 container fruit, 4 ounces water

8:30 p.m.- 5 ounces formula

2:00 a.m.- 5 ounces formula

Good luck!

Answer 3

he may just be a big eater and can now handle it. if your not comfortable, dont do it yet.

Answer 4

That honestly seems like a lot all in one day. Your baby, at this age, still needs to be getting most of his nutrients from formula or breast milk. If he's getting full on veggies and cereal then he won't drink as much milk.

Noah's doctor said I could start trying cereal at his 4 month visit(he's almost 5 months) but didn't say anything about veggies or fruits. It may have to do with your son's rapid growth. I've always heard to wait until 6 months before trying solids but I'm sure your son's pediatrician knows what she's talking about. If your son is able to swallow the food(has lost his tongue-thrust reflex) and is not showing any apparent allergies(rashes) then do what you think is best. Do some research for yourself, though.

Answer 5

I had both my boys on cereal and vegetable when they were four months old. The doctor told me that I could start on them on that and I did. With my oldest I did because he need to gain weight. He was a baby losing weight because of his birth defect. That helped him to gain weight. My youngest was fine with weight. My breast milk wasn't filling him up. So this help to make him happy. If your son enjoying the vegetable and let him have it.  

Answer 6

It's fine, especially if your pedi said you could. We started my daughter on cereal at 7 weeks(just a bit in her bottle until about 4 months, then from a spoon, we made it with fruit juice and she loved it). He's a growing boy and can use the energy, but the majority of his nutrition will still be coming from his bottles, so you shouldn't be lessening those in any way. Starting now will help him get used to using his digestion, and he might start sleeping through the night too. He might get constipated(a dallop of dark karo syrup takes care of this) as his body adjusts, and you should always watch in case of allergy, but he'll be fine.

Good luck!  

Answer 7

i started rice cereal at 2 months and the doc told me to go ahead and start veggies at 3 months if he handles the cereal ok so i would say he is fine if he goes ahead and eats veggies and fruits

Answer 8

Hello.Yes this is fine,try to stick to everything organic if you can.

Answer 9

Rice cereal is a solid, it is no different than any other solid except that its about the least nutritious choice.

No reputable health organization or medical professional organization recommends solids before 6 months, with good reason.  And 6 months is the minimum age, the baby must also meet the other physical development criteria as well which some will not until 9 months or later.

http://askdrsears.com/faq/bf4.asp

I encounter this situation frequently in my office. Many parents have the misconception that all infants will be ready for foods between 4 and 6 months of age. The truth is that very few infants are developmentally ready at 4 months. In addition, it is now recommended to delay foods until 6 months in order to decrease the chance of allergies. I also have found that some infants are not developmentally ready for solids until 8 or 9 months.

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/solids.html

Your baby is starting to get ready for solids when:

    * he is about four months old

    * he becomes more sociable, playing and holding "conversations" with you during a nursing session

    * he has a growth spurt and nurses more frequently for a while

    * he imitates the chewing motions you make whilst eating -- he is practicing!

You will know that he is really ready to start solids when:

    * he is about six months old

    * he can sit up without any support

    * he continues to be hungry despite more frequent nursing which is unrelated to illness or teething

    * he has lost the tongue-thrusting reflex and does not push solids out of his mouth

    * he can pick up things with his finger and thumb (pincer grasp)

Babies who are ready for solids can usually feed themselves. Mothers often report that they knew their babies were ready when they picked up food from a plate, chewed it, swallowed it, and wanted more.

Listen to your baby! Babies with a tendency to allergies may refuse solids until later in their first year. As long as they are growing well and are happy and healthy, there is no need for concern.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids...

The following organizations recommend that all babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or any other foods) for the first 6 months of life (not the first 4-6 months):

* World Health Organization

* UNICEF

* US Department of Health & Human Services

* American Academy of Pediatrics

* American Academy of Family Physicians

* American Dietetic Association

* Australian National Health and Medical Research Council

* Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

* Health Canada

Why Delay Solids?

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/del...

WHY WAIT? 6 REASONS

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032000...

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintro...

It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids...

Myths about solids readiness

There are many myths and outdated information regarding how to tell if baby is ready for solids.

MYTH: Baby's weight has reached a "magic" number

Just because your baby achieves "x" number of pounds, or has doubled birth weight, (or however much your baby weighs) does not mean that she is automatically ready for solids - particularly if she is under 6 months.

The American Academy of Pediatrics/World Health Organization recommendations for starting solids at 6 months or later has no exceptions for babies who weigh more. The research that I've seen on the health benefits of starting solids at 6 months and later holds for all babies, no matter what their weight.

It's the maturity of the digestive tract and baby's developmental readiness that makes the difference, not baby's weight.



It's rather interesting to note that moms are told to start solids for both big and small babies. It's not even uncommon to hear opposite arguments for both sides from the same person!

MYTH: "Your baby is big so you need to start solids."

Moms might be told to start solids for differing reasons when they have a large baby.

Some are told that since baby is big, they won't be able to produce enough milk to satisfy baby. This is quite untrue - almost all mothers have the ability to produce enough milk to exclusively breastfeed twins and even triplets. If you allow your baby to nurse on cue, your body will make enough milk for your baby.

Other moms are told that baby is eating too much, so mom should reduce baby's intake by limiting nursing and/or starting solids. There is absolutely NO evidence that a large breastfed baby will become a large child or adult, and limiting nursing can be quite dangerous for a baby. Read more here: Is my exclusively breastfed baby gaining too much weight?

Answer 10

well, your understanding is partially correct...babies really don't need any solids until 6 months, and that includes cereal.

Your doctor may not be totally up to date on the new recommendations to start at 6 months, some doctors still say 4-6 months.

I would just continue giving him formula feeds until he is 6 months, especially if he was doing fine with them, but that is just me.

Answer 11

i breast fed mine so it wasn't necessary for me to put mine on any solids till one year. although i did give them tastes of veggies and fruits and some cereal too after the 6th month.

i do know that babies cannot process cereal till they are at least 4 months of age; which is recommended.

i don't even pay attention to the percentiles. there are no set rules for how children will grow. and those charts are based on records of bottle fed babies, so they dont even apply to my breast fed kiddos.

Answer 12

the aap recommends 6 months for anything other than breastmilk or formula no matter how respected your doctor is you should allways do your own research on any advice given. Doctors aren't actually trained in nutrition.

Answer 13

My sons pediatrician told me to start him on veggies and cereal at 4 months also.  He told me to do cereal once a day instead of twice a day and veggies once.  He told me to feed him the same veggie for three days in a row to make sure there aren't any allergies.  He said once I was finished with the veggies to do the same thing with the fruits.  He said by the time we got to our six month check up she should be eating two meals a day with fruits and veggies.  Hope this helps!

Answer 14

i dont know of any dr who would reccommend anything but milk at 3mos.

i weaned at 4mos, on the advice of my HV as my daughter was taking 8oz of hungry baby milk every 2hrs, even through the night.

i started he in porridge, rice, smashed banana etc. at around 4.5mos, i started veggies.

dont got by age, go by when your child is ready. if he is ready at 4mos - great. if he isnt - delay it.

same with stages 2 & 3 foods. dont go by the age on the jars, go by if your child is ready. my daughter was still on puree at 7mos, as she just wasnt ready, then at 8mos she went straight to stage 3, skipping stage 2.

Answer 15

I read this article in City Life Magazine by a registered nutritional consultant, that stuck with me.  In the gist... babies are born with a "leaky gut" - holes in the gastrointestinal tract.  This is beneficial in infancy as it allows for increased absorption, but can create problems if the baby is fed wrong formula or wrong foods first or if solids are started prematurely.  This can lead to allergies or other digestive problems.  The holes close usually around 6 months.  She recommends no grains or anything with gluten until the baby is 1 year.  If the holes haven't disappeared yet and gluten enters the blood stream, the body will attack it thinking it's harmful and the complications may not be evident right away, but may cause problems later in life (asthma, developmental/behavioural problems, ADD/ADHD).  She says best foods to start with are bananas, avocados, carrots, squash, cauliflower, etc.  I know you're not supposed to believe everything you read, but this stuck with me and I'm going by it.  I know I was eating mashed up chicken soup at 3 months, and I turned out fine.  But it was my grandma's chickens and everything else from her garden.  Back home in Europe I grew up without ever hearing about asthma,allergies or ADD... things are a little different now.

Percentiles, like someone already said, are based on formula fed babies... my daughter was 90th at 2 months, 97th at 4 months (exclusively breastfed).  I'll wait until at least 6 months before giving her anything other than breastmilk, and then stick with organic... and fortunately, my Dr. supports that.

Good luck with your decision.

Answer 16

umm no- now the AAP and WHO don't reccomend ANY solids until 6 motnhs and certainly wouldn't start out with 3 meals a day- that's a lot for a baby to handle.