I got the OK from the doctor to give my 4 month old solids, but this seems so young to me.??

Question

My daughter just had her 4 month visit and the doctor said to go ahead and start trying solids. Cereal, fruits, and veggies. I've read that ceral has NO real nutritional value and that it is better to just start with fruits/veggies. Has anyone done this? This seems so early?? When did you introduce solids, and what did you start with?? I know the whole, wait 3-5 days between different foods. But any advice?

Answer 1

You can start when you have your Dr.'s permission and when your baby is ready.

Start with stage one pears, after a bottle and no more than a teaspoon at a time, once or twice a day.  If after a few days she isn't into it wait a week and try again.

Pears first, peaches bananas and then onto sweat potato, all stage 1.

The first 18 months they get most of their nutrition from the formula and are just learning to eat.  Learning to eat is important but don't worry too much about it.

If you are more comfortable waiting a week or a month go right ahead just make sure you have started when she is 6 months.

Good luck!

Answer 2

If you don't think your little one is ready then wait. Just because you have been give the go ahead it doesn't mean that you have to do it now. As for rice cereal, we are told to offer it first just so that your baby's tummy can get used to the volume first. Fruit and veg are more nutritional though. I weaned my son at 4months but that was 4 years ago and it was the norm then to wean at 4 months. This was the routine

Week 1 - 1 tea spoon rice cereal once a day

Week 2 - Day 1-3 1 tea spoon carrot

              Days 4-7 1 tea spoon potato

Week 3 - Day 1-3 rice cereal am and pear pm

               Days 4-7 apple am swede pm

As long as you never introduce more than one different taste a day you'll be fine. Just take your baby's lead in how much you give. If she starts to take less milk, don't give as much solids.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

I started all three of my boys around 4 months. They didn't suffer any ill effects because of it.

My oldest started cereal at 6 weeks. He had milk allergies and even had issues with the soy formulas. My doctor suggested putting a bit of cereal in his bottle. It worked! He stopped vomiting after every feeding. With my other two, I started them on veggies around 4-5 months. Once we made it through the veggies, I introduced fruits. Often if you give fruits first, your baby won't take to the veggies. They want the yummy stuff! LOL

It boils down to what you are comfortable with. If you don't think she is ready for solids, then don't give them to her. As her mother, you need to trust your insticts. Believe it or not, Mothers really do know best. :)

Answer 4

Just because you CAN start solids doesn't mean that you have to start solids.  Many doctors do tell moms they can start as early as 4 months, but 6 months is the more usual time, and barring any pressing reason to start this early, I would just wait.

If you do want to start now (or whenever you do start) you can start with any food you like. Cereal is cheap and convenient, but it doesn't have much nutrition, and tastes like nothing but the milk it's mixed with.  Fruits/veggies have more taste and texture -- and since the only point of solids for the first few months is to introduce babies to new tastes and textures, they would seem a more sensible choice. (Cereal became a traditional first food back when most babies were fed on home-made formula.  Such formulas  contained no iron, so iron fortified cereal was offered to prevent anemia.  But, contrary to myth, cereal is no more digestable, and no less allergenic than peas or peaches.)

I started my baby on solids at 5 1/2 months. (At her 4 month check the doctor said I could start when I chose to -- this was 16 years ago when '4-6 months' was the standard.  Since 1997 the 'standard' has been 6 months.) I did start with cereal. (It was cheap and convenient...)  

Answer 5

My son TJ stared when he was 3 months old. Becuase he is such a big boy and just formula wasnt doing it for him. We started with carrots, green beans, and then bannannas and prunes (casue he was constipated). I was also giving him a cereal bottle before bed, but the doctor told me to up it to 3 times a day to make his bowels regular with the fiber. So the cereal bottles have 7oz water 3 1/2 scoops formula, and 3 tablespoons of oatmeal. Tj did not like eatting cereal from a spoon at that time because it was too chunky.

Answer 6

If you're not comfortable with starting that early then don't do it. Your doctor is only recommending it. You certainly don't have to do something you're not comfortable with. Medical opinions change all the time. My brother and SIL tried the rice cereal on my niece at around the same age and she didn't like it at all. They opted to wait longer and just gave her milk until SHE showed interest in food.

Once she showed interest (she made eating movements with her mouth, stared intently at food, tried to grab food, put everything in her mouth, could sit up) they started with applesauce, small fruit cut up (a blueberry cut into four pieces for instance), and Puffs - they are these little heart shaped puffs that come in a plastic container. They melt instantly in baby's mouth so you don't have to worry about choking, plus they taste good.

Just do what feels comfortable to you and your baby. There's no use rushing into something you or your baby are not ready for.

Answer 7

I didn't start until my son met all of the readiness signals for solids.  He was sitting up on his own, had lost the tongue thrust reflex, and showed an interest in food (grabbed it off my plate and ate it, actually).  He was between 7 and 8 months.  And we skipped the cereal, going straight to self-feeding.

You may like to read this page about developmental signs of readiness for solids:

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

Answer 8

It's kind of old-school to tell mom to start solids at 4 months :)  Most docs are saying wait until closer to 6 these days.  They've learned that baby's intestines are still very pourous until about 6 months and that introducing food other than breast milk (or formula) can cause a lot of problems later in life.

We waited until our daughter was 6 months to introduce solids, and even then, she didn't really eat anything until she was around 8 months.  We started with banana and avocado and let the baby self-feed.  That way we new when she was ready.  More info on baby self-feeding can be found here:

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

Here are Dr. Sears' first food resources:

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

Do it when your baby seems ready to you.  You're the mom, you ultimately know best.  

Answer 9

If your daughter is doing fine on breastmilk/formula, then there is no rush to start solids.  The recommendation use to be 4-6 months, now more people are waiting until 6 months.

Follow your instincts...if you think it is too early, and she is fine w/ what she is drinking, don't worry about starting solids.  Wait until she is older, and you both are ready for solids.

Answer 10

Yeah, I remember my doctor saying this.  Here's how our conversation went:

Doctor:  "Now that your daughter is 4 months its okay to start solids"

Me:  "Oh . . . I thought the AAP recommendation was that solids be introduced at 6 months?"

Doctor:  "Well . . . err . . . umm . . . it's between 4-6 months that you can start"

Me:  "I think I'd be more comfortable waiting until 6 months as she's not interested in solids yet."

Doctor:  "Well that's fine, too"

LOL

I think that they're saying you CAN start at 4 months, if you want to.  Personally I think it's too young, but I'm not the one with the PHD.  When she got to six months I just slowly introduced one food at a time.  I never did the cereal thing.  For one she didn't like it, for second I didn't really see the point.  They say its to get the baby used to eating from a spoon, but I rathered that she do that with food that has nutritional value.  Mashed bananas were a good start for her.  Once she was about 9 mo, and I knew that she didn't have allergies, I just let her have any soft table foods that were being served with dinner.  She never liked the jar foods, but some babies do.

Just my thoughts.

Answer 11

My Doctor just told me the same thing. I think the introduction of cereal is more to get there system ready for solids, plus it is a diffrent texture. I think it is becasue the babies are growing great and doing well that you can do this.

Answer 12

We started my daughter with rice cereal but quickly moved on to fruits and veggies because she got bored with the flavorless cereal. Don't start your child on solids if you don't think that she is ready. She and you will know when it is time. Even though your doc said that you CAN start now it doesn't mean that you have to. The doctor doesn't live with your child... you do. Mother always knows best!

Answer 13

Both of my kids started trying solids at about 3 months.  I started with cereal, then vegi's, & then fruits.  I think it is all up to you.  If you are not comfortable doing it yet, or don't think your baby is ready then don't.  My daughter took to it right away, and my son didn't.  With him, we would try a little every couple days.  Babies will let you know when they are ready, so don't get discourage if you try & she won't take it.

Answer 14

My kids hated rice cereal so just start with something mild like baby applesauce.