Just a question about introducing solids ?!?

Question

i know most drs recommend introducing solids around 5 - 6 months or maybe 4...but what im wondering is...what if i give my 3 month old just a little spoonful of babyfood ? im just wondering...my mother in law && my mother say its okay...what do you think ?? shes very healthy and eats normal.. thanks in advance

Answer 1

She won't truly eat it until she's ready.  She'll spit most of it back out.  I know that our moms fed us pureed food at ridiculously early ages, but you might as well save the mess and the expense of jarred food while you can.

When your baby is about six months old, she will let you know that she is ready by swiping food off of your plate and eating it successfully.  If you wait for that magic day, then you can avoid purees altogether.

They used to say start with veggies because if you start with fruits baby will develop a sweet tooth.  Research doesn't support that, just like research doesn't support starting solids earlier than six months.

Answer 2

She probably wouldn't be able to eat it.  YOung babies have a tongue-thrust reflex that protects them against eating things they are not yet physically capable of digesting or utilizing.

If she DID get it down (and yes, a few babies lose the tongue thrust early, and it is very possible to forcefeed solids to a baby [that's how they did it back in the days when solids were commonly started at 1-2 months], you would put her at increased of allergies, and probably upset her stomach.  Since there is NO benefit to giving her 'a little spoonful' .... why take the risk?  She has her whole life to eat solids. Starting 2-3 months early doesn't help her in any way.

EDIT:  There are basically two ways to start solids.  Most moms start at around 6 months (sometimes earlier, though that's not currently advised in most cases) by offering babyfood with a spoon.  You can start with any food you wish-- cereal, fruits, veggies.  [Some sources say to give veggies first lest baby come to love the sweet fruit and refuse to eat veggies, but it really doesn't matter.  Breastmilk and formula are far sweeter than any solid food.]  Start with one feeding a day, just a small amount, and gradually increase as baby seems to like it.  Offer each new food one at a time for 3-5 days.  After a few weeks/months, baby will probably be ready to move onto table foods, and you phase out the babyfood.

Some moms opt for a more baby-led approach.  Since babies don't need solids until around one year anyway, they opt to wait until baby is actively interested and able to self-feed table foods, which usually happens around 7-10 months.  They skip babyfood completely.

Either choice is fine, as long as you remember that milk )(formula or breast) is the great majority of baby's diet until around 10-12 months, so if you DO give babyfood, be sure that baby continues to get plenty of milk.

Answer 3

A little spoon full of baby food will not hurt her. But as said above, she will probably spit most of it out because she doesn't know what she is supposed to do with it. Make sure that you start with something that is easy to digest (high in fiber), and watch her in the following days for an allergic reaction. My mother gave my first daughter a small bowl of cereal while I went to the movies and dinner when she was 2 and a half months old. Of course I was upset, and went completely overboard, but my daughter was just fine and she slept 5 hours that night. I am now on my third child and I started giving him small amounts of cereal mixed with prunes at night at 3 months old. He is now 7 months old and doing just fine.