Hey all. I have a 3 and a half month old daughter and an 8 year old daughter. My question is when did all of you start your babies on infant cereal, and when did you start them on baby veggies? It has been so long since my oldest was a baby that I forgot how old she was when I began these things. Also, how much is the correct amount to give, how many times a day, etc.

My baby is almost 4 months and I know she is ready for more than formula, I'm just unsure of all the specifics. I know all children are different, I just want a general consensus. Thanks for any help. :)

Mandy

Hi, I was told by the pediatrician that I wasn't to start the cearl until 4 months because it could cause allergies and digestive problems is started prior too. My little guy is only 7 wks so I don't know how much he will be started on, I was kinda hoping the Dr. would tell me. If I remember correctly from when my neice was little, juice (diluted) is next then fruits, then veggies. Hopefully someone who knows more will answer, or you could call the Dr. Goodluck.

Hey Teresa. Thanks for the quick reply. I have heard differently on the order of foods to introduce. I have heard that you are supposed to start cereal first, then vegetables before any fruits or juices because once they taste that sweetness, they won't want the veggies. It makes sense and that's the order I used with my oldest daughter too. I just can't remember how old she was when I gave her these foods. :rolleyes: :D

Anyone else have any advice? Thanks again.

Mandy

I started my daughter on infant cereal at 5 months and after she was eating about 1/2 cup or so twice a day I started her on veggies (about a week and a half after starting cereal). Now she has been on the veggies for about 1 month an I have started introducing fruits. once she has been on cereal, veggies and fruit for a few weeks, I will start her on grains. This was what my Dr. advised because of allergy history in our family, she said usually she tells the same thing to all moms, just shorter times between trying new foods, she wanted me to keep her on just veggies for a whole month befor trying other foods. HTH

Mix about half a tablespoon with enough formula to make it runny. Start her off with this. give it to her with a spoon. Once that texture is ok with her thicken it slightly...eventually it should be pretty thick (like oatmeal). At at about 5 months you can introduce veggies (assuming everything goes fine with the cereal). One vegtable every 3 days or so, you want to watch for any allergic reaction (this is why only one at a time so you know what he's allergic to if he does react). Then at 6 months you can give fruits, same deal as the vegtables, one at a time, watch for reaction.
This is how i did it with all of mine...some doctors suggest waiting longer, some say fruits and veggies at the same time etc...but this is what i did. The reason for seperating the introduction of fruits and veggies is so your baby gets used to flavors other than sweet ones, after trying fruits your baby may not want vegtables.
Good luck.

Another reason to wait is because babies have an automatic tongue thrusting response, which usually goes away after the 3rd month. But if you put food in their mouths, they thrust it back out with their tongues.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who is completely lost!!!!!! My daughter is also 3 1/2 months and I feel that she is ready for cereal also. But, I'm not sure if it is too early to start. And what is a good cereal to start with? I think someone told me just plain rice cereal. I'm very excited and scared about this next step. I don't want to start too soon, but I don't want her to not be getting enough nutrients because I waited too long. I know my doctor told me to breast feed exclusively for as long as possible before introducing solids, but how do you know! Oh, it's so confusing.!!!! But I guess if you just use your mothers instinct you can't go wrong!

Typically, it is advised to start with rice cereal because it is most easily digested. Once he/she does fine on that, you can introduce oats and/or barley, and then mixed. I did fruits before veggies with my kids, and they did just fine with the veggies, but I can also see the wisdom in introducting veggies first.

Your baby is not going to miss out on any nutrients by exclusively breast feeding for as long as possible. Mother's milk contains all the nutrients that are essential for the first year of a baby's life, so solids aren't even necessary as long as they are getting those nutrients from mother's milk (disclaimer: infant formulas are getting so that they are formulated closer and closer to mother's milk, and so are the next best thing).

Hey guys...thanks for all the replies. :) I started her on rice cereal a few days ago, just mixing it in with her formula. She is taking really well to it. She had a couple bouts with diarrhea but I'm not sure if that was because of the cereal. It may have been a bug because the rest of us were sort of puny feeling a week or so ago. Anyway, I will probably wait two or three more weeks before introducing anything new. Though I do think my next step will be veggies. I appreciate all the help, I just wish I would have kept better notes when my 8 year old daughter was a baby. :D

sheabyrd, thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one clueless out there. LOL!

Mandy

I started my daughter on food at 5 months. I also heard an interesting statistic on a radio medical program. There have been recent studies done that concluded that infants who were fed food too early (meaning before 3 months of age) or too late (7 months and up) were quadrupled in their risk of juvenile diabetes. So, the word is, start feeding baby between 4 and 6 months. Most kids are ready at 4 months, as they start sticking their tongues out like they want to grasp a spoon. There must be a reason the pancreas needs to start working during those couple of months.