Solids Question

megkreig

Everything that i read about giving the babies cereal and solid food says that it is okay to delay it until about 6 months and to look for certain developmental cues (ie. sitting up without help) so you know when the babies are ready.  Today i took the twins to the doctor for their 4 month visit and he said that new research shows that now is the time to start them on cereal since it is the oral phase.  Also,he siad if all goes well to follow with veggies and fruits a few weeks from now.  He mentioned  that it didn't matter that they were premature (8 weeks early) and that starting the babies early will help get their systems used to the food so they are less likely to have allergies.  What have you been told?  What are your plans as far as solids are concerned?  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

ginab23

I think it really depends on your kid.  DS is really interested in food, grabbing at it, wanting to sit at the dinner table - so we offered him cereal over the weekend, and he swallowed it, no problem!

 If you think they are ready, introduce it - but there's no harm in waiting a bit longer if they don't seem up for it yet.  You could always try it and then back off and wait a few weeks if it doesn't go well.

 

good luck!

charlatti

My pedi said anywhere between 4 and 6 months was fine -- I said we were planning to wait until 6, and that was fine with her. I've heard that cereal isn't necessary anyway (though there's nothing wrong with giving it), since it's mostly carbs and breastmilk provides that. Did your doc say where the new research was coming from? I haven't seen that anywhere.

FriendlyFanny

Your kids. Your decision. My doctor was surpised when I told him we hadn't started rice cereal at her 4 month appt. He said we should start it because it would help her sleep longer (she was still waking 2x/night to eat.) We chose not to follow his suggestion.

We plan to wait until she is sitting even though she's now a week past 6 months. I assumed she would have been sitting during the 5th-6th month, but I am ok with waiting a bit longer. I had BM exclusively until I was almost 12 months and have no allergies or food aversions. We also are going to skip rice cereal and do simple foods and oatmeal. I am not worried about her being "past" the oral stage because she's still exploring her tongue and spit and constantly putting everything in her mouth. She doesn't have any teeth yet so I'm sure the oral phase is still wide open.

azuremama

Our pedi was open to DS starting solids at 4 months because DS was dropping on the weight charts and wasn't sleeping through the nights.  We tried cereal for a week or so and then gave up for 2 months because DS screamed and tried to get out of his chair every. single. time.  When we started again at 6 months, he was much more receptive to solid food, even though he still wasn't crazy about it.

I haven't heard of this new research, but my experience is that a lot of babies aren't ready at 4 months.  DS is a great eater now (and still puts everything in his mouth), so we didn't see any harm from waiting.

J Bean

My pedi and my LC said anytime between 4-6 months would be fine.  

Do your twins seem interested in food when you're eating?  I waited until 5 months before starting DD on solids, and she had seemed interested in food for a couple of weeks, opening her mouth while I ate my breakfast and following the spoon with her eyes.  We started her out on rice cereal, and she was able to swallow it right away, since she didn't have any more tongue-thrust reflex.  If she had spit it all out, I would have waited a week and tried again.  DD really enjoys eating, so we started introducing a new fruit and a new veggie each week.  At this point we give her two meals a day (oatmeal and fruit at lunch and oatmeal and veggie at dinner).  BF is still going fine, and she drinks pretty much the same amount of oz of EBM at daycare.

GL and have fun whenever you and the twins are ready!

colleen724

My Ped also said anytime between 4-6 months.  He was my ped growing up, I know I got started on food waaay earlier than I started it for DS, but I was really happy with waiting until 6 months.  He is an excellent eater.  He has loved every spoonful, and I'm confident that waiting until he was ready was the best thing.  We went right to two meals a day after about a week of oatmeal.  He now gets two 6 ounces meals and 30 ounces of BM a day.

MrsAmers

I would want to see the research he's talking about because that doesn't make any sense to me.  The whole reason that we hold off on foods like peanut butter, berries, milk, egg whites, etc is so that babies systems are more mature and developed before exposing them to potential allergens.  Plus babies don't *need* anything but breastmilk and formula for the first year of their life - solids before that is just for practice and exposure to texture, so why the rush?

This page from kellymom.com is the major reason why we waited until 6 months to start solids:

https://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html

Also, even though we started at 6 months, my daughter didn't even seem to enjoy eating solids until 7.5 months.  So that was a month and a half of "extra work" for something she didn't even care about.  I honestly might start later with #2 if he doesn't show any interest...because it's a lot of effort for something that you don't have to do.  I've seen babies who are lunging for their moms food at 5 months and I don't think that starting before 6 months is wrong, I just don't think it makes sense to start before your child is showing developmental readiness for solids.  A date on the calendar is meaningless.

And honestly, if my baby was 8 weeks premature I would seriously consider waiting until they were 7 or 8 months or 6 months adjusted age to start solids, to make sure that they could sit up and had a mature enough gut to handle solid food.  If they are showing all of the developmental signs to start, then fine.  But there is no need to rush.  I'm sure that dealing with 4 month old twins is hard enough without adding solid feedings into the mix!

Barbie&Kevin

megkreig:

Today i took the twins to the doctor for their 4 month visit and he said that new research shows that now is the time to start them on cereal since it is the oral phase.  Also,he siad if all goes well to follow with veggies and fruits a few weeks from now.  He mentioned  that it didn't matter that they were premature (8 weeks early) and that starting the babies early will help get their systems used to the food so they are less likely to have allergies.  What have you been told?

 

I took my son to the pedi today and she said the same exact thing your pedi said.  My husband is psyched for this.  I have mixed emotions