March 2011 Moms
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advice about starting solids
Hey everyone! I am a lurker who has only posted a few other
times, but I LOVE reading everyone's posts and advice. It is so
helpful! But I need your opinions on this one....
My son Hudson will be 5 months on August 8th. We had his 4 month
appointment on July 8th and got the go ahead for solids. Hudson is
eating around 30-40 ounces of formula per day and has doubled his birth
weight and then some! Our doctor said, "there is no benefit to starting
him on solids now, but he's probably ready if you want to start". I
waited for 2 weeks then started the solids. We started with a
tablespoon of Happy Bellies Organic Rice Cereal once a day. He was
taking it off the spoon very well and seemed very happy while eating
it. After the third day, he had very fussy afternoons and seemed to
have a hard time settling down to nap. He was squirming and grunting
like his stomach was bothering him. So I've read on here about many
people skipping cereal altogether so waited another week and tried some
avocado. Again, he took it off the spoon very well and seemed very
happy while eating it. But once again, after the third day he was very
restless and seemed to be in pain (pulling up his legs, squirming,
etc.) and was up every 2 hours that night when he had been STTN.
So my question is.....do you think this could be an allergy/sensitivity thing to
both the cereal and avocado? or do you think maybe his system just
isn't ready for solids yet? Everything I've ready seems to say that
cereal and avocado are both great for baby's first foods because they
are so gentle. He's been back to exclusive formula since Thursday and
is back to his happy self. I guess I just need opinions....
Thanks for your help! I love this site! 
This discussion has been closed.
Re: advice about starting solids
I have no experience with food allergies and no medical background, but I would guess it may just be his system getting used to it. At 5mos, their GI system isn't fully developed. I'd say either stop for awhile and try again at 6 mos or so... or keep it up for more than a few days to see if he adjusts (depending on how unhappy you think he is, of course) it could just be some gas, etc.
I just went through the same thing with my son. Started him on solids for a couple of weeks. He LOVED them. The problem was 1 - he started having trouble with breastfeeding, and 2 - I don't think his GI system was quite ready. He also got fussy and seemed to have stomach pain. We were having to give him prune juice also because it made him so constipated. We decided to stop solids for another month or two. Hopefully it goes better the second time around. He seems to be a much happier baby without them.