"Traditional" baby food approach?

BeautyfromAshes · August 2013

Hey ladies. I was just wondering if anyone else is taking a more "traditional" approach to introducing solids? It seems like all the moms I talk to and most moms on this board are jumping on the "baby led weaning" bandwagon. Nothing til six months, then soft table foods, no purées, etc.

When my twins were four months old, we started with rice cereal, then oatmeal, then veggie purées, fruits, meats, and so on and so forth. That was how you did it eight years ago! They did great and neither have allergies and both love a huge variety of foods so it didn't seem to damage them.

At lo's four month appt my doctor said they are finding it is important to introduce solids between 4-6 months and he sees too many mothers waiting too long to start solids. He said it was up to me but he recommended doing what I did with the kids, starting with a single grain cereal and then going from there. He said it didn't matter what order I introduced the foods, just that I waited a day or two between new foods to look for a reaction.

That was a month ago and we've tried a wee bit of food since then. Oatmeal, a couple veggies and a couple fruits. Only about an ounce of food every day or two (he's breastfed and I want him getting as much of that as he can). He seems to be doing great!

Just wondering if anyone else is experimenting with solids or if I'm the only one?

And also I hope this post doesn't get me shot. I have discovered that people are very passionate about their baby food beliefs.

lilbit0910 · August 2013

I gave LO some banana last week. I just smashed it, put it on a plate and gave it to her. She loved it. I would love to do more but i have to wait till the weekend since it's a lil time consuming

Sol1790 · August 2013

I am a little scared to post this lol dont want to feel super judged X_X . Well I give baby girl rice cereal she likes it,I also gave her mango,loved it! I also gave her a zippy cup with water she love's to drink water. I also let her try whatever it is I am eating. if its chicken I just put my finger tip in and let her taste it. This is just me and it works ok with my baby. She likes it. I also made carrot purees and a peas one but have not give her those yet.

jss1482 · August 2013

We are going the "traditional" route. At 4 month doc advised to start with rice then after a week to start with green veggies and go from there. We are on week #2- She LOVES the rice and eats it every evening and is having green beans mid morning. Said to just wait 3-4 days to look for reaction then move on to the next. Suggested starting with 'green' veggies first then moving on to the orange and the fruits, so they will eat the green before having a taste of sweet. Either way she is doing great, gobbling it up and we will go from there. I am even going as far as buying from the store and not making my own- maybe one day when she is eating it more. but now that its a 'snack' - I barely have time in the day to wash the bottles let alone make baby food.. either way I know I am not the majority.

CrazyMary77 · August 2013

We're using a more traditional approach. We already put oatmeal in her bottle for acid reflux, and I've tried giving her oatmeal with a spoon, but she hasn't taken to it yet. She looks at me with a "WTH is this??" look when I've tried giving it to her. Our pedi said we could start with Stage 1 fruits and veggies, and I actually prefer to do that than give her more cereal. I made sweet potato puree a couple weeks ago but got the same "WTH??" reaction. So we interpret it as her not being ready yet. I do have some ripe avocado I may smash and try to give her with my fingers to see if she'll take it. But we're in no rush. She'll eat when she's ready! Her parents both love to eat, so I know she will too

camdensmom32 · August 2013

So far I've only given DS rice and oatmeal cereal. He prefers the rice over the oatmeal. Our pedi suggested to start with the orange color foods first after cereal. Think I will try that soon.

Mommymorticia · August 2013

Yup, T is almost 19 weeks. I haven't done a whole lot of the cereals bc he has always had constipation issues and the oatmeal made him gassy. The veg and fruits have helped with his constipation. Some nights he literally only eats one spoon and really isn't interested and that's fine. Other nights he is trying to feed himself and eats two tablespoons. Most of it is all over his face and bib. It's all fun now. I have a stash of frozen puree cubes in the freezer, it's really easy to just pull one out at noon and feed him at 6.

chellebell82 · August 2013

We talked to his doctor yesterday and were advised to not start anything until closer to 6 months, but also acknowledged that parents are going to do what they want. I don't know if we will really wait that long, especially since he keeps trying to grab anything that me or my husband are eating. He did say that I could add rice cereal to his bottles, but my thought was umm no thanks. He did say his concern with starting now is that they may not be able to swallow yet. When we do start (probably in another month) we will go the more traditional route, although we will probably skip the infant cereals all together.

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Melody635 · August 2013

Pedi suggested starting single grains then into stage 1's at little man's 4 month appointment. Just to try for five days to check for allergies before moving on. She also suggested to avoid any peanut butter, honey or nuts in general. We've gone thru rice and oatmeal (he LOVED oatmeal) and just not finishing bananas! Green beans are on the menu for tomorrow! He likes to sit at the table like the big people and eat "real" food!

FutureMrsCAF · August 2013

I was planning to wait until 6 months, and possibly skip cereals and go straight to purees. Our ped said she needs to be eating rice cereal with a spoon by her 6 month appt in the middle of October. She doesn't want us to miss the window for learning to use a spoon. (Which I didn't know could happen and don't really understand how it can) I'll wait until October 1st, which is only 10 days away from 6 months. I think she's probably ready now, but I'm not ready for the extra baths, making her purees, and the stinky poop lol.

cheesecakerunner · August 2013

FutureMrsCAF said:

I was planning to wait until 6 months, and possibly skip cereals and go straight to purees. Our ped said she needs to be eating rice cereal with a spoon by her 6 month appt in the middle of October. She doesn't want us to miss the window for learning to use a spoon. (Which I didn't know could happen and don't really understand how it can) I'll wait until October 1st, which is only 10 days away from 6 months. I think she's probably ready now, but I'm not ready for the extra baths, making her purees, and the stinky poop lol.

This is where we are. Ped said the baby is "developmentally ready" to eat, but I'm not so sure. He doesn't sit *that* great with assistance, so I think we'll hold off another month and skip the baby cereals.

arschm02 · August 2013

I thought I was the only one too!!! I have heard the same research about starting before 6 months. I chose not to give rice but we have just started to give oatmeal once a day. He loves it and tries to pull the spoon to his mouth by himself. No apparent side effects besides more consistent poopy diapers and they are horribly smelly... like, oh my God what the hell died in your pants, smelly. He turned 4 months last Friday and has his checkup on Monday. I plan on introducing some veggies next after we meet with pedi and get an official green light. @chgibeau I did not know that about pb! Great to know! It would make sense that that is why there are more food allergies now a days.

wendalsue · August 2013

Our pedi said that we can introduce cereal now, but to hold off on fruits and veggies til 6 mo since he's EBF. I tried some oatmeal, but he seems totally uninterested. I got some in his mouth finally the other night and he screamed like I had hurt him somehow! For me, that means that he might not be quite ready. I'll wait awhile and try again later.

Angela814 · August 2013

I did the traditional purees with DD1 and BLW with DD2. (Started both slightly before 6 months.) I found BLW so much easier and more convenient. DD3 does try to grab my spoon while I'm eating though. I think she'll love solids when we get to that point.

Sol1790 · August 2013

cece2682 said:
For those who have experience w blw, what were the first foods you fed your baby? If you skip purées and spoon feeding, what do you start with and are there fears of choking?

What is blw??

kelsea1031 · August 2013

cece2682 said:

For those who have experience w blw, what were the first foods you fed your baby? If you skip purées and spoon feeding, what do you start with and are there fears of choking?

We did BLW with DD1 and will do it with DD2 as well. We started DD1 at 6 months and started with softer solids, chunks of bananas, strips of pears, sweet potatoes, and melons. Mostly she ate whatever we were having at that meal, with the exception of choking hazards such as nuts and grapes.

We never once had a choking issue (that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, we just thankfully never had issues). There's a big difference between choking and gagging. LOs who are learning to eat will gag sometimes, but it's not the same as choking. Gagging is a natural reflex that is part of a baby's way of learning how to properly eat, "chew" and swallow. We cut most foods into french fry sized strips that were easy to grasp and bring to her mouth.

ETA: Also, we never put food in DD's mouth for her. Everything she put in her mouth, she picked up on her own. By having that control over what she brought to her mouth it helped her move it back into her mouth naturally and without gagging.

kelsea1031 · August 2013

Sol1790 said:

For those who have experience w blw, what were the first foods you fed your baby? If you skip purées and spoon feeding, what do you start with and are there fears of choking?
What is blw??

Baby led weaning.

Ann003 · August 2013

We're starting out with the more traditional approach since my guys are preemies and their GI systems are a bit behind. We will start cereals and stage 1 foods at 6.5 months and then go from there.

ceamac0127 · August 2013

We started purees a few weeks ago and she loves them! she is making the chewing guesture and reaching for the spoon so she gave me cues that she was ready. We started with veggies so she doesn't get accoustmed to the sweet taste and only want that

JSS1002 · August 2013

Yeah, I gues I'm more traditional -- just following pedi's advice... we started on rice cereal at 4 months and will start with f/v around 5-6 months... gonna start with vegetables and then fruits, offering twice a day before a bottle...

kelsea1031 · August 2013

cece2682 said:

For those who have experience w blw, what were the first foods you fed your baby? If you skip purées and spoon feeding, what do you start with and are there fears of choking?

We did BLW with DD1 and will do it with DD2 as well. We started DD1 at 6 months and started with softer solids, chunks of bananas, strips of pears, sweet potatoes, and melons. Mostly she ate whatever we were having at that meal, with the exception of choking hazards such as nuts and grapes.

We never once had a choking issue (that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, we just thankfully never had issues). There's a big difference between choking and gagging. LOs who are learning to eat will gag sometimes, but it's not the same as choking. Gagging is a natural reflex that is part of a baby's way of learning how to properly eat, "chew" and swallow. We cut most foods into french fry sized strips that were easy to grasp and bring to her mouth.

ETA: Also, we never put food in DD's mouth for her. Everything she put in her mouth, she picked up on her own. By having that control over what she brought to her mouth it helped her move it back into her mouth naturally and without gagging.
Hmm interesting. Still scares me lol I think because babies naturally put things in their mouth, and that lends itself to dangerous situations. So when I think of giving a 4 month old a chunk of anything, I don't understand how they would have the skills to chew off appropriately sized pieces ,chew, and swallow. Do they at this young age???

That's why you don't start BLW with a 4 month old. It should be done at 6 months plus. You also have to look for additional signs of readiness, such as the ability to sit up well, loss of tongue thrust, etc. And the thing is, you always supervise them. You're giving them appropriate foods that they can suck on/gum on/maybe swallow. It's different than babies just putting whatever they can get their hands on to put in their mouths. It takes awhile for them to get the hang of it. DD1 would take cucumber sticks and just gum on them before she had teeth (she didn't get her first tooth until 9 months). She would essentially suck all of the juice out of it and gum on it until broke enough that she could swallow it.

bibliophileemily · August 2013

I'm still trying to make up my mind; I wanted to do BLW, but forgot to ask the pediatrician about it, and the pamphlet she gave me was only about starting cereal and introducing the bottle, etc.
She said we could start introducing rice cereal or oatmeal at 5 months, which is in about two weeks, if we wanted to. I...don't really want to, though. :-S

nearly_klo · August 2013

kelsea1031 said:

cece2682 said:

kelsea1031 said:

cece2682 said:

For those who have experience w blw, what were the first foods you fed your baby? If you skip purées and spoon feeding, what do you start with and are there fears of choking?

We did BLW with DD1 and will do it with DD2 as well. We started DD1 at 6 months and started with softer solids, chunks of bananas, strips of pears, sweet potatoes, and melons. Mostly she ate whatever we were having at that meal, with the exception of choking hazards such as nuts and grapes.

We never once had a choking issue (that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, we just thankfully never had issues). There's a big difference between choking and gagging. LOs who are learning to eat will gag sometimes, but it's not the same as choking. Gagging is a natural reflex that is part of a baby's way of learning how to properly eat, "chew" and swallow. We cut most foods into french fry sized strips that were easy to grasp and bring to her mouth.

ETA: Also, we never put food in DD's mouth for her. Everything she put in her mouth, she picked up on her own. By having that control over what she brought to her mouth it helped her move it back into her mouth naturally and without gagging.
Hmm interesting. Still scares me lol I think because babies naturally put things in their mouth, and that lends itself to dangerous situations. So when I think of giving a 4 month old a chunk of anything, I don't understand how they would have the skills to chew off appropriately sized pieces ,chew, and swallow. Do they at this young age???

That's why you don't start BLW with a 4 month old. It should be done at 6 months plus. You also have to look for additional signs of readiness, such as the ability to sit up well, loss of tongue thrust, etc. And the thing is, you always supervise them. You're giving them appropriate foods that they can suck on/gum on/maybe swallow. It's different than babies just putting whatever they can get their hands on to put in their mouths. It takes awhile for them to get the hang of it. DD1 would take cucumber sticks and just gum on them before she had teeth (she didn't get her first tooth until 9 months). She would essentially suck all of the juice out of it and gum on it until broke enough that she could swallow it.

All of this! We BLW with dd1, intend to do it again. Hubs wasn't convinced until we went along to a solids info session and he tasted rice cereal and jarred purée! Do what works for you, all babies are different, just please don't be afraid to let your kids experiment with food under supervision.

Gpwmom · August 2013

We will do traditional when we start, probably around 5.5 months with ride cereal for a week or two, the puréed veggies, then fruits. We will switch to BLW at 9 months per our pedi recommendation. At that age they are more capable of eating table food.

Angela814 · August 2013

bibliophileemily said:
I'm still trying to make up my mind; I wanted to do BLW, but forgot to ask the pediatrician about it, and the pamphlet she gave me was only about starting cereal and introducing the bottle, etc.
She said we could start introducing rice cereal or oatmeal at 5 months, which is in about two weeks, if we wanted to. I...don't really want to, though. :-S

My pedi is awesome, and she didn't know about BLW. I told her about it. :-)

Also, to add with BLW, the gagging reflex is further up in the mouth on a young baby. So between 6-9 months or so, they'll gag earlier, before the food can get back too far and cause choking. Baby learns during this time how to move the food around their mouth. Then around 9 months when the gag reflex is back by the throat, they have already learned to bite and chew, so they are less likely to choke.

ClandestineX · August 2013

LibbyLouHoo said:

SpringPeeper said:

LibbyLouHoo said:

In the past, my pedi has always been against starting solids before six months. At DS's 4 month appointment last week, however, she changed her recommendation to starting solids sooner due to a new study that is going to be released within the next few weeks. She indcated this study shows that introducing foods earlier leads to less food allergies. She said the new recommendation includes introducing all foods except honey as early as four months. She did note that introducing foods like penauts at that point still makes her nervous. As of today, I still haven't tried any solids though. As a STM, I am really not excited to reach that stage like I was with DD. Solids are messy and time consuming, haha.

I'm really curious to hear what this study says about the previous study with the exact opposite conclusion.

I know. I told my mom and my pedi that they will change it again before you know it. Every study seems to contradict a previous one. I introduced solids to DD around 5 months, my pedi said her mother gave her solids at 2 weeks, and my own mother did not introduce solids to me until 9 months at the advice of the pedi she used. The advide handed down through the years has varied greatly and I'm sure it will continue to change.

I agree, which is why I usually go with the 'Learn about both sides of the story, then make the decision based on what is good for you and your family' approach.

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