Pedi's suggestion on solids

sidey1 · September 2013

We had DS 4 month appt today and I asked about solids. The pedi told us that we can start 5-6 months and that we should give him whatever we eat (blended up of course) so if we have a burger, give baby a burger, ect she said nothing is really off limits except for honey and super spicy stuff like jalepeno or wasabi.

She said that there is no evidence to suggest that babies shouldn't eat regular food from the start or that it has any connection to allergies and that it's better nutritionally and makes them less fussy about trying new foods that aren't bland. I was super surprised to hear all of this, and wasn't planning on approaching solids that way, I did a little research and seems this is a new way of thinking particular to the US because it's already common in other countries. Has anyone else heard this from their Pedi? We have a friend that's a Pedi so we're going to ask her advice about it as well.

sgerrity23 · September 2013

I have not heard this like a burger and such. Our pedi told us at 4 months to start with pureed veggi and fruit and cereal. She said we could start introducing pureed meat but I haven't done that yet. So far we have tried oatmeal cereal, banana, peas, avacado and sweet potato.

evelyntaylor · September 2013

Sounds like she's talking about baby-led weaning. I totally agree with the practice, though will start later. 4 months really is too soon as their digestive systems are not mature enough.

thatoneredhead · September 2013

I would stick with your mommy intuition at this point. My pedi started off with the traditional suggestions and then told me to scratch everything at 9 months. He even told me how weird it was to look at a 9 month old and tell him to eat fish and peanuts.

Honey and choking hazards were still out.

oandmplus1 · September 2013

Baby led weaning is also what our pedi recommends, but typically I dont think you just puree up whatever you eat, I think from what I remember with DD baby is offered softer finger foods that they feed themselves such as soft slices of fruit or veggies that they can pick up. I could be wrong, but I would read up on it, a lot of people I know had great success with it.

sidey1 · September 2013

I think DH and I may have subconsciously inserted the blended part on our own, lol. I'm definately going to research it, we still have some time until we get to that stage. I guess it makes sense since there certainly wasnt always baby food available or the baby bullet...

PinkandLove77 · September 2013

Yesterday was my DS's 6 month wellness check. His pedi was pushing rice cereal and when I told her he was on pureed fruits and veggies, she kept saying she'd prefer rice. By 6 months (most) are ready for solids and can handle what we eat. Minus, honey, etc.

For SEVERAL other reasons, we're looking for a new pedi.

MrsWindyCity · September 2013

If there is no history of allergies in your family, I totally agree that babies can have anything but honey. We actually gave spicy food to DS1 too (and he still likes it). We mostly watched salt content and if things were just REALLY spicy, so we'd portion his out before adding super salty or spicy sauce or whatever.

I wouldn't blend up a burger though, lol. I would just give it in small pieces assuming baby has a good pincer grasp by the time you start.

jlpev · September 2013

I went by all the rules with my DS but DD is almost 4 months old. I have been giving her whatever I eat. She loved pizza!! She mainly just gummed the crust!

HarleyKins · September 2013

We just started oatmeal cereal this week and LO is 4months. She really likes it, which I hope is an indication that she'll like everything we give her!

Crequito · September 2013

My pedi said at exactly 6 mos I could start with veggies then at 7 mos fruit then at 8 mos proteins. He didn't mention rice cereal at all so I'm avoiding it until her 6 mos appt and then I'll ask about it. He also said not to season the veggies. He's also super opposed to the premade purees. I was already planning to try making my own anyway. I think there's so many different viewpoints out there you need to do your own research and find what you feel comfortable with.

sidey1 · September 2013

She told us not to bother with the cereals at all. My sister has an almost one year old and she's been doing the different stages of purees so that's really all I have experience with. Definately going to buy a book this weekend and read up on it!

CrazyMary77 · September 2013

A friend of mine said her pedi told her the same thing at 6 months, that whatever they're eating, they can grind it up and feed her baby. Our pedi is more conservative and said at 4 months we could start with sweet potato and move on to other stage 1 foods. I waited a bit until 5 months because I didn't feel she was ready. She still doesn't seem totally ready when I try feeding her, and she turns 6 months next week. So using her cues, we're choosing to give her purees little by little.

emmy236 · September 2013

Our pedi said we could try rice cereal at 3 months. We had already used it to help with reflux. She told us to try a tiny bit on a spoon. Well he didn't take at first but now at almost 4 months he loves eating from the spoon. He's surprisingly good at it. He gets excited to eat and opens his mouth and smiles but then the very boring rice cereal goes in and he gets this disappointed face like he's thinking "not this bland stuff again". When we go back to the doc we'll hopefully get the green light on veggies. I think we're going to stick with veggies first then fruit later. I also plan on making my own food

Spapeggy · September 2013

I skipped cereal and rice, just empty calories. Started at 6 months with sweet potatoes. Ds loved it and still at 2 does. With dd I will do the same. Veggies first, then fruit. Also made all baby foods. Just with an old fashioned blender non of this baby bullet stuff

pinottoparenthood · September 2013

evelyntaylor said:

Sounds like she's talking about baby-led weaning. I totally agree with the practice, though will start later. 4 months really is too soon as their digestive systems are not mature enough.

This isn't really the same as BLW because her doc is saying to,serve the food as purées. With BLW, you give French-fry sized pieces of food and baby feeds himself/herself.

The later you start solids, the more your baby can handle. We plan to,start at 6 months, probably a combo of,BLW and purées... So our baby will be ready for meat at that point, although we will still start with some basic fruits and veggies.

I agree with a pp that said do what feels right to yo and what you are comfortable with. If you would rather stick to fruits and veggies for a couple months, there's no harm in that!

pinottoparenthood · September 2013

jlpev said:

I went by all the rules with my DS but DD is almost 4 months old. I have been giving her whatever I eat. She loved pizza!! She mainly just gummed the crust!

I generally say that every mom should do what works for her family, but giving pizza to a child under 4 months old is a bit disconcerting to me.

Lolalipsy · September 2013

Unless you have a no salt diet and eat completely unprocessed food then I wouldn't just purée up what you eat.

ETA: also goes for sugar.

PipSqueak0313 · September 2013

The only advantage I can think of to starting off with purees first is to test for food allergies...

With my older two, I did the purees first until they had tried everything and then once they could pick up Cheerios and eat them I started giving them "cereal sized" pieces of whatever we were eating. I only bought stage 3 foods for the handful of times that we couldn't give them whatever we were eating.

My 6mo is being a bit trickier since he's already reacted to milk and now he's reacting to something but I'm not sure if it's something I'm eating, something environmental/seasonal, or having a delayed reaction to something he's eaten previously with no reaction. I took him back to breastmilk only for a few days with the plan to start over with introducing foods.

dkny155 · September 2013

My pedi said cereal at 5 months, yellow veg at 6months, fruit at 7months and then green light for *almost anything.

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