Introducing Solids

borgie05 · August 2015

So my son's 4 month check up was yesterday. I had to miss it due to work, but my husband went. He said that our pediatrician recommended starting to introduce our son to solids now so that he has a "meal plan" at 6 months (according to my hubby, he has a tendency to have selective hearing). Originally I was planning to wait to start the introduction until 6 months. What is everyone else doing?

JAP09-02 · August 2015

I will be waiting until 6 months. I'm of the mindset that food before one is just for fun. Four months is the earliest you can start solids, but I was under the impression it was best to wait until 6 months to reduce risk of food allergies. The AAP recommends starting solids around 6 months, so I'm surprised your pedi wants a "meal plan" by then. Could it be that your husband is just excited to start this next phase so going with the earliest time frame? My husband always is because he wants to participate in feeding since I BF.

I will start with rice cereal. I know there is a movement of sorts to skip this because many believe it is empty calories. I did skip it with my middle child, and she tested anemic at her one year appointment. Despite starting iron drops, we had a hard time raising her iron level. Since cereal is fortified I won't skip it this time. Then I will introduce green veggies, then sweeter veggies, and lastly fruits. This is the order I've always done it, and both of my girls are good veggie eaters.

borgie05 · August 2015

Yes, it is very possible that my husband and his selective hearing (while he means well) is jumping ahead of things. The AAP recommendation was the original reason why I wanted to wait until 6 months. My husband now is arguing with me though telling me I don't respect our doctor's "orders". Uhhh It's not that I don't respect it, it's more that I wasn't there to be able to discuss and understand why he would want to start earlier. I think I still want to wait til 6 months, but I definitely want to see what others are doing as well. Are you starting with cereal at the 6 month mark then? Any specific brand or type? Sorry, FTM here so I haven't even thought about the cereals yet.

JAP09-02 · August 2015

Yep, will start with cereal at 6 months. I'll probably use Gerber, just for no other reason than that's what I used with my first.

If I were you, I would call & discuss the reasons with the nurse. Maybe they have a good reason why. Otherwise, I would find reliable literature & have your husband read it. That way maybe he can understand your reasoning for being hesitant. Would a compromise of 5 months work?

borgie05 · August 2015

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely give the nurse a call and go from there. It might even be that the doctor presented it to him as an "if you want to start now, you can, here's how..." type of thing. Our doctor is very laid back and very open to going with the flow of what the parents are comfortable with as long as it's in the recommended guidelines. I'm guessing he offered this as a "plan" based off of how my husband asked questions or started the conversation... hard to say since I wasn't there. I'll have to look over the hand outs he sent home when I get home though. If I have learned anything from this... I can't miss anymore appointments! My husband tends to have the attitude of doctor says it's fine, so let's start now and I tend to like to have an open discussion with the doctor when I go with lots of questions so that I can decide on what is best (not just fine) for our son.

Sorry, that was longer than it needed to be. I'm partially venting now lol.

lmk115 · August 2015

Our doctor also said we could start at 4 months. There are some milestones they look at; good head control, losing tongue thrust reflex, interest in your food, putting everything in mouth. We started solids, usually just once a day. We have done both rice cereal and veggies. Our little one loves it!
I do agree that it's mostly for fun and practice for him. Breast milk is still his primary source of nutrition. However, I like the idea of the iron in rice cereal. You mix it with your breast milk, so LO is getting all those nutrients, plus iron. I have battled anemia most of my life, so extra iron from another source makes me feel better.

blairdavis99 · August 2015

I have preemies and doubt the doc will let me do solids yet - I plan to ask at 4 mo appt on Friday, though. Mainly I wanted to comment on your husband's selective hearing lol! The one & only time I let DH take my 10 yo stepdaughter to the Dr by himself, they came home with 2 inhalers. I asked why - does she have asthma? No, just a cold. Huh? Why the inhalers then? For the cold, he said. I've had hundreds of colds in my life and never had inhalers before! Took me about a week to sort it out with the nurse & DH. Ahhhhhhh!

whaboosh · August 2015

Your husband may have heard correctly. My husband is a family med doctor and suggests his patients start slowly introducing cereal at 4 months. This allows the LO to understand how to eat and swallow prior to the 6 month marker. At 6 months, a child should start to eat solids like veggies and meats daily for the added nutrition and protein. My husband suggests starting earlier because waiting for 6 months means it will take a bit longer for LO to learn how to eat which delays the process of recieiving the nutrients required for the change of a growing baby.

We started cereal a few days ago for the first time. It went so-so as it's something new. The second time we gave it LO started to really understand how to swallow towards the end. We are planning on 2 times a week for this month, every other day for month 5, and daily with foods other than cereal at 6 months.

Don't get me wrong... Follow your instincts... If you or LO is not ready then hold off. Every doctor will give different advice but this is the way mine was taught through medical school and residency. There are many differing sides to this as there are in many aspects of parenting. No decision is right or wrong.

vbonitto · August 2015

Sara's pediatrician also recommended we start her on oatmeal or barley cereal at her 4 month appointment. (A little in the morning and evening) Then to introduce veggies and lastly fruits. I wanted to EBF until I saw signs of her being ready. She had been acting frustrated after feedings for the last week and she's also petite. I knew I wanted to go ahead with the cereal as soon doc recommended it. She loves her oatmeal mixed with BM and also peas now. I BF after her meals, too. Doc told me Theoretically, you can wait until the 6 months guideline but a lot of babies end up starting earlier. if you think it's best for baby and baby is thriving and happy with EBF then see what the doctor says... P.s. Too much solids can cause constipation. Keep cereal on the runny side and not too thick for now

Kayjaime · August 2015

I don't understand why people, especially doctors are recommending cereal at 4 months! It's not worth the risk!! In order to digest grains, your body needs to make use of an enzyme called amylase. Amylase is the enzyme responsible for splitting starches. And, guess what? Babies don’t make amylase in large enough quantities to digest grains until after they are a year old at the earliest. Sometimes it can take up to two years. You see, newborns don’t produce amylase at all. Salivary amylase makes a small appearance at about 6 months old, but pancreatic amylase (what you need to actually digest grains) is not produced until molar teeth are fully developed! First molars usually don’t show up until 13-19 months old, on average.
Read the book Beautiful Babies and you will see what I'm talking about - I will only be giving breast milk until 6 months then I will slowly introduce solids.

brncntry316 · August 2015

I'm waiting until 6 months to start cereal and then introduce veggies and fruit after that. It's too high of a risk for baby to develop food allergies and other complications when starting at 4 months. As long as my supply keeps up, he will be exclusively BF until then lol I've read a lot of different things and it seems like the overall consensus is to BF until 6 months and then introduce solids (if you are able to). Reading through everyone's comments, it looks like there's a lot of great advice! It was definitely helpful to read through it

borgie05 · August 2015

I'm back on here a bit late (we were out of town) but thanks for all of the great advice ladies! Definitely a lot to think about. I'm thinking we will wait a little bit longer, although haven't fully decided on when yet. My husband still wants to start sooner while I would rather wait, so we'll probably meet somewhere in the middle. Just going to keep an eye on our little guy for signs of being ready since really every baby is different anyways.

whaboosh · August 2015

Kayjaime said:
I don't understand why people, especially doctors are recommending cereal at 4 months! It's not worth the risk!! In order to digest grains, your body needs to make use of an enzyme called amylase. Amylase is the enzyme responsible for splitting starches. And, guess what? Babies don’t make amylase in large enough quantities to digest grains until after they are a year old at the earliest. Sometimes it can take up to two years. You see, newborns don’t produce amylase at all. Salivary amylase makes a small appearance at about 6 months old, but pancreatic amylase (what you need to actually digest grains) is not produced until molar teeth are fully developed! First molars usually don’t show up until 13-19 months old, on average.
Read the book Beautiful Babies and you will see what I'm talking about - I will only be giving breast milk until 6 months then I will slowly introduce solids.

I understand your position in wanting to wait to feed solids until 6 months. It is up to mom and what she is comfortable with. Every mother and baby is different.

But I do not agree with the statement "I don't understand why people, especially doctors are recommending cereal at 4 months! It's not worth the risk!!"

1. That statement insinuates that I am wrong for starting my child on solids and I am posing a risk to my child's health.
2. It also implicates that doctors are wrong for suggesting that solids can be introduced at 4 months.

Unless there is a medical reason why a child should not start that early, there is no harm in introducing cereal. Doctors are medical professionals who would not suggest you to do something that puts your child in harm.

Book suggestions are always great... But the author of the book is "passionate for food" and holds no medical or nutritional credentials. Information she gives are probably relevant and helpful for mothers and all the power to you if you want to follow the information she provides.

Medical information provided by a physician should also be taken in to serious consideration.

Also, cereal is considered to be empty calories. Infants do not need to break it down for use. Cereal is given to assist with learning how to eat.

Please be mindful of what you say as every mom is different and what works for one may not for another

shrkfan · September 2015

Our pediatrician recommended starting at 4 months as well. I started with veggies and fruits instead of the cereal.

Tammyb0828 · September 2015

This is the big topic at hand these days! I have a friend with a son 8 days younger then mine .. Both 4 months now!... Her doctor said go ahead with rice cereal while mine insisted that the American pedicatric association says nothing but breast milk or formula until 6 months!! So We are going to wait.. My friend already gave cereal a try! I do not understand why the doctors do not seem to agree or what makes them say yes to one child over another! It's one of those things as parents I guess we need to make up our own minds! Listen to our doctors or listen to our guts!... you feel your child is ready then give it a go ... You don't you wait! Best wishes everyone

amyp72 · September 2015

How long did you all wait after giving cereal to your LO? I have been giving my son cereal for about a week twice a day. Sometimes he loves it and other times he doesn't seem interested...

jlkapp85 · September 2015

Our dr gave us a suggested "meal plan"/ order of foods to try. Starting with the rice cereal mixed with breastmilk. When baby doubles his or her birth weight or when they regress in sleeping through the long night stretches are signs that it's time to start solids. That will be sooner than 6 months for us. I appreciate that they gave the plan to us but said we could start when we want.

LadyEmi · September 2015

I started my son at 1 month on bananas. Milk wasn't filling him up. He's 5 months now and he's fine. I just deluded it with formula so it wasn't too thick. He's on fruits and veggies now and eating is his favorite thing.

aekuiper · September 2015

My doctor advised starting rice cereal in between 4-5 months based on my daughters ability to already sit up unassisted and swallow and because EBF is just not filling her up any more, even though I'm pumping while I'm at work and getting at least 5-7 ounces each time. We are mixing a little bit with breast milk in a bottle 2 times a week and letting her drink a soupy version of it to get used to it, then at 5 months, starting spoon feeding.

crsanchez87 · September 2015

I just starting solids and so far little one has tried rice cereal, avocado, and butternut squash. I have used a masher to mash the food to puree consistency. Does anyone know if it makes a huge difference to mash them versus puree? I made sure the consistency was soft and without any stringy bits.

evemarie12 · September 2015

thanks for all the input on this topic. my daycare provider just told me today that we should consider giving our almost EBF 5 month old (3 more days) some solids. I guess she's been fussing at daycare twice a day after she eats and they think she doesn't seem fully satisfied, I realized she's been doing this in the evenings too but we thought it was because she just cut her first 2 lower teeth in the last 3 weeks. now I'm just not sure if we should start her on the rice cereal or veggies, my first instinct was bananas but sounds like fruit should maybe be introduced last...so much to consider as our little babies get to be bigger babies!!!

borgie05 · September 2015

I've still been holding off. Our pediatrician recommended starting with rice cereal, though it's not required. If you want to skip the rice cereal then start with veggies. He said wait on fruit because of the sugar. If you start with something sugary, they won't want to eat their veggies! Or maybe it was another reason, I can't remember lol.

Babog10 · September 2015

I think I'm going to skip the cereal just as a personal choice. Has anyone else done this and if so what food did u start with?? Did it have any implications for ur LO or do they still like to/able to eat everything else u give them?

borgie05 · September 2015

My sister sent me this a few days ago. A good read... I would still say go with what you are comfortable with, but this helped me to make up my mind.

https://www.growingyourbaby.com/2015/06/02/solid-foods-fed-infants-early-cdc-says/

kristinworthen · October 2015

I started my baby on solids at 4 months because her doctor told me to. We both thought she was ready (: but I tried the rice for a few days and she HATED it. Then I went to oatmeal for a couple days and she still wouldn't take that. So I just started her on the vegetables first because I didn't want to give her fruit first because I wanted her to get used to food that isn't sweet before I gave her the sweet stuff. I was worried she wouldn't eat veggies if I started with fruit. So for 3 days I did carrots and she loved them. Then I went to sweet peas and sweet potatoes and green beans. She also eats my mashed potatoes when I make them. She's is 5 months now and I'm starting all the fruits next week. (: but I pretty much skipped over the cereal and stuff and she's doing just fine and she loves all the food! (:

bella0893 · October 2015

I started cereal at 4 months. She did great with it. Then later fruits and veggies. She is 23weeks now and loves food. She eats solids twice a day. Veggies first and fruits in the afternoon. She has done great. It even seems as she wants 3 meals a day lol

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