Starting Daughter on Food

I would be careful on the cereals. There is more likely to be an allergy developed from one of them, than any of the fruits and veggies. One trick my sister taught me, was to give veggies first. Veggies are not as sweet and sometimes babies will refuse to eat them if you give a fruit first because they are sweet. I noticed it was true for my kids, but not all kids are alike. Also, 6 months really is the best time to be starting babies on any solid foods. But since you have started already, I would keep cereal to a minimum or cut it out entirely. Once my kids started eating fruits and veggies, they didn't want anything to do with cereal. Bananas can make some kids a little gassy. Also, corn tends to be hard for many babies to digest. When watching reactions, look for the subtle reactions, like gas and such too. They could be sensitive to such foods. I would also avoid the top 8 food allergens out there until 1 year old. So wheat, dairy, soy, egg, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, and fish. Start a new food every 3-4 days at the earliest. Remember, for someone to develop an allergy, they must first be exposed to the food. So the first time they are exposed, they are not going to have a reaction. It's the second time you have to watch for. Hope this helps. Sorry it's kinda jumbled in thought.

I am the mother of a beautiful 6 mo old daughter and this is what I did. I started her on rice cereal, then after a week or so I added 1 fruit. I think it was applesauce. As long as you don't just keep adding a new food every day you will be fine. Wait a couple of days before trying something new. That way you will know if she has any allergies. I didn't go through all the cereals first. Now my daughter eats everything.

I am a mother of 3 kids, Ben 6, Charlotte 2 1/2, and Nora 9 1/2 months. I have made all their baby food and the first food for them has been avacdo. It boosts brain developement and has good fat that babies need. Just mash up a ripe one. Banana is also a great starter food. They suggest you start one new food for 3-4 days before beginning a new one.

Hi S.,
All that advice about starting with cereals comes from trying to force babies to eat solids when they are too young to handle it (like 3 or 4 months old). Your older, more developed baby should be just fine with whatever you feed her. Here's a great article on starting solids at AskDrSears.com:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp#T032001

I made all my babies' food. I got a small food processor, and processed small batches of veggies, then put them into ice cube trays to freeze. When you need a serving, just thaw out one cube. This is also great when they are teething. I'd pop a veggie cube, frozen, into a mesh feeder. Instant happy baby! If you're interested, semd me a message, and I'd be happy to tell you how I did my little production line!

One caveat, I'd stay away from meat until your baby's body is yet more mature (like a year).

Congrats on this big milestone with your little one!

Dear Stacy,

There are a lot of theories out there. At 5 1/2 months, the point of giving them cereal is for your daughter to learn how to eat off a spoon. It is not necessary for nutrition.

You should wait 3 to 4 days between new foods so you can observe your daughter and look for reactions/allergies to food.

A book that I really recommend to you is "Child of Mine: feeding with love and good sense" by Ellyn Satter. It has helped me a lot in my relationship with my son when it comes to eating. It has taken the stress out of it and we are both very happy.

I hope this helps,
A.

You have so much advice here - just a side note about constipation (if youre dealing with it at all since most new eaters at one time get this way) - the rice cereal really constipated my kids (esp around 6-7 mo) and when I switched to oatmeal it went away (prunes are good too). Anwyay, starting to feed your baby is so much fun - enjoy it! Around 8 months I gave mine yobaby yogurt which she loved. Good luck! J.

Stacy,
It only takes about 3 full days before you introduce another food. I would follow the nurse's advice and go through the cereals first. You don't have to give the baby all the cereals-I skipped the Barley.You will be able to introduce green beans by the middle of next week. I say green beans because you should save the sweeter things for last like the carrots and sweet potatoes. She could refuse to eat other things that aren't as sweet if you started off with the things you know she would like. That's why introducing the fruits are last. You may think your baby will be fine and not develop any allergies because no one else has allergies in your family but you never know and I don't think it is a risk worth taking.

I started my son at 5months on solid food as well, i started the rice ceral at 4months, then at 5 months started with the veg. I started him with sweet potatoes first, he loves them,then i waited a week before started a new one, and i started him with pears next so now i mix the rice ceral with pears in the morning then he has fruit and veg at lunch, and at night i mix some cereal with sweet potatoe,he loves in like that, good luck, 4-5 days with the same fruit or veg. is plenty of time to check for a reaction.

My baby is now 11 months and I never tried all the cereals. There are so many different ones. I did rice cereal for probably a month or so then slowly introduced fruits and veggies, the ones from gerber stage 1. I would think that your daughter is old enough to try some veggies now. I never heard of going thru all the cereals!
D.

They say you can introduce a new food every four days(so once a week). I gave my daughter rice cereal first for a couple weeks then oatmeal then banana rice cereal (which she loved)at four months. Then at 6 months started her on veggies and only bought a couple basic (like carrots and green beans), gave her those, then started fruits (apple & banana). Then you expand.

The reason they tell you to go through the cereals first is to rule out allergies. It's easier to spot an allergy if you are trying foods one at a time. I think three days of each food is enough to spot an allergy ( but check with MD office) and I think they always suggested trying fruits before veggies, ( but I had my babies a while ago so things may have changed) good luck with the baby and ENJOY.

Hey there,mother of 2 here.My 9 month old son is loving his solids and i have never heard anything about going through all the cereals first.Your next step should be veggies and then her fruits.Good luck with your little angel.

Hi S.,
Everyone is going to have a different opinion on this subject. I started my son on the rice cereal first, mixed cereal after a week and oatmeal after that (giving enough time in between each to check for any type of allergic reaction). He seemed to like the oatmeal the most and it coats the tummy so they feel full, he was one happy boy.
I also introduced fruit and veggies at the same time. Just dipped the spoon in the fruit and then in the cereal which he really enjoyed. He is now almost a year old and loves so many fruits and veggies. Don't be afraid to try all of the pureed options in no specific order. Your baby may not like it the first few times. Green beans took about 10 tries before my son decided he actually enjoyed them. The doctor told me not to introduce fruits before veggies but it did not make a difference in my son's case. I stuck with the Gerber stage 1 and 2. Earths Best also makes an oatmeal with banana and peach which he still gobbles up! Just experiment and enjoy her reaction to each! Be sure to space it out so you know if something did not agree with her.
Bon Apetite!

I would pay more attention to my baby's needs than what the nurse said. A nurse once told me that all my baby needed was formula for at least 9 months! Can you imagine? SO glad I didn't listen to her. We started veggies and fruit around this time, and our kids did great. If your child is not ready, you'll know. Trust your instincts. One thing you could do to transition to fruit would be to mix the cereal with apple juice instead of formula. My kids loved that. Good luck!

No, no , no... sometimes I wonder where these nurses get their ideas. I had a one of the best pediatrician's ever and he broke it down for me so I could understand and figure things out on my own. Never give a baby anything but breastmilk or formula until six months because it is not until then that they have the best chance of surviving a food allergy (that's when their liver is fully mature, bigger babies can start earlier because they probably have a mature liver). Then start them with something easy like pears or applesauce and only start one thing a week (green beans are usually good for week 2) keep up with this until nine months when you start adding proteins like chicken and turkey. No solids until they have enough teeth to eat and no peanut butter, eggs or cow's milk until they are at least a year (these are common for food allergies and a peanut allergy can be fatal). Another trick I learned with my three girls is to watch the stools, if they're a little runny - give them bananas, if they're a little hard give them prunes (works like a charm!) I am a larger woman and have struggled with weight my whole life, I am convinced that the reason so many babies are so large is because we give them huge amounts of carbs that they aren't active enough to use. I never gave my girls cereals and they have always maintained very healthy weights. Hope I was able to help, lots if luck and good wishes! T.

My grandson just started on solid foods and the doctor said the feed him one thing at a time for 3 days..if he makes out OK he can then try something new......Rice cereal is not a good cereal to feed too often since it can be binding. He did say to start with ceral, then veggies and then the fruits and meats but to make sure not to start something new for at least 3 days to check for allergies. e also said not to feed to much yellow veggies, to make sure we alternate with the greens because too much yellow veggie could cause the skin to turn yellow.
Hope this helps

I did try all the cereals because if she is allergic to one you will have to avoid that ingredient in other foods. My daughter got really sick from oatmeal, so now that she is older we avoid everything with oat until she can have allergy testing. Once you get into the food for older babies some contain all three types if cereal. If she has a reaction then it will be hard to figure out which once she is allergic to without going back and trying all the single grain cereals.

We gave each new foods for 5 days before trying a new one. Once you get through all the stage 1 fruits and veggies, yobaby yogurt is another great option.

Hi S.!
You don't need to go through all the cereals. My daughter didn't really like the cereal until I added peaches to it. From there on I just added a new fruit/veggie a week. Before you know it your daughter will be hooked on those gerber puffs! You can even make your own baby food too in a food processor. Good Luck!

You do not need to go through all of the cereals. I did not start my baby on oats until he was 10 months old. He was just on a little rice cereal mixed with fruits like pears, apples, bananas, etc. I would mix a little fruit into the cereal because they are so sweet, just do one different food a week. Start now, if you want to. We tried sweet pototoes at 6 months, but each time it gave him bad diaper rash, so we will put a hold on that until he is much older and then we will try again (he is now almost 11 months). Carrots sometimes do the same thing. I think the safest things to start out with are bananas and apples. good luck and have fun. also, if she starts to get constipated cut down on the cereal and increase the fruits and formula or breastmilk.

Cereals are nutritionally empty and there's no reason to give them to a baby. I would cut out all solids, wait for another few weeks, and then start on a healthy fruit like banana or avacado.

Rice and other cereals are nutritionally empty and other foods like avocado and banana are more nutritionally rich snd easy to digest. Since this is your first child and if you have time you can make your own baby food. I make a large batch and freeze portions in ice trays. For more references look into the book Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron. A great website reference I got from here is wholesomebabyfoods.com I check it everytime I want to introduce new foods to my 7 mo.

Hi S.,
The nurse is speaking nonsense! There is no hard and fast schedule of when to introduce which foods. The things you really have to be careful of are the foods known to be highly allergenic. I'm a mom of 6, soon to be 7, and I don't think I've done it the same way twice. In fact, with my last one, I didn't introduce any grains until he was about a year. I started with vegetables and fruits, due to some research I had been doing on the way grains are produced now, which actually removes the parts of the grain that make it easy to digest. But even with the others, I only gave them rice and oats at first. The thing is, you're going to get controversial info. on which foods are good and bad, so you end up having to do your own research and go with your gut anyway. The most important thing when introducing new foods is not what they are, but making sure that you wait several days after introducing each new thing before adding another new one. This gives you time to see if there's any reaction. I just made sure I wrote down what they had already had, so I wouldn't forget which things I had already introduced. And don't listen to people who say you "have" to do it a certain way. That's just ridiculous. Also, rest assured that your baby will be just fine even if she hardly takes any solids at this age, despite the fact that most pediatricians will tell you to start now. My last baby hardly ate anything besides breastmilk for his first year, and he's the healthiest of all 6. So relax and enjoy the adventure, and trust your gut -- it won't usually steer you too off course! Sounds like you're right on!

My daughter is 5.5 months as well!! I've never heard of trying all the cereals before other foods. I started my daughter with the following foods: rice cereal, banana, sweet potato, avocado, applesauce, and squash. We waited 4 days between new foods.
I like the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron - shes a bit too "organic" for me but I thought she had LOTS of helpful information in her book!!
I didn't worry too much about feeding her non-sweet foods before sweeter ones - she ate squash just fine even though she had eaten bananas and applesauce before squash.

There is no perfect answer - its whatever is right for you and your baby!

Have fun watching her try new foods!

Advice varies widely on this subject. And if you look across cultures practices in different countries are also wildly different regarding 'first' foods and timing etc. With my older (and now also with my 7 month old) I just had fun - let them try various things that were soft enough. I haven't run into any problems and the older is still a great eater. The younger seems to be responding well too. He's had rice cereal, apple sauce, avacado, tofu, mashed pear, baby-food sweet potato and carrots, bread from every restaurant we've gone to, cheerios, and zweiback. Now he yells if he is at the table with us and doesn't get something to chew on for himself.

Get the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. She tells you all the ages that kids can try new foods because of allegies, etc., and also gives lots of advice with making food at home, etc. It's a great resource. Also gives good tips like what else is in the baby food you might be buying and how your child will react, for example the baby food may include grapefruit juice so the primary fruit is preserved, but it may be too early for citrus, for example.

You don't HAVE to go through all the cereals! Honestly. =) It's not like there's some Bible of feeding. I know lots of people who have started fruits, or rice husk crackers, etc. I think it's wise to ask your doctor/nurses but take with a grain of salt. If you asked another nurse or dr. you would get another answer.

You've got lots of good advice here, but I thought I would add my two cents. I've heard the only reason doctors recommend starting with the cereals is because they are easily fortified with iron. Babies are born with a six month supply of iron, and then it begins to deplete. The thought is that if you give them cereal, it will keep their iron levels up. There's no reason you can't start them on something else - even meat pureed with a little milk or water! Babies are more likely to have an allergy to a grain than many fruits and veggies (except things like strawberries)so just keep an eye on her for a few days after you start. Rice is most easily digested, but I found it constipated my daughter, so we quickly switched to oatmeal. I think this time around I will start with the oatmeal. Also, be careful with bananas. When we started my daughter on solids at 5 months, she had rice and bananas first, and got really constipated. We ended up going back to breast milk only until she was 6 months old, then we started with oatmeal and applesauce. Just a tip!