When Can I Move on from Stage 1 Foods?

You don't really even havfe to start with stage 1 if you wait until 6 months as advised, they are meant to teach a baby to eat before they know how to swallow. Stage 2 are, for the most part, the same, just bigger and sometimes blended 2 or more foods. Go ahead and use the stage 2s! Anything you make is probably thicker than 2s and maybe even threes, mine was :)
Good Luck!

There is not any difference in consistency with the Stage 1 to Stage 2 foods. Stage 2 foods are just bigger. So when he is eating all of a jar and acts like he wants more than you can move on to 2's.

None of my kids had stage 1 for more than a day. My 2nd and 3rd child went pretty much straight to stage 2 consistency. It's easier for them to handle becuase the stage 1 is just too runny for them to move around their mouth with their tongue. They all did much better on chunkier food. That said... my older 2 were pretty much done with stage 2 consistency food within a month of starting solids. They were doing finger foods (we just cut everything we ate into pea-size bits) or fork-smashed food by 6 months old (start cereal/solids at 5 months). The older 2 were 100% self-feeding (no spoons, everything can be a 'finger food' though) by 8 months. And no, they don't need teeth -- none of my kids had a tooth before their 1st birthday.

My baby is 5 months old and we're doing pretty much the same thing food-wise with her... she's eating oatmeal (real stuff from the canister not nasty tasting rice stuff), a variety of fruits, veggies, meats and pasta. Just yesterday I gave her a pea to see what she would do with it... she picked it up and popped it into her mouth and chomped away on it with no problems at all.

There's no need to wait a week between new foods. Just cut up or fork smash whatever the rest of the family is having. Many studies have shown no corrolation between allergies and when foods are introduced. Other studies show that it often takes many exposures to a food to develop an allergy -- alot more often than they'd get in a week. So even if you wait a week you could still be spending alot of time figuring it out because it could be something introduced weeks or even months earlier. Less than 6% of people have a food allergy.

I've switched when my babies have tried most single foods (i.e. carrots, sweet potato, peas, squash, banana, pear etc.)without a problem/reaction. Follow the same 'one new introduction per week'.

Good for you for making some of your own food! Mine always turns out chunkier, but my son just got used to it since he never even had the super smooth jarred stuff. So it's really just whatever you give him, he'll eventually get used to and prefer.

Hi J.,

Some stage 2 foods are not much different than stage 1. For example....stage 2 peaches are just a thin as stage 1. Sweet Potatoes, no difference. Bananas are tiny bit thicker. Greenbeans with rice are thicker. Try a little at a time. I think I used stage 1 for a month, 2 for a month, 3 a little longer. My ped. always said it's O.K. for a baby to choke (of course not allot), it's how they learn to eat and use their gag reflexes. It just depends on the baby and if you think he's ready. Are you giving him baby cereal? Try the oatmeal. You can make it your own consistency and thicker as he gets older.

Have fun. Our daughter turned one 11/18. I still give her the Gerber Organic Apple, Cin, Oatmeal. She loves it. Other than that she is totally off baby food. I sometimes miss the convenience of just opening a bottle. Now I'm eating whatever she doesn't......a BIG NO NO......

Our ped. told me that they are the same....and that it is a better deal $$ wise to purchase the Stage 2 b/c there is more for your money.

Hi J.,
My son is 8 months old and has been on solid foods since he was 4 mos old. I really like the Gerber website. I go to www.gerber.com/feedingplan and follow what they have to say for my son's phase of deleopment. Try this out, it may help you!

I think it really depends on the baby. We never did the feed one food per week thing. It can take several times of feeding the same food for the allergy to show. We moved our dd to stage 2 foods as soon as she'd had all the veggies and fruits. Then we moved her to Stage 3 about a week after that. She still doesn't have any teeth, but she just hated the watery texture of the stage 1 & 2 foods. Check out Gerber.com. It's a great website. If you register, you'll get coupons for food and clothes too.

My baby girl is 7 months old and started on stage 1 somewhere between 4 1/2 months until now. She started Stage 2 already and eats it up. She gets so hungry that stage 1 just doesn't fill her up. I also make her food and process it in a food processor and fill up ice trays to freeze and pop them in the microwave when she's hungry. It's easy and way cheaper.

Hi J.,

I didn't introduce my twins to food till 7 1/2 months and I went right to Stage 2 - but only stuff that had one ingredient like peaches, plums, sweet potatoes, etc. They are now 9 months and already doing Stage 3 of items that are easier to eat. Chicken noodle and the the rice items are still too hard for them.

I would say - it really comes down to your son. We went right to Stage 2 as you get more for your money and virtually the same as Stage 1. I just couldn't justify spending about the same for less food especiaqlly when I had two.

We like the off brand - beechnut versus Gerber as we can get Stage 2 for about .43 at Woodmans, Walmart, and at most places.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

You'll know when he's ready. He'll chow down the number one's and act like he's still wanting more. At first, he may not eat the whole jar, but put the lid back on and save it for the next day. Eventually he'll eat the whole thing, and then you use the same sort of signs for going into stage 3. You can just tell by how they're acting. Trust your baby's signs. One thing I realized when my kids were little is that you can always tell when they're ready for the next step or size. Everytime my kids started having poopy go up their backs a little, I knew that meant it was time for the next size diaper, even it the one they were currently in didn't seem to be too small at all. New size....no more mess! Everytime I realized they finished a bottle or jar of food or cereal quicker than normal, I took it as a sign that they were ready for a little bit more. If they stopped eating regular bites, I knew they weren't wanting more during feedings. It's great how easy you can read your little ones. Enjoy it because once they hit one, and they're not able to talk, but getting independent, you'll wish you could read their minds!

Try it and see how he does. It doesn't have chunks in it or anything. If it seems to thick for him, back off and try again in a few weeks. Shannon G.