Baby Food - Willoughby,OH

I mix oatmeal cereal with fruit juice and fruit for breakfast. Then for lunch I feed my girls a meal. Then for dinner they get a vegetable and rice cereal.

I think by 6 months my girls were eating 2-3 meals a day. Just every baby is different.

The best time to start the vegies are about 6 months old that away his system will accept it better

A little about me I am a mom of 6 kids and my youngest is almost 3 as of 2/14/

You can start vegetables now. You can also start solids twice a day now...that's exactly what I did...a fruit in the am; veggie in the pm. You can also call your pediatrician's office to see what they recommend. They should tell you exactly what you should be feeding your baby now, at least mine did.

Start feeding him veggies right away. I started them first because I didn't want my daughter to get used to the sweetness in the fruit, and then decide she didn't like the vegetables. You may want to try giving him small amounts of food at a time, but about 3 to 4 (start with 3 for awhile, and then go up to 4) times a day. Even if he doesn't eat much, it will be easier on his stomach if he gets small amounts more often than a lot of food a couple times a day, and only a bottle the other times. It will also help keep his blood sugar more stable. Alternating a fruit with a vegetable is a great idea and will help him get the nutrients he needs. Try to give him a large variety of foods, even if they are ones that you don't like. It will help him develop a liking for a large variety of foods and be easier on you when he is older. You can gradually thicken his food as he gets older as well, and even give him mushy table food when he is ready for it.

You can do it now, same as fruit - just add new items one at a time, waiting a few days to determine if there's an allergy or sensitivity before trying another.

Don't listen to those yahoos. They act like its a sin if your kid is eating fruits first...who cares!! Feed them what they will eat, while you are first just teaching them techniques of eating. My doctor said have fun with the food for now, if its cereal, fruits and veggies great, but don't get over anal about it, because he said that breastmilk and formula are whats most important in their diet for the first year. My daughter is 6 months old, I feed her lunch and dinner, anything from cereal to fruit, b/c she wouldn't take the veggies first I tried and I'm not the type of mom to force things onto my child, and I wanted her to start eating something...so fruit it was....I will try carrots, squash and sweet potatoes this week, b/c those are sweeter veggies. However there is NO proof that kids will not eat veggies if you feed them fruit first. They are still babies, just relax and have fun while they learn how to use a spoon and respond to food!!

Hi,
I started my son on carrots even before fruit ( a nurse told me to start with orange foods, for some reason ...) So I think it's fine to mix it up with veggies whenever you want.
Around 6 months is when we started offering a jar of fruits or vegs in late morning and around dinner time.
Hope this helps!

Hello,
You can start giving him fruits and veggie know. you dont want to give him any thing else you might uoset his tummy. We start by giving them a little food 3 times a day, like a breakfast, lunch and dinner thing. You dont want him to feel like he is straving. that how we have done it.
P. S

Aleisha,
I would just feed him twice a day as long as it dosen't upset his stomach. I have always fed my two girls whenever they seemed to need it. My 10 month old has been eatting baby food since she was about 5 1/2 months old, and she eats fruit in the morning and veggies in the evening. I would go ahead and give it a shot, I mean, it won't hurt him. Good luck!
M.

When my daughter was at that age we were giving her veggies. The only thing we were told was to only introduce one new one per week otherwise you may get some unfriendly suprises in the diaper. If he will eat it, go for it. My nephew is 6 months and all ready getting some solids like bread sticks and easy knawing things. Good luck!

Hi! I was just watching something on TV the other day that said vegetables are a GREAT first food even instead of rice cereal (carbs). I would think that you could start veggies at any time. This would probably be a good time to start that second feeding, too. Is he seeming hungry in the afternoons? I made both of my daughter's food (that jarred stuff is NASTY) and I started with the green veggies. Good luck!

B.

I started my daughter on vegetables at 6 months. We started twice a day at about 7 months. Now she is 8 months and we do cereal plus 1/2 fruit in the morning, a vegetable at lunch, and cereal plus 1/2 vegetable for dinner. Good luck!

My son turns 6 months on the 13th, so I'm right there with you. I started him on rice and then went straight to vegetables. I was told not to do fruits first since babies are born with a sweet tooth. "They" suggest you may have trouble getting them to eat veggies after having had the sweet taste of fruit. At any rate, as soon as my son was doing well with the cereal I started doing veggies in addition and feed him twice a day already.

Hi Aleisha,

I started my daugther on rice cereal at 4 months, then started introducing new fruits and veggies from 5 months on, waiting 3 days in between like other mothers recommended.

She now is 9 months old and eats rice cereal or oatmeal with fruits (I use jarred fruits such as apricots, peaches, bananas etc. and blend them in my magic bullet to puree them). For lunch she eats baby yogurt, cheese stick with crackers, applesauce (her fav) or cottage cheese. for dinner I try to feed her a pureed version of what I eat, but I like to eat later so I give her some green veggie, baked sweet or regular potato or bread. I'm struggling getting her to eat veggies even though I did start her on veggies first and she ate them initially. I also let her drink watered-down juice or just water out of a sippy cup during meal time (started the sippy cup around 5 months), then give her a bottle with formula 3 times a day before naps and bedtime.

Good luck!
M.

First off I can't believ your pediatrician told you to start fruits before veggies! You should alsways start veggies first or a lot of kids won't want to eat them. They would prefer to have the yummy sweet fruit instead. Your son is def. ready to be eating baby food if he is sitting up and showing interest in it. His meal plan should be decided between you and the doctor, but it's really up to you and your baby! Good luck!

Hi Aleshia I have 2 girls my youngest is 1.I would say your right on about feeding your baby solids now twice a day.Don't listen to people about veggies first who cares.You should follow his lead.Go with your motherly instinct.It has never failed me.Anyway,I gave my girls their ceral and fruit in the morning and their veggies at lunch or dinner time.That seemed to work well.Good luck!
D.

Aleisha,
If you are feeding him fruits..then veggies are also fine. I have always heard to do veggies first b/c they aren't as good (taste) and its easier to add fruits than then less desirable veggies. I knew to start feeding mine when they seemed to fuss more..like they were hungry. By 6 months they were all eating 2ce if not 3 times a day. By 8 months..I would puree whatever we ate for dinner (including meat) and that's what they ate for dinner too. None of my kids are picky eaters now. Just remember the more food they eat and the bigger variety..the stinkier their diapers are :-) Good luck.

Hi Aleisha,

I started my son on rice cereal when he was 4 months old and started incorporating fruit and veggies shortly after. I would alternate introducing them one fruit, then one veggie, allowing a few days inbetween introducing another new taste. I also started introducing oatmeal and barley cereals. Don't be surprised if your little one turns his nose up at the veggies at first (since he is used to the sweet fruit)...keep trying. I started feeding my son 2 times a day right about 5 1/2 - 6 months old. Hope this helps.

I started my daughter on all that at 3 months just because she was hungry all the time! There is never a right or wrong time to start twice a day, i always gave cereal in the morning, fruit and veggies at lunch and cereal at night, or switch it up cereal morning veggies lunch and fruit night, up to u, dont ask a doctor cause all they tell you is its too early for all that stuff. Good Luck!

I think you're doing fine. The way you're introducing foods is just the way I did. I started w/cereal, I stayed w/that for a couple weeks and then did veggies for a week then fruits. I don't think it really matters if you start w/fruits or veggies first. Some say if you start w/fruits they won't like veggies but I never had that problem w/any of my 3 kids. I can't say that I personally would give the baby at this age any people food. I would work my way up from stage 1 to 2 to 3 and then when you feel he's good w/those move into toddler or people food. Go w/your gut feeling. That's what I did. Those foods last a long time so if you want to try something go ahead and try it and see how he does. If you don't think he's ready don't give it to him for another couple weeks. That's what I did. My daughter is 11 months now and eats toddler foods and people foods. Some don't like to do the toddler and go right into people foods, that's fine too. You know, you probly could mash up some bananas or give him unsweetened applesauce if you wanted. Soft foods you know?

Good luck!
S.

I have two daughters ... one is almost 3 years old and the other is 9 months. We waited until 6 months to introduce baby food to both of them, and started with rice cereal first, followed by veggies and then fruits. You can also introduce oatmeal and mixed cereal. The suggestion is always to feed them the same food for at least 3 days in a row so you can make sure they don't have a bad reaction/allergy to it. It is also usually recommended to start with veggies before fruit since fruits taste better and you don't want them to refuse veggies. My 9 month old went through 4 days of each veggie and fruit (Stage 1) and then I immediately switched to Stage 2. I now typically give her a bottle and fruit for "breakfast", a bottle and veggie for "lunch", and then a veggie and entree for "dinner", followed by a bottle before bed.

Hope this helps!

My son just turned six months this past weekend, and we decided to start giving him sweet potatoes as his first "real" solid. He's been eating rice cereal w/breastmilk since he was about 5 1/2 months, and we were feeding him that once a day (in the evening). He saw his doctor on Monday (after he had had sweet potatoes and rice cereal, separately, over the weekend). She said that we could start giving him a fruit in the morning and a vegetable in the evening with rice cereal twice a day, now. She said cereal three times a day could start causing constipation. She even said we could give him a new veggie and fruit each day, so he can learn the different tastes. However, the jars are bigger than what he can eat, right now, so I've been feeding him each food about two days in a row to finish the jars. So far he's had pears and bananas for fruit in the morning and sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots for veggies in the evening. He wasn't too sure about the green beans, so you might want to start with sweet potatoes or carrots or even peas, since they're sweeter and probably more palatable than green beans. My son's been breastfeeding since he was a couple of weeks old (when he finally started latching correctly), so we decided to wait until he was almost six months old before starting solids. He seems to be liking the veggies more than the fruit, so far, maybe because I always tend to eat more veggies than fruit, but it's still early (and he hasn't had peaches, yet!) ;) Hope that helps, somewhat! Good luck!

To be honest with you I would of started with the veggies, it is going to be harder to give veggies because he has had the fruit and to babies that is like candy. But I would deffinantly give veggies now if he is spooning the solids good. With my kids I started around six months and I would give cereal in the morning around 8am and the about a 6 to 8 oz bottle of formula then around 12pm I would give a jar of veggies(when they got to be around nine months for lunch and dinner I did 2 jars of baby food) and then a 6 to 8 oz bottle of formula then at 4 I did just a 8 oz bottle(it makes it easier when they are off the bottle to make that snack time) then at 8 I gave a jar of baby food(somthing that was more like a dinner like spaggetti or something (they make it in a stage 1) and then a 6 to 8 oz bottle. I didn't start fruits till they were getting two jars and then the second jar was a fruit that way I new they would eat the veggies because they had the fruits as more like a treat after. I had this schedule with both kids and they were so easy to break the bottle because you take away the bottle and they get there meal at the same times Good luck

with both my children i started them with rice cereal around 4 months, around 5 months started the 1st foods going from light to dark, fruits and veggies, and giving the same thing every day for 4-5 days, by seven months they had all the different foods and we had been giving them cereal in the morning, fruit at lunch, veggie at dinner. generally when they were hungery we would alternate food and bottle during the day. once they had all the first foods, we moved up to the seconds that had more food in the jar and different food combinations. now with my baby at nine months he gets ceral & fruit for breakfast, veggie for lunch, and a dinner and cereal for dinner. The main reason for the jar foods is not nutrition but to introduce new flavors and textures and it fills up their little bellies so they are not taking too much formula. you can introduce the veggies and other foods at any time now but make sure you give the same new food for at least 3 days in a row and watch for allergic reactions. as far as giving him more food in the day you will want to watch his formula intake. if you notice he is drinking more than 32-36 ounces of formula then increase how often and how much food you are giving him. according to my ped. the 32-36 ounces of formula is all they should be taking in to get the nutrition they need.

Basically i have found that you want to start with veggies before the fruit, babies tend to like the sweet stuff and will turn away from the veggies, at least both of my kids did. 6 months is when Drs want you to start them on the fruits and veggies but i would say that with regular food, if you feel that he can handle it and seems to be hungry all of the time go ahead and start to feed him more. My son never liked the baby food so we started on regular food much earlier. Plus he was ALWAYS hungry.

Hello. You had so many responses that I didn't read them all, so if I am only repeating I apoligize. My daughter is the same age and when I took her to her last "well baby check up" the Doctor told me she should be eating three times a day off of a spoon. Cereal mixed with White Grape Juice in the morning and then Fruits (she said fruits, I had already started with Veggies, I think it works best that way b/c one of my older ones had fruits first then didn't go for veggies). It is important to eat only one new food every day for 3 to 4 days; that way you can see if they have a reaction to a certain food. Once he has had single grain rice cereal for awhile you can try some other cereals.
PS...we don't really do spoon feeding three times a day, I try to do it twice a day. Also, I don't make her cereal in the morning any more because I mix cereal in with her baby food. Good Luck.

I was told by my ped. to start veggies FIRST that was they will like the veggies and the fruit would comes second and be a "dessert" of sorts. It is easier for a baby to like the sweet stuff than the veggies.

Hello. My son is now 16 months old. And if I can remember correctly, I started feeding him orange veggies first..mainly carrots, mixed veggie and squash, but he didn't like squash. I fed these to him I believe at lunch and at dinner. And I fed him his ceral at night so he'd go to bed on a full belly and sleep longer. I think I fed him the orange veggies first for a month, then moved to the green veggies. This is what my ped advised me to do. When I fed him the veggies and fruit at the same meal, I made sure to fed him the veggies first, and if he ate good on them, then I would fed him the fruit. I didn't want him to get stuck on the "sweeter" stuff and not like his veggies. And to this day, my son eats all his veggies and his fruit. I also made sure to keep him on the same brand of fruits and veggies, I don't know if this makes a difference or not. He's my first son and I just play is more on the safer side I guess. Good luck and if you have any more questions, feel free to email me anytime: ____@____.com

Hi Aleisha,
Well it sounds that your baby is ready. I have two children of my own and I have been taking care of kids from 6wks.- Pre K, for over 5 yrs. and I would start with one veggie at a time. Introducing a veggie a week. That way you can rule out any allergies. RULE OF THUMB - when introducing anything new to your baby. Give it a week to see if there are any side affects associated with allergies -rash, sneezing, rubbing of eyes, and swelling- those are some of the signs, but your pediatrition can tell you more. Once your baby is ok and doing that for awhile you can introduce meats. Keep feeding your baby the cereal and fruit. It also will give your baby more choices and feel like they are eating like a "big" person. We have varieties so should they. Give him the ceral and fruit in the morning and then try the veggies in the afternoon and again at dinner time. Keep the ceral and fruit ready just incase you have a hard time with the veggies- BUT don't give up! keep at it. I would also start with the none sweet veggies. Carrots and sweet potatoes they will gobble up. I wouyld start with the peas, then green beans, etc. leave the "good" veggies for last. Good luck! Let me know if you need anything else.

Hi Aleisha!

I would just like to say that my pediatrician also told me to start with fruits. I think they all change their minds about what to start with every couple years. ;)

Anyways, I gave him fruit with cereal in the morning to start at around 4 months. I started vegetables around 6 months; when the pediatrician said to. He said to start with yellows first (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash) and then slowly move into the green vegetables. The green ones are harder to digest.

So, at 6 months, I gave my son fruit with cereal mixed in for breakfast, and a vegetable for lunch. You don't have to worry as much about what they're eating because they are still getting ALL of their nutrition from breast milk or formula. Feeding them solids now is basically practice for the little ones. They are learning how to swallow thicker substances and how to work their tongue and such. It's when they switch to cow's milk you have to worry about getting 5 servings of fruits and veggies.

Good luck!!