How Do I Start Baby Food?

K.,
My peds have always said at least 3 days before introducing a new item and yes you can mix the jarred food in with the cereal.

Hi K.! I added the food right to the cereal with my kids. I added a fruit in the morning and a veggie in the evening (and btw, both my kids are GREAT veggie eaters, so my pedi says the myth about not giving fruits first is just that -- a myth!). Eventually we stopped the rice cereal altogether.

When it comes to adding new foods, I think it should depend on whether or not there is a history in your immediate (you or your husband or children) family of food allergies. Studies have proven food allergies to be hereditary, therefore those with allergies themselves have higher risk of producing allergic children. That said, if there IS such a history, I'd probably give it 5 days in between new foods at first. If there is no history of allergies at all (i.e. your child is NOT high risk) I would give it 2-3 days before introducing a new food. I'm NOT a doctor, so take what I say with a grain of salt -- I'm just a mommy who does a lot of internet research to inform herself before she makes decisions for her babies! ;-)

Remember, at this stage your baby is still getting the majority of nutrition from formula or breastmilk, so at this point feeding is just for fun! So have fun with it!

You can mix the veggie/fruit with the cereal. Just keep in mind that the primary source of food for children under 1 is breastmilk/formula. Adding the foods is just to teach them to eat and get their systems ready for that transition after the 1st birthday.

4 months is early to start solids. I'm surprised that your doctor recommended it so soon. Most say wait until 6 months.

hi K.- I definitely wouldn't rush this or even worry that much about it at this point. 4 months IS a little young to be pushing solid foods on a baby- their primary source of food should be breastmilk or formula until 1 year old- many many studies have backed this up, so there isn't a need for you to get too worked up about it. Just take it real slow, add in some cereal as a "snack" so to speak in between feedings at reagular meal times, so that the solids are fed at "breakfast, lunch and dinner" with formula on his regular schedule. when he's comfortable taking a few tablespoons of cereal, i'd add a tablespoon or so of a veggie with it to see how it goes. always start with veggies, and 2 or 3 days is probably good before trying a new one.
there really isn't a wrong way to feed your son- what works for him is right. my daughter would only eat the cereal with banana mixed in. so that's what we did. now at 1 she'll eat everything under the sun, but when she was 6-9 konths old I was really slow and gradual with solids so that she didn't feel pushed and her body was able to digest everything. Good luck and just enjoy it! :)

Hey K.

You probably already got the answer to this... but Ill respond anyway. I always mixed the food with the cereal at breakfast and dinner. With my first, I waited three days to start the next food. With my second I didnt wait as I figured my first did fine so the liklihood of food intolerances were probably small.

I already knew he had issue with dairy, so I always used his special formula to make the cereal.

Hope that helps!

D.

I just started this to a month ago. My daughter would not eat the cereal mixed with formula so I mixed cereal with veggies. I started with 1 half teaspoon of cereal mixed with a veggie. I gave her a half a container of veggies the first 2 days. After that I increased the cereal amount to 1 teaspoon. I increased the cereal by one half a teaspoon every 3 days. I stayed with 1 veggie for 1 week before introducing a new one. When she turns 5 months next week I will introduce fruits in the morning. Hope this is helpful. Good luck!

This is my FAVORITE baby food book:

Super Baby Food by Ruth Beth Yaron\\

Also contains great toddler recipes.

Great book and is super detailed.... almost exhausting to read as baby food seems to be this woman's passion.... anyways... one warning... she is very into organic/anti-jar food... with that said, you can just ignore that if you want and all the other information is really helpful.

Good for you,starting solids early! You're right you should only introduce one new food at a time but a food allergy usually will show up within a few hours so my rule was always three feedings. I would start introducing veggies first (some controversy follows this belief but I have always found it to be true)-that if you give the sweet fruits first your child won't want the veggies. Plain cereal for breakfast, a veggie for lunch (with or without cereal) and cereal with the same veggie for dinner. Once you've introduced a few veggies you can throw a fruit into the mix using a veggie you know is "safe" for lunch or dinner(or both). This is such an exciting time one of my favorites when I was a new Mommy. One thing to remember your little one will probably not get the hang of eating solids right away so treat this as a learning experience for both of you. Some food will be wasted but in the long run, when you really add it up, it won't break the bank, and the end result will be a happy, growing baby who will have a love for a variety of healthy foods.

We didn't start any solids until 6 months because our family's allergy history. But with that being said, instead of cutting out the cereal, just half it. My son was and is a big eater, so your amounts might be different.
He initially started with 4 TBSP of cereal. When we introduced veggies and fruits, he ate 2 TBSP of fruit and 2 of cereal separately. You can mix them, but my son likes his foods separate. We stuck with each food for 5 days, but you should stick with one food for at least 3 days. Try to introduce the food early in the day because it sometimes takes a few hours for a reaction and you don't want a problem in the middle of the night.

He may not eat much of a new food at first and that's okay. All of his nutrition is coming from breast milk/formula. This is just to experiment with the skills involved with eating.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. Have fun! There's nothing cuter than a baby covered in sweet potatoes!

L.

Hi K.,

Once my son was fine with the rice cereal, I introduced stage 1 jars along with the cereal. You could either mix it together or I would serve both separate and alternate bites of each. I started with the veggies first (i.e., sweet potatoes, squash, etc.) before the fruits since they tend to be sweeter. The idea is to slowly increase the variety that he eats, so I wouldn't cut out the cereal just because you are starting the food jars. Consider the cereal a "side dish" to the veggies/fruit. I usually gave one for about 3-5 days before starting a new one just to make sure he didn't have a bad reaction to a particular food. You could also try the single-grain oatmeal as something new instead of the rice cereal.
Good luck!!
A.

it seems the most common rec is to start between 4 and 6 months so if you baby seems ready go for it. i highly recommend starting with veggies first because once the babies start with the fruit it often becomes a fast favourite. other than that take your cues from your baby. he will tell you if if it's ok by itself or if you have to mix it with cereal. i made a lot of food and let me tell you i am the farthest thing from a cook! stay away from high allergy foods like strawberries nuts and eggs especially if you have allergies in your family. but don't be afraid of spices, this is when you baby starts to develop his pallet. i kept away from salt but i played with other spices as my daughter was able to eat more foods. have fun with this milestone.

I just mixed the fruits and veggies in with the rice cereal one meal/day. Most babies totally don't mind if you mix and match food (at least in my experience). you may feel more comfortable gradually adding veggies to the cereal since he's already accustomed to the cereal.
To make you feel less anxious about it, babies can be pretty forgiving at this age when you experiment with food. honestly, I wouldn't stress about it too much.
I was also nervous about the whole solid food thing, not knowing what to do and when to feed him, etc. But my baby was remarkably easy going about food and I realized that he would have been happy with whatever I do. I hope your baby is the same!