How Old Should My Daughter Be When...

The general rule is to start introducing cereal at 6 months. You mix the cereal (usually starting with rice) with formula or breast milk. Then you can gradually add foods starting with fruits or veggies.

IMO you should avoid the juice until at least one year. You child can get fluids from breastmilk, formula or water. When you do introduce juice it should be watered down - at least 50% water.

I've always been told 4-6 months. I started my son on 1 tbsp. of rice cereal a day at 4 and a half months.

I was told 6 mo. for solids, and not to put the food in a bottle. Formula or milk only in a bottle. Everything else by spoon.

Cereal for sleep is not always a sure thing. Most infants won't sleep longer til they hit a weight milestone, like 10 lbs.

And always formula or milk before solids. They need that more than they need strained peas.

The current recommendations are after she is six months old (meaning at the 7th month mark). Up until one year, all a baby *needs* is breast milk or formula, but you can introduce food over the second half of the year for variety of taste, texture, smell etc. so that by age 1, she is ready to transition mostly to people food with water, juice, milk or breast milk served as beverages. Wholesomebabyfood.com has some great feeding ideas and guidelines when the time comes!

Baby should never get anything but formula or breatmilk or water in a bottle. Rice and oatmeal are food. They get spoon fed. Juice in unnecessary for a baby (or any child). If your baby is thristy, give her breastmilk or formula.

I started oameal (skipped rice cause oatmeal is better) when my daughter was 6 months old. She didn't want it. Every week I would try again. About 7 or 8 months she was finally ready to eat the oatmeal and baby food.

My sister is a pediatric nurse and her office recommends cereal at between three and four months, baby food at five to six months and juice around seven months. You don't need to buy baby juice either. Buy one huindred percent juice and dilute it one to four or if your baby has a sensitive tummy one to five. A lot of it depends on yhour baby's development since it is best not to give baby food until a baby can sit supported for ease of swallowing and to reduce choking hazards. Ask your baby's doc, always ask lots of questions! Also if you want to save money invesat in a bullet or baby bullet and make your own baby food. I make my own and I know exactly what goes in it!

When my twins were babies I had to do it when they were under 6 months old but it was to thicken up the formula due to reflux, but to be on the safe side they say to wait until baby is at least 6 months old.

Hi A., All of my now grown children were on rice cereal at 6 weeks to help them sleep through the night. I would not do the oatmeal until around 6 months however i know moms who gave it earlier and had no issues. It's really an individual choice, some moms stick strickly with what their doctor says, my mother who raised 5 children told me to listen to the doctor with a grain of salt and to listen to my baby. My baby's were on food, juice and water early and they had no issues and all grew up healthy and happy. J.

i started both of mine at 5 weeks for cereal 6 months on everything else

We were told rice in bottle is an old myth that isn't good and 5-6 months for baby food. We were also told by ped that juice is a sweet, so we didn't give it until about age 2 and only at bday parties etc and milk or water at home.

I know my opinion is not the norm for america, and it angers many American moms, BUT food so early is mainly done in the US. European doctors have done extensive research on this is say that babies do not have the enzymes to digest carbohydrates until about 8 months old (this means no cereals until 8 months old). And for many other countries they use the first sign a baby is ready to eat anything is when they get their first tooth and can sit up by themselves completely. There's no rush, they do not need anything other than brestmilk/formula for the whole first 9 months of life - that provides all the nutrition, vitamins they need. Do what you feel comfortable with, but by all means don't force your child to eat it if they don't want to, and if they get gassy at all, that food wasn't the best for them.

Your daughter's pediatrician could tell you this. But in general it's 6 mos...until then babies only need milk. They don't need cereal or juice.

My pediatrician said you can start rice cereal at 5 months, but every child is different. Just like a few other moms said, DO NOT put cereal in the bottle. It is a choking hazard. If you are going to start cereal with your child, feed it to them with a spoon in a bowl. Also, I would avoid juice as long as possible, just because it is easy to get hooked on sweets and sugar (I speak from experience - my oldest loves sweets, and I think it is because I let her drink lots of juice early on). Please remember that if you are putting your baby to bed with a bottle or sippy cup, that it should contain water ONLY. Putting a baby to bed with juice, milk, or formula could hinder future tooth development because of the sugars sitting in the mouth all night. Babies really don't need anything besides formula or breastmilk for a while. It is a good idea to start solids by 6 months so they learn how to use their tongue for eating when they are ready for solids - That's what I've heard anyway. Good luck!

6 months. only breastmilk until then.

Updated

6 months. only breastmilk until then.

The most common answer is 6 mos because you want to avoid any and all allergic reactions at this age, b/c their airways are so tiny and once they start to swell and shut down and turn blue you don't have much time before serious brain damage.

People do break the rules all the time and start feeding earlier. If they are successful there are probably very few allergies in the family passed onto the baby.

If you have little to no allergies you could conceivably start rice cereal at 4 mos, but not oatmeal. And steer clear of juices until 5 mos.

Denise ...did you mean 5 weeks???? or 5 months???

I AM AN OLD FASHIONED MOM. MY SON WAS POST MATURE 28 YEARS AGO & HE CAME INTO THIS WORLD WITH PHYSICAL PROBLEMS. HE ONLY WEIGHED 5 LB.4 OZ. WHEN WE BROUGHT HIM HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL, HE WAS CONSTANTLY DRINKING BOTTLES, ESPECIALLY DURING THE NIGHT. MY MOM SAYS, WE NEED TO PUT SOME RICE CEREAL IN HIS BOTTLE. WARM FORMULA & A LITTLE RICE CEREAL, FINALLY SATISFIED HIM. WE ALL FINALLY GOT TO SLEEP LONGER THAN 2 HOURS. TODAYS SOCIETY WILL TELL YOU WAIT TILL YOUR CHILD IS 6 MONTHS. IN REGARDS TO JUICE, YOU NEED TO REALLY DILUTE IT. THEIR TUMMYS CAN NOT TOLERATE THE ACID IN JUICES. MY SON IS NOW 28 & VERY HEALTHY. I BELIEVE IN OLD FASHIONED REMODIES. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME.
A., SAN JOSE, CA
____@____.com

I am very old school.
My oldest got rice cereal at 5 weeks. He was a big boy who was eating full 8 oz bottles at every feeding. He was hungry. He ate it off a spoon.
My youngest was 2 weeks. I was home alone with a 2 year old and a newborn. I needed to sleep. The rice in her tummy at night kept her full until morning. I didn't give her a lot, maybe a 1/4 of a teaspoon mixed in with some formula. She, too, ate it from a spoon.
She slept. I slept.
My children are both in high school. They are both honor students. My son is off to college in the fall on a scholarship. I don't think my giving them rice cereal damaged them in any way.
YMMV
LBC

My dr said 4 months was ok to start rice and sone baby foods. But only 1/week so if there was a reaction u will know what it was. Diluted juice around 6 months, but in a sippy cup. Or just water in a sippy cup. Your baby will let u know if she is ready. I tried rice cereal and a veggie or 2 at 4 months and my daughter would have nothing to do with it.. But once she was 6 months she started eating more. She never liked rice cereal, but loved green beans and sweet potatoes (and still does)... She took a sippy cup very easily too. Good luck!!!

No one has mentioned the other reason that solids aren't generally recommended before 6 months. Alleriges is a big one, yes, but a baby's digestive system is SO immature until the gut starts to seal around 6 months. Talk with your pediatrician and watch your daughter for signs of readiness: watching you eat, maybe attempting to reach for your plate, sitting on her own (or close to it).

I started my son on oatmeal and one flavor of baby food at 5 months and my daughter at 4.5 months because they were showing all the signs. I did rice cereal at first, but it constipated my son, and I never gave it to my daughter.

Most of my babies didn't get cereal til they were probably 5-6 months old. One of my daughter's however almost caused me to have a nervous breakdown because she literally wouldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time, day or night) and we had to be holding her. She would never sleep independently...we tried....15 minutes was max. After two months of virtually no sleep and me starting to cry uncontrollably in the middle of the night we called our ped and he said to put just 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of rice cereal in her bottle AT NIGHT ONLY and see how it worked. I'm pleased to say that it helped her to sleep for 4 hours straight. I started getting a little sleep....no nervous breakdown. The rest of the time she got either breast milk or formula.
You don't really say why you are asking or how old your baby currently is but I would always recommend talking to your pediatrician about it.