Starting Cereal - Center Valley, PA

I exclusively breastfed my 3 as well and introduced cereal at 6 months. They had various reactions to no interest to very interested. Interestingly it was my tiniest that was most excited about food. She is still tiny and adding food didn't help her put on weight, so I don't think she was hungry before (she was very content before as well). She still likes to eat and is still just a peanut! I think there is some research to indicate waiting can affect incidence of allergies and diabeties later in life. I don't know the specifics of though.

Hello Jessica,
4 months is a fine, as long as you feel that the baby is wanting to try food, i actually started both of my kids on cereal at 6 weeks old and it was mainly only given to them at night with there last bottle to help them sleep through the night, by the time they were both 4 months i had started them on fruits. plus it also depends on how bight they are as well, both my kids were about 12lbs bye the time they were 6 weeks as well. but four months it great, even though they say not to start them until they are cim months, i think that's just too late. Good luck i hope that this helped
S.

I started my son on cereal at 4 months and began introducing vegetables at about 5 months old. I saved the stage 1 jars to keep track of the portion sizes. I would mix cereal, 1/3jar vegetables and breast milk. I don't think that it was too early. He loves it! Our doctor recommended that we start him early because he wouldn't take a bottle for daycare. We mixed the cereal with a lot of breast milk. It was almost soup : ) We needed to do something to try and keep him hydrated.

I started my daughter on cereal at around 5 1/2 months. If you think that your son is ready to start then I wouldn't see any reason not to. Some babies show no interest in cereal until they are a little older. You could try it and then wait and try again another time as well. Ask your doctor as well.

Good Luck!

the thing to remember about cereal is it really has almost zero nutritional value. so you are substituting breastmilk, which is 100% good for him, high in good fats, antibodies, etc, w/ an empty carbohydrate. rice ground up into flakes has an even higher glycemic index than regular rice, which is a good way to jump into the whole juvenile diabetes problem. your ped may say that you baby needs the iron, but i contend that if a bloodtest hasn't been done, how does the ped know? babies have been bf for as long as the human race has been around, and if there was a problem w/ iron levels in bm, i'm sure evolution would have taken care of that by now. just my 2 cents!

If you aren't doing it for your convenience, my doctor told me that there are new studies that have proven that if you stay exclusive on breastmilk until 6 months, that there are several benefits for the baby that effect development and allergies. Plus, I would think that cereal would increase weight, so I don't know if that is a concern for you, but it is for me because juvenile diabetes runs in the family. I think the longer I can keep my son on what God gives me, the better. I would hold off until 6 months if you can - I'm trying, but I don't know if my milk supply will last (I'm working and pumping and it's a little stressful). Anyway, can't wait to hear what you decide to do!

After my 3 children, I say if the kids seem content & are sleeping well, leave it be. The latest I began feeding was 6 1/2 mos & that's because she was reaching for my food (her brothers', etc). The earliest was at 4 mos because he WASN'T sleeping at night & would wake up hungry.

And, I'm with you with not wanting to use a bottle for cereal. I think if they're at the stage for cereal, they should be able to be spoon fed....*she says this after doing it with her 1st & realizing how wrong it was* My youngest was the latest fed & she zoomed through the baby foods (to test for allergies) & was strictly on table foods by 8-81/2 mos.

They're all so different, aren't they..? :-)

Jessica,
All babies are different. My son was holding and using a sippy cup at 3 months old! I had been told since he was 6 weeks old how alert and smart (mature) he was. So, just for the heck of it we tried water in a sippy and he used it correctly. He was a gassy colicy baby who was on Nutramigen most of his infant months. We introduced oatmeal cereal (less binding) at 4 months (use breastmilk to mix for your baby). He did just fine on it and from there we were told by our ped that it was ok to start orange/yellow veggies. He always ate so good (until now at 1 yr...lol). I was given a chart by my ped that has been written by the AAP. It is suggested that they start cereal and veggies at 4 months but you do not have to.
Good Luck!
Christina

Strictly opinion - I only had one of my 3 kids from birth (due to the way we adopted.) I tried introducing him to cereal at 4.5 months because he always seemed hungry after his bottles. After many tears and chaos, I stopped and tried again at 5 months. After lots of gas and constipation even with watery, small amounts of cereal, we stopped and tried again at 6 months and were fine from there. He had a sensitive stomach from birth and had to have Nutramigen formula so I guess his internal workings just weren't ready before that. So, if I ever have to do it again, I will likely wait until 6 months old.

But, as someone else said, they're all so different! If you really want to, give it a try - it isn't going to permanently damage him!