Starting Solids at 5 Months?

My pediatrician told me to start my dsughter on rice cereal or oatmeal when she was 4 1/2 months. I waited until she was 5 months. I also was only breastfeeding, and it seemed like she was starting to take interest in what I was eating, so the Dr said that was a sign that she was ready. She will only eat Oatmeal with bananas, not the plain stuff, and I don't blame her - yuck. I limit the rice cereal because it binds her up. At 5 1/2 months I started Stage 1 veggies and it took a few days to get used to it, but now she eats one jar, twice a day. I sometimes will add a little rice cereal to the food to thicken it up just slightly. My daughter is 6 1/2 months and her pediatrician told me I can start Stage 2 any time now.

Hi E., My daughter was exculsively breastfed for the first 4 months and when she turned 4 months she started feeding every two hours and just seemed very hungry still. I called the Dr.'s office and they said that i could feed rice cereal because it was the only "solid" that her digestive system could handle. don't worry about her gaining weight. if she is hungry feed her some cereal. it will not hurt her or really pack on the pounds. it will satisfy her. as you probably know when we eat rice it only fills our stomache for a few hours and then we are hungry again. but it will help her and help you as well. then when she turns 6 months you can start with some veggies. my daughter is 7 months now and even though she is a champion eater, she isn't getting too big. i worried about her weight too because my family seems to be "big natured". good luck!!

What I did with my children is start one food per week to make sure that there is no problems with each new food. Start slow that's the best method! Hope this helps!

E.,
I have three wonderful girls...and all three started cereal around 5 months or so. I watered it down so that it would "slide" in and this lasted about 3 weeks. Then, they all acted so hungry that I decided to try it w/out water...they picked up on it quickly! My babies were all breastfed and then formula fed and the bottles continued until about 1 year old. My one year old has taken herself off of her bottle...just not as many as before. Start with a rice cereal and see how it goes...mine also enjoyed the flavored baby jar cereals around 6 months. Don't worry about weight, etc for your little one. Once she starts crawling, etc the activity will keep it all in check. Each baby is different, so if she seems hungry, try it! My last girl, one year old now, weighs 21 pounds...she was born 7.2 but my others were much larger babies....8.14 and 8.8...they are doing well. Don't worry about the cereal.

Good Luck,
J.

Hi E.,

Mercy sent me here. :)

Congratulations on exclusively breastfeeding your baby! You are getting her off to a great start!

Signs of readiness for solids include:
-the ability to sit up (and this means sit unsupported!)
-a fading of the tongue-thrusting relex
-readiness to chew
-the ability to pick up food & put in mouth
-an increased demand to nurse that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, or a change in routine

Note that babies have a growth spurt around 6 months of age & will nurse more in order to increase mom's milk supply.

Many babies will seem to show an interest in eating when all they are really interested in is participating in mealtime with the rest of the family. My first was satisfied far past 6 months by playing with a clean spoon while we ate. My youngest is 3.5 months & is just starting to grab for my plate. She can't grasp much yet, but she enjoys playing with my napkin as I eat. Other moms I know will put Baby in the highchair at mealtime. Some babies are satisfied with toys on their highchair tray, while others want a plate & spoon that look "real."

Concerning the future weight issue, introducing solids early is associated with an increased body fat & weight in childhood. This webpage has more benefits to delaying solids: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html It also has links to three studies addressing the future obesity connection.

When you do start solids, here are some tips:
-Breastfeed before offering solids. This helps keep baby happy at those first attempts, plus it helps protect your milk supply.
-Make sure you offer one food at a time (no mixed grain cereal) so that you can tell if baby reacts to something.
-Allow about a week between each new food, watching for an allergic reaction.
-Start with a teaspoon or less of each new food & increase gradually.
-If baby is 6 months or more when you begin solids, the foods do not need to be pureed or liquefied.
-It isn't necessary to buy commercial baby food. Just mash some of the real stuff yourself.
-Good first foods are banana, avocado, or cooked sweet potato.
-Meat is also good to serve early on because of it high iron & protein content.
-Avoid the following in the first year: Cow's milk, eggs (esp. whites), peanuts, citrus fruits, berries, & honey.
-Avoid during 1st year & limit thereafter: dried fruits, fried foods, added sugar, artificial sweeteners, & foods high in salt.

La Leche League of Jacksonville meets at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 1115 Lejeune Blvd, on the first Friday of each month at 9 am. Please come meet other breastfeeding moms!

Hi. My son was the same way when he was younger. I introduced my son to cereal at about 5 months. I was breast feeding and he just seemed to be hungry all the time. I mixed just a little bit of cereal in a bowl with my milk in the beginning. It took a little bit for he got the hang of it but as she gets older, she will understand the spoon. My son wasn't interested in taking it from a bottle. It didn't take long before he saw the spoon and opened his mouth. If you want to keep breastfreeding her, make sure you are pumping because she won't eat as often and you can stop producing milk. Hope this helps!

I haven't had to do this yet but my mom had a problem with my older brother who seemed to be always hungry. Her and my dad would put the rice cereal in a bottle and turn it into a drink instead of a solid. Just add more water or breastmilk to it whatever you are gonna use my mom formula fed so she put formula in it. She would only do this at night and in the morning sometimes. Make sure it is thin enough to drink thru the bottle my mom and dad said it worked wonders.

Hello E.,
I started all 3 of my children on Rice Cereal at 4 months old and by the time they were about 5 months old I started them on veggies and fruits. My pediatrician had no concerns about the baby foods at all. Breast Feeding exclusivly can be very hard on us woman!!! I felt like I never had a break to do anything, it seemed as soon as she was done eating it was time for the next feeding. Just be sure when you start that you give only 1 type per week. It just helps due to the child having a reaction that you know what it is from. You may want to start off with veggies first cuz if you give sweets first they may not want to try the veggies that don't taste as good. Well, I hope this helped a little and Good Luck!!!

Hi E. -

Starting your child on solids and obesity have nothing to do with each other. My oldest started solids really early because he was devouring 8 oz bottles of formula (sometimes more)in a sitting at about 2 months old. The pedi recommended that we start cereal. The key is to start out slowly. If she is looking for more, don't deprive her at such a young age. Babies grow at a very fast rate and need the food to keep up with growth. My son is 6 now and he is just fine, he is really tall (tall parents and family).

Now, once she gets a little older - you just need to monitor what you are giving your child to eat. Giving her a healty diet of fruits, veggies, grains, etc. most of the time will probably help her stay at a healthy weight. The occasional cookie or a Happy Meal will not make your daughter obese as she gets older.

Good luck!! :-)

My first girl started on solids at 4 1/2 months and my little one started at 6 months. All babies have different needs, I was so worried, at first, that my baby wasn't getting enough to eat so I started her on rice cereal and she loved it. Next were the veggies and then came the fruit. She was a great eater...then when my second baby got to the four month mark, I thought time for rice cereal...she wouldn't touch the stuff. Her pedi told me to hold off for a couple weeks and try again....the whole time she was eating baby foods I could never get her to open up for rice cereal because she preferred oatmeal...she is a lot more fickle than my oldest...At 5 months your little one is at a great age to start on solids, especially if she's letting you know about it...my girls would grab for things that I would eat, they were sitting up well, and had also doubled their birth weight...don't worry about your baby being over weight, it sounds like she is a happy healthy girl and you're taking very good care of her:)

Fisrt off, don't worry that she will end up over weight by starting her on baby food now. As she gets more active with crawling and walking she will slim down. My two kids were on the opposite ends of the weight percentile, my daughter was 7.3 and wasn't even 20 lbs by time she was one. My son was 7.9 and by his 6th month check up was pushing 18lbs!! I was totally shocked he was under 20 myself cause he is a chunk!! He goes next month for his 9 month so I'm sure he is well over 20 lbs. But my daughter took after me (I'm 5'10 and keep teetering between 130 and 140-dang baby weight-and before kids was 125) as a baby and my son is taking after his dad (he was a very chunky baby and is now 6'2 and 200 some lbs). I started my son on solids at 4 months with rice cereal and 1/2 a jar of stage 1 prunes mixed in and formula to thin it out. Cereal can bind them up but the prunes can counter act that. He loved it the first time and it only took him 3 spoonfuls to figure it out!! Try that and wait for a day or so if you are worried about food allergies, and then try some apples or pears, squash and carrots are good veggies to try first since they are naturaly sweet. Give a day or between new foods to see how she'll react and don't expect her to take to each one off the jump either. It may take a few tries on the same food before she'll like it. Just try a 1/2 jar of Stage 1 for now. This is how I started:1/2 jar of fruit with 1/2 formula scoop of rice cereal for breakfast & 2oz of formula (also used to thin cereal), lunch 1/2 fruit and 1/2 veggie & 2oz formula (my son is pigglet!!), and same as lunch for dinner with bottles of just formula in between meals as needed. When he started to eat almost full jars of the stage 1 I went to 1/2 jar servings of stage too and uped the amount of formula. Hold off on the desserts, dinners and single meats for a bit in stage 2 till she has been on them for a while since they are thicker. I hope this helps and I'm sure you'll get different opinions so you'll just have to see what works best for the two of you as no child is the same!!

S.

First of all relax,i am a firt timer myelf my son also has doubled his birthweight at 6 months old. i started him on cereal when he was four months old because his formaula wasnt enough anymore. i started it with one table spoon mixed with formula(or in your case breatmilk) i mxed it as soupy as i could than gradually thickened it up he took to it like a chmp and since has had no problems with baby food just make sure to give the same kind of cearel our food to her at least three days to make sure she is not allergic my son is 6 months old and 20 pounds and his ped doctor tells me its great to see a healthy baby like this. i also heard that when he starts crawling he will burn off the weight. good luck i hope all works out whatever you choose to do and may God bless your little one.

HELLO E.,
I HAVE A 10 MONTH OLD, HE WAS BORN AT 9LBS 1 OUNCE. HE DOUBLED HIS BIRTH WEIGHT AT 3 MONTHS OLD. HEAVINESS RUNS ON MY HUSBANDS SIDE OF THE FAMILY. ANYWAYS...I STARTED FEDING HIM SOLIDS BETWEEN 3 1/2 AND 4 1/2 MONTHS. BUT I ALSO HAD ALWAYS PUT BABY CEREAL IN HIS BOTTLES. YOU SAID YOU FEEL LIKE SHE'S READY? WELL YOU MIGHT BE A FIRST TIME MOTHER, BUT YOU/RE LISTENING TO MOTHERLY INSTINCS AND THAT'S GOOD. A MOTHER ALWAYS KNOWS BEST WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR BABIES. IT'S REALLY FUN FEEDING YOUR KIDS SOLIDS FOR THE FIRST TIME!! TRY REGULAR STAGE ONE BABY JAR FOOD. SHE MIGHT MAKE A FUNNY FACE LIKE IT TASTES NASTY, BUT SHE'LL DO THAT WITH EACH NEW FLAVOR SHE TRIES. ALSO, DOCTORS SAY TO GIVING SOLIDS BETWEEN 4&6 MONTHS ND TO GIVE JUST ONE FRUIT OR VEGGIE AT A TIME FOR 3 OR 4 DAYS STRAIGHT JUST TO MAK SURE THERE ARE NO ALLERGIES. ENJOY THIS NEW EXPERIENCE AND TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES FOR THE MEMORIES!

Starting solids that early is no big deal. Just put her on a schedule,three meals a day, just as you would eat. I have three boys and with the last two that is how I did it with them. I even started my youngest son at four months. You will find that it satisfies them and they don't seem as hungry. As for her becoming overweight, my middle son is the biggest of my three, and my youngest is the smallest and they were both fed the same way. As long as you are aware I don't think it is going to be a problem. Goodluck!!

If you think your baby is ready to start eating solids, then she is ready. I started my son on solids when he was about 4 months old, and I had no trouble with it. The pediatrician suggested starting him on rice cereal, (the infant brand of course) but he would not eat it, so I went ahead and started him on the infant oatmeal. (He does not like rice to this day, and he is five lol.) I started with a small amount, and I increased slowly as he seemed to be ready to eat more. I started him on the jar baby food a month or so later, when he started wanting more food than just cereal. I wouldn't worry too much about your husband's family's weight issues, as babies tend to eat only what they need. As she gets older, it's very important to keep her on a healthy diet. (veggies, fruits, rice and oatmeal cereals.) I would also continue breastfeeding, as long as she is willing to nurse. I continued nursing my son until he was nine months old, in addition to feeding him solid foods. It is really a trial and error sort of thing as to what foods she will like, ( my son hated the meat baby food but loved all the veggies and fruits) as moms tend to get a sense of what their baby likes/wants/needs. Be sure to double check with the pediatrician before starting solid foods, though--I'm just telling you my personal experience with my son. Good luck! Hope this helps you out.

declan started rice cereal and baby foods steadily at 4.5 months. he was too hungry for me to keep up and the dr said when that happened to go ahead and start with cereal and breast milk mixed. now he has his cereal mixed with applesauce because the vitamin c helps the iron absorption. he also gets a veggie a day. right now he's good with greenbeans and is still iffy about squash. declan was 6lbs 7oz when he was born and is now 14lbs but is still in the lower percentiles for weight and height, with weight being even lower than height. he's gotten so much more active lately and just needs the extra calories.

I probably would not put rice cereal in the bottle. I read it is one way you can easily overfeed your baby. However, at this point, you should not be concerned about your child being overweight. The reason is you might underfeed your baby and at this point, she needs to have certain nutrients and vitamins in her diet. If you are that concerned, consult with your pediatrician to make sure they are aware of your concerns.

Hi E. :)

I have a son who just turned six months old on the 11th of January, when He was first born, He was 7lbs 6 oz, but the first day that He was born, he was drinking 3 onces every 2-3 hours, and when i brought him home, he was drinking 4 ounces every 2-3 hours, by his second week he was drinking 10 four ounce bottles a day! i ended up putting a lil bit of ceral in his bottles to fill him up a bit, but that didnt help much, when he was 2 months old i started him on cereal and fruits, now He has doubled his body weight and then some.. grins.. He is a big healthy baby, not far but very long, 22 pounds and 28 inches long, i say, do what you feel is right, if thats what she wants to eat let her, my son eats three baby jars a food a day, and about 5 bottles now, and well.. thats what seems to work for Him!

M.

I've started my daughter on rice already and she is 5 1/2 months - I started a week or so ago. The little stinker took right to it like she's been doing it for weeks already. Even though she is smaller than my other 2 were at this age...she seems to be a better eater!

For the first feeding I mixed a tbls or so of rice cereal with 3 tbls of forumla (not pumping well)...just made it pretty soupy...she sucked it off the spoon. Over the next few days...I just made it thicker.

I also made her first feeding at night - closer to bedtime - in hopes that it would also make her sleep a little longer...

I asked my ped when I could start doing food-food...she said as long as she was doing so well with the rice cereal I could start the food whenever. So, we're gonna add in some of the first stage foods next week (she's got a little bug thanks to DS so we need to get over that first!)

Feedind her food now is not gonna make her obese. I started both my other 2 children around 5 -6 months...and my 4 year old girl is a "rail"...and my boy - while "sturdier" is still slim.

I think you should be more careful about feeding as they get older...the snack foods, sodas, candy...etc. When my kids are hungry I just pump in the good foods...and they know they don't get candy as snack - so I have a shelf of "healthy" snacks they can choose from! And they don't know the difference - so they don't mind.
\J.

My son was 2 months premature so you can adjust the age. I started him on rice cereal at 5 months and veggies at 5 and a half months. I started the veggies after only 2 weeks bc he was just not really into the cereal, but he liked it mixed in with his veggies and fruit.

4 months should be fine to start her, but if you are truly unsure give a call in to your ped's office and they will tell you what they think is best.

Hi E.,
I'm in Richlands very near Jacksonville. I am not a member of La leche League but I have many friends that are. That would be the best place for you to go for breast feeding support.

I did extended breastfeeding with both my son (12) and Daughter (8) until they were at least two. We did not have a feeding schedule we were on demand! So in that vein....feed her when she wants to be fed and as much as she wants.

Are you having trouble producing enough...taking too much time etc? I can rememeber a point where I felt like that is ALL we did.

It is awesome that you are in tune with the possibilities of weight issues. It means that you are thinking about the family genectics and really planning for your daughter to be healthy! Don't let it weigh soo heavy on things now.

I'm sending your message on to someone that is living a breat feeding life now, and has experience. She'll have LLL info too.

hang in there!
You sound like a great momma!
-mercy

I think I started between 5 & 6 months. I also consulted the peditrician before starting cereal. I used rice cereal and would mix it w/ warm breast milk until it was on the runny side. Eventually I got to the point where I could use warm water & splash of b.milk and was delighted when she finally was able to eat the amount in the 'bowl' -- which really was just a custard cup. At first, she wasn't real thrilled about something in her mouth that wasn't pure milk. And I had my first of many introductions to the concept of just keep introducing a food at least 15 times. I also let her play with the food some so she could 'feel' involved.
I, too, worry about my daughter being over-weight based on family histories. Somewhere I heard that if you breast feed a child until 6 months, the chances of that child being overweight reduces like 60% (maybe more I'm not real sure since I memorized the month as a goal) and I think if feed to like a year the likelihood reduces even more. Now that she's almost 2, I try to make sure I introduce her to as many veggies & fruits as possible and I pray I am helping set-up the basics of healthy eating for when she's an adult.
Oh something else I came across in my many readings, was that if you want your child to like a food -- ie veggies -- introduce it to them via yourbreast milk. In other words, they will develop a taste for foods based on what you eat which flavors the milk.
If you're worried she weighs too much you can talk w/ a Dr. Just keep in mind that when she starts crawling & walking, she will not be gaining weight as fast as she is now and will be burning up a LOT more calories.
By the way, I too am first time mom and don't have a lot of local support(just moved 400 miles) and no family nearby -- can we say I bug everyone I know who is a mom/dad for tips without embarrassment at my workplace.