Thinking About Starting My Son on Solids

A recent study said starting solids before 6 months can be one factor that leads to a greater chance of childhood obesity. They don't know why. I would try to delay as long as possible.

All you can do is experiment. If he gets a stomach ache you'll know it's too soon, and he'll definitely let you know.

My suggestion is waiting ... there are too many risks that can occur when you rush it and baby does not really NEED solids yet. There are too many studies showing the benefits of holding off but there are just as many saying the opposite, personally I agree w/ the pedi telling you to hold off. Hand to mouth is NORMAL for babies ... I knew my son was ready when I was eating a burger (I was holding him while sitting) and all of a sudden there he was his mouth on my whataburger! That was at 6mo I knew he was ready then.

I would wait a few more weeks, and try the additional ounce of formula. He may be happy with 7 oz.

I think people fret too much about the timeline of when to do this and when to do that. It's VERY important to take all things into consideration and listen to the advice of doctors, but there's nothing more powerful than mother's intuition too. Don't get hung up on all the little measurements!

I have always fed my son on demand. I started him on solids around 3-4 months. He was starving and I knew it. Breastfeeding and supplementing with formula was not cutting it, he teethed early, sat up early, etc-so I didn't think twice about doing it. Start slow, start one food at a time and see how it goes. Your son might get bound up, that's what happened to mine somewhat. Prunes are great for that, my son actually liked them too. My son actually didn't really care for cereal after several tries, so I started him on pureed actual foods like sweet potatoes and banana. I avoided the jars until he was a little older and I only bought organic -highly recommend Earth's Best.

Every baby is different and he might have trouble with it, or it might just take off and he and you will feel so much better. Bottom line is, heed advice, make smart choices, and do what's best for YOUR baby, not anyone else. Sounds like you have a good plan in place.

Good luck to you!

Lots of people like to tell you the evils of doing solids too soon.

Bottom line - it's fine. You're not going to harm your baby. He's either going to take to it, or not. You'll know if he's not ready - he simply won't keep food in his mouth - he'll push it back out with his tongue. It's a normal reflex.

Remember that spoon feeding also takes practice, so give him a few weeks where you try it 1x a day. If he's ready, the tongue thrust reflex will go away on it's own. If it doens't, give him another month and try again.
It takes them a little while to get the hang of it.

I started both of my kids on cereal at 10weeks. They're huge and healthy kiddos.
Go for it, and get a big bib! :)

I waited because their little tummy's have to work harder when you introduce solids. My daughter got constipated from rice cereal even at 6 months. Why rush it??? I remember giving 8 oz bottles at that age too.

I think it's better to wait until 6 months too. When he hits 6 months you can start him on almost anything (veggies, fruits, etc.) If you think he's that hungry, I would guess that several more ounces per day of formula is going to be more filling than 1 tsp of rice cereal. I'm not a big fan of rice cereal anyway since I don't think it's got any nutritional value.

I know starting solids is exciting. But I always felt like it was a big pain in the butt. It's messy, it takes time, and since I always BF on demand it seemed inconvenient trying to feed solids at times that didn't interfere with BFing since the bulk of their nutrition comes BM or formula. That means feeding them BM or formula before any solids are offered since solids are for practice before a year. That's just my experience though.

In the grand scheme of things, 2 months isn't really that long to wait. But good luck with however you decide to do it!

My little one is 5 months and she sometimes takes 8 or 9 ounce bottles. What is the rush to go to cereal instead of bigger bottles which are easier for them to digest?

What is the hurry? Your baby should be getting everything he needs from breast milk or formula and there really is no reason to rush him to start solid foods.

they give you all kinds of confusing advice dont they.
for your child's intestines, wait. if hes ripping the spoon from your hands when you are eating, then try some stuff. you dont have to start with rice cereal either. start with whatever you want really. i mean, not meat or dairy, but fruits and veggies, one at a time.
anyway. good luck. wanting to nurse more is a growth spurt thing, and putting things in the mouth is an infant thing. so those 2 signs are not signs of readiness for solids.
if you do try it, if you get the mouthful right back out again, just stop; hes not ready. the gag reflex is also a big indicator of being ready. if its not turned off, hes not ready.

I think you should listen to your Dr. Doctors aren't right all the time and it's good to do your own research, but he's right with this one. He's a baby, there is no rush. Not only that, your nurse supported his advice. DO what they say.

I am with you! My son will be 4 months on March 21 and I plan on talking to the doc about the same thing. He drinks anywhere between 6-7oz every 3 hours and sometimes barely makes it that long. He still gets up twice a night to eat as well. I am not sure if he's not filling up or if he would go longer. I am trying the 7oz but he doesn't always take it. I have read the same recommendations but my mom said I was on rice cereal at 3 months because I wasn't getting full! I'll check back after my doc appt and let you know what he says. My son is a chunk topping out around 18 lbs right now too.

Remember that Gerber is trying to sell you a product, they want you to think your baby NEEDS their rice cereal, that's why they put on signs of readiness on the box.

Both my daughters were exclusively breastfed until 6 months. Both were sitting UNsupported by 5 months, reaching for food and leaning towards things near their mouth long before 6 months also. My younger daughter actually started scooting on her tummy before we started solids. Until 1 year your baby will gets most of his nutrition from formula, so listen to your Dr. and don't rush the solids.

Regardless if your infant can sit up or lean towards the spoon... his gastrointestinal tract is still open and immature. It will start closing around 6 months. The formula has already introduced foreign bacteria and irritation... but adding a new irritant is not a good idea until the tract has closed.

Also - do not use rice cereal, it is completely nutritionless - wasted calories without benefit AND causes most infants constipation. Oats or barely would be a better first choice - at least they offer fiber!

six plus cereal and dependingon him he may need more than 1 tsp once a day on cereal. if you try that and he still acts hungry go to 7 oz and 1 tsp cereal. if he starts eating more than every 3 hrs on 7 oz and 1 tsp a day go to 3 7 oz bottles with 1 tsp and the other bottles just formula. the longer you can keep him on formula only the better. but i also cant knock you for thinking about starting cereal this early. i had one I started at 5 weeks and one at 8 weeks so I commend you for holding out as long as possible. but if you can get him to stay on as much formula as necessary before adding more cereal the better. with my youngest i was using all wic was giving me plus 4 more cans a month and 3 boxes of cereal at 4 months. the reason i went over the wic amount of formula was cause he acted like he was starving. and the cereal for the same reason by the time he was six months he was getting half cereal and half formula bottles and i was still having to buy 3 more can of formula than what wic was giving me. this was the powder cans. if he is exceeding wic amount of formula its time to add ceral but make sure he eats all of his formula every month.

I fed my son as much formula as he wanted until he self weaned himself off the bottle at 12 months. We feed him 3 solid meals a day and he would eat 2 or 3 jars and still have 24 oz of formula. We started him at 7 months. Our daughter is 7 months now and we started her at 4 months because she wasnt gaining enough weight. It didnt work and she has just started taking solids. I wish i would have waited but I was worried about her weight. Feed as much formula as possible that is where he gets his nutrients anyway...

I agree with just giving him more formula. Putting things in their mouth is what babies do...it doesn't mean he wants to eat everything that he gets his hands on.

I don't necessarily think that introducing solids early is definitely going to cause a problem...I just don't think it is necessary.

I do think that rice cereal is about one of the most useless foods. It has little NATURAL nutrient value and isn't very calorie dense. Adding it is essentially adding filler to his formula.

I am a firm believer that everything that goes into a child's mouth for the first couple of years should have a nutritional purpose.

My daughter exclusively breastfed for nearly nine months. I would have given her formula if needed, but never saw any reason to introduce solids in a big way before then...she started tasting things somewhere between seven and nine months. Actively eating solids around ten months.

Good luck. It is always hard to know the right thing to do. Do your research and do the right thing for you and your family.

I was the same way when my son turned 4 months. The doctors here in Mexico all say to wait until 8 months or more to start any solids because they need milk more than anything. However, my mom kept a book of every milestone for me and says that she started me on cereal in February, I was born in mid January. I figured this meant that it wasn't so horrible to start them earlier. I started my son on rice cereal at 5 months because I just couldn't wait any more. Although now I'm thinking that was a bad idea, he's 9 months now and there are times that he doesn't want food and will just take the bottle when he's sooo tired, but the majority of the time he wants more and more solid foods. I think it could be for his size, though. His dad and I are both tall and he's already in only clothes for 24 months so I think he needs more food.

When our daughter turned 4 months old (she is now 9 mo), our pediatrician told us that the rules had changed and it is now a good thing to start at 4 months because there is some thought that if you wait until 6 mo they might reject food because of the texture. I wasn't sure as my 1st dd waited until 6 mo and was fine, but I decided the pediatrician should know best so we started on 1 meal of solids at 4 mo and stayed with only 1 meal for almost a month. It was slow going as my dd didn't understand/know how to eat but she has caught on and is now a great eater. I personally am not sure it made any difference to wait until 6 mo or start at 4 mo, so I would say to each her own and if it feels right to you, go ahead and start the solids.