Infant Starting Solids

My name is S. and I am a mother of a 4 year old and I am going to have another baby in April and I know the frustation of being a first time mom. I stated my son on solids when he was 5 mouths old and gave him ceral and fruit like banannas and mash potatos and anything that is soft and he could easily mash with his mouth. The trick is to only give him little a day so he gets used to it and only one item a day because you may have to watch to see if there is going to be an allergic reaction.

I started my kids out really earlier with solids. I would try them your DR said it was okay. Just make sure to stick to one kind for awhile in case of food allergies that way you will know what caused what. Example do not do like mixed veggies. Start with greeen peas and stick to that for about 2 weeks before you change. Good luck

Hello. I have a son that turned 4 months on 10/17. Our Doctor told us we could also start solids at any time now. She did warn us though to start with vegitables. She told us not to use the light colored ones because they are sweeter in taste. She also told us to try to wait to do fruit because they are also sweeter. This could be why kids don't like vegitables! Hopefully I helped you out.

My son is around the same age. Our doctor started him a little early on cereal... about 3 1/2 months to help with GERD. He now has tried veggies and we are doing fruits now. He is handling it fine. I think its a personal choice between you and your baby. Good luck!

Hi. I just had my 3erd boy on 6-8-06. Funny is that my birthday is on the 2end too. Anyway my doctor said it was best to wait till 6mo to introduce veggies and fruits. I usually start with fruits first but my sister in law likes to start with the veggies. She 's already feeding her daughter veggies and she is 4mo. I have usually started feeding them the fruits between 5 and 6 mo. depending on if they seem like they need more and something new to eat. If you are doing plan rice, try a flavored one first, and you can also do oatmeal if he is good at eating rice and has been for awail. When you start a new food wait a week before starting a new one to make sure of no allergies to it. Hope this helped!

Hi there...sounds like you have some wonderful advice...hope this is more too. Just remember to start out slow. When I gave my kids their rice cereal, it wasn't too much longer and I started them on Gerber carrots, then peas, then green beans. Then came Gerber banana's, pears, applesauce, etc. You can always start out by just adding some of whatever you want them to try to the rice cereal and let them get used to the taste. I noticed the hungrier they got, the thicker I'd make the rice cereal, and soon, one small jar of carrots wasn't enough. I would have to thicken it up a little. My son was very picky, he still kind of is and he is now 11. He wouldn't hardly eat any proteins until a couple years ago, so I had alot of eggs and peanut butter on hand for him. This started right out from the get go. When he could eat when he was a baby, I would try like the Gerber dinners and he would never touch them. although he still will not eat food that is like a hotdish. He doesn't like his food mixed together. But when he was little, I would give him his snacks like cheese, yogurt, chocolate-peanut butter shakes, etc. Any kind of calcium and protein I would work with. Especially cheese. Just becareful to know what your feeding and when to watch for food allergies. I always also added water to their juice when they were small so it wouldn't give them the runs. Pear juice seemed to always be the top choice. It was yummy and gentle on their little tummys. Grape and Orange may cause them to go, go , go....Hope this helps....they are so cute at that age!! I miss my kids being small like that. so cuddly and cooing at everything....Best of luck to you....

A., I used the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron as a guide for feeding my baby solids. She started at 6 months. The book was fantastic - I couldn't have done without it. Some people complained about the author's detail and her personal "foibles", but if you choose to look past that, it was amazing. Not only did it tell you when, how and what to feed the baby, it also saved us a ton of money. I cooked all the food myself, and it wasn't nearly as difficult or as time consuming as people said it would be. If you decide to go with her method and ever need any advice just e-mail me. B..

We started solids around 6 months. We startd with fruits first, since they seem to like them more. I think applesauce was first. We stayed with that for about a week, to make sure there were no allergies, and did that until they tried them all. We then went to veggies and did the same thing. We worked up to stage 2 Gerber, and by the time we went through that, they were ready for regular food.
Good luck!

I fed my girls just cereal for only about 2 weeks or so, then I started adding a new food every few days. I don't know if that's right, but everything went well and they're 2 and 1 with no know allergies. Hope this helps! Jenny

I second Barb's advice on buying the SUPER BABY FOOD book,
I used her method and my almost 2 year old in still eating kale and lentils and brewer's yeast for breakfast (amongst other wholesome things) and she loves it because she aquired a taste for it at such a young age. She has never been to the doctor for being sick because she has never had anything beyond a stuffy nose and teething woes to this date. We are what we eat (well that and maybe her dad's good genes--I still get sick all the time). The book is an incredible tool (with a bunch of craft ideas too).

I started my son on gerber foods about that age. Start out with gerber 1. They are more runny than the 2 or 3 and there is less food in the jar. Just start on one food at a time. usually a couple days between switching this will help you make sure there's no allergic reactions. Stay away from any food with honey or peanut butter until your son is at least 1 year old.

When you do start with the fruits and vegetables, I suggest you start with the vegetables. This way he gets used to those before starting him on the sweet stuff. I found that works for getting the child to like vegetables. It worked with my daughter and grandson. If you start with the sweet taste, it makes it harder for the child to like his vegetables.

I started my son on solids 2 mo ago (he was 4 mo). The best advice I can give you is to realize there is no right answer. Everyone has different opinions on when and what foods to start with. I think you just have to see what works for you, but make sure to wait a coule days in-between starting different foods. I also make my own food and that has been absolutely wonderful. I just use ice cube trays to freeze the puree in. It is not that time consuming and is very economical. I hope this helps.

I have found this website to be great. And has lots of menus you can use and lots of ideas!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm