My baby boy is 5 months old, 2 weeks and eats about 24 oz of formula each day. He eats rice cereal (I am starting to do the rice cereal with apple or the one with mixed fruit to see if he likes it) 2x a day - usually in the morning and at night time with about 6oz of formula. Am I feeding him too much and when should I start feeding him jar food? I've tried asking my baby's doctor and he told me it was fine to be feeding him solids at 4 months. I know I shouldn't be putting the rice cereal in the bottle but my fiance thinks it is okay. When I have done that, it is never thick, it's always runny, so he never has a problem eating it. I think I am going to start feeding him with a spoon and mix it with formula in a bowl though, so he can start getting used to eating that way. But how thick should I make it? What do you think I should do? And how often should I be feeding him and what exactly should I be feeding him? I am really wanting to know as this is my first child. Sorry for all the questions but I am a new momma and just want to do things right for my baby! Thanks all! :)
Thank you everyone for the advice! As a new mom, I want to give my baby boy the best! I agree with most of you about the pedetrician. Every time I have gone, he never seems to answer my questions like I want. He is super nice but I don't think he is helping me as much as I want him to. I think it's time to get a new doctor for my baby. As far as feeding him solids, you were all so helpful! I have been researching since he was in my belly about how to feed him and how to make sure he is getting what he needs. Based on your answers, I think the best thing to do is introduce the cereal slowly with the formula and make it runny. I'll feed it to him once a day with a spoon until he gets used to it. Then I'll start doing it more and thicken the consistency. I think some of you are right to say I could wait to start feeding him solids (as he is just 5 months, and 2 weeks old), but he is holding his head up perfectly, he looks at mine and daddy's food when we eat and even reaches for our drinks/food when he's hungry. It's the cutest thing and I feel so bad because I know he has no teeth and he's too little - otherwise I would give him a little of my food! I don't want to rush things though and I definitely want to take my time. Thanks again for all the help! And I am sure I'll be back if I have any other questions! :)
A five month old should really have breastmilk or formula. Around six months of age you can start introducing other foods. Rice cereal has no real nutritional value so you can actually skip it completely in favor of fruits or veggies. You can't really go wrong so don't worry- babies will not overeat and if they are hungry they will let you know:) Enjoy this exciting time.
I personally think that starting solids at 5 months is crazy! No offense intended, I know a lot of moms do it. My boys didn't start solids until they were already walking (somewhere in the 8-9mo. range) and even then it was only experimenting for them. They've have a nibble of this, or a bite of whatever they could grab off of my plate. Both of my boys are fantastic and healthy eaters now. They even eat their brussels sprouts and they're only 8yo and 2yo! I think this is because I let them tell me when THEY were ready. They really don't NEED solids for the first year, so why force them?
Some safety guidelines though, if you are going to feed solids early.
Your baby has to be able to hold his head up independently, this is very important. If he can't then he's at great risk of choking.
Really, he should be sitting up independently before solids are started.
Always supervise him closely. I let my boys drink from a cup (about 9-10 months) before I let them handle their own spoons (vice finger foods)
Pay close attention to his stools. Baby's digestive system is still immature at this age and anything with harsh proteins in it can cause intestinal bleeding. (another great reason for waiting to introduce solids!)
And yes, you shouldn't be putting the rice cereal in his bottle.
Let him experiment and try all kinds of different things. Mashed bananas are a popular first food. Don't stress about giving him a balanced diet this early, plenty of time for that later, after he turns 1.
Hope I was able to at least give you a different perspective! :)
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And another thing. I think you should find a new pediatrician. Yours doesn't sound very experienced. Any pediatrician worth his/her salt knows that you can't put an arbitrary age on developmental milestone. You can give a range, yes, but every child is different and new experiences for baby have to be weighed against how far baby has come on their own developmental scale. For your doctor to say it's ok to start at 4 months (arbitrary age line), well, that sounds negligent and lazy to me. I'd look for a new doc ASAP.
I agree with the others below, but want to take a step back and look at the larger picture. Infant formula and "baby food" has only been around for about a century. The human race has existed *much* longer than Gerber! ;-) So, what did moms do before that?
Baby food is a social norm, but is far from necessary. My kids never had any -- I went straight to table food. Basically, if we were eating something that was not too hard or spicy (something like cooked carrots, not chips and salsa), I would put a bit out on their tray for them to get used to picking up and putting into their mouths. Babies get very little nutritionally from solid food until they get older, but they do learn how to pick things up and put them in their mouths, and can develop a taste for real food.
I agree with Courtney, babies that young should never need or have solid food or cereal.
Their stomachs don't have the stomach acid needed to properly digest these foods, which is why they can develop allergies or have bad gas/bowel movements from them.
Just stick with the formula- he'll grow up soon enough! :)
Good luck!
Hi J.!
The most important thing to know about feeding your baby food is...there is absolutely no substantial nutritional value your son will receive from food right now. During the baby's first year, all nutrition comes from the breastmilk or formula. The only reason we start introducing cereal, then pureed/jarred food, etc. is to start teaching the child how to handle food in the mouth, swallow and chew. Once your child turns 1 year old, he will need to be able to depend upon eating food for his nutrients.
Because the purpose of baby cereal and baby food is to teach your baby to use his mouth for consumption, there is absolutely no reason to have cereal in the bottle. It's not teaching your child anything at all. I would stop putting it in the bottle.
At 5 or 6 months, you can start with spoon feeding the cereal once a day -- lunch or dinner or whenever convenient for you. It may take a few weeks for your son to get comfortable and enjoy it. Leave it pretty runny at first and play it by ear -- thicken it if need be. Don't be surprised if your son refuses to eat -- because it's new and takes so much effort. There is no need to feed your son more than once a day until he really gets the hang of things. After the cereal, move to a single pureed or jarred (stage 1) veggie. Introduce one new stage 1 veggie at a time for a 3-day period, so you can monitor for any food allergies. Do many of the veggies before you start the fruits. Start adding a 2nd meal in a few months and a 3rd after that. Introduce the gamut of stage 1 veggies and fruits before you move to the mixed flavors, etc. Again -- so you can monitor for allergies.
Please remember that you son must get the full serving of his breastmilk/formula at his regular feedings. However, when you are introducing spoon feeding, do the spoon feeding first. It takes a lot of energy for your little guy to manage spoon feeding and he probably won't do it if he is not hungry!
I hope this helps! Best wishes.
EDIT: Please don't let anyone terrify you. Your Pediatrician is not, necessarily, wrong. (Although, I wish he had given you more specific instructions about how to introduce solids.) The American Academy of Pediatrics indicates you can begin teaching your child how to "eat" solids anywhere between 4-6 months. Here's a link:
http://www.healthychildren.org/english/ages-stages/baby/f...
follow his signs he should be eating about every 5 hours now if i remember correctly lol but every baby is different. one thing i will say tho is dont do fruits first you want to start with veggies but even then you could wait until 6 months. they change the rules so much its hard to keep up i started my girls on jar food at 4 months and they did fine!
Other responses touched on this, but I also wanted to suggest, as far as how much to feed, that you listen to your son and only feed him if he is interested and opens his mouth to take the food, rather than just spooning it in yourself. If he is ready to eat, he will open his mouth when you offer food and reach for whatever you are eating. If not, he may not be ready yet.
This also teaches him to listen to his body for cues that he is full, which you both might miss if you go the route of force feeding him a certain amount. My son is now 8 months old, and we started feeding him around 6 months. I just offered the food (fruits and veggies, pureed) on a spoon, and if he took it, great, if not, no big deal. Even now he sometimes is not interested in eating when I try to feed him, but I don't try to force him or make a big deal out of it, because I know he's still getting all his nutrition from breastmilk.
And as far as what to eat, I started at 6 mo. feeding pureed fruits and veggies, but I found my son was much more interested in feeding himself and/or eating food from my plate rather than the pureed stuff!
Hope this helps!
