Comments on: Question about solids for babies, more specifically rice cereal & oatmeal

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:34:46 +0000

My little one just had her 4 month appointment and the doctor also suggested starting cereal after checking how well she could hold her head up without support. The doctor said not to be discouraged if she doesn’t like something after the first try. It could take 10-12 tries to find out if a baby doesn’t like a food. I haven’t started the cereal yet, but I can’t wait to try.

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:20:14 +0000

My little guy is a couple weeks older than Monkey. We started rice cereal @ 4 mos because he was eating so much also. He was ready for it on day 1 but he does also really like oatmeal which a nurse in my ped’s office says some babies tolerate better digestively. After a few days on cereal, we introduced veggies starting with yellow/orange veggies (squash, sweet potato, carrots). We’ve sinced moved on to green veggies (peas and green beans) and slowly fruits. I am a believer in introducing veggies first and more often so my little guy doesn’t only eat fruits (which are much more popular than veggies). Talk to your dr before introducing any meat/protein or dairy. Most sources say they’re not ready for those foods until 6-8 months. My guy takes 1/4 cup of rice cereal (w/abt 1 1/2 oz of milk) or oatmeal 3x per day as well as 1/2 tub of fruit in the morning, abt 3/4 tub of veggies (usually some of 2 kinds, one green, one orange) at lunch and some veggies at night. He still takes ~30 oz of breastmilk in bottles as well (he was b/w 40-45 oz of milk b/f we started solids). Be careful about monitoring Monkey’s bowel movements until you get things regulated. My little guy got constipated and we’re still figuring out the right fruit/veggie balance. According to my dr, applesauce, bananas and carrots are all constipating. Prunes work wonders for constipation but other fruits help too. Good luck!

By: Tracylynne

Tracylynne — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:44:23 +0000

My little guy is 5 months and has no problem with rice cereal-mixed with formula and banana,applesause or pears. We tried squash-he did not like it at all. It did upset his little tummy. I am going to try carrots as he has not had very many veggies yet except sweet potato. I haven’t tried yogurt yet ..or oatmeal. As for starting too early-I leave that choice up to the parents even though they say 4-6 months is too early. We had one whopper of a poopie this morning-he had peaches last night.

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:34:16 +0000

I like recommendations that aren’t based on age (i.e. not until 6 months) and more about following baby’s cues. We noticed that our son a)was sitting up supported very well, b)was extremely interested in watching us eat, and c)when offered a spoon did not automatically push it back out (that’s one of those newborn reflexes that they have to lose before successful solid feeding) at a week shy of 4 months, so we went ahead and started offering him some rice cereal mixed with breastmilk. For the first few weeks it was just every couple of days and not that much, just letting him try it out. The next food we gave him was mashed up avocado, which he did fine with, despite some well-meaning relatives who looked at me like I was nuts (“what about some normal vegetables” lol) and now at 6 months he likes plain yogurt the best, and has also tried green beans and broccoli. I’ve been making my own by steaming and then mashing fresh veggies, and then dividing it up into ice cube trays, freezing, and tossing the cubes in a labeled plastic baggie in the freezer. Then, you can just grab a cube of whatever, and nuke it for a 20 seconds or so and you’re good to go! Making carrots the other day was torture for me because I HATE cooked carrots and the smell made me want to throw up, but we’ll see what Kevin thinks when he tries them next week!

By: MindyKoob

MindyKoob — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:24:18 +0000

I’m in agreement with the ones who said to follow Monkey’s cues. I would perhaps consult with your pediatrician just to keep him/her in the know, but if Monkey is super hungry, then he’s super hungry! And don’t concern yourself with the advice of his age and starting cereal. Every child is different and recommended guidelines are just that…guidelines.

My little guy will be 3 months on dec. 9th and we’re having to put cereal in his formula (oatmeal) due to his severe reflux. We’re doing 1 tsp for every ounce of formula and it’s done WONDERS for him! I’m hoping we’ll be able to get him off of the medication he’s had to be on. We’re using oatmeal b/c it’s easier on the GI tract too.

Good luck! SO exciting to hear of all of these changes with Monkey!!

By: Jill

Jill — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:29:47 +0000

I glanced over the other posts, but am not sure that I won’t repeat info/advice you’ve already read. G hated rice cereal too…and we didn’t try another kind, just moved on. I’m not sure what the next thing we tried was. I want to say bananas. We waited 3-4 days with each new food before trying something else. After a few weeks, she had tried enough that I started to make some combos – she wouldn’t eat fruit so I’d usually mix 2/3 vegetable, 1/3 fruit, and a few dashes of cereal to thicken it up (she also didn’t like runny food at all, and did much much better with thicker stuff.) We were also told to wait after solids and give her a bottle 1/2-1 hour later. She ate every 4 hours or so.

She stopped eating baby food around 8 months…and we switched to mushy finger food (carrots, bananas, etc) and fork-mashed dinner (whatever we were eating.) Now at 18 months, she alternates between starving and picky, but overall has an amazing appetite and will eat just about anything .

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:43:57 +0000

Hi! Saw you posting on thebump and checked out your blog. We are starting rice cereal tomorrow (LO is 5m1w). Hoping it goes well!

By: Julian's Mommy

Julian's Mommy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:35:42 +0000

I know every Pediatrician is different and will advise you differently. What ours told us was that rice cereal and/or any solids you start at this age (before 6 mos) is mainly for practice…to get them familiar with textures and to practice eating from a spoon. They generally will not eat enough to alter their current eating habits. I asked her if there was an amount I should aim for each day and she said no – that once a day to start is fine and if he seems like he wants to do it more, then move to twice a day.

I’ve heard/read about other babies who are eating whole jars of baby food at this time…and that covers one ‘meal’ for them (ie: what one bottle would). I don’t recall if any of them said if it helped to space out the feedings or not. My son is still breastfed, so we’re still on a 2 hour schedule and that is to be expected for a while at this age. I would say to keep following Monkey’s cues…he will let you know when he’s ready to start spacing out those feedings…and if you still have questions, definitely call the Pediatrician and ask. Especially if he continues to eat the 40+ oz that was a concern in the first place. Even then, I would say that as long as his weight gain is at a healthy level and he’s not projectile vomiting..he’s probably ok. When they’re overfed, one or the other of those things will usually occur.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:17:14 +0000

The pediatrician is always going to give you the standard answer especially since they are always worried about allergies. As a mother, you are the only one that can understand what it is that Monkey needs. If he needs more food then he needs more food. Just make sure to get him used to the veggies before you go for fruit so that he doesn’t refuse anything that isn’t sweet. My two oldest children transitioned well from formula to fruit, veggies and cereal but my youngest wasn’t keen. I kept him on just formula, (a lot of it) until he was ready. All three of my children eat well and are very slender as well. Let Monkey guide you.

By: Baby Food Grinder

Baby Food Grinder — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:18:26 +0000

Hi Jane, I've got a few posts on my site about first stage feeding experiences, which might help. Check out http://www.babyfoodgrinder.org/tag/first-stage to see if any of the comments are helpful. - BFG