Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1) Support Group
Feeding your infant and ensuring they are getting enough nutrition is one of the most important aspects of parenting during that first year. This community is dedicated to those who are nurturing a baby, whether breastfed or formula-fed.
I'm sure this topic has been brought up numerous times but I thought I'd start my own thread.
I have done a bunch of reading and talking to my gfs about introducing solids. I'm finding conflicting opinions from EVERYONE! I know it's a personal choice as to what age to start, but at the advice of our ped, we decided to wait until after 6 months. Our DD will be 6 months in a few weeks and is a breastfed baby. I know the signs as to when they're ready like sitting up well while assisted, holding the spoon and interested in what we're eating. She displays all those signs, plus she has just started another growth spurt. She's eating and sleeping a TON so after the holidays, we're starting her on solids. My question is this - did anyone skip the rice cereal and go straight to the stage 1 fruits and veggies? I've heard conflicting stories about that. I've read that cereal is very high in carbohydrates and has little nutritional value, or nothing BM already contains. In fact, I've also read that cereal contains no protein either and some suggest starting baby on meat even before fruits and veggies. That to me sounds a little strange. Has anyone heard of this or actually start their infant with meat before anything? I'm pretty sure I will give cereal a try to see how it goes and then introduce fruits and veggies. I think every baby is different and we just wouldn't know until we try it, but I would just like other's opinion on this subject.
Lastly, I'd be curious as to how many working mothers make their own baby food, including cereal. I'm thinking of doing that as well. Thanks!
I have done a bunch of reading and talking to my gfs about introducing solids. I'm finding conflicting opinions from EVERYONE! I know it's a personal choice as to what age to start, but at the advice of our ped, we decided to wait until after 6 months. Our DD will be 6 months in a few weeks and is a breastfed baby. I know the signs as to when they're ready like sitting up well while assisted, holding the spoon and interested in what we're eating. She displays all those signs, plus she has just started another growth spurt. She's eating and sleeping a TON so after the holidays, we're starting her on solids. My question is this - did anyone skip the rice cereal and go straight to the stage 1 fruits and veggies? I've heard conflicting stories about that. I've read that cereal is very high in carbohydrates and has little nutritional value, or nothing BM already contains. In fact, I've also read that cereal contains no protein either and some suggest starting baby on meat even before fruits and veggies. That to me sounds a little strange. Has anyone heard of this or actually start their infant with meat before anything? I'm pretty sure I will give cereal a try to see how it goes and then introduce fruits and veggies. I think every baby is different and we just wouldn't know until we try it, but I would just like other's opinion on this subject.
Lastly, I'd be curious as to how many working mothers make their own baby food, including cereal. I'm thinking of doing that as well. Thanks!
I also made my own food. It wasn't near as much work as I thought, or as people told me. Putting in a solid three hours on a day off would leave me with enough food to last for two months! Plus, it was cheaper and healthier. My daughter wouldn't eat the jarred stuff after having the real stuff.
Also, apparentley, now you can start your baby on anything you choose at 6 months outside of honey! In Canada anyway. They now believe that you can introduce meats and peanuts as first foods if you want. I only did veggies, fruit, pastas etc. My daughter would not eat the meats. Even now, at 16 months she rarely eats meat and we supplement with tofu.
Starting your LO on food is such a touch and go job. Just stick your feelers out and see what fits for you and yours! Good luck!
The nutritionist did tell me that meats can be diffucult for the kidneys of some babies to handle and you will know this if their pee smells wierd. If that happens she said to hold off til 7 months for the meats.
Now that he's just over 6 months we are doing fruits and veggies (homemade) mixed with a little rice cereal (he takes the foods better mixed with cereal and BM than straight) And he's just started the 'pincer' thing with his fingers, so I expect we will move up to food pieces as soon as that first tooth shows up.
I've also gotten conflicting information on what order to start on so I made up my own schedule!
1) Yellow/Orange Veggies
2) Fruits- non-citrus (ok for breastfed babies, not recommended for formula fed babies until after green veggies/meats)
3) Green Veggies
4) Meats - we won't feed meats until he has teeth and can chew. I make my own baby food and I really don't want to puree turkey!
I'm also going to be introducing some oatmeal in a few weeks just for a new flavor/texture.
Also, I don't puree completely, DS started straight into 'stage 2' foods - a little texture doesn't hurt!
This is my 3rd child so i stuck with what I knew and started with rice cereal but I didn't stik to it alone as long as i did with my older boys.
This time around I waited until 6 months to introduce solids. I think we were on rie cerreeal once a day for a week before I tried green beans. I was going to do all veggies an dthen fruits but one day i was eating a banan and my son totally couldn't get his eyes off of it so I let him try a little. That stopped him up so i added prunes and we just went back and forth with fruits veggies and meats.
Trust your instincts. I figured I knew what an infant should not be fed and I knew my child so as long as he was doing okay with what we were trying and I was giving his body time to adjust we were doping alright.
My opinion is that the cereal is for iron however it's fortified with iron, instead we started with "real" foods that had iron already
Spinach, beef, chicken...etc. Iron fortified foods aren't absorbed as well as foods that contain iron. There really is no other country that uses cereal or fortified foods most countries introduce real foods
Just my opinion and two cents