starting solids - a Q for you...

chayer227 · September 2011

We're at the point where we should be starting solids with munchkin. I'm hearing strong arguments for each side of the rice cereal "debate" - pro: it's non-allergenic for most, con: it's got ZERO nutritional value and just breaks down as a sugar.

Since I have a giant baby already (actually, he's gone from the 90th% in height and weight to the 80th - he's proportional, just big), I'm not sure I want him taking in foods (and extra calories) that have no nutritional purpose. I'm hearing a lot of the April moms are starting with oatmeal closer to 6 months...

So, what age did you start? What food did you start with?

mrscjwatts · September 2011

I started T on rice cereal just for like the first week. Then went to veggies etc. I ended up actually mixing the cereal with the veggies and fruit after a while because she wasn't eating them plain. She was like Colby was. always in the 80th and 90th percentile for height and weight. I wouldn't worry about it. T is really starting to come down on the charts because of how much she moves now.

So, we started with rice cereal, added veggies, then fruits and somewhere along the line added oatmeal cereal. We didn't do this very long. A couple months maybe before we dropped cereal all together and went to stage 2 foods.

shuga_23 · September 2011

I'm not an advocate of rice cereal if you have no allergies in your family history.

I started Abe on oatmeal (I milled my own in the food processor) mixed with breast milk. He LOVED it. Then I would mix in some banana and he loved it more.

I did buy some "rice and shine" which is organic brown rice cereal (almost like grits). I still feed him that for breakfast with fruit or veggies mixed in.

Here is the baby food tag on my blog:

http://sweetcheeksinthekitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Baby%20Food

MA&CB · September 2011

We waited until 6 months to start any solids. Marcus didn't like the cereals so we skipped them. I also did not see the nutritional value. I didn't feel like he needed more calories than what he was getting from BM because he was a good size and I didn't want him to be replacing nutritional calories with what is essentially filler.

maeghan21 · September 2011

We had to started DD on rice at 3 months because she was failure to thrive. After about a month we switched to Oatmeal but she hated it. Then I found Beechnut Multigran which she loved. LOVED. I didn't have to add any fruits. It actually is better than oatmeal so I'm very happy about that I think starting with a little rice (brown ?) that is gentle on the tummy is ok, but after the first box see if you can start transitioning him to something a little better.

We still have cereal a few times a week. She likes it and it's fortified with stuff, so I figure why not. It's better than any of the other carbs she wants

MainelyFoolish · September 2011

We started DD with rice cereal a little past 6 months. She didn't care for it at all, so we mixed it in with her fruit or veggie purees when she got a little older.

Food at that age is for practice, not nutritional value. DD ate so little of the rice cereal anyway, I doubt she got more than 30 calories at a time from it.

shuga_23 · September 2011

Oh, yeah, I noticed Colby's age. I didn't start Abe on anything until 6 months. Breast milk is enough (in my opinion).

carlyaw · September 2011

I started both at 6 months. We started Grace with rice cereal mixed with breast milk and she HATED it. We did that for maybe a week and started her on veggies & fruits, her first real food was avocado. We also started giving her oatmeal w/ breast milk instead of rice cereal. Liam we went straight to oatmeal and he loved it. His first real food was avocado as well.

katsblaze · September 2011

I also started the boys at 6 months. We did oatmeal mixed with puree fruit to start so that they could get used to the texture/eating, then went to puree's in about a week.

WildcatPrincess · September 2011

MA&CB:
We waited until 6 months to start any solids. Marcus didn't like the cereals so we skipped them. I also did not see the nutritional value. I didn't feel like he needed more calories than what he was getting from BM because he was a good size and I didn't want him to be replacing nutritional calories with what is essentially filler.

This was pretty much us. Also, we did BLW so we didn't even try cereal, we started her right off with chunks of steamed veggies and soft fruits. With the new research, though, even if we'd done purees I would have skipped cereal.

jl&jl · September 2011

We didn't start until a week and a half shy of 6 months. I did start with rice, mostly because I wanted something gentle on his belly first off. All of the things I had frozen for him were things I had grown and pureed during harvest season, and I didn't know if the strong, fresh picked flavors would be rough on a beginning tummy. But on day 3, we moved directly to our home grown and pureed foods (a new one every 3 days), and he never again ate any store bought baby foods. I only pureed for a month or so, then I moved to whole foods. I never pureed anything that I wouldn't eat pureed...and he loved everything we gave him. Other posts are right, when you begin, it's just for practice. I wouldn't worry about types of food and weight, as once a baby is eating, they'll adjust their milk portions based on how full their belly is.

kristen80 · September 2011

Both of my kids were started on avocados and bananas as their first foods, since they're extremely low on the allergen scale. Jake had rice cereal first, and Katie had oatmeal (which I usually mix w/ purees) only because she tends to need a little help getting things to move along in her belly

/. I started them both at 5 1/2 months, when they seemed to be wanting to eat and try our food.

starting solids - a Q for you...

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