When Should I Start Feeding My Baby Solid Foods?

[Mum2Matty]

Taken from Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron

The answer is : When your pediatrician tells you that it's OK to start solid foods. She'll probably agree with the American Academy of Pediatrics, whose guidelines state that the best time to begin feeding your baby solid foods is between 4 to 6 months of age. And the closer to 6 months the better, especially if you are breastfeeding. Your baby's body in its first few years was designed to digest breast milk, or something similar to it. And, calorie for calorie, no solid food has the nutritional quality of breast milk or formula milk for your young baby. If you feed your baby solid foods too early, her milk intake may decrease. You'd be replacing milk, the best food for your baby, with foods that are nutritionally inferior and not as digestible. Solid foods should not replace breast milk, they should supplement it.

Why You Should Wait Until At Least 4 Months

Your baby is not physically ready to eat solid foods until he is around 4 months old. Although your mother or grandmother will strongly disagree, saying that she gave your babies solids when they were only 2 weeks old, there are several reasons to wait at least 4 months before starting your baby on solid foods.

Reason 1 Your baby's digestive system is too immature for solid foods before 4 months. Although he can suck very well, he does not have a lot of saliva to help digest food. Until he is at least 3-4 months old, his system lacks certain digestive enzymes, such as an enzyme called amylase, needed for digesting cereals (starches or complex carbohydrates). His body has trouble digesting some fats before he is 6 months old. Some foods will pass through him undigested and end up in his diaper, in fact, stool analyses of babies under three months of age who have eated solid foods show undigested food particles. And some high protein foods, like eggs, meat and even cow's milk, given too early may cause problems with your baby's immature kidneys.

Reason 2 Your baby is not developmentally ready to eat solid foods. His throat muscles are not developed enough to swallow foods until he is at least 4 months old. And, it is not until about 4 months that he is able to use his tongue to transfer food from the front to the back of his mouth. In fact, when you touch his tongue, he reacts by pushing his tongue outward or forward. This response, called the extrusion reflex or the tongue-thrust reflex, is an inborn mechanisim designed to protect your baby from choking on foreign substances that he cannot yet properly swallow. This reflex will not disappear until he is around 16-18 weeks old. The first time you feed him with a spoon, it may seem that he is spitting out the food and closing his mouth at the wrong time. But his tongue movement is simply the result of a not-yet-unlearned extrusion reflex and not because he doesn't want the food. It is not until he is about 5 months old that he will see the spoon coming and open his mouth in anticipation.

Reason 3 Your baby must have a way of telling you that he is satiated. He lets you know that he is finished breast or bottle feeding by stopping his sucking or by falling asleep. But until he becomes able to turn his head to refuse food, which occurs at around 4 or 5 months old, he has no way of letting you know that he has had enough solid food. Because of this inability, when you feed solid foods to a too-young baby, you may be unintentionally force feeding him. This practice can interfere with his body's self-regulating eating mechanisim and lead to overweight later in life. As with adults, your baby should eat only when he is hungry.

Reason 4 Beginning solid foods too early has been associated with other problems later in life, such as obesity, respiratory problems like brochial asthma, and food allergies.

Reasons 5 Solid foods will not make your baby sleep through the night. Studies show that 3/4 of all babies sleep through the night at 3 months of age, whether or not they are eating solid foods. Even if solid foods will help your baby sleep longer, that is still not a good reason to begin solid food early. I know sleep deprivation is torture - most of us have been there. Hang in there. One night he'll sleep right through, and then you can start feeling normal again.

Reason 6 If you are breastfeeding and give your baby solid foods too early, your milk production may be decreased.

[Mum2Matty]

The Best Time of the Day for the Very First Meal

The best time to give your baby her very first meal is in the morning or early afternoon. Sometimes babies have allergic reactions to foods. If you feed her in the evening, and she does have a reaction, it will probably occur in the middle of the night. It's better for you, the parent, if you dont't have to comfort a gassy baby at 2am, while you're tired and half asleep.

There is another reason why you should feed your baby during the earlier part of the day. It is usually a time when your baby (and you!) is not tired or colicky, as he maybe toward evening. We want everybody happy and energetic when your baby has his first special meal. Choose a time when your baby is not tired, fussy or cranky, such as after his morning nap.

Give Your Baby His Very First Meal When He is Not Too Hungry.

Yes, when he is not too hungry. He should be hungry enough to want to eat, but not ravenous. A too-hungry baby urgently wanting to eat may become frustrated during this new unfamiliar eating method, with this strange contraption called spoon. Feed him his very first meal after he has had a partial breast or bottle feeding. Give him half a feeding, then introduce his first solid food, and then finish the feeding. Giving him a partial feeding will also help to maintain his milk intake. Or you can give him his first solid food halfway through the time between two breast or bottle feedings, when he's just a little hungry.

[LoVeS]

GREAT INFO!! thanks for sharing with us~

[Mrs Xie]

My dear son is coming to 6mths of age on the 24th Oct and yet she just started her cereal 2wks ago..... I'm giving her once a day mixed with formula milk in the bottle, early noon.... Is it enough for her? And how would I know that she is ready to take the cereal twice a day? I intend to start giving her porridge when she is 7mth.... Is it too late?

[MummyGrace]

Originally Posted by Mrs Xie My dear son is coming to 6mths of age on the 24th Oct and yet she just started her cereal 2wks ago..... I'm giving her once a day mixed with formula milk in the bottle, early noon.... Is it enough for her? And how would I know that she is ready to take the cereal twice a day? I intend to start giving her porridge when she is 7mth.... Is it too late?

Hi,

I dont tink so, coz i attend the weaning talk, the nurses and doc said that the best time to start weaning is when they r 6 mths. Even the magazines and nestle mag i read also indicate that babies grow well when they start weaning at 6 mths. They also less prone to allergy. You can increase her milk intake when she feels hungry. My baby is turning 5 mths soon, I only feed him with milk which is the most essential for him. The first food they start should be rice cereal.

[leey]

Originally Posted by MummyGrace Hi, I dont tink so, coz i attend the weaning talk, the nurses and doc said that the best time to start weaning is when they r 6 mths. Even the magazines and nestle mag i read also indicate that babies grow well when they start weaning at 6 mths. They also less prone to allergy. You can increase her milk intake when she feels hungry. My baby is turning 5 mths soon, I only feed him with milk which is the most essential for him. The first food they start should be rice cereal.

agreed,

maybe the softer rice cereal,
not the hard one!

[yunee47]

Originally Posted by leey agreed, maybe the softer rice cereal, not the hard one!

I tried feeding my 5+ month old baby with rice ceral. Initially, he was ok for the first 2-3 days. After that, whenever i fed him again he would cry out loud in protest and refuse to eat. I even mixed the rice ceral with breastmilk and tried to feed him by the bottle. The first time he took it but the next time he refused. Any suggestions? I need help! =)

[phishcracker]

Will it be okay if i try to feed my 6 mths old dear son nestum? the normal yellow color tin.. pls advise.

[Yin]

Originally Posted by phishcracker Will it be okay if i try to feed my 6 mths old dear son nestum? the normal yellow color tin.. pls advise.

you mean those that adults eat (texture quite course)?? see below
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/18/71...a5307ff4_m.jpg


I dont't think so, buy those for babies, powery ones
http://www.tastesfromhome.co.uk/images/14021large.gif

[sheepish]

how about for babies that are underweight? should they start solids to help in weight gain?

[pureline]

good info... share for sharing.

[angelrin]

great info.. thanks for sharing.. my baby is 5months today.. 1 more month to go for solid food.. can't wait ! i think i'm gonna start with mashed organic brown rice (or porridge).. do i need to mix it with milk ?

[MaMa_P]

I actually started weaning at about 5months plus going to 6. At first he would take in what i offer to him. But he will show rejection after the next feed.
Now i am feeding him those baby food from Heinz. He loves the Banana Creamy porridge, vanilla custard and the Sweet carrot and parsnip.
He does not really like to take baby cereal.
And nurse told me to let him tried porridge. 6 months onward can tried to take. But my friend told me about 7 month. So am confuse. How many months then?

Cheers,
Penny

[snowbear]

Originally Posted by MaMa_P I actually started weaning at about 5months plus going to 6. At first he would take in what i offer to him. But he will show rejection after the next feed. Now i am feeding him those baby food from Heinz. He loves the Banana Creamy porridge, vanilla custard and the Sweet carrot and parsnip. He does not really like to take baby cereal. And nurse told me to let him tried porridge. 6 months onward can tried to take. But my friend told me about 7 month. So am confuse. How many months then? Cheers, Penny

You can start from 6 months but some people may be more concerned about iron intake so they may advise you to start on cereal first (which is iron-enriched) compared to porridge. It's really up to you and also what your baby likes. It shld be fine for you to introduce porridge to your baby as a second meal once your baby's accustomed to eating semisolids. You can of coz rotate porridge with the custard on alternate days but bear in mind that the custard i think once opened must be consumed within a certain number of days.

Btw, i just realised that the vanilla custard is not iron-enriched. You may wanna try other cereals which are iron-enriched instead if you are concerned about iron intake.