Time For Food

Some moms have asked me when to start giving their baby something other than milk. There is no particular age that you have to begin feeding your baby solids. Each baby will be different, but there will be signs of being ready that you can look for.
- baby is getting hungry before their normal feeding time
- baby does not seem satisfied after nursing for long periods of time
- baby's weight gain is not sufficient
You should not need to start your baby on solids until they are at least 4 months old. (Unless your doctor has given you medical reason) Many babies have been totally breast or bottle fed until they were a year old!
One common misconception is that giving your baby cereal before bedtime will help them sleep better. Unfortunately this is usually not true. Exercise and fresh air have a much more effective result!
You should begin your baby with boxed rice cereal. You can try mixing it with warm water, but usually a baby will enjoy it more if it is mixed with a little formula or breast milk. Start with about a tablespoon of cereal and make the consistency a little bit runny. If it is too thick, your baby could choke on it.
It will most likely take a few spoonfuls for your baby to get the hang of eating, but if they start to gag and consistently push the food out with their tongue, most likely they are not quite ready for solids yet. Try again in a week or so.
(After they get the hang of eating, try to thicken up the cereal a bit so that they are getting more eating and less sipping. )
It is best to introduce them to cereal around your dinner time. While it may be a little inconvenient for you to try and feed them while you are eating, this will help them to get on a schedule of eating with the family instead of before or after.
After a few weeks you can introduce your baby to vegetables - not fruit. If you give your baby fruit before veggies, they could develop a bit of a sweet tooth and not want to eat the vegetables after having the fruit.
You should start with the yellow veggies like squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. Introduce them one at a time. Stick with one vegetable for about a week before moving on to the next. This way, if your baby is allergic to it, you will be able to tell right away what the allergy is to.
After the yellow veggies, move to the green.
At this point, I usually begin to give my babies cereal in the morning and give them their vegetables at dinner time.
Once you've gone through all the veggies, then when you feel like your baby needs more, add fruit to their diet. Again, introduce them one at a time.
Be careful when introducing those baby foods that have chunks of food in them. If your baby is not ready for anything other than strained baby food, they could very quickly choke on these chunkier foods.