when to introduce foods

Hey,

my baby, Misty Ellise, is currently 4 months old. When should I begin introducing more solid foods? Are their pros & cons to doing it earlier or later? Any potential risks? I may return to work within the next 3 months. How do I handle daycare and communicating my food requests?

Hi, new_mommy!

First of all, the advice of your pediatrician should always be followed :)

That being said, our pediatrician told us to introduce rice cereal between 5 and 6 months old (this is our second baby; our pediatrician with our first child told us to start rice cereal at 4 months). We decided to try cereal at 4 months because he seemed very interested in what we were eating. We gave him cereal in the morning and he spent the rest of the day spitting up. We waited a few weeks and introduced squash at the end of the 4th month and he loved it. At 6 months old, we're up to squash, sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, green beans, peas, bananas and peaches. He's doing great!

The main thing to remember is that solid food is NOT a source of nutrition the first year. Babies get all the nutrition they need from formula and/or breastmilk until they're a year old. Doctors typically recommend rice cereal as a starting point because it's bland and contains iron (breastmilk tends to have less iron in it the older baby gets; formula is typically iron fortified).

There are a few risks involved with starting solids early. Babies are more likely to develop food allergies if starting solids at a young age. This risk is increased if your baby has eczema (mine does which is the only reason I know this). Another risk is low weight gain. If your baby fills up on solids and doesn't take in enough formula/breastmilk, they won't gain the proper amount of weight.

I'd watch for signs that your baby is ready to eat solids. Our son was literally trying to steal bites of food off my fork while sitting on my lap during dinner when he was a week shy of 5 months. Babies also have to lose the tongue-thrusting reflex. If, after several bites of food, your baby is still using his/her tongue to shove food out of their mouth, they are probably not ready. This reflex is to protect babies against choking and helps them nurse effectively.

Some tips! Remember that eating solids at this point is just practice. We started with a tablespoon of food. After 6 weeks of solids, he eats about 3 tablespoons of food per meal. Introduce new foods in the morning so if your baby has an allergic reaction, it's not during sleep. Space the introduction of new foods 3-5 days apart so if they have a reaction, you know exactly which food caused it. Squash and pears are two of the easiest foods to digest so I recommend starting there. Feed baby formula or breastmilk BEFORE solid food. Studies have shown that if baby eats solids and then nurses, he/she will take less milk/formula even if they nurse for the same amount of time.

As far as daycare goes, I'm not sure how it works. I'd recommend typing up instructions to give them and I wouldn't allow them to introduce new foods. I'm sure you probably have to bring your own food so I'd buy some neon colored lables and put your baby's name on them. Daycare providers have surely been through starting solids before so they should be okay with it.

Hope that helps a little!

Edited to add: Here's the American Academy of Pediatrics website on starting solids: http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_Solids.htm

Last edit (hopefully!): We just had our son's 6 month checkup. His doctor told us to hold off on the "dark" fruits and veggies. We just started prunes last week and noticed that his entire body smelled sweet when he'd wake up in the morning. Once we stopped the prunes, the smell went away. I'm not sure what the deal was but we're holding off on them a little longer.

I think the recommendation is to wait at least until 6 months or something.  Not sure.  I waited until 5 months for my first and 6 months for my second. 

As far as daycare, I can speak to that.  I don't know how most daycares do it but ours is very careful about only feeding exactly to my instruction.  I bring in formula and rice cereal for them to have on hand at all times, and I bring in what breastmilk I am able to pump (which isn't usually enough for her whole day).  I also bring in a couple jars of food to keep on hand in case I forget but for the most part, I make her baby food and bring it in little gladware containers for the day. 

They feed her lunch or give her cereal for breakfast if I don't have time in the morning, and pretty much just do what I have asked them to do.  Really, all you need to do is talk to the director or the people in the infant room.  When she was younger I used to go and nurse her during my lunchbreak... and so they would even hold off on the bottles for her for the couple hours before that so she would nurse well.

I think the key for me is having all the backups in place (formula, rice cereal, jars of commercial baby food) and then bring in the food, but if I ever forget, they still have something to feed her.

Always hear people say to not introduce solids until 4, 6, or 12 months.  But my son, who is now 3 months old, was a large baby and at 3 weeks he just couldn't get enough milk and formula.  ( I was already suplimenting his meals with formula cause I just wasn't producing enough) So, we decided to try him with a little bit of very thin baby cereal and he took right too it.  Over the last month we've also added pureed apples and pears.  These he really loves.  So when to introduce all depends on the child. 

The reason pediatricians recommend waiting until a baby is over 4 months is because they don't typically have good control over their neck muscles. Trying to feed a bobble-headed baby is risky and difficult. Babies who pick up head control at a younger age should be fine eating solids but, again, they are not a source of nutrition (except for the benefit of extra iron) under 12 months of age and can actually inhibit proper growth.

I recommend not only following your instincts but the instructions of your pediatrician. :)

Original Post by bier:

The reason pediatricians recommend waiting until a baby is over 4 months is because they don't typically have good control over their neck muscles. Trying to feed a bobble-headed baby is risky and difficult. Babies who pick up head control at a younger age should be fine eating solids but, again, they are not a source of nutrition (except for the benefit of extra iron) under 12 months of age and can actually inhibit proper growth.

I recommend not only following your instincts but the instructions of your pediatrician. :)

 Interesting, I never heard that before.  My sister who is pretty lax on stuff normally was very adamant I wait till at least 4 months (she's also a pediatric nurse for what that's worth)... she said it's because their digestive system isn't fully developed enough for solid foods at such a young age.

Funny, head control is what I always read about! I've never heard about their digestive systems! That just goes to show that there is SO much different advice out there!

I hadn't heard the bobble head thing or about their digestive systems.  Our pediatrician said not to feed our son solids until at least 6 months to avoid developing food allergies.  LOL!  Really Bier, there is a lot of different advice out there!     

But I do agree that it depends on the baby.  This time around, our pediatrician told me I could start my daugter on solids after 4 months, but she clearly wasn't ready.  She still had a very strong tongue thrust reflex, so she pushed out any food I tried to feed her.  I tried again around 6 months, and it was hit and miss.  She'd swallow some, thrust most out.  Now that she's 7 months old, she opens wide and eats from the spoon.  She even grabs it and guides it into her mouth.  :)