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I never bothered with oatmeal or rice cereal. Neither offer nutritional value. I have introduced solids between 5-6 months, but they didn't start showing real interest until 7-8, and I didn't begin feeding them from my plate semi-regularly until 10+ months. It's just for fun during the first year.
My youngest is 6 months old and she's only a little interested in solids right now. I don't offer them every day. It's mostly just here and there for now.
The way I see it it's just safer to wait until around 6 months because you can't really tell if a younger baby's digestive tract is ready for solids earlier - and since there's really no need for them nutritionally for a while, there's really no point in taking the risk, the potential problems outweigh any benefits of starting early. Yes in many cases babies got them early and were fine, but there is a potential risk of digestive trouble later on, allergies, etc. I've read that in some cases colitis, leaky gut syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome etc later on in life were linked to starting solids early. Really depends on how sensitive the baby's gut is, there's no one answer but also no real way of checking so it's just safer to wait, it's not going to hurt them to start later but it might if you start earlier. Oh, and rice cereal in the bottle, especially before 4-6 months - pure evil, they've linked to it childhood obesity and other problems, just no.
We started at 5,5 with my son approved by ped, he was clearly ready, we skipped rice cereal and started with fruit and veggie purees right away, he was a great eater all through toddlerhood.
I breastfed both of my kids, and introduced cereal to them at probably around 3 months. gave them both real food when they looked interested. They're fine and healthy at 32 and 26, respectively. Neither is overweight, neither has eating problems or allergies. (Didn't read the links so I'm not sure what the issues are with feeding solids too soon.)
On the other hand, I was a tiny preemie, coming at 3lbs and 2.5 months before my time. I am now 60, so when I was born evidently the rules were different. I was kept in the hospital until I reached 5 lbs, and getting to that goal meant feeding the hell out of me. I was eating meat (so the story goes) at 3 weeks, in the hospital. They didn't breastfeed a lot back then in the 50s, I think it was considered old fashioned by my mother's peers.
At any rate, I am fine....I have no major health issues at 60. I have had some weight problems, but nothing terrible. I'm not obese, I am a slight bit overweight.
So I take all these mandates with a grain of salt.
BTW this argument of 'in my generation we did X and the kids were fine so X must be fine and good' annoys me to no end in parenting discussions.
In my grandma's childhood, back in rural Russia, there was no formula and women had to go out and work in the fields so they would leave babies in cribs for the day sucking on a piece of bread soaked in milk. Those who couldn't breastfeed for some reason fed infants cow milk from birth (raw!) or condensed milk diluted with water. Some of these babies survived (not all but that was considered normal), and I guess by natural selection those that did were fairly healthy. So let's assume feeding them like that is perfectly ok?
Giving your baby solid food too soon has been linked to a higher risk of obesity and diabetes, according to the study. Also, "starting infants on solids before 4 months can lead to allergies and eczema," says Dr. Jennifer Shu, an Atlanta pediatrician and AAP spokeswoman who was not involved in the research. I personnaly noticed this as I also started my son on cereal from a bottle early as he was always hungry, so the mashed cooked foods satisfied him. He ended up having allergies and asthma and had to be treated at the hospital frequently especially at nights.
Another thing mothers need to take into consideration is that chewing the food and giving the baby is actually passing on bacteria from your mouth to the baby. Humans mouths are described as being the dirtiest mouth even more than dogs. Why? we carry all sorts of germs that are so dangerous that if we do not perform frequent dental care we can develop infections such as pyria and periodontal disease which can cause inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. Can you imagine passing on all that to your defenseless baby?
Remember, every kiss begins with 80 million germs, so be careful, don't give your baby germs by passing on your saliva.
Kids often WANT to do things before they are READY. It's the parent's job to make sure the child is developmentally ready before allowing a child to proceed with the next step. A baby is not developmentally ready for solid foods until at least 6 months of age. Some of the problems that come from feeding babies solids too early can not be seen and/or do not arise until later in life.
As someone else noted, solids are not necessary for a baby's nutritional needs. A healthy baby can survive solely on breast milk or formula well into toddlerhood.
While this is true, that was not what our docs of the APA said in 1971 and 1974 when my kids were born. And even now, the docs say 4 to 6 months, not 6 months strictly. My kids now in there forties had no ill effects and have no food allergies at all. My older one had lots of peanut butter because that was his favorite food - he started that at 2. Now he might have had allergies, but he didn't and back then it was something most people did not know about.
BTW this argument of 'in my generation we did X and the kids were fine so X must be fine and good' annoys me to no end in parenting discussions.
In my grandma's childhood, back in rural Russia, there was no formula and women had to go out and work in the fields so they would leave babies in cribs for the day sucking on a piece of bread soaked in milk. Those who couldn't breastfeed for some reason fed infants cow milk from birth (raw!) or condensed milk diluted with water. Some of these babies survived (not all but that was considered normal), and I guess by natural selection those that did were fairly healthy. So let's assume feeding them like that is perfectly ok?
Never said that. All I said is that I am fine at 60, wasn't breastfed until a year, and my kids are fine at their ages, they got solids before they were a year old.
All I said is use your common sense. Take some of it with a grain of salt.
Giving your baby solid food too soon has been linked to a higher risk of obesity and diabetes, according to the study. Also, "starting infants on solids before 4 months can lead to allergies and eczema," says Dr. Jennifer Shu, an Atlanta pediatrician and AAP spokeswoman who was not involved in the research. I personnaly noticed this as I also started my son on cereal from a bottle early as he was always hungry, so the mashed cooked foods satisfied him. He ended up having allergies and asthma and had to be treated at the hospital frequently especially at nights.
Another thing mothers need to take into consideration is that chewing the food and giving the baby is actually passing on bacteria from your mouth to the baby. Humans mouths are described as being the dirtiest mouth even more than dogs. Why? we carry all sorts of germs that are so dangerous that if we do not perform frequent dental care we can develop infections such as pyria and periodontal disease which can cause inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. Can you imagine passing on all that to your defenseless baby?
Remember, every kiss begins with 80 million germs, so be careful, don't give your baby germs by passing on your saliva.
There is so much contradictory information about infant feeding, and take my word for it, it changes rapidly. I've had to unlearn a lot in 40 years. If this Dr. Shu wasn't involved in the research, what does she base her opinion on.
Since the babies are mine and they live with me I will do what I feel is right for my child at the time it is right and each of my children were different when it came to food.
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Feeding baby solid foods too early
