Pure Parents

Question:

Welcome to this newsgroup.  I am actually a newbie myself.  I started my little one on Barley cereal when she was 4 months. They said at the time that you don’t want to start too early because it could contribute to allergies.  I don’t know if that is true or not.  I was also told that if I started giving her solid foods she would be more likely to sleep through the night.  Didn’t turn out to be so.  But she liked the solids just fine.  We chose Barley cereal because barley has been said to be healthy.  I avoided rice cereal because it can tend to constipate (though some moms use it all the time with no problem). It’ll be interesting to see what others have to say… Good Luck Diane Newt’s mom

Response:

Ahhh. the joys of being a new mom.  I have an 8.5 month old girl (Morgan).  She was a terrible eater in the beginning – lost weight and everything. Basically, I started her at 3 months (very early) with things like apple sauce, banana, … if they can keep the food in their mouth, that’s when it’s a good time to feed them.  If you out the food in thier mouth and it comes right back out, it’s too  early.  My daughter eats everything now in terms of solids, but isn’t really interested in her formula anymore. Also, if you’re interested in getting on mailing lists for food/diaper/baby product companies, email me at directly sturgis67 and I’ll send you a bunch of phone #’s (they send coupons and newsletters with helpful hints).  My peditrician also gave me a written guideline for when and what to feed her – ask yours for a list.  One concern is allergies to certain foods – be careful not to give the child anything with real milk, eggs, cheese before 6 months.  Good luck!  (ps – what state are you in?)  ~ Sturgis67

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I’m having a baby in July and I plan to nurse it.  I also plan to feed the baby solid food quite early. My main reason is that I truly believe that small children develop better/faster with lots of stimulation around them, such as music, bright colors, good toys, etc and I don’t see why the sense of taste is overlooked.  When I was born (in the late 60’s), babies were fed a lot earlier than now.  I know about the allergy warning but if you find an allergic reaction to a certain food, why not eliminate it from the baby’s diet and wait for about 4 months before retrying it?  It seems that 2 months is old enough to start eating cereals and fruits to me. Anne

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I don’t think that there are hard and fast rules on this.  One thing my pediatrician told me is that bigger babies tend to need more calories from food earlier than smaller ones.  We started around three months with each. TruskiDo

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>I’m a first time mom with a wonderful 15-week old girl.  She has always >been a great eater when it comes to her formula (currently up to four 8oz >bottles a day).  How do I know when it’s time to introduce cereal?  What >is the best kind?  What is the most successful way?  Please share your >practical experience by E-mailing a response.  My husband, my daughter, >and I love to hear how everyone else in doing with the adventures in >family life!

I have 3 children and I started each child around 12 weeks.  You usually start them with bananas and rice and added formula (instructions on box of cereal).  You can alternate fruit but you should stick with one for a week or two to make sure she is not allergic.  If she should get constipated with the rice cereal then switch to barley and peaches. My adventures in parenting are always interesting because I have 3 boys ages 8,7,5.  Hope I helped. Michele

Response:

>I’m having a baby in July and I plan to nurse it.  I also plan to feed

the baby solid food quite early. >My main reason is that I truly believe that small children develop better/faster with >lots of stimulation around them, such as music, bright colors, good toys,  etc and I don’t >see why the sense of taste is overlooked.  When I was born (in the late 60’s), babies >were fed a lot earlier than now.  I know about the allergy warning but if you find >an allergic reaction to a certain food, why not eliminate it from the baby’s diet >and wait for about 4 months before retrying it?  It seems that 2 months is old enough >to start eating cereals and fruits to me. >Anne

While I do agree with the stimulation part, I don’t agree with the food. The reason for this is that I have a friend who started her rather large daughter and I don’t mean large as in tall, on cereal at about 2 months old, she said she was hungry. Well every time the child would cry the mother would say she is hungry.  At first I thought it was just me until others came to me with the same observation. Of course we all didn’t want to say anything because she is the mother.  The child is now 7 months old and is still throwing up, no not spitting up throwing up.  The child is even larger than before. It seems to the rest of us that the infant is overweight. The mother also feeds the child with what looks like a big eyedropper.  She says its cleaner but I think its because the baby doesn’t know how to push food to the back of her mouth. I have anyother friend who her baby did in fact need the cereal at 6 weeks she was already drinking 8 oz of formular and was on the low side of normal for weight. But she was told only cereal as a supplement because the baby’s digestive system is not ready.  As for my boys they could have waited until they were 7 months old before they started solids. But I started them at 4 months. So far they eat anything I put on the spoon while there are things they like better than others the only thing they don’t seem to like but will still eat a few spoon s of is chicken noodle.????? Anyway, my point is take each child one by one don’t decide now. Let the child decide when they need solids, follow the signs.  Don’t plant the seed of a weight problem in an infant, whether it be overweight or underweight. I know from experience I have always had an underweight problem while my best friend who was given solids at 8 weeks has always had an overweight problem. Both of  us wish we had grown up in each other houses. Take care Chris

Response:

 Anne Dupont writes:

(snip) > When I was born (in the late 60’s), babies were fed a lot earlier than

now.  I know >about the allergy warning but if you find an allergic reaction to a certain food, why not >eliminate it from the baby’s diet and wait for about 4 months before retrying it?  It >seems that 2 months is old enough to start eating cereals and fruits to me. Anne, I don’t know that much about high performance engines, but I do know that if you feed them high octane they’ll run faster. Does this mean I’ll tank up the family Tercel with racing fuel? No, for all I know, it could blow out the engine. I’m not a mecchanic. Now, my wife is an immunologist; she breastfed our son for six months, and he didn’t eat any solids until he was six months old. She decided this feeding scedule because she’s a doctor, and has the best intersts of our son at heart. She has treated people with accute alergic reactions to food many times (including me once; feeling my throat constrict and being almost unable to breath wasn’t at all pleasant — I’d have ended up in the ER if she hadn’t been there to give me an IV and a set of shots). It’s been shown that food alergies are related to overly early exposure to solid foods; once they’re established, they don’t invariably go away just because you stop administering the food.  Why do you want to put your child at risk for this sort of thing? You’d feel awful if something happened. And I wouldn’t wish what I went through (minor as it was) on anyone. Kyle

Response:

>>I’m having a baby in July and I plan to nurse it.  I also plan to feed >the baby solid food quite early. >My main reason is that I truly believe that small children develop >better/faster with >lots of stimulation around them, such as music, bright colors, good toys,

Absolutely….(although you can overdo the stimulation which is not good, either.  it will interfere with sleep and make them cranky.)  But they do thrive on new experiences and sensations. > etc and I don’t >see why the sense of taste is overlooked.  

Has nothing to do with taste.  It has to do with the immature digestive system and solids too early can damage it. >When I was born (in the late >60’s), babies >were fed a lot earlier than now.  

And were never in a car seat, never had the house babyproofed, and had a much higher infant mortality rate.  Is this really what you want to base your child on? >I know about the allergy warning but >if you find >an allergic reaction to a certain food, why not eliminate it from the >baby’s diet >and wait for about 4 months before retrying it?  

Because it’s not just the allergies….it’s the actual digestion. A baby not ready for food will push it out with their tongue, it can choke them if you force the food into their mouth dispite this. It will irritate their stomachs, can cause digestive bleeding and a whole slew of problems. your child is going to be eating solids for 60+ years if you’re lucky.. why not wait a few months?  (although I have to say, you are a typical first-time-mom-to-be.) >It seems that 2 months >is old enough >to start eating cereals and fruits to me.

If you honestly think that you know better than your doctor and the medical community about when your child is ready for food, then it’s your baby.  however, don’t be surprised at how guilty you’ll feel if you go against advice and your baby is hurt because of it.  There is no worse feeling. >Anne

Stephanie Mama to Mikael  5-9-95

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Just because you may feel guilty, is NO need to try to make others feel guilty.  We each do what we feel is best, you only follow what the doctor says, while my doctor says thank goodness you don’t wait for me to say GO. Every doctor is different, every mother is different, every baby is different.       Nice car seat line, again. I will say you did tone it down a bit this time though. Maria – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->>I’m having a baby in July and I plan to nurse it.  I also plan to feed   >the baby solid food quite early. >>My main reason is that I truly believe that small children develop   >better/faster with >>lots of stimulation around them, such as music, bright colors, good toys, >Absolutely….(although you can overdo the stimulation which is not good, >either.  it will interfere with sleep and make them cranky.)  But >they do thrive on new experiences and sensations. > etc and I don’t >>see why the sense of taste is overlooked.   >Has nothing to do with taste.  It has to do with the immature digestive   >system and solids too early can damage it. >>When I was born (in the late   >60’s), babies >>were fed a lot earlier than now.   >And were never in a car seat, never had the house babyproofed, and had >a much higher infant mortality rate.  Is this really what you want to >base your child on? >I know about the allergy warning but   >if you find >>an allergic reaction to a certain food, why not eliminate it from the   >baby’s diet >>and wait for about 4 months before retrying it?   >Because it’s not just the allergies….it’s the actual digestion. >A baby not ready for food will push it out with their tongue, it >can choke them if you force the food into their mouth dispite this. >It will irritate their stomachs, can cause digestive bleeding and >a whole slew of problems. >your child is going to be eating solids for 60+ years if you’re lucky.. >why not wait a few months?  (although I have to say, you are a typical >first-time-mom-to-be.) >>It seems that 2 months   >is old enough >>to start eating cereals and fruits to me. >If you honestly think that you know better than your doctor and the   >medical community about when your child is ready for food, then it’s >your baby.  however, don’t be surprised at how guilty you’ll feel if >you go against advice and your baby is hurt because of it.  There is >no worse feeling. >>Anne >Stephanie >Mama to Mikael  5-9-95

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