starting solids?

we just had our 4 month wellness checkup today and the ped said he thinks the boys are ready to start trying rice cereal, etc. i was hesitant to take this on so early because gestationally they're still only around 3 months. but here we are and it looks like it's time.

and i am so totally clueless about what to do. these are my first and only babies and i've got no idea how to begin. are there any good books or websites out there that will help me wrap my head around this next stage? i just didn't expect to be starting already so i'm totally unprepared. any advice or recommendations would be very helpful.

 

www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great website for starters.

I would just mix a tiny bit of cereal with some formula and go from there. They may still have a pretty good tongue thrust reflex so dont be surprised if they spit it out. If it doesnt go well, just take a break and then go back to it.

 

We started rice cereal at 5 months - 30-60 minutes after their first bottle. I chose to do it after their first bottle b/c otherwise I felt like I was stuck at home feeding babies all day! We just recently started to add a second feeding, but not everyday. One of my girls didn't get the hang of it for nearly a month, while the other one got it immediately. The website (wholesomebabyfood) is what I referred to also. Have fun!

 

Why did the pedi want them to start solids so early? Even 4 mo adjusted would still be 2 mo before AAP/WHO guidelines. Are they showing signs of readiness like these?

If you go ahead with it, make sure to offer solids no more than 30-60 min after nursing/bottle. You don't want anything to cut into their milk intake, especially so young.

 

My advice is don't worry if they won't take it right now! I tried spoon feeding cereal at 4 months old but my girls just weren't ready until almost 6 months old. They let me know that they weren't ready by refusing to eat it and screaming! Your babies will let you know if they are ready or not. I would just get some rice cereal and mix it with a little bit of formula or BM, whatever they normally take, and see if they are interested in the spoon. If they aren't interested then just try again the next day or in a couple of days or weeks. They will eventually eat from a spoon! Most important is don't stress about it!

 

thank you, that site is exactly what i needed.

i'm not concerned if they're not ready. my sense is that they're still doing a bit of the tongue thrusting so nothing much is going to make it to their tummies. i wasn't intending to start thinking of rice cereal until they hit at least 4 months adjusted, but i also don't see the harm in trying if the pedi thinks they're ready. i think part of the reason why the pedi suggested it is because they're still on the small side, even for adjusted age. they have reflux which means they tend to self-restrict on feedings. a tummy full of liquid refluxes more so they tend to stop eating when it starts pushing up on them. then what little they do eat comes up, and up, and up. we live in vomit central. since solid foods are supposed to stay down better, they may be able to retain more calories. i have my doubts about that, though, because we tried the rice thickened formula a while ago and these guys were able to rocket up that stuff as easily as pure breastmilk.

 

I didn't listen to my pediatrician and we waited until 6 months. I'm glad we did, it's a lot of work and added stress, DS hated plain cereal and didn't take to solids at all until 7 months. No way he would have been ready at 4 months... What surprises me is that he would recommend to start because they are small, as mine reduced their formula intake dramatically when we started cereal, and we couldn't make up for it with the formula in the cereal.

 

eh, i'm not going to let it be a stress thing. we're going to give it a shot. if they take to it, great. if they're not ready then they're not ready. it's certainly not going to be a situation where i force it on them and let their overall formula intake drop as a result.

i was just surprised by the pediatrician's assessment and realized that i need to start thinking about resources and getting a good working knowledge of this next stage. whether it happens this weekend or in two months, i need to be thinking in terms of where we're going and i'm starting out with absolutely zero experience!

 

I think you have the right attitude. My girls did very well at 4 months. They were ready. Babies are different. For us, it seemed to really help with the reflux too.