When can I start feeding other food besides milk?

[Janek]

My baby girl going to 4 months soon, some of my friend advise me to give her oranges juice mix with water by 1:2.

Wondering shall I start that?

I am still breastfeeding her. Oh well if she can start solid feed, prolly my life will be much easier, at least she dun need to feed often.

Kindly advise for other food as well. And when can start feeding. TQ!

[kmum]

Personally, I don't believe in starting babies on solids too early.  Breast milk is the perfect food so why rush them onto something else. My kids were 7 & 9 months.  They were healthy & either at or above where their ped. expected them to be on the growth charts.  This includes my dd who has special needs.

I believe in waiting for the baby to show some sign that they are ready.  Signs of readiness include watching you intently while you eat & grabbing your food, just showing general interest in food.  Where we live it is recommended that babies are exclusively breast fed until at least 6 months of age.

Why orange juice? It is very acidic & does not seem like a good first food.  My 2 dd's could not drink orange or any other citrus juice until over 1 yr. of age - the acid made them spit up.  Many people start with cereal, although my kids first foods were vegetables.

HTH

[nhockaday]

First off,  DO NOT GIVE ORANGE JUICE! It is very acidic and can give your baby's tender little belly an ache. Instead, try apple or pear juice.

Honestly, if you're breastfeeding, you shouldn't start juices until your baby is well into eating solids, unless your baby gets constipated, and then you should just give a little pear or apple juice diluted with water. I didn't give Gabriel juice until he was over 9 months, and I really only offer it to him with his cereal.

A few things to think about with juice: it must be 100% juice! Do not get any juices that have any sugar or additives. Make sure the label only lists juice and water (ascorbic acid is ok because it is vitamin c).
Always dilute juice with water. It's recommended that you dilute it 3:1, meaning 3 parts water, one part juice, for as long as your baby will drink it that way. Juice is very sweet, so you dilute it because your baby doesn't need all that sugar (natural or not). You also don't want your baby to develop a sweet tooth or think that juice is better than milk.
Don't give it all day, or in large amounts. If you think your baby is thirsty, try offering water instead.


As for the solids, it is recommended that you wait until your baby is at least 6 months. After 6 months, you should start introducing a baby cereal once a day. It is recommended that you wait until after 6 months because studies have shown that babies have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes if solids are started too early. Milk is still supposed to be the primary source of nutrients for babies under 1, so try to breastfeed as much as possible and give solids as little as possible. Gabriel just gets cereal once a day. He is still breastfed and gets milk 4 times a day. I pump breastmilk in the morning to mix with the cereal. I also mix a little baby food with the cereal to give it flavor and introduce Gabriel to fruits and veggies.

As for baby foods, when starting them, you give only one kind and wait 3 or 4 days to make sure your baby has no allergies to it. You must do this with every food you introduce. If your baby does develop some allergy, you will know exactly what food triggered it.

Then after 10 months, you can start to introduce some finger foods that are in very small pieces.

[DomanMom]

Yes and amen to everything kmum and nhockaday said. One thing I thought I would add is that feeding your baby food too early can damage their immature digestive system and actually cause them to become allergic to those foods (because their body will attack it as a foreign contaminate and produce antibodies against it). This is especially true with things like cows milk and eggs and other high-allergy food, but applies to all foods.

I once read a study in a medical journal that said that when babies get in their first tooth, their saliva changes. Of course we all know that saliva is a big factor in the digestive system, so the time they get their first tooth is a good deciding factor of when to introduce solids.

There are very rare cases where babies can actually be born with teeth or get their first tooth very early (or in some cases, do not get them until very late), but for most cases, it seems like the sighting of the first tooth is a sign that the baby's own, individual body is ready to start digesting foods other than mommy's milk. Also, around half-way through the first year (6 months) not only are little teeth are able to chew, but we also have other signs of readiness like little hands that are able to grab and little bodies that are able to sit.

It's strange the kind of information that gets passed around these days about feeding little ones (like your friend's advice about orange juice) but remember to trust your baby's body and know that there is no rush to introduce new foods because breast milk is the most perfect, complete nutrient in nature and keep in mind that introducing too early can cause major problem's to your little one's immature digestive system. God bless!

[Janek]

MY another friend also advice Banana & Carrot after 6 months.

Thx for the info, add Karma for all of you.

[nhockaday]

Bananas are a great first food. I would definitely make sure carrots are introduced after 6 months because they contain nitrates, which very rarely leads to nitrate poisoning in very young babies.

In general, you can introduce almost any fruits or veggies to your baby, as long as it is the right consistency and contains no added salt, sugar, or other additives. Someone suggested this site before http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. I find it very helpful in explaining all about the different fruits and veggies that you can introduce and at what age to introduce them. It also explains which foods to avoid because of allergies or other problems. I suggest you check it out. It is also great if you plan on making your own baby food.

[sb1201]

I second the recommendation for wholesomebabyfood.com. I love that site! I gave my boy avacado as his first food and he really enjoyed it. It is easy too as you don't need to cook it, just mash and enjoy. You could also mix in a little breast milk if it needs to be thinner.

I found cereals gave each of my kiddos constipation, especially rice. So I try to stick to oatmeal or you can also do barley cereal. In the begining they really only need very small amounts like a tablespoon or so. They'll let you know! 

I started solids anround 5 months with my son and he LOVED eating. However he developed some weird poops and so I'm not sure if we rushed it or not. I ended up stopping his solids until around 6.5 months and that seemed to be better for his tummy.

If you do decide to start solids, just go really slow. You're right, it's much easier when you don't have to prepare meals on top of Breastfeeding. 

Good Luck to you

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