As we mothers tend to do, I have been reading all about when to start KayLynn on food. The last time I was at the pediatrician, he said that starting 4-6 months was ok, and it was totally up to me. As I have read, I have found all kinds of opinion and research. The most recent and the one that makes the most sense to me is the one that said that you should not feed your children until they are physically able to chew and swallow. This does vary – but based on their research it said that most often children were able to put food into their mouth, chew and swallow it at 6 months. It went so far as to say that we should not feed our children pureed food. They also said that we should never put rice cereal in a bottle as it feeds so many calories so fast. If you feed them with a spoon, they learn to stop and evaluate if they are still hungry. Babies who are eating only when they are hungry will learn to eat more food than they need by being fed so many calories without stopping. Thankfully KayLynn is one of those children who only eats when she is hungry. If you put too many ounces in a bottle she will stop even when there is more food!
The article said
“She says, ‘Sound scientific research and government advice now agree that there is no longer any window of a baby's development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids.’ It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it.” http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080620082924AANswZP
There are a lot of other answers on this website, but I was wondering what your thoughts and actions have been. I am more than willing to wait till six months to feed KayLynn solids if that is what is healthy for her. Another suggestion I have had is to feed her only rice cereal from 4 months to 6 month and then start solids. I appreciate your advice and would love to know what do you all think. Thanks
3 comments:
With each child we lived in a different place and had different doctors and each had different ideas.
Sarah's doc started them at 4 mo, Rebekah's at 1 year, and Joshua's at 8 mo. The 2 later ones were the easiest - probably because the tongue action was better
I exclusively nursed Wesley until he was 6 mths exactly. He was very eager to eat solids too. I think with our next child we will start at maybe 5 and a half months. Your baby also has to show interest in the food. That's why they sit with you at the dinner table.Or lay in their swing, whatever :)Our doc said the goal is to have your baby be eating dinner with you at dinner time by their 1st b-day. I agree with waiting until the baby is older to feed solids too. Why start the mess any earlier than you need to?
Well, both of my boys have been different. We started Levin on solids (rice cereal) at 5 months, but he had stopped sleeping through the night. With Philip we waited until over 6 months to begin food. I will add that Philip was much easier to feed, maybe because he was further developed and knew better how to control his tongue.
I say, if KayLynn seems happy and is sleeping fine than wait. It sure adds more work to what you will need to bring with you everywhere, not to mention more time.
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