When to start table foods for infant?

[kandb]

My ds is 6 months old and really doesn't like baby food. I let him suck on a peach last week and he loved it. I have been giving him baby food since 4 months old but he really doesn't like it. When can I start giving him table food? I know it will have to be mashed up. He does not have any teeth yet. Thanks, Linda

 

[laceemouse]

My ds is 6 months old and really doesn't like baby food. I let him suck on a peach last week and he loved it. I have been giving him baby food since 4 months old but he really doesn't like it. When can I start giving him table food? I know it will have to be mashed up. He does not have any teeth yet. Thanks, Linda

We never started any FOOD before 6 months, and we started with rice cereal. Starting too soon is one of the reasons for the rise in food allergies, their little bodies can't handle FOOD yet. I followed the advice of my pediatrician and NONE of my kids have allergies of any kind. If he is growing well on breast milk/formula you don't NEED to add food at all! Maybe he doesn't like it because he is not ready?

That being said, there are grinders to make you own foods for baby and many people do that. I would definitely ask the doctor first though and follow the schedule he/she recommends. Generally you add ONE FOOD AT A TIME so that if problems arise you will know what caused it.

 

[Johnson1220]

We started the rice cereal at 4 months and then introduced a veg then fruit - but you need to keep giving them the same food for a week to see if they are allergic to it. Also docs recommend that you keep on trying to introduce the same foods. It takes babies awhile to realize whether or not they like something.

If your baby likes peaches - they make these mesh covers that go over fruit with a plastic handle at the bottom so the baby can chew on it and not choke.

I would suggest that you give them baby food in the beginning as their tummies take awhile to adjust - but your pedi will know best

 

[Colleen27]

We didn't do much store bought baby food with babies #2 & 3, and baby #1 only used it for about the first month he was eating solids. DD7 ate baby food when we were out because it was so much easier to keep a jar in the diaper bag, but never at home, and DD1 has refused it altogether.

What I started them on was soft veggies, mostly. Carrots, potato, sweet potato, squash, - cooked soft and mashed with a fork, they all make easy early baby foods. Ripe bananas and avocado work well too, and of course things like yogurt, unsweetened apple sauce, and oatmeal that are mushy/soft in their adult form. Once they were ready for a little more texture, I went to using a Happy Baby food grinder (you can pick one up for about $15, it is just a manual food grinder that comes in a carrying case) and just tossing a bit of our meals in to grind into baby mush. We follow all the basic rules about introducing one new ingredient at a time (and we're religious about it, because of a family history of serious food allergy), but by about 10mo all 3 of my kids were eating mostly what the rest of the family eats.

 

[rascooby]

We started our DD on food at about 7 months. We pretty much skipped baby food though. She eats soft fruits, veggies, whole grain waffles, cheerios, cheese etc. She's 9 months old now and mostly feeds herself. We have 2 older girls and we've done this with all 3 of them. Our girls haven't cut their first teeth until almost a year old but they seem to do just fine without them. You really use your molars to chew food and kids don't get those until pretty late. She is breastfed and that's where most of her nutrition comes from. The rest of it is really just tasting things and learning to pick it up and put it in her mouth.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think that by about 8 months, my kids were no longer getting any mushy food - just soft, small pieces, and they fed themselves. My dd didn't get any teeth until her first birthday, but having teeth have little to do with chewing soft foods - molars are used for chewing, and they don't get them until later, when they've been eating solid food for a while. The gums are hard enough to chew food without teeth, because the molars are right below. I always started with cherrios, or similar cereal. It takes a bit for them to get over the choke reflex - don't panic.

 

[kevschickee]

We started baby food at 4 months and then at 5 months we did puffs then 6 months table food. My kids didn't like babyfood all that much and I see no reason to keep them on it.

 

[natnelliesmom]

I have a small food processor that is easy to rinse out. I just put whatever the family is eating (one item at a time of course) into the processor and can feed the baby whatever everyone else is eating.
I have a friend who fed her kids jarred foods till they were almost 18 months old!!! They are 4 and 6 now and are THE PICKIEST eaters ever! She still has to prepare separate meals for them.
My girls eat everything and anything, love to try new things and are great eaters. I credit this to the fact that they started right out eating normal real foods.
That said... I did begin their first food basics with rice cereal, strained fruit etc. After that first month or so- they had the hang of solid foods and I began feeding them whatever I was eating.
-Sarah

 

[mjkacmom]

We never started any FOOD before 6 months, and we started with rice cereal. Starting too soon is one of the reasons for the rise in food allergies, their little bodies can't handle FOOD yet. .

It seems like we are delaying solids longer and longer, and yet the allergies just keep increasing. Back in the day, cereal was put in bottles right away, and parents were feeding babies as young as two months old baby food. I don't remember knowing a child with a food allergy. Even now that it is recommended to wait until at least 6 months (it was 4 months when I had babies), the amount of children with food allergies keeps increasing. My sister exclusively bf her ds until 6 months before slowly introducing solids, and he ended up with severe food allergies (wheat, peanuts, bananas, eggs...). However, his siblings have none.

 

[LadyShea]

We skipped baby food and cereals entirely and started DS on overcooked, fork mashed veggies and soft fruits at about 6.5 months. He was eating small chunks with his fingers within a month. This is what his pediatrician recommended, and it saved us a fortune in prepackaged foods.

Don't underestimate the power of their gums for chewing!

 

[Avonlady1001]

I waited til 5mths to start cereal w/ DS. He didn't like it at all, so I put some baby food in it & gave it to him that way...I'd try every few days, but no go. They know when they're ready for it, I think. Every child is different...DS is now 10mths & loves his food. He's just getting the hang of puffs & I've been giving him pieces of things from the table.

DS is child #2, and for some reason I'd totally overreact to the inevitable gagging reflex. (Had NO problems w/ this when DD was a baby LOL) That's part of the reason he's not on more table food yet. He has 8 teeth but I don't think that means much.

That said, do what feels right for your baby. You can puree pretty much anything you cook for your family & give it to baby. Just keep trying. Baby will eat it when he's good & ready.

 

[StephanieCG]

I'd put a piece of fruit in this and my daughter would be happy for a long time. http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog...=6356&parentCategoryId=85181&categoryId=85206
My pediatrician told me not to give her a whole lot of items with wheat until she was one because of allergies. Just fyi, but every kid is different.
My dd also loved to peas and corn, picking them up individually was fun, but then again "little jaws" got teeth at 3 months, so I don't know if that would work for you.

 

[Hannathy]

My DS NEVER had any baby cereal or baby food! If he couldn't put it in his mouth himself he wouldn't eat it. He was never fed. So he went straight to finger foods around 5-6 months. he ate pasta, cheese, eggs, vegetables, bananas, dry cereal, hamburger,mashed potatoes, etc... I didn't grind anything because he wasn't up to a spoon so it had to be in pieces he could pick up. We traveled a lot so he ate off my plate, so nothing specially made. He even started on peanut butter before a year.

A good way to get soft vegetables when eating out (because a lot of rest. now cook everything firm) is to order vegetable soup and scoop out the vegetables!, same with chic. noodle soup if your options are limited at a restaurant

 

[Manda]

We started our DD on food at about 7 months. We pretty much skipped baby food though. She eats soft fruits, veggies, whole grain waffles, cheerios, cheese etc. She's 9 months old now and mostly feeds herself. We have 2 older girls and we've done this with all 3 of them. Our girls haven't cut their first teeth until almost a year old but they seem to do just fine without them. You really use your molars to chew food and kids don't get those until pretty late. She is breastfed and that's where most of her nutrition comes from. The rest of it is really just tasting things and learning to pick it up and put it in her mouth.

Ditto all that. DS tried his first foods shortly after 6 months and when straight to real food. We never did baby foods. We also went straight to foods he could pick up and feed himself. I just used a little common sense in deciding what to offer him and what he was capable of eating.

 

[pixiewings71]

We never started any FOOD before 6 months, and we started with rice cereal. Starting too soon is one of the reasons for the rise in food allergies, their little bodies can't handle FOOD yet. I followed the advice of my pediatrician and NONE of my kids have allergies of any kind. If he is growing well on breast milk/formula you don't NEED to add food at all! Maybe he doesn't like it because he is not ready?

That being said, there are grinders to make you own foods for baby and many people do that. I would definitely ask the doctor first though and follow the schedule he/she recommends. Generally you add ONE FOOD AT A TIME so that if problems arise you will know what caused it.

I fed all my girls between 4-6 months for the first time and not one of them has any type of food allergies. I didn't give pnut butter for a few years tho because the Father of my 2 youngest has allergies to nuts and I didn't want to chance it.

OP, my DGD is 6 months and she just started on food, she gets rice cereal and water in a cup twice a day. And let me tell you, if you don't get the food to her mouth fast enough she gets mad....LOL They are doing cereal for the first 2-4 weeks and then they will start with jarred food, or her Momma will make food for her. I think she said they are going to start with mashed bananas and then move on to pears and apples after that. I would talk to your pedi about it, DD21 waited until her pedi said it was OK to start DGD.

 

[stacy6552]

both my kids started rice at 4 mos. Somewhere between 6 and 8 mos, they were eating whatever we did, mashed up obviously.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Just make sure the food is soft or mashed and feed them whatever you eat. Baby food is not a requirement. My dd was on straight table food at 10 months old (at the pediatrician's recommendation).

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Why don't you puree your own "baby" food? Any veggies you cook for the family for dinner, pop them in the blender and squish 'em up! You can do the same with your fruit. No one says you have to purchase the bottled stuff! Friends of mine make their own baby food and their boy is super healthy.

When we started feeding DD (now 11 months) at 6 months, I'd mix her cereal in with the (canned) baby food. It makes the food not as strong in flavor but she is still getting what she needs. If the food got to thick, I'd thin it back out with water. Did this for both of my kids and they eat everything!

We're getting ready to transition her to "big people" food. She'd rather eat what we have, veggie-wise. I still buy the fruit (she prefers Beech Nut flavors) but she eats whatever veg we have for dinner.

 

[princessmom29]

We started rice cereal at 4 months, and other foods at 6 months. By 9 months she was eating table foods mashed. DD had bad reflux and the cereal was originally added to her bottles and really helped with the reflux.

 

[PigletsMommy]

My DD (9 months) is about half baby food & half "real" food. If I can mash it or cut it up into small enough pieces then she eats it. We still use baby food occasionally. Like if we are running errands. Mostly I buy canned veggies & fruits. Make sure they are cooked really well & then cut them up. Today my mom took us to lunch at a mexican restaurant and she had rice & refried beans. I've also found frozen pancakes at walmart that she LOVES. I just pop one in the microwave for about 15 seconds & thats her breakfast...along with fruit or yogurt. She loves it.

I also asked her pediatrician about allergeries because I saw things in baby food that I thought you were suppose to wait until they were 1 yr old. Specifically strawberries. He told us there are new studies out that show there is no reason your child gets an allergy because he/she eats a specific kind of food too soon. The only thing he said to wait for is honey.