https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:42:21 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1619245 Wed, 07 May 2014 13:07:47 +0000 Adira 1619245@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We tried to go straight to purees at 6 months, but my son wasn't having any of it. I ended up having to go back to rice cereal to really ease him into it (since you can make it nice and liquidy and mix it with BM so the taste is what they are used to). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1619243 Wed, 07 May 2014 13:06:54 +0000 JerricaBenton 1619243@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did BLW at 6.5 months. She did great but didn't really start taking in more than a few bites at a time until closer to a year. She's always been a happy breastfeeder and only now at almost 15 months will really ask for food before it's given to her. She had all her levels tested and was never iron deficient. After researching BLW and rice cereal we decided rice cereal wasn't the direction we wanted to go in. BLW seemed very natural to us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1619191 Wed, 07 May 2014 12:52:43 +0000 mdf106 1619191@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I went straight to purees at 5.5 months. I did a lot of research on when to introduce solids in the 4-6 months range, and I could not find much either way, only that before 4 months is very bad, and after 6 months is somewhat bad. Breastfeeding advocates recommended 6 months, but I could not find any data to back that up. There is some evidence that introducing allergic food earlier, closer to 4 months, prevents food allergies. My pediatrician recommended starting at 4 months, but I was not comfortable with that. In the end I went with my gut, LO was sitting almost independently, and seemed interested in food, so I went with it. The pediatrician never said anything about cereal, so I did not introduce it. He has tried cereal, but not first, just to add more variety to his diet. At 8.5 months he is still not into solids, but has been growing fine. He has generally been 90th percentile in height and 50th in weight. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1618437 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:18:48 +0000 wonderstruck 1618437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>From the research I've done, there really isn't much backing up the use of rice cereal at all unless you have a baby who needs the extra iron (but my understanding is that most of them don't need extra iron until after 6 months, when you'll be doing solids anyways) - our pediatrician said it wasn't necessary and it was totally fine to go straight to purees at 6 months, although if we wanted to start with rice cereal that was okay too, but not to do it too early. Honestly, your parents probably just think he should have rice cereal (and soon) based on how things worked when they were raising kids, but the recommendations have definitely changed. My son was also a big eater in the 95th percentile of weight, and we waited until a bit after 5 months to introduce any solids, but it didn't do great things for his stomach so we stopped and waited until he was actually 6 months.</p> <p>That being said, I do know some people who use rice cereal, I don't know if it would necessarily hurt anything, but most of the reasons people gave me for feeding it to him early, I found to be completely untrue when I researched it. Here are some of the links I used:</p> <p><a href="http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/first-foods/" rel="nofollow">http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/first-foods/</a><br /> <a href="https://www.gerber.com/supported-sitter/articles/your-guide-to-starting-solids" rel="nofollow">https://www.gerber.com/supported-sitter/articles/your-guide-to-starting-solids</a> (I thought this one was interesting because this is from Gerber, who makes the rice cereal, and even they say 4 months is the absolute earliest you should feed it to your baby!<br /> <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/healthy-baby/art-20046200" rel="nofollow">http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/healthy-baby/art-20046200</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1618428 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:17:03 +0000 Foodnerd81 1618428@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started a week before six months, and we did blw so no purees or cereal to start, just very soft roasted or steamed fruits and veg. I did give her oatmeal sometimes because she saw me eating mine and wanted some, but it was real oatmeal, not baby. </p> <p>I had read a lot on the internet, and read the blw book, and didn't feel there was any benefit to rice cereal. I figured breastmilk was best for her, so why fill her tummy with rice cereal which wouldn't offer any extra nutrition or prime her to like a variety of foods later on. </p> <p>Tht said, she never seemed to be anxious for more than the breastmilk and never had weight gain issues. If she had I would have been more open to it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1618402 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:10:42 +0000 Smurfette 1618402@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did rice cereal at 5.5 months but it was for like a couple days and then we tried oatmeal cause she acted like she wanted more. So next time I will skip the cereal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1618396 Wed, 07 May 2014 09:09:09 +0000 Grace 1618396@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wanted to go straight to purees at 6 months and the pediatrician was ok with it, if I could get LO to eat enough meat for the iron. That was super hard. So I feed her baby oatmeal for the iron. I also use it to thicken purees for her. Butternut squash came out very liquidy, for example. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/feeding-an-infant#post-1618357 Wed, 07 May 2014 08:59:52 +0000 ElbieKay 1618357@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have an exclusively breast milk-fed 2mo (though he has had plenty of bottle-fed pumped milk).</p> <p>I know that his caregivers (nanny + my parents) are in favor of introducing rice cereal at some point. What are the pros and cons of doing this, and where can I research them? My instinct is to go straight from breast milk to purées of real foods, but it might help for me to have some sources to back me up on this.</p> <p>Also, how did you decide when to introduce other food? I have vaguely heard 4-6mos, but that is a wise range. My son was 11 days late and is pretty big for his age (90% for weight and off the chart for height), and he's an enthusiastic eater. So, I will probably experiment on the earlier side because I think he will take to it. </p>