So I have some thoughts on cereal for Kyle. Third kid, you'd think I'd have it all worked out by now. Not so in my world.
Kyle's nearly 5 months old and I'm beginning to see signs that he's ready to start eating something more than breastmilk. He's interested in anything we're eating and is MAD when he has to sit in his little infant rocker on the floor instead of his Bumbo on the table while we're having a meal. I was hoping he would wait until Shaun's out of school in 4 weeks because frankly, it's far too busy around here to start something as detailed and time-consuming as cereal, but I don't think he can wait that long.
What are your thoughts on starting iron-fortified infant cereal first instead of going straight to veggies? Weigh in and I promise I won't chastise you!
7 comments:
I started all my kids on cereal first and nothing else. Then I added in the veggies a little later. Fruits were added in last. Have you started on just veggies first in the past? I really don't think it matters in the long run. Baby food (of any kind) really just helps them learn how to eat.
Pierce wanted nothing to do with baby food at all. I kept trying and trying and trying and it was so frustrating for both of us. He just wouldn't take it. Sometimes I'd manage to get some in him only to have him throw it up 5 minutes later. He had issues with growing (he wasn't) and I was so worried I was starving him. His ped told me that him not eating baby food had nothing to do with him not growing and if he didn't want it then not to worry. He didn't really eat anything other than formula until he was able to eat table food.
If you're worried about lack of time, why don't you just do cereal at lunch and dinner. Or do cereal after you drop Shaun off at school?
We started cereal first for Blake on the recommendation of the pediatrician... didn't matter though cause he HATED it so we just switched to veggies.
Sam has cereal every morning. I like the idea because it resembles more closely the types of things he'll have for breakfast as he grows. I don't think he'll ever really get veggies for breakfast but he will get cereal, oatmeal or toast and fruit. It only takes us 15 minutes or so. We've also given him Sweet potatoes around dinner a couple of times when I didn't feel like he ate well during a feeding. I find the whole transitioning thing a little daunting though because I don't really know how much solid food he should get versus formula/breast milk.
Rice cereal has almost no nutrition in it, and is only common because it has a low allergy risk. There is literally no point to feeding it to your child. We started Evie on apple sauce, and then I made some carrots, but she got sick of purees fast, and we've been doing baby led weaning every since.
I started Jackson on cereal around the same age as Kyle and for some reason he loved it and was showing all the signs but would not sleep at night....so I took him off for a few days and he went back to his normal sleeping pattern....I know weird. I waited until he was almost 6 months and now he is sleeping through the night. I give him cereal morning, noon and night (different one though) and for lunch he gets fruit and supper I try to do meat and veggies but he wants nothing to do with them.
Are you still making your own food? What did you do for Shaun and Ian?
I started all 3 of my kids on cereal first, waiting about 2 weeks after to introduce veggies. I started at dinner time (at least with Addie) - that's when she was most interested - seeing big brother and sister eating was her primary motivation! We never used it as a "food" for her, more to get her into the practice of eating. Starting her at dinner time was easiest for me - it took 30 seconds to mix the cereal, I had dinner for the other 2 kids, they were old enough to feed themselves, and giving her a bite while I was eating never took up any extra time. I actually found myself relieved when she started eating solids, because her feeding schedule didn't interrupt our dinner schedule - she sat with us for the most part.
We started with avocado which is what I would do again. It is very high in fat, which is so good for them, as well as E vitamins and other things. It also does not cause constiptation as much as iron-fortified cereal might.
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