Dorothy's pediatrician recommended starting her on solid foods at her last visit, in the middle of July. We weren't in such a rush, given the research we've seen that suggests waiting until closer to 6 months can help reduce chances of developing food allergies. But after buying her a high chair a week ago, and having had solid foods (rice cereal and a jar of sweet potatoes for babies) sitting on the counter since late July, we decided on Sunday that two weeks short of her six month birthday was close enough to try the food.
The Sunday evening attempt can be quickly summed up in two words: abject failure. I had a suspicion before we got started that it wasn't going to go well, because Dorothy was being fussy and seemed to need to pacifier. As soon as I'd take it out of her mouth, she'd start making noise and getting upset. Trying to stick a spoon with rice cereal on it certainly didn't improve her attitude. We'll wait a week and then try again. We've read online posts by some other parents talking about their kids not wanting solid food until 7 or even 9 months old, so we're not really worried yet. And we're not going to force solids on her any time soon.
The rice cereal instructions said that for baby's first feeding, the cereal should be diluted 1:4 with breastmilk, water, or formula. Later on, you just mix it up to whatever consistency you (actually, the baby) prefers. Now, even "thick" cereal is like oatmeal, and relatively liquid-y. But at 1:4 dilution, it's barely distinguishable from plain breastmilk. Besides getting the flavor of the cereal and the feel of the spoon in her mouth, I'm not sure that Dorothy would actually have gotten anything out of the cereal itself, even if she did keep any of it in her mouth...
Posted by Tom Nugent at August 24, 2004 09:04 AM"Dorothy's pediatrician recommended starting her on solid foods"
Ow! Won't that be painful for Elizabeth?