Baby rice

[henrysmama2012]

Our little one is almost at the 100% percentile for weight/height (not fat, just tall and broad like his daddy!)-& is currently almost 3.5 months old. He is going through a big growth phase and is eating more often and it really feels like he is going to be ready for more than milk soon. I read that starting with a little baby rice cereal (e.g. One spoonful a day) might be a good start and I read that 4 months old is ok to start doing this. Has anyone given their LO baby rice this early and did your LO react well to it?

Mixed advice on this one as the general consensus based on current research is nothing until 6 months. Some are definitely hungry before this but I would go for as long as you can with an increase in milk to see if that sates his appetite.

I had a big baby (99.6% for weight and height) and tried her on rice at 5 months but she just vomited it all back up and clearly wasn't ready. We tried 2 weeks later and she took it really well.

Interesting - thanks

I started on baby rice at 16 weeks DS loved it and was a lot more content he is now eating 3small pureed meals a day.

signs you baby is ready are -

After a full milk feed your baby cries or demands more
Your baby finds it harder to wait until the next feed, and becomes irritable or chews their hands
Where they've previously slept through the night, they now wake up for a feed.
Daytime sleep becomes more erratic too - not settling down or waking up early from naps
Your baby looks fascinated when you eat, and perhaps tries to reach for food you're holding

Also the need to be sittin up straight and react when you put food in there mouth weather it be swallowing or spitting it out if it just sits in the mouth then they are not ready.

And until 6 months make sure food isn't replacing milk. I firmly believe that mum knows best if you feel your babies ready he prob is just start slowly and i wouldn't give meat/fish until 6 months.

Thank you - that is v helpful-he's definitely exhibiting quite a lot of those signs...

Ooh yes, dd had baby rice and then other little bits of puréed food from 4.5 months. Otherwise she would have had to drink milk constantly to satiate her appetite! She was sitting up unaided by then, grabbing our spoons etc as listed by previous poster. She seemed fine with it. And is now 5yrs old and still fine

Weight is nothing to do with readiness for solids. If your baby has a parent or two parents who are tall and broad then it makes sense that they would be tall and broad. This tells you nothing about the maturation of the gut and their readiness for solids.

There's a lot of misinformation out there about what constitutes a sign of readiness. Certainly watching you eat with fascination and needing more feeds is nothing to do with it. They watch you do everything, chop with knives, drive a car etc. They're interested in you and everything you do, doesn't mean they're ready to take your car for a spin. And they need more feeds based on lots of things like how hot it is or how much of a growth spurt they're going through or how much their gums hurt. To name a few. And if they are hungry, milk is what they need. It's a complete, easy food which they will rely on until 12 months. First solids won't provide them with as much as milk does at first. Things like chewing their hands are tough too. Because all babies will chew their hands. It's because the mouth and the hands have the most nerve endings. You put one in the other and they're amazed by it. Chuck in teething and you'll find them very orally fixated.

Signs that the internal gut maturation is happening are that your baby can sit up well, has lost the tongue thrust reflex and is able to accurately pick up things, put them in their mouths, chew and swallow. It does make physiological sense that they will be able to do all this at a time when they're ready to be eating solid food. Most babies will probably exhibit these signs between 4 and 6 months but an average, healthy baby doesn't need more than milk for 6 months, they can get everything they need from milk until then.

The weaning guidelines are quite good if you want to look them up. They encourage you to watch your baby, go at their pace, not rush and they dispel myths about night wakings and watching you eat. They aren't too prescriptive either, say things like 'around 26 weeks' or 'about 6 months'. They're clear that you should follow your baby's lead.

I have had two big babies too. They're lovely and quite astounding. The bigger of the two was actually ready for solids a bit later than smaller ds (though still big iyswim). I just waited until they nicked my banana and ate it. They made their feelings clear.

I'm definately not part of the camp that says wait til 6 months or woe betide the allergies...but I have to disagree with lola with her readiness signs, especially is LO is bf. If LO cries for more milk, he may simply need more milk. If he chews his hands, he may simply be teething. My DS was interested in plenty of things, including watching me eat, before he was actually ready to eat. I DO agree that if it's all spat out again, LO won't be ready and I don't think this happens before 4 months, and for many not before 5 or 51/2 months. Ditto with sitting up. Ultimately, OP, it's your call. I just get upset seeing people spooning gunk in at barely 4 months claiming 'he's hungry, he needs it'

X-posted - you said it a lot better than me Showofhands

Actually, the NHS website has the below -

Three signs your baby is ready for their first food

Every baby is an individual, but there are three clear signs which, together, show your baby is ready for solid foods along side breastmilk or infant formula. It is very rare for these signs to appear together before your baby is six months old.
They can stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady.
They can co-ordinate their eyes, hands and mouth so that they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth, all by themselves.
They can swallow food. Babies who are not ready will push their food back out, so they get more round their face than they do in their mouths.

Some signs that can be mistaken for a baby being ready for solid foods:
Chewing fists
Waking in the night when they have previously slept through
Wanting extra milk feeds

These are normal behaviours and not necessarily a sign of hunger, or a sign of being ready to start solid food. Starting solid foods won?t make them any more likely to sleep through the night. Extra feeds are usually enough until they?re ready for other food.

Personally I would try and wait a few weeks as you'll probably find this growth spurt doesn't last. I see little point in giving baby rice though, there's no goodness in it, just full of empty calories. If not doing blw why not try some puréed root veg instead?

I think the point of baby rice is that you mix it with whatever milk the baby is used to, so it's a familiar taste but a new texture.

Can't believe another poster is 'upset' by people feeding food to babies under 6 months, good grief.

OP, you do whatever you feel is right for your baby.

read my post topsmart - i'm very upset to see babies flopping around at 4 months or younger being spoon fed - certainly NOT by 6 months. I started mine at 41/2, 5 months btw.

I'm not sure about this notion of 'do what feels right'. My neighbour proudly recounts the story of her week old baby that was SOOOO hungry, drank sooooo much milk ('eveytime I picked him up, he swished with milk') and she felt it was the right thing to do to start spooning stuff in 'to mop it up'.

I know official advice changes, but at least it is evidence-based research rather than gut instinct.

I gave my baby a little rice on a spoon at about that age and he didn't like it. Something tastier like pureed apple on the other hand... loved it. Was just a teaspoon or two so not really what you'd call a 'meal' but there were no adverse reactions, just a very happy baby. This was 2000 when the advice was to wean at 16 weeks. My friend's baby who was around the same age at the same time wasn't interested and didn't take to solid food until about 7 months. I don't think babies have changed much in 12 years

Baby rice is low in calories so by filling a babies stomach with rice actually makes him hungrier!
Milk is high in calories so keep bf ing and hell be fine

I'm sorry lola88 but the signs you list are incorrect

OP please read the posts by showofhands , LeBFG & sssshgobacktosleep

Also have a read of this about baby rice.

The guidelines changed from 3 to 4 months, then from 4 to 'around 6 months' due to evidence based research into weaning babies. Unfortunately, the government has still allowed baby food companies to continue to advertise "from 4 months" on their products which has basically resulted in lots of confused mummies!!

It is your baby and I also have no qualms with mothers choosing to wean when they feel it is the right time but I would recommend researching first and at least waiting until after 17 weeks to check his signs again.

All the best.

Thanks everyone for so many replies - its given me food for thought (boom boom)-I think we will wait until 4 months - ish then try a little spoonful of baby rice or purée and see what happens. Interestingly a couple of my American friends said they are given the go ahead from 4 months so it is interesting to note the cultural differences in recommendations, too...

henrys there is a big growth spurt at four months so it is likely that your baby will be hungrier in the next few weeks. However, you need to bear in mind that the 16 week old gut simply cannot extract calories from solids - it is immature and can only deal effectively with milk. If your baby is hungry then feeding solids at 4 months can mean they are actually taking in fewer calories than if they were taking milk because they get full up with stuff they can't digest. Particularly if it's baby rice because that's got no nutritional value at all - it's about as useful as wallpaper paste.

Interestingly I believe there's some research going on about the prevalence of digestive disorders in middle-age and a possible link to the outdated advice about starting solids at 4 months.

So all of us with children born pre the latest advice have condemned them to a middle-age of digestive disorders? How about those born even earlier? Are we all doomed? I'm sorry, but I think there is sensible advice out there and then there is retrospective scare-mongering.

Cogito, it's nothing to do with condemnation or certainty. As more research emerges, we adjust our empirical knowledge and act accordingly. No more no less. Just as we now know the dangers of passive smoking, the benefits of carseats etc. We didn't condemn a generation of children to COPD or cancer or asthma or fatal car accidents, we just learnt how better to minimise risks. And no babies haven't changed much in 12 years. The guidelines haven't either. They've changed from 'between 4 and 6 months' to 'around 6 months but not before 17 weeks'.

The actual guidelines and common sense are quite well aligned imo. If your baby can sit up, pick up food, chew and swallow, they're probably ready for solids. We know this happens around 6 months. Some babies will be ready before, some after. But the guidelines encourage you to look out for these signs in your own baby and to not be led by the red herrings of 'baby watching you eat' or 'needing milk feeds'.

OP, can I tentatively suggest that instead of saying 'I'll wait till 4 months and then try some puree', you shift your thinking to 'I'll wait for the signs and then start'. Because I do believe that of course each baby is different. But what you're doing is deciding to start at 4 months. This is your decision, nothing to do with the actual baby you have as you've no idea what he's going to be like at 4 months. He might have a strong tongue thrust reflex and be unable to sit. In that case it would be likely that his body just isn't quite ready yet.

It's really hard when people around you are probably hung up on numbers ie oh he weighs x amount or feeds x number of times or he's x weeks and still on only milk. It's like the end bit of pregnancy when suddenly you hit this arbitrary due date and people start saying 'haven't you had that baby yet?'. Well all people are different and just as some of us gestate babies for 42 weeks, some babies are ready for solids at 20, 23 or 28 weeks. We can only look at the baby we have. Making arbitrary decisions to introduce solids at x date is the same as whipping a woman in for induction as soon as she hits 40 weeks.

I'd recommend enjoying your baby, feeding him the calories he needs during these periods of massive growth and letting him tell you when he's ready.

I think I must have gone on to NM by mistake.