solids and belly aches at 6 months

[linsysunshine]

My LO is 6 1/2 months old and still not eating solids regularly. We started her at 6 months with rice cereal and she was up screaming with what seemed to be a belly ache all night. So, waited a week before trying again. Then, the same thing. Tried her on avocado but it didn't seem to sit well with her either. I've since tried the rice cereal mixed with apple/prune juice in case it was constipating her but that didn't help much. Does anyone have any experience with this or advice as to how to procede? She's still not sleeping through the night.

[Seona1973]

maybe try other fruits/veg and avoid baby rice e.g. carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, pears, apples, banana, etc

[~ Vik ~]

Agree with pp about avoiding baby rice altogether - it can be very constipating and difficult to digest.  Orange vegetables (sweet potato, squash, carrots) tend to be easy to digest, and Tracy recommended pear as a first food also.  It's also best to introduce foods first thing in the morning (baby doesn't know that sweet potatoes aren't a breakfast food ) and in very small quantities, even just a table spoon to start.  This gives you all day to watch for allergic reaction, and it gets the food through the system so if she does get a tummy ache it's not keeping her up all night long.

hth

[deb]

Rice gave Josie all manner of tummy troubles, so we ended up trying other cereals as plain veg was too strong-flavored for her. (She STARTLED at squash! I have vivid memories! We tried barley and oatmeal and settled on the oatmeal, but millet was next in line to try.

[scarlettsmom]

Agree with skipping rice cereal altogether, especially with your LOs results.  It was terrible for DD1, we tried once and never again, and with DD2 never even gave it to her.  Oatmeal was our go-to with DD1, she ate it pretty much every day for a year.  We'd put berries in eventually or a little honey (after a year old), and it really helped her stay on track poop wise.   

Pears are a great great first food, as Tracy recommends.  Easy GI wise and tastes good too.    

[Jiinx]

Nothing really to add and agree with pp - rice cereal is a tough first food. Our doctor encouraged it bc it would help with her acid. It made her so constipated and she had such tummy problems on top of acid So we just stuck with fruits and veggies.

Oatmeal and millet are great

[First Time Mom]

I second the oatmeal, and it's not nearly as gross as the rice cereal !