Questions for those who decide not to start on rice cereal

[~inbalance~]

We skipped rice cereal for much of the same reasons already mentioned.  Started at 5.5mos here with DS1 and 6+mos with DS2, and with both I started with pear.  DS2 didn't like being spoon fed so we moved past purees and onto BLW after 6mos.

Trimbler, I don't think that any of those foods are problematic for a younger baby, however I do caution when starting so early (before 6mos in particular) to go slowly and maybe introduce only one of those every 3 days or even longer so that you can watch for any reactions your baby might have.  If you move too quickly and he reacts to something it would be almost impossible to figure out the culprit.  It's always a good idea to keep a food log as well.  Maybe some of these ladies might have something to add as well.  

[trimbler]

Thanks - I don't think the rice caused constipation as it was very runny with EBM. He did go about 36h between BMs (although that has happened with breastmilk before, very rarely), but when the next one happened it was still very runny. But I do think he was in some discomfort (which may have been teeth and not the rice at all!) so I'm going to be very careful in introducing new foods, as you suggest. Definitely had a better night last night with skipping the rice, so hopefully that will continue...??!

[cath~]

Hi trimbler - I am following Annabel Karmel's suggestions about which are the best fruit and veggies to start with.
She lists these here:

http://www.annabelkarmel.com/nutrition/babies-6-months/best-first-foods

Basically, she suggests that apple, pear, banana, papaya, avocado, carrot, potato, swede, parsnip, pumpkin, butternut squash and sweet potato are all fine to start with as they are easy to digest and unlikely to provoke an allergic reaction.

[trimbler]

Thanks cathn, seems like we're not too far off-track though... but I do wonder where the green veg comes into this, aren't they supposed to be good for iron? Are they not recommended near the start of weaning? So far (apart from the baby rice, which didn't seem to work very well), we've just done pear and sweet potato (mixed with EBM), both of which seem to have been taken very well, despite the sweet potato perhaps not being quite the right consistency (only discovered on defrosting)! But I was thinking I'd like to introduce a green veg quite early on... are there contraindications?

[cath~]

Hi trimbler,
Sorry for late reply!  I don't know exactly what the advice is for when to introduce green veg, but we introduced it (peas, brocolli, leeks (are they 'green'?)) around 6 months (2 weeks after we started weaning) and didn't have any problems.  I think Annabel Karmel says that once they've got the hang of the first few purees then it's ok to introduce almost anything (there's only a small list of things you can't give them, like salt, honey and eggs if they're not well-cooked), just as long as you do it gradually.  We've been adding new veggies, meat, fish, cheese and lentils to her diet quite regularly as she doesn't seem to have any problems with any of it.  Hth.

[trimbler]

Sounds like you're doing well! Our DS has gone off his food a bit recently (inc milk) due to a nasty cold so it's hard to judge which foods he likes - but he definitely has a preference for fruit over veg! Guess we'll just have to be patient and keep trying... Tried green beans for the first time this morning but I don't think he had any at all, despite peas being taken well at first... fun and games

[mianita]

Hi Ladies!
I'm also going to start solids with my DD in couple of weeks, around 6mo (will watch her cues if she is ready). And I'm researching for several weeks already. Our ped recomends to start with rice cereal. But I think we will go with veggies first, like butternut squash and sweet potato, then green veggies and some fruits. I don't want to start with fruits because of too sweet taste. I've heard that some LOs don't want veggies after
I've also read that some veggies contain lots of nitrates, even organic, like carrots... So it is better to introduce them little bit later than other food. Anyone heard about this?
Also from cereals I'm planning to introduce buckweat first. I've read that it's easy to digest, has looot of iron and not alergic. It's hard to find it though, but I found some buckweat baby cereals through Internet.

[lukemom]

I introduced my DS to solids at six months.  I did not give him rice cereal because my ND said that infants lack the digestive enzyme to breakdown the rice and therefore end up getting constipated.  When I did finally introduce grain it was at nine months and it was oatmeal.  Ds loved it and it is such a great way to start the day.  He is 28 months and still starts off with a bowl of oatmeal everyday.  The great thing about the oatmeal (or really any other single grain like ground brown rice) you can "hide" some nutritious foods like broccoli or in out case fish oil in it with fruit puree and he loved it.

To the pp, I avoided carrots until he was seven months old cause of the whole nitrate business.  The book Super Baby Foods also recommends waiting until atleast 7 months old.

As far as greens go between 6-9 months we did broccoli at 8 months, green peas at months and green beans at nin months.  Tried cauliflower at 9 months but DS never really liked it. 
Some other first foods i did was avocado and DS LOVED it, to this day he will eat that first off of his plate.  it is such a great first food.  Sooo healthy for them. Bananas, prunes, pears, mango, papaya, sweet potatoe, applesauce, carrots, squash and peaches, blackberries.  That was it for the first foods between 6-9 months. i still have my paper schedule with all the foods on it and the months i gave it.  LOL!!  Sorry if too long.
Good luck and have fun!!!!