I took Kate for her 4 month well check yesterday. Her weight (15 lbs 1 oz), height (25in), and head circumference (?) were all the 75%. She is a well proportioned chickadee:)
The thing that surprised me about the appointment is that the doctor said I could start her on rice cereal now. I had heard that starting on cereal before 6 months can increase allergies but she said that that is unproven and there have actually been studies showing the reverse to be true. Dr. P said it's perfectly fine if I want to wait until 6 months before I start on it though. So, I wanted to get the opinion of some of you mamas out there! When did you start your babies on cereal? When do you think is a good age? I don't know that I feel ready for that milestone yet. 4 months just still seems so tiny. But I recognize that there can be a prideful aspect of my thinking where I want to be the only one nourishing and sustaining her with food. That is not a reason to start her on cereal now, but I don't want to make the decision only based on a sinful desire to exalt my care of my child. Ok, this is getting rambling! Thoughts would be appreciated!
5 comments:
I remember starting Kathryn on cereal when she started waking up again at night, which was about 5 months, I think. But really, you know best for Kate.
I decided to wait until 6 months to start Audrey on cereal for a couple reasons. When she was 5-6 months, we flew to California to see Steve's family for a week and then we flew to North Dakota a few weeks after that for 10 more days to see my family. I thought it would be easier to wait until we got home to start the cereal. But more importantly, she seemed content with just milk. She's never been a big eater and has always been at 25% for weight. Others may have looked at that and thought, SHE NEEDS MORE FOOD! But I just went day by day and tried to do what I thought would be best for her. She didn't starve :) You'll do great!
I agree with Rebecca...you know what's best. Chelsey was somewhere between 4 and 6 months...she just acted like she was hungry...must have been a growth spurt so I gave it a try. You start her on food when you both are ready, I think you'll know!
If she's happy on breastmilk, save the money. =P I think you'll know when breastmilk isn't filling her up. It was pretty easy to tell with both my kids.
Studies are conflicting from what I've read on the allergy issue...but historically I think most babies weren't started on solid foods until they could start chewing. I wait until my baby's are showing all the developmental readiness signs for babyfood: able to sit unassisted, loss of the tongue thrust reflex, and showing a lot of interest in not just playing with a spoon but actually eating food. These milestones happen at different ages which is why one baby might be ready at 5 months and another not until 10 months, but its very rare for a baby to show meet all those readiness milestones before 6 months. Plus, starting solids early has been shown to begin a slippery slope that can lead to early weaning because you might be replacing breastmilk too soon. Solid foods seemed like a lot of fun to start with Wesley, but I found it was so much hassle and mess that I actually prefered to wait longer with Savannah and save myself the mess and expense! :)
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