So.... i've started my little Flynn on rice cereal. He is almost 16 weeks and will be 4 months old going off birthdate on the 27th of this month. Which means that yes, i have started him on "solids " just shy of 4 months of age, which is the youngest age they should be ( at a minimum ) according to health recommendations. So anyone who wants to use the comments to tell me that " you cant start solids before 4 months! Midwives reckon you should wait til 6 months! " or something to that effect, feel free. I welcome debate in the comments section ( see my post entitled " I'm No Mummy Hater... " - mummy-debate galore! ). Basically it came down to this - my baby boy is getting increasingly hungry and by our second-to-last and last feeds of the night my booby juice is starting to almost run dry, which means Flynn is pulling himself off, after 40 minutes between boobies, and he's crying 'cause he's still hungry. I figured it was either top him up with formula and get him addicted - thus rejecting mummies milk and making her sad - or just starting him on one rice cereal feed a day, a week or two earlier than recommended. A boy has to eat right ?
Right. And so we've started ourselves on rice cereal. Mmm.... looks like mush and i'm pretty sure it probably tastes like soggy cardboard, but Flynny has taken to it pretty well. We've only had two nights on it so far - the first night i'm pretty sure most of it ended up on his bib and he thought the spoon was a bit weird, but last night he settled into it a bit better. In fact, when everything was gone out of the bowl and i popped the bowl up on the table ( he sits in his bouncer and i sit on the floor ), he turned his little head and kept staring at the bowl, as if magically trying to will it back. Clever little fella - only two nights of proper mush and he's already figured out mush comes from the bowl and the purple spoony thingo.
Also - i think my little dude is teething. He's pretty much the King of the Dribble-Guts anyway, but he's been extra dribbly, extra rosy-cheeked and extra snuggly the last few days. I'm loving the snuggles but i'm not enjoying the huge screams every now and then, especially when he's finished feeding ( apparently all that sucking makes the gums swell, or something, making them more sensitive ). I cant see any tell-tale lumps popping up yet but when i give him something to bite on or rub his gums for him he settles a bit. I gave him some baby Panadol last night to calm him down but i'm thinking i should get some gel or something when i'm next at the shops. I know my little man is in some kind of pain, but honestly - i'm just excited to see a tooth pop up!
Ah - my little man is growing so quickly! ( Cliche yes, but i have to acknowledge its truth - i want him to be a chubby cheeked bubba forever! )
Mp3Juice
5 months ago
I started Ethan and Claire both on cereal at 4 months. I only did so because Ethan was a formula baby only because my doctor put me on a birth control that dried my supply. I was very angry. Claire because she was unhappy with just milk. I thought I could make it to six months with Grayson, but he was just way too interested in my plate. Ethan was the only one who hated it. Grayson is also teething. I can feel the tooth when he chews on my finger. I give him a little infant pain reliever and he's all good. He's also a big fan of the chilled teething ring.
ReplyDeleteI skipped right over the rice cereal and went straight to veggies. At 4 months. Do what is right for you and Flynn. As long as your not feeding him cocaine, you're probably in good shape :)
ReplyDeleteI started Chop on solids at four and half months. I was trying to get him to sleep a bit better. Didn't help, but did no harm. Bump I waited till six months cause I'm lazy :) With the teething, have you heard of teething necklaces? Try Googling Selkie designs. I was a skeptic, but they so work.
ReplyDeleteHaha..Erin's comment made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any kids myself, but my sister has two, so I've been around babies enough to have an opinion on this. I don't think anyone has a right to tell you when or what you should feed your son. If he's hungry, he's hungry! I know my sister started my niece on rice cereal right around the same age as Flynn is now. (And, yes! As cliche as it is..they do grow so fast. I feel like everytime I see my niece and nephew, they've gotten so much bigger. I want them to stay babies forever, too.)
Im not exactly an expert on the subject but I just think whatever you think is best for your baby you should do!
ReplyDeleteI was just reading up on this yesterday, because Charlotte has been showing all the classic teething and hungry signs at 12 weeks. I read 'wait til six months' and put it to the back of my mind. I have friends who have started around 4 months though, and can see that we will probably be joining in with solid foods by four months.
ReplyDeleteI think do what you think is right for your baby, you know him best.
I agree with everyone, if he needs it then give it to him :) Midwives only say that because apparently research shows it can give them allergic reactions blah blah blah etc....
ReplyDeleteI fed both my kids around the 3 month mark, just make sure on your checkup that you don't tell the midwife, doctor etc otherwise you will be sure in for a lecture off them.
One of my mates followed their guidelines and didn't feed her little girl until she was 6 months and the trouble she had trying to feed her was unbelieveable. The crying and screaming was shocking.
I know you probably get this all the time, but if he goes off it, I home stewed my own apples and added into it just to give it a little bit more flavour, went down a treat :)
Sorry to be a rag and sound like what I did, but if you are ever out of teething gel, vegimite works a treat. I never used teething gel with my first born, but for my second born I had to buy the teething gel. Shoot me now for raving on with I did this I did that cos I know you get it heaps and it used to drive me mad but sometimes the slightest hint helps :)
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