some (ok a lot of ) questions - introducting solids

some of these are silly... bear with me

1. do you always use a plastic baby spoon, we only have a silver baby spoon given as gift, DS seems ok with it, but just wondering

2. Do you always wait 3 days. Our ped actually said 4 to me, DH is a physician and told me in the car, he said 4, cause if he said 3, you'd wait only 2. Whats the deal, why do you wait so long. Wont a reaction happen that day?

3. If I introduced apples, but I have yet to introduce barely, can I offer a mix of the two to get him used to the taste. Is that even necessary?

4. DS was teething, my mom was watching him and she said held a raw carrot for him to nibble on, does this count as a food. He didn't bite it really hard just sort of rubbed his gums on it... or so she said .. but I can't imagine him getting much carrot into his system that way

5. When you first introduce food, do you give only a certain amount? Do you give as much as your LO wants? After its introduced, do you give as much as they want? How do you figure out amounts? And how does it affect bottle?

6. What does a reaction look like? What do you do if you get a reaction? I'm totally confused here, my ped said "just call us" ... but ... I don't know is there something more proactive I could be doing? give water? give benedryl? no idea, at what point do you just wait it out, or you react?

7. Do you introduce categories first, or do you just do it in whatever order? I started with rice, oatmeal, apples, .... now I want to barley, then green beans, is that not recommended?

TIA!

Re: some (ok a lot of ) questions - introducting solids

some of these are silly... bear with me

1. do you always use a plastic baby spoon, we only have a silver baby spoon given as gift, DS seems ok with it, but just wondering

I usually use plastic but you can use the silver one too.

2. Do you always wait 3 days. Our ped actually said 4 to me, DH is a physician and told me in the car, he said 4, cause if he said 3, you'd wait only 2. Whats the deal, why do you wait so long. Wont a reaction happen that day?

When we first introduce something we do the 3 day rule. The theory is it can take time to develop a reaction. It made me feel better wait the 3 days.

3. If I introduced apples, but I have yet to introduce barely, can I offer a mix of the two to get him used to the taste. Is that even necessary?

You can mix the two if he has already had one thing because essentially you are only introducing one new things at a time.

4. DS was teething, my mom was watching him and she said held a raw carrot for him to nibble on, does this count as a food. He didn't bite it really hard just sort of rubbed his gums on it... or so she said .. but I can't imagine him getting much carrot into his system that way

I don't think the nibbling counts as actually eating the carrots. Try making some or buying some and see if he likes it.

5. When you first introduce food, do you give only a certain amount? Do you give as much as your LO wants? After its introduced, do you give as much as they want? How do you figure out amounts? And how does it affect bottle?

I usually gave a serving a jar or 2 cubes. For us it didn't effect the bottle at all but for some people it does. You can tell when they are done, sometimes they spit it out You will figure it out

6. What does a reaction look like? What do you do if you get a reaction? I'm totally confused here, my ped said "just call us" ... but ... I don't know is there something more proactive I could be doing? give water? give benedryl? no idea, at what point do you just wait it out, or you react?

Can't comment on a reaction because fortunately we have never had one.

7. Do you introduce categories first, or do you just do it in whatever order? I started with rice, oatmeal, apples, .... now I want to barley, then green beans, is that not recommended?

We started with orange veggie, then green. We did rice first, then oatmeal but he didn't love the rice. Go with what you think is best.

Good luck!

Re: some (ok a lot of ) questions - introducting solids

1. I prefer softer spoons because DS like to chew on them and I didn't want him hurting his gums.

2. In the beginning when we tried out all the fuits and veggies we waited three days. I got more lax as he got older (9 months +). Sometimes it takes 3 "servings" or more to show a reaction, although it could show up that day.


3. As long as he's had one food, you can mix two together but it's not necessary.


4. The carrot doesn't count as food but keep in mind that babies' gums are hard, he could very well bite a piece off and choke on it, so I'd be careful.


5. When we started with solids I gave DS a tablespoon or two... once he was bigger, around 6 months, we started giving him full jars. It shouldn't really affect their bottles at first because formula needs to be their primary source of nutrition. As they get older they will drink less but not for a while.

6. No idea what a reaction looks like... DS never had one.

7. We did fruits first, then veggies, in no particular order. I don't think it matters, honestly.

Message edited 7/12/2010 12:03:13 PM.

Re: some (ok a lot of ) questions - introducting solids

1. do you always use a plastic baby spoon, we only have a silver baby spoon given as gift, DS seems ok with it, but just wondering

- Yes. Loey tries to "chew" it, so I think it's better to use the plastic.

2. Do you always wait 3 days. Our ped actually said 4 to me, DH is a physician and told me in the car, he said 4, cause if he said 3, you'd wait only 2. Whats the deal, why do you wait so long. Wont a reaction happen that day?

- No. We aren't following that "rule" at all. Our ped said it wasn't necessary. For example, yesterday Loey tried papaya in the morning and carrots that night.

3. If I introduced apples, but I have yet to introduce barely, can I offer a mix of the two to get him used to the taste. Is that even necessary?

- I think so. If you know there's no reaction to apple, you will know that if there is a reaction it's to the barley.

4. DS was teething, my mom was watching him and she said held a raw carrot for him to nibble on, does this count as a food. He didn't bite it really hard just sort of rubbed his gums on it... or so she said .. but I can't imagine him getting much carrot into his system that way.

- I wouldn't count that as food.

5. When you first introduce food, do you give only a certain amount? Do you give as much as your LO wants? After its introduced, do you give as much as they want? How do you figure out amounts? And how does it affect bottle?

- We usually give one "cube" which is about 1 oz, but if he wants more... we give it. The small jars of food are 2.5 ounces, so we figure that's about the most he'd be eating. So sometimes we give 1 or 2 cubes = 1 or 2 ounces. We always give solids after BM, so it doesn't affect it at all.

6. What does a reaction look like? What do you do if you get a reaction? I'm totally confused here, my ped said "just call us" ... but ... I don't know is there something more proactive I could be doing? give water? give benedryl? no idea, at what point do you just wait it out, or you react?

- Not sure. We haven't had any reactions yet (knock on wood).

7. Do you introduce categories first, or do you just do it in whatever order? I started with rice, oatmeal, apples, .... now I want to barley, then green beans, is that not recommended?

- We are just going by whatever is fresh and in season.