For a good 20 years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has advised that parents avoid feeding solid food before babies reach the age of 4 months. That suggestion was revised last year, and parents are now being encouraged to provide nothing except breast milk until the baby reaches six months. When breast milk isn’t an option, formula is considered an acceptable alternative. Unfortunately, the message doesn’t seem to be getting across, the CDC says.
In a national survey of 1,334 mothers, 40 percent said they gave their baby solid foods before the age of 4 months, and 9 percent said they had started as early as 4 weeks. This suggests that either mothers aren’t aware of the recommendations, or they find them too difficult to follow.
Some of the most popular reasons for offering solids included “my baby is old enough,” “my baby seems hungry,” “I wanted my baby to sleep longer at night,” and (the most concerning of all) “a doctor or health care professional said my baby should be eating solid food.”
Economics seemed to play a part in the decision. Young, unmarried, and less educated women seemed turned to solid food more often than other mothers. Poorer women, who tended to view formula as more expensive, also tended to feed solids sooner than those in higher income brackets. Additionally, those that exclusively fed formula or a mix of formula and breast milk were the most likely to say they’d received the go-ahead from their child’s pediatrician.
“Clearly we need better dissemination of the recommendations on solid food introduction,” Kelly Scanlon, an epidemiologist with the CDC, and an author of the study, told NY Times. “Health care providers need to provide clear and accurate guidance, and then provide support to help parents carry out those recommended practices.”
The problem is, that while pediatricians may be sympathetic to the difficulty that parents face in feeding their child only breast milk or formula during that first six months, it’s important that they stand by what they already know . . . little good can come of feeding a baby solids before they are truly ready.
“When a baby is ready to start eating food, he will put his hands in his mouth, and you will see him actually making chewing motions,” Dr. TJ Gold, a pediatrician with Tribeca Pediatrics in Brooklyn, told NY Times. “At three months, they can’t even hold their heads up well and they can’t sit up, making it difficult, if not dangerous to put solid food in their mouth.”
In addition, infants under six months haven’t had the chance to fully develop the diversity of gut bacteria needed to safely process solid food. This can lead to a number of gastrointestinal problems, including diarrhea and gastroenteritis (inflammation of the intestines). And there are studies that have linked the early introduction of solids to problems ranging from obesity and diabetes to eczema and celiac disease.
And those reasons for feeding solids early? They don’t really hold up much when you really take a good look at them. For example, if a parent is turning to a bottle to help a baby sleep at night or gain weight, they might find that, in some ways, they’re actually being counterproductive.
“That big fat bottle at the end of the night isn’t why your baby is sleeping—it’s a skill you acquire,” Dr Gold said. “And if you think giving your child more calories is going to help him gain weight, but it gives him more diarrhea, then he’s not actually absorbing as much.”
In fact, the only one that really holds any serious weight is the cost of formula.
“The formula gets really expensive, especially in the 4-to-6 month window,” Gold said. “and if you have more than one child and you’re already preparing food for the whole family, it’s much easier to just start sweeping things off your plate.”
This issue can be balanced out by encouraging breastfeeding as much and as long as possible, especially for women that are in lower income brackets. This is because, unlike formula, breast milk is supply and demand. As your baby needs more, your body produces more. For help with breastfeeding struggles, seek out help from a lactation consultant or a pediatrician that supports long-term breastfeeding.
https://www.growingyourbaby.com/babies-receive-solids-too-soon/
https://www.growingyourbaby.com/introducing-solid-foods-to-your-infant/
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With my 3 children they all had just formula until 12 months per Dr recommendation. Of course I’m a grandma now so was awhile ago, however they were all very healthy children. Did pretty much same with one year old granddaughter and she is very healthy also.
My daughter has had baby rice at 8 weeks olz rusk from 10 weeks old and she is now fully weaned at 5 1/2 months old she eats everything i do she was off baby pureed food at 4 months old
Any pedfiatrician even an outdated one will tell you that formula or breastmilk should be the child’s main source of nutrition till a year old. 5 1/2 months is really young to be weaned. Why not let your baby be a baby, they will be big before you know it.
Please make sure you’re still feeding your baby breastmilk or formula until at least 12 months.
Your daughter cannot get all her nutritional needs met from table foods alone at such a young age.
She can become malnourished and have serious health issues at the very least.
You are joking right?
I have dentures and almost never wear them and especially can’t use them to eat with. I do just fine with my gums, sans things like chips or fresh vegetables such as whole carrots or broccoli. My son had acid reflux and I had to mix rice cereal with his breast milk and formula so he wouldn’t vomit all the time. Nothing else worked! He ate his first pureed food at around 5 months, officially. He’s doing great, now, and can eat anything, no weight problems or allergies. That being said, there is no standard, every child is different and it’s A PARENTS job to interpret the needs of their own child. PERIOD.
Rice cereal is harmful because it’s empty calories with no nutritional value, taking up room in the digestive system of your baby that should be going towards milk. Also… Arsenic.
Wow I didn’t realize there were so many Moms out there who are not educating themselves before making these decision. Just as the RN said you may think your baby “likes” food and is ready for food because you’re the parent and you know best but their little bellies are not ready for it yet. This may not show up until they are long gone from a Pediatrician. Your adult child may not link the fact that he/she’s parent fed them at 8 weeks old (nor would they think to ask) to the reason that they are having major issues in the GI department.
Ashleigh, there is NO WAY a pediatrician recommended you starting foods at 8 weeks and definitely not weaning them off breastmilk/formula at 5 1/2 months!!!! There are so many vitamins in those liquids that your child needs in this stage of their life that they just can’t get from foods. I feel so bad what might come to your child in the future. They are growing so much in that first year and to deprive them of necessary nutrients could be detrimental to their bones, organs, mental health etc. This is why they recommend formula/breastmilk until they are at least 1 year old. (In the first year there should be no juices, milk, and 1 oz water max/day and only when it is extremely hot)
Cereal and the likes are just fillers so to use those you are taking away valuable space in their little bellies where they should be taking in these precious vitamins and nutrients. Everything that I have ever read or heard was 6 months for food and there are some exceptions at around 4 months if reflux is involved and hasn’t been outgrown yet. I just had my 3rd baby and have always waited until 6 months.
There are many services to help with formula costs. PLEASE seek these services if this is the reason you are feeding your child (and/or weaning your child) early!!!! Most insurances are also giving out breast pumps now too and the hospital can give you the paperwork when you deliver your child. I understand the struggle of a working mom but if you can (not all can) breast feed. It is FREE and now so is the breast pump to help if you are working and away from your baby at times.
So sad that one Mom would call another Mom a liar when she said the doc told her to feed her baby at 8 weeks! I, too, had a son who was fed quite early. He was almost 10 pounds and back then you were kept in the hospital for 10 days. After he cried solidly within 1 hour of being breast fed for the first 3 days, the doctor had the nurses add cereal to his bottle. I nursed him, then pumped and when he cried they fed the cereal and breast milk bottle. He is 48 now.He is still skinny as a rail, eats like a horse and has no food allergies. I am NOT advocating people do differently than the pediatricians recommend today, but am reminding you that the Moms and their children on this page are from multiple generations and were taught different things.
Its normal for breastfed to be on the breast constantly in the beginning. Its how yiuyr body knows how much milk to make. I’ve heard moms say their baby was starving so they had to give a bottle of fgormua sdsdo they would be full for longer. Well those of us that dfo it with only breastmilk put the baby back on the breast when hungry instead. Yes its time consuming, yes its hard, but it can be done. That girls Dr may have advised baby start cereals at a young age because some drs are very outdated but if they advised weaning before a year old something is wrong. Not only dies the babies body go through a lot of growth the first year but the brain grows at the fastest rate that it ever will. Formula & breastmilk carry a lot of nutrition & yet digest very quickly so the baby can take in more in a short period of time while food digest slowly so baby eats less often but doesn’t get as much nutrition. Babies are supposed to eat frequently & are supposed to drink milk from the breast, yes we now have formula as an alternative but you see how similar breastmilk & formula are but solid food is totally different. After the first year of life when growth slows down it’s ok for precious space to bve used for less nutrient dense foods.
The original commenter – Ashleigh, did not note that her Dr. or Pediatrician recommended early solids or weaning at 5.5 months. Therefore Jillian was not calling her a liar. I think Jilllian was just trying to urge her to speak to a professional regarding proper nutrition for her baby.
Being a Brit I used to grumble about the price of baby formula over here, until I went on holiday to the USA and needed to buy baby formula. I could not believe how expensive formula is, each tub containing about half of what I’d get at home and costing at least twice the price. I can understand completely why some people from low income families would look to ween their babies early. While it is all well and good to say breast is best, it is not always easy, some of us can’t breast feed. So if that healthy, wholesome, free option isn’t available to you it’s understandable that you’d try to find a more affordable way to feed your child.
I feed my daughter cereal at 4 weeks because she was a big eater. She was 9’1 and 20 inches. She grew 11 inches the first year. She did fine with cereal early and her doctor said it was fine. Yes she has autism, but that was heredity cause mom has it. she now six years old and 49 inches. size 3 shoes. dad is 6’5
i’m sorry, but what a condescending way this article is written. not every woman has the option to pursue breastfeeding for the long-term. and most moms know what their babies are ready for way more than a random blogger. Glad you find formula to be an ‘acceptable alternative’.
I never gave my daughter rice cereal or baby food. My MIL pressured me some to give it to her and said she’d sleep longer if I did. But I firmly stuck to no solids before 6 months. Ok, I didnstart maybe a week before she turned 6 months. She was sitting upright. I started with avocado, bananas, and sweet potato and baby led weaning. She actually was not that interested in much food until she was like 16-18 months.
Definitely not true that’s just your opinion ??
None of my four babies was ready for solids before or at 6 months and I made my own baby food for the two oldest. The first two started solids at 7 months, starting with liver and home made yogurt. The third started solids at 9 months; (grabbing at my mouth while I was snacking) that was almonds and carrots which I chewed and put in his mouth. The fourth was exclusively breastfed, as they all were until solids were introduced, when he finally accepted solids at 13 months. Some of my children were allergic to strawberries, until they were around 4 or 5, and the youngest could not have wheat until he was 3 years old. None of them have any allergies, as adults, and they are now between the ages of 33-39.
Wake up people listen to the facts. You need to wait until your child is 6 months old.
I’ve seen it time and time again. Patents don’t want to feed their babies eight times a day. They don’t want to get up a few times a night to feed their babies, so they give rice cereal/ food to take some of the work out. Babies are supposed to eat all day and wake you up at night. Parents: stop cutting corners to make your job easier at the expense of your child’s health.
I’m glad to know this info. I need to be more patient with the breastfeeding when my new baby comes and not give him rice in the bottle just because I want an extra hour sleep
It says you’ll know your babies ready when they can stick their hands in their mouth and make chewing sounds. Well my two and a half month old does that a lot already and he can hold his head up exceptionally well on his own… so would they still say that’s too early..?
My daughter will be 1 year on March 17. She is still breastfed and I started her on solids at 6 months and she was not interested at all. So i just tried them here and there.. she didn’t really start liking them til about 8 months. She has breastmilk whenever she wants during the day and she will eat 2 cont. Of baby food a day. She will not eat 3 cont. yet. Her growth and development are great.. she’s very tall and slightly chubby 🙂 , happy, and sleeps well. I won’t shove food down her throat because I’m told she “should” be eating more..people need to pay attention and read their children more. I do think starting the solid foods before 6 months could cause some issues.. but if not, cool..happy babies, happy parents, good stuff.
It’s ok to recommend that more women breastfeed, but many women do not have jobs that support time for pumping, or even have spaces that are designed for pumping mothers.
I first want to say, that it’s ridiculous the argument and attitude In this post, I feel like as moms we should encourage each other with the decisions we made that we felt are best for our kids! We started our daughter on puréed foods at 4 1/2 months (she uses AR formula so already has rice) because she’s been having weight issues so the doctor recommended puréed food since rice cereal has no nutritional value at all. She has a veggie once a day and loves it! 🙂 she doesn’t even push the spoon out! we had been to a
Pediatric gastroenterologist and had MULTIPLE test done on her stomach and GI system and spent so many nights in a hospital, but once the GI doc said her GI tract looks great and gave permission to start solids we did! And she has been a totally different baby! And she’s is finally gaining weight! I couldn’t breastfeed (God I wish I could have, that’s a different story and struggle) but I did hear there is a difference between formula feed babies and breast fed babies and when to start foods.
I feed my children early like 3 1/2 months and I never had any problems and my children were never picky and I find children who is just on milk formula seem to be a little over weight. Once I started with food I started to give them
Straight milk because with the food they didn’t need all that other stuff in formula.
This is bs. My grandmother and my oldest sons elderly pediatritoion had me introducing solid foods to my three boys at 6-8 weeks. None have food allergies and none are overweight
Same here. When the kid is hungry – fed them.