Ask Our Expert - Starting Your Baby On Cereal

November 08, 2009

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Ask Dr. Jana Starting Your Baby On Cereal

QUESTION


When should I start giving my baby cereal? — Christina in Tallmadge, Ohio

ANSWER	June 1, 2000


For healthy babies, the current recommendation is to start iron-fortified baby cereal between the ages of 4 and 6 months. In practice, this has meant that many parents think that they must start feeding cereal at 4 months. Especially for breastfed babies, the reality is that waiting until closer to 6 months of age can actually be beneficial. A sign that you should consider starting solids is if your baby is beginning to demand more frequent feedings and is sleeping shorter stretches at night because he is waking up hungry. In order to start eating cereal from a spoon, however, your baby needs to be able to hold his head up, to control his tongue enough to move food from the front to the back of his mouth instead of pushing it right back out at you, and quite simply-he needs to be interested! This is a learning process, so don't force it. — by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P.

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