Baby First Food

[Fisona]

Hi all,

My baby is 4 months old and I would like to let him try drinking juice.

I know people usually try giving baby apple or pear juice first, is there any other juice I can feed him with?

I am also looking around for suitable baby cereal, any good suggestions?

 

[mcdill]

My doctor recommended Healthy Times brown rice cereal to start off with, available at Citysuper.

 

[0ze_Kid]

I know my husband's first "food" was orange juice but that was almost 40 years ago. These days it is suggested to go with a rice cereal (or what used to be called farrex) mixed with milk (EMB or formula). Less harsh on the tummy. I used the brand Holle which is organic and can be found at Citysuper, 360 and several other supermarkets.

 

[City Jammer]

I would wait till 6 months old before introducing any solids. I started mine with rice cereal (Earth's Best, Organix, Bellamy's, lots of good brands in ThreeSixty, GREAT or Park N Shop International) mixed with formula milk. However, it caused serious constipation. You could consider starting with apple puree. Check out this website on what to do:-

Wholesome Homemade Baby Food Recipes, Make your baby healthy homemade baby food with our easy baby food recipes, solid food tips, baby nutrition & more!

 

[Fisona]

Thanks for your replies.

Oze Kid, my MIL wants to feed my baby with orange juice, I've told her not to coz I've read an article about the negative effect orange may have on babies. Is this true?

 

[zac08]

orange juice is acidic and more allergenic than other fruits like apples or pears. i agree with city jammer in that you should consider waiting because it could cause constipation (not to mention trigger allergies) if your baby is only 4 months old. any particular reason you are starting him on solids now as opposed to waiting a month or two?

 

[Sleuth]

We went with rice and formula milk. Followed by the other grain cereals (barley, oat, multi), a new one every couple of weeks to make sure we didn't uncover any allergies.
And why not water instead of juice?

 

[zyxwv]

We also started with rice cereal and then moved on to pureed fruit (pears and apples steamed, peeled and pureed). The other issue with juice is that it often contains loads of sugar or at least the ratio of sugar to other nutrients is much higher than in the fruits themselves.

Also think four months seems a bit young, but if your child enjoys the solids and doesn't get so much that it reduces the milk that s/he is getting, I suppose that's neither here or there.

 

[Sazzy]

I would hold off on the juice as they still have immature digestive systems. Just stick with milk at this stage. If not, perhaps water once its gets hot and humid.

Remember that you are your babies mother and not the MIL!!

 

[carang]

just a reminder: all "baby" apple juice/pear juice is is diluted regular juice... nothing else.

save yourself HEAPS of $... buy regular apple juice and dilute it...we used to do about 1:4 juice:water...my kids are now 3 & 5 and still have diluted juice, but now, it's 1:2.