i started daughter at 4 mos with cereal & after about 2 wks i started introducing single food solids(stage 1). I gave her that 1 new food for 4 days to make sure of no reactions before trying another. Once she had already had all of the stage 1 several times I then switched to stage 2 foods, which are multi ingredients. She tolerated all her foods well & is a very good eater. By 6 mos I would give her tiny pcs of our foods & watered down juice in a sippy cup & cheerios split in quarters & later in 1/2. By 7mos i introduced Stage 3 in some of her meals. They are sometimes multi or single ingredient but they are a thicker consistency & sometimes have soft chunks so some babies need time to adjust. The only thing she didn't seem to eat easily were stage 3 with pasta b/c the pasta pieces were a bit too big. Now at 7-1/2 mos she enjoys bread, ground beef, small pcs of chicken, most of our veggies, pastina & bananas from our foods plus her cereal with formula in the morning. She also eats baby biscuits 1x/day as a snack or cheerios. Each baby may take a little longer to adjust to new flavors or textures. Mine enjoyed it all from the beginning.

That is a great question. I am freaking out.. Kayla will be four months old in two weeks and my doctor said to start cereal at that point, but I am totally clueless on how to start.

She is on formula.. does she eat the same amount when she starts cereal? how often do you give them cereal etc?

Elsa is 4m and has been eating cereal and jarred foods for about 4 weeks. I also started her with cereal for a few days and then gave her jarred fruits for a few days at a time before introducing another. Just long enough to see if there are any allergies. She has already has aplesauce, pears, peaches (she hates them), bananas, squash and carrots. I was always told with my son that fruits should be introduced first, then yellow and orange veggies and then greens and others.

Shelby

My daughter will be 5 mths next week. I have been giving her rice cereal once a day because I want to make sure she gets enough formula. I will be introducing yellow/orange vegetables this weekend. My pediatrician said to start with veggies first rather than fruits because they may like the fruit since it is sweeter and not want to give the veggies a try.

Just my opinion, but if you want to "breastfed as long as possible", take it easy on the solids this early. Every solid meal takes the place of part of a BF session. Your milk supply is all about supply and demand. If he's eating solids, he's not telling your body to make milk.

Not telling you what to do, but to answer your question "at what rate would I..?"

My answer to this is that I would wait until six months to try to introduce solids and then would start with two SMALL meals, twice a day. My second child is 7 1/2 months old and has only started solids about a month ago. He gets them twice a day if he's interested. Each new food should be introduced one at a time over a period of 3-4 days to see if he/she has a reaction to it. I would start with fruits like pears, applesauce and bananas (easy on the latter two, they can be constipating), and veggies like squash, sweet potatoes, green beans and peas. I alternate 'colors'..green in the am, orange in the pm. If I don't do this, he gets constipated and unhappy. Obviously a small amount of baby cereal, mixed with breastmilk or formula at each session.

After each feeding session, I clean him up, and wait about 30 minutes, then I offer the breast to 'top him off'. Breastmilk has more fat and protein than any pureed jarred baby food.

Once two meals have been established and accepted, I would add a third. I would also offer the breast frequently in between.

Btw, I'm on my second BF child. First one BF'd for about two weeks shy of three years, second one is 7 1/2 months old.