Food for my 3 month old baby!

Assuming it was a serious post (and I suspect it was), its easy to be amazed that someone wouldn't know that current medical knowledge has shown it is dangerous to give baby rice, honey, juice or any other food to a 3 month old, but truthfully, 5 years before I had kids I wouldn't have known much about it. Some people do a lot of reading and research, or even a little reading and research but I'm sure a lot of mums, especially perhaps younger mums might just follow what their mother and family advise and be completely unaware, its probably more constructive just to answer without judging, as surprised as we might be..... So in that spirit...... 1) Drs now know that it is DANGEROUS to give a baby under the age of 17 weeks anything apart from breastmilk or formula. There are a couple of reasons for this (I will try and put them as simply as possible); Because babies don't have a strong immune system at birth, their bodies are designed to receive antibodies from their mother's breastmilk. There gut is therefore "open" which means it is different from an older child's gut and can allow antibodies etc through, unfortunately it means other things can get through too. This is one of the reasons that even formula-fed babies are at a higher risk or getting sick than breastfed, but at least formula is very sterile if prepared correctly and contains appropriate nutrients in fairly digestible forms. Because of this a 3 month old baby would be at risk of getting sick from bacteria in food and also more likely to have an allergic response to food. That is however not the only reason giving anything other than milk is a very bad idea. At the age of 3 months or younger, a baby can not digest and absorb the nutrients from foods, so if you gave anything other than breastmilk or formula, in some ways you might as well be filling your baby up with shredded cardboard, they will take less milk and as a result will be malnourished so their brain won't grow as it should. 4 months is the MINIMUM age in which it might be safe to give anything other than BM or formula, but most major health organisations, having reviewed all the research out there have suggested that its safer to wait until 6 months as at 4 months only some babies might be ready and it is difficult to reliably know if yours is one of them, why take the risk?. A couple more points; Rice cereal is not breastmilk, it is not formula, therefore yes, it counts as something you SHOULD NOT give a baby under the age of 4 months ever, and only give it (or any other food) under the age of 6 months for a good reason and under the guidance of a Dr who you trust is up to date and well informed. 6 months isn't the maximum age to start solids, many babies actually won't be ready until later than this (more like 9 months) SALT is DANGEROUS for babies, it can actually KILL them, you can safely add flavour to baby foods with herbs and spices instead. [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/jul/27/vikramdodd1'>Here is an article about a baby who died[/url'> Honey is also dangerous because there is a risk it contains a bacteria that can also KILL a baby, you should not give honey to a baby under the age of 12 months and while I'm pointing out risks, this is off topic completely but on my mind today, it is DANGEROUS to not keep a baby/child in their carseat at ALL times while a car is moving, even if they are crying, even if they seem hungry, even if they don't like their carseat. JUST BECAUSE YOUR MOTHER DID SOMETHING WITH YOU AND YOU DIDN'T DIE DOES NOT MEAN IS IT SAFE TO DO THE SAME FOR YOUR BABY. YOU OWE IT TO YOUR BABY TO GIVE HIM/HER THE BEST START POSSIBLE. All mothers want to do the best for their babies, some get given bad advice by well meaning people, even at times by well meaning Drs. If you are not sure, its best to do some research first and by all means ask on this forum. HTH

Culture and tradition play a big part in how a baby is fed and cared for. Often, people continue to do things based on their cultural beliefs even when scientific advice differs. So true...it's not necessarily about being "clueless and negligent." In that context, 'negligent' suggests that the person does or should know better but chooses to do harm. If people don't know any better, they will continue to do as the women around them have done for generations. Even if women do seek advice from medical professionals, they don't always get 'good' advice. While in Dubai I was occasionally given some of the worst bf advice I have ever heard...from allegedly highly respected paed's no less! (THAT, to me, is negligence!) I grew up in educated, middle class Australia. My mum produced so much breast-milk that she was encouraged to donate for the premmie babies while still breastfeeding me. Rather forward thinking for the very early 70's we might think...but she was also encouraged to continue donating for premmies and orphans, while strongly pushed to wean me before six weeks and get me on a good bottle of formula with raw egg yolk in it. That was the accepted medical practice at the time. Wind up or not, it's good to get constructive discussion happening...we never know who may be reading and learning something new. :D Hi Greenish, I totally agree with you about how its a lot of culture and tradition. However, I feel that if you are "modern" or forward (for a lack of better words) in other aspects of your life, there is no excuse for people to not seek out information, from books, from the internet, from professionals and make educated decisions about the most important thing-your baby! I find it laughable when I see someone who clearly has done their homework on fashion, se* and the city, make up, and are not following their mothers footsteps or advice when it comes to things like that, but will just do and take the easiest advice when it comes to their kids without questioning it. I was raised muslim, and to us, its compulsory to circumsize boys. When I had my sons, I wasn't going to just follow tradition, culture, religion, advice...i owed to my boys to do whats best for them. i educated myself on the pros and cons of circumcision and then made a decision based on my findings. Our children depend on us to do whats best for them and take care of them. Just my two cents.

Culture and tradition play a big part in how a baby is fed and cared for. Often, people continue to do things based on their cultural beliefs even when scientific advice differs. So true...it's not necessarily about being "clueless and negligent." In that context, 'negligent' suggests that the person does or should know better but chooses to do harm. If people don't know any better, they will continue to do as the women around them have done for generations. Even if women do seek advice from medical professionals, they don't always get 'good' advice. While in Dubai I was occasionally given some of the worst bf advice I have ever heard...from allegedly highly respected paed's no less! (THAT, to me, is negligence!) I grew up in educated, middle class Australia. My mum produced so much breast-milk that she was encouraged to donate for the premmie babies while still breastfeeding me. Rather forward thinking for the very early 70's we might think...but she was also encouraged to continue donating for premmies and orphans, while strongly pushed to wean me before six weeks and get me on a good bottle of formula with raw egg yolk in it. That was the accepted medical practice at the time. Wind up or not, it's good to get constructive discussion happening...we never know who may be reading and learning something new. :D

Culture and tradition play a big part in how a baby is fed and cared for. Often, people continue to do things based on their cultural beliefs even when scientific advice differs.

is this a joke? Can someone really be that clueless and negligent? Yes, I think so. I know someone who has advocated giving food to a two-month old. People are crazy. I have a friend tell me her hindu mother in law kept trying to convince her to give her infant cow's milk. Her argument was that it was good enough to nurture and feed a god, how can it be bad for a baby. The worst part-she enlisted the help of a "doctor" to back up her argument...

is this a joke? Can someone really be that clueless and negligent? Yes, I think so. I know someone who has advocated giving food to a two-month old.

is this a joke? Can someone really be that clueless and negligent?

hey momz! kindly suggest me food for my baby, whoz goin to be 3 months. and also tell me, if i can add SALT in his food just to add lil flavor! thnx words fail me.....

Aside from current, research-based health recommendations, WHY would anyone want to start with the nightmare of preparing solid foods and then cleaning up the mess even one day earlier than 6-ish months?? ;) Breastmilk or formula until 5-6 months...easy, convenient, nutritionally complete , no mess. <em>edited by Green-ish on 21/10/2011</em>

Firstly, your baby is way too young to be having anything other than breast milk or formula. Secondly, there is NO rush!!!!!! I do not understand why anyone would want/need to even consider solids before the absolute MINIMUM age of 17 weeks. And as for salt... well that just leaves me speechless. Sorry.

Unless you have been advised by your doctor to wean at such a young age due to medical reasons(but even then I doubt any Dr would say wean at 3 months), please don't even consider it! Admittedly my DD started showing signs of being ready for solids when she hit 4 months, but delayed giving her anything until she was closer to 5 months(4 months 3 weeks) And even then I did not want to give her any food. She is only on 1 meal a day, when she reaches 6 months, I will add another meal IE breakfast or lunch, and build it up as she grows older. Please wait till he is older, breast or formula is perfect for your LO at this age. And NO salt till at least over a year old Look at this site it will help you when your baby is older: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html Read through this site it will give you a lot of information.

Milk... that's it.

Assuming this is a serious thread.... A 3 month old should be on milk ONLY, either breast or formula, not cow's. No food and DEFINITELY no salt.