[AmahMama]

Just starting foods - I give cereal only - no fruit. Baby is way to young for all of the sugars. If baby really HATES the cereal - I mix just a tiny bit of apple juice in it. Only enough for a hint of flavor.

I was encouraged by a pede a long time ago not to give fruits until baby is done trying all the other foods. His idea was that if we start baby out on sweets - baby will expect this good tasting sweet taste with each bite. and not only that, the fruits are not really easy on the tummy. The rule at our house was cereal, veggies, meats, then fruits - if they were still eating baby food when we got that far. I gave at least 4 days of each new food before going on to the next one - because we knew nothing about background allergies, illnesses, or intolerances, I went very, very slowly with foods. And if there was a radical change - I stopped that food for a time and then tried it again.

I have grandchildren with food allergies - and this is the same way we found those allergies. One GS stayed up for hours after eating rice cereal - he is now 7 and still cannot tolerate rice. No other problems - it just gives him a tummy ache. Another can drink oj but cannot eat oranges without a rash,

I fed 1st cereal 1x per day for a few days, then 2x but not right before bed - save the bottle (the whole thing) until bedtime and make that routine. We rock and have the bottle, we go to bed. She should get down to 3 -4 bottles per day. One before each nap and 1 at bedtime.

I have done this for about 20 years now and it has worked really, really well for me. GOOD LUCK!!