Starting baby food

So my son is 4 1/2 months old and I have been feeding him rice cereal since he was 4 months. It is going great but I was wondering when I can start him on oatmeal? Also was wondering about making my own food for him. I won’t start until 6 months but can anyone tell me how to do it?

I started rice and oatmeal around the same time. My LO didn't seem to care for oatmeal unless I put some pureed apple in it. Spoon fed him, btw.

get a baby bullet? Idk my son only played around with food..didnt start eating it on a regular basis til he was 11-12 months. Baby's main source of nutrition should be breastmilk/formula for the first year.

Quoting Avery’s momma:" So my son is 4 1/2 months old and I have been feeding him rice cereal since he was 4 months. It is going ... [snip!] ... oatmeal? Also was wondering about making my own food for him. I won’t start until 6 months but can anyone tell me how to do it?"

i just took any fruit or veggie (one at a time) and mashed it up. if it was something like broccoli or carrots or sweet potatoes, i cooked it, then mashed it. once she was used to the rice cereal, i added it to the rice cereal at first, and then cut the amount of rice cereal until it was just the straight fruit or veggie. i didn't do anything special really, and it was easy. she used to love sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocados. now, at 6 years old, out of those 3 things, she only likes bananas, lol.

I just made DS first batch of baby food today. We will be starting Friday once he is 6 months. I got the baby bullet at my shower but really you can use any blender or food processes. The baby bullet just comes with cute little storage containers and its adorable. All you really do is peal, steam, add BM/formula and blend. It's very simple and will save money in the long run. We didn't really do rice cereal we just add some to his bottle for AR.

Quoting loser mom:" I started rice and oatmeal around the same time. My LO didn't seem to care for oatmeal unless I put some pureed apple in it. Spoon fed him, btw. "

I do spoon feed him. My pedi didn’t say anything about oatmeal that’s why I was wondering if it was ok

Quoting Avery’s momma:" I do spoon feed him. My pedi didn’t say anything about oatmeal that’s why I was wondering if it was ok"

ohhh, yeah. I bought the single grain baby Oatmeal by Gerber.  

I think Beech Nut makes some, too, with fruit! But I never tried it.

We just started my son on solids a week ago.
Making the baby food is pretty easy and SO much cheaper than buying from the store. Basically you either bake, steam, or boil everything. Steam most vegetables, boil fruits, bake potatoes. After cooking, either put in in a food processor, blender, or mash it yourself. We have the Ninja blender and just use that- it works great. I ran the food through a flour sifter after blending to make sure there were no chunks, but it's not necessary. I made a large bulk amount, and froze the leftovers in a baby food freezing tray (an ice tray works too) and just take out one portion and microwave it for 20 seconds or so and are ready to go! We started with green beans, and will do peas next. It is recommended not to do fruits or sweet vegetables first, as the baby might not eat vegetables after. As a general rule of thumb- do vegetables for 2 weeks once a day (making sure you do the same veggie for a couple days to watch for adverse reactions), and then you can up it to twice a week. At that point, you can do a veggie in the morning, and then a fruit in the afternoon. After a couple weeks of this, you could start mixing fruits and veggies together.
We never did oatmeal as I saw it as unnecessary.

Quoting loser mom:" ohhh, yeah. I bought the single grain baby Oatmeal by Gerber.   I think Beech Nut makes some, too, with fruit! But I never tried it. "

yeah, i think the key is the single grain thing. i know there was rice cereal, mixed grain oatmeal, and single grain oatmeal, i think. i can't remember. i just remember using the rice cereal more. i didn't bother with oatmeal really because it kind of seemed pointless at the time. but if you want to, i think they suggest the single grain so there's less of a chance of it upsetting the tummy or allergies or whatever.