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I have an 8 month old. Currently she is on Gerber 2nd foods and is doing fine with it. She has 2 bottom teeth. My question is, when are you supposed to move up to 3rd foods? Or is it even necessary to keep her on baby food or should I start with "real" food pureed? Thank you.
I think it really depends on your baby. My oldest was eating rice cereal and first foods at 2 months, but my youngest took forever to make the transition to table foods because she had a very sensitive gag reflex. We discussed all of our concerns with her doctor and went through a period of trial and error. I don't think there's any one real answer.
I agree that there isn't one answer. It all depends on your baby. Many babies start table food at 8-10 months. While others wait much longer. A lot of it depends on how well they chew (or gum) their food.
You may find that when you start table foods, she will refuse baby food. Baby food is super convenient and it is easy to cover all the food groups with baby food. My daughter would never eat baby food and there have been many times I longed to be able to pull out a jar and feed her something healthy without having to give it so much thought.
You might just mention it to her doctor and see what he/she has to say.
Honestly it is entirely up to you - you know your child better than many. With our daughter we we're feeding her rice cereal by about 2 months. But she also enjoyed the Gerber foods so we fed her those until about 6 or 7 because they tasted good and were often cheap after coupons. As long as the food is safe and properly cleaned before hand we alwasy felt safe feeding her most foods - however we avoided anything that might contain eggs, honey, nuts, and other foods which can cause severe allergic reactions in infants (for more information about which I would speak to a pediatrician, the information found online is often conflicting and can even be misleading depending on the source).