Makes My Head Spin

There's much too much information out there for parents these days, and it's ALL conflicting. Having access to all this info is helpful sometimes, but no one can agree on anything. Even our pediatrician seems to different stances on issues within the same visit. Right now our big question is "when and how should we start cereal?". This is what we're getting from books/doctors/people we know/strangers we don't:

"Never before 6 months - he'll get allergies and be obese! Eeek! "
"Sometime between 4 and 6 months when he's lost his tongue-thrust reflex."
"When he seems hungry after having just finished a feeding." (ok, that would have been a long time ago for Sam)
"Whenever you feel like he's ready."
"Two weeks before his 6-month check up, if you want, or do it earlier, or you can wait longer, whatever." (that was Dr.G)
"Hurry up and do it so he'll sleep through the night."
"Don't rush solids - it's a myth that babies sleep better after eating cereal."
"Put it in a bottle."
"Don't put it in a bottle."
"Warm it up."
"Don't warm it up."
"Buy it at the grocery store."
"Make your own."
And my favorite (from a former collegue): "Put it in a bottle at 9 weeks...that's what I did even though my doctor told me not to, and look at her, she turned out fine."

Now, I'm a big rule-follower, so this makes me crazy. I'm ready to do The Right Thing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what rule it is I'm supposed to follow. And the cereal issue is just one minor thing. All of this mommy-info has made my head spin from the moment I found out I was pregnant.

So...long story short, I decided to try it at 4 1/2 months (not in a bottle, not heated up), and was fully prepared to find that he's not quite ready. And that's exactly what happened.

Our high chair wasn't in yet, so we had to put him in his Bumbo on the table (no one panic, we never left his side) and then I ended up just holding him. He liked it - he didn't protest at all - it just seemed like he didn't quite know how to swallow it. Most of it ended up on his bib, his hands and his Mommy.

Brian recorded the event, so we're posting it for y'all to enjoy. Maybe all he needed was his snazzy new high chair to get here, so we'll try again in the next week or two, and let you know if it goes any better!