RE: Is a 3 month old too young for cereal?
The AAP has changed their recommendation from starting solids at 4 months to 5-7 months. This is because of new studies in recent years indicating that the enzymes needed to digest foods are not present (ON AVERAGE) until 6 months. All babies are, of course, different. But I would wait until your baby is showing several of the milestones for developmental readiness for solids: watching you eat with intense interest, sitting up at least somewhat on their own, good head control, opens mouth of own volition when spoon is offered, closes mouth around spoon, baby has doubled birthweight AND weighs more than 15 pounds, and is eating more than 32 ounces of formula a day and is still hungry. These are the guidelines I was given at a "Baby's First Foods" class offered by my local hospital system that was taught by a pediatric dietitian.
A really great book that talks about how to feed baby in developmentaly appropriate ways is "Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense" by Ellyn Satter (a pediatric dietitian). FYI, this book is about developing healthy eating habits and patterns and not about making baby food.
My ped told me that at 3 months the saliva glands start really working and that is when baby starts to drool. It is a separate milestone from teething. And having teeth has nothing to do with being able to eat solids. My almost 14 month old has NO teeth and has no trouble eating anything that I give her. She has been on "table food" exclusively since 9 months. We started solids at 5 1/2 months.
But I also agree with the above post. If you are not comfortable with your ped, I would shop for a new one if that's an option.
HTH,
Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)