Originally Posted by Catherder:
I am having alot of problems with this right now. Thank you for bringing it up... I thought it was just a southern thing, lately. 
I am having parents whom are going straight from "breastmilk only" to "table foods/whole milk only" without a weening process. 
(at home)
They announce this as "we are off bottles now". 
Like weaning them from a bottle MEANS no more purees, breastmilk, cereals or formula.
One actually sent Coccoa Puffs when I told them their child was "out of cereal" (this WAS "special" diet cereal).
I have never had to do this much parent education in my life????
Eh....sorry OP, I did it again, didn't I? I guess it does kindof fit, especially since you will probably have this same problem when it is time to wean your little hungry guy.....
I think a lot of this is because people really DON'T know how to feed babies. We just aren't doing a good job getting the information out to parents at crucial times like well child visits and WIC visits.
I would love to see baby food in freezer packs with cubes that are premeasured for age serving size. We don't need all the earth killing plastic individual containers. It would be just as easy for parents to pull out one cube or two cubes depending on the age of the baby. I make all my baby food and freeze it in muffin tins. It can be sold that way much cheaper and have labeling specifically for the age of the baby.
I think we need to see more info ON the baby food for serving size for each age range and we need to be stricter with the baby food companies about the amount of water they are allowed to add and the amounts of sugars and starches they are allowed to add to the pure food.
I don't like the yougurt deal either. I think most of the major brands have WAY too much sugar and the amounts babies are given is way too much for their size. Because it's sweet, easy to swallow, and easy to "make" it's one of the most overdone food for babies.
The other trend I see is that parents don't understand the correlation between having too much "food" too young and the backing off of formula and breast milk consumption. I've seen first hand what happens with babies that are eating way too much "food" and how it can drastically affect how much formula or breast milk they will take.
When white rice, fruits, and yougurts become the favored foods of the baby it can lead to a refusal of the most important formula or breast milk. When parents see babies refusing their "milk" they need to first look at the total amount of food they are eating and WHAT foods they are eating. IME, you won't see a formula decrease when babies are eating dark green, green, orange and yellow veggies. You WILL see it when they are overconsuming white rice, fruits, and yougurts.
Lastly, eating food early can lead a parent to look at their child as "advanced" or "so big". It should not be used as a sign of giftedness. It's not.