How do I know when to start my baby on solids?

Abby - posted on 01/22/2010

Hi. the guideline is now to wait until 6 months, and because of this you don't actually need to feed them purees, babies main source of nutrients should me their milk (formula or breastmilk) until they are nearly 12 months so I am going to try BLW (Baby Led Weaning) where you just give them finger foods, the requirements before starting feeding this way is that they can sit unaided, either on you're lap on by themselves, and when you give them any finger foods you need to make sure that they are sitting upright, so no chairs that recline, as if they are sitting upright then food will fall out of their mouths rather than them choking, and that the food has a "handle" so they have something to hold and more sticking out to eat, and the idea is that they just play with their food's so they can learn about it, so don't try giving foods when they are hungry as they don't understand at that point that food will fill them up, theres a great book by Gill Rapely about it, and you can get information on the web as well. but if you do puree still wait until your baby is really showing signs of being ready, don't start early just because everyone else is, or wait longer because someone recommends it (unless its medical reasons :D) good luck! and i don't really know that it makes that much difference what you start with personally, with my first I gave her all sorts of pureed foods, and she's fine with eating...

Mercedes - posted on 01/22/2010

all babies are different when it comes to eating solids. some have no problem but some can get sick or get diariah. my daughters going to be 4 months on the 27h of this months and her pediatrician told me to start her on rice in her bottle first because she needs to get use to actually swallowing something thicker then just plain formula. you may have to make the whole bigger in the nipple depending on what size you get. but if you just want to start him on baby food to see how he takes it make sure you try veggies first.

Kylie - posted on 01/19/2010

My daughter will be 4 months as of Jan. 22nd and I have had her eating solids regularly as of 12 weeks. She just was not satisfied with just breast feeding any longer and for about 2 weeks would nurse every hour! It was getting difficult for my body to keep up with her hunger demands and I didn't want to supplement with formula. She would get so worked up from the hunger that she would just scream for a good 15-20 minutes. I first started her with rice cereal. She happened to be all about the texture and would only eat it if it was thick enough to not come back together if you scraped the middle of the bowl with a spoon.. not very many babies do I know that like it this way. After eating just the rice cereal mixed with breast milk for 2 weeks I started with fruits. I've been told to start with the lighter fruits (like applesauce or pears) because they are easier to digest and less likely to constipate (excluding bananas, which I waited to be her like 4 fruit). And I wait about 3 days in between trying new fruits (or veggies) before I give her a new one to make sure she doesn't get an upset tummy from it or an allergy. I went through all of the fruits and am now working her through the veggies. I was just feeding her the rice cereal in the evenings then it was rice cereal in the morning and fruit at night, and now it's fruit in the morning (or afternoon) and veggie at night. (Some times I mix the rice cereal in with the dinner feeding to keep her fuller longer so she sleeps through the night. Hope some of this helps! But it really does just depend on your preference and what you are comfortable with and what you think your baby is ready for. Just remember, there is no book on how to raise a child perfectly because every baby is unique and different in their own ways and develops at a different pace. My baby does not sit up by herself or is even close at this point or when I started her on solids. That is not a serious factor when feeding a baby solids.

Noreen - posted on 01/18/2010

Tiffany- A lot of times, when babies get ready to go through a major growth spurt, they tend to wake up in the middle of the night hungry. Babies go through growth spurts around 3.5 months old. It doesn't nessassary mean that they are ready for solids. I'm just saying. LOL You will probley experience this again when your baby is older like around 6 months, that they will wake in the middle of the night hungry. It's common in both breast and formula fed babies.

Noreen - posted on 01/18/2010

When they don't have that thurst reflux anymore (pushes food out of their mouth with their tongue) can sit up unsupported, and is atleast 15lbs. I'm waiting for all of those things plus for Abby to be atleast 6 months old because of the benifits she will have is she is exclusivly breastfed for 6 months w/o formula or solids.

Tiffany - posted on 01/18/2010

My daughter will be 4 months Jan 23rd. Almost everything that I have read has said not to start solid foods till about 6 months. A lot of our friends who have babies started them on solid food at 2 and 3 months- one at 4 weeks. We planned on waiting till our 4 month check-up but... She had been sleeping 6-8 hours at a time each night for about 4 weeks, then all of a sudden she started waking up every 2-3 hours and sucking down a whole bottle each time. After about a week of this we decided to start her on some rice cereal. We mixed up about a tablespoon and we would feed her a few bites with a spoon- just to get her used to eating with a spoon- then we would put the rest in her bottle. Sure enough, once we started giving her the rice cereal each evening she went back to sleeping through the night.



I know everything you read is going to say to wait till 6 months, but I really think that she was ready for the cereal and by her schedule changing so drastically- her body was telling us she was ready to try solid foods. My advice would be to wait until your baby starts showing you signs that he is ready.