when to start solide

Ashley - posted on 01/13/2009

Yeah, the APA is recommending now waiting until 6 months.  I started at 5 mos with my first just because I was anxious to start.  I think I'll wait longer this time around.  Once you start it's actually kinda a hassle! 

Elliott - posted on 01/13/2009

The solution to 'always hungry' is nurse more, not add solids. It's the only reliable way to increase milk supply.

Also, the three-month "I'm not making enough milk!!" freakout is very common, and is because the baby is underoging a *growth spurt* at that point, so they nurse more to get your milk supply to adjust to their needs.

Dorothy - posted on 01/13/2009

my doctor told me to wait until my daughter (who's 22 months now) was 6 months old to prevent her from getting allergies. Apparently there are still small wholes in the digestive system (still developing) which can leak food into the blood stream and cause the body to fight it which causes allergies. So we were careful to wait and then we went crazy! :) She still has no allergies today! (but in the beginning- tomato sauce upset her belly).

Stefanie - posted on 01/12/2009

Also, remember that until baby is at least one year old, solids are for playing and tasting NOT for nutrition. Solids should not replace a liquid meal until after one year old. Another current recommendation is to breastfeed first, then offer solids. If you do it the other way around they might fill up on solids which is not healthy at this point.

Stefanie - posted on 01/12/2009

The "experts" say that baby is ready for solids when they can:

Sit up unassisted
Lose the tongue-thrust reflex (pushing the food out of their mouth)
When they are ready and willing to chew
When they are developing the pincer grasp
When baby is trying to grab food and put it in his mouth

I have also heard that in breastfed babies, their poop changes when their gut matures. It changes to a peanut butter consistency and smells different. I'm not sure if that is true or not, but I have recently heard it.

I also have heard that the latest studies show that 7 months actually has the lowest rate of allergies, but again, I haven't read them, nor do I have links to them, just heard about it.

The list comes from:
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/sol...

Michelle - posted on 01/12/2009

Lisa, it depends on your baby and you. How do you feel? Do you feel your baby is ready? If you don't feel comfortable then go with your gut. Mommy knows best. I fed my older son solids earlier than with my 2nd. My 2nd is 16 weeks old on Wednesday and I started him about 2 weeks ago, however my older son was about 10 or 11 weeks when I started him. It all depends. Go with the flow is what i say.

Tamara - posted on 01/12/2009

I started solids for my son at 4 months old and it was fine for him, he was vegetarian until 6mths, i cooked different vegetables like carrot, butternut squash etc and wizzed them in a blender til smooth, put them through a sieve and then froze them in ice cube trays so i would just use one cube to start with. he loved it
it all depends on the baby and when they tell you that they are ready really


just for the record it isnt recomended to start solids before 31/2 - 4 mths as their tummies aren't really ready at that age, but there is nothing wrong with giving them tastes of things, (fruits, chocolate, gravy etc) :)

Brendapam - posted on 01/12/2009

My son is 2 years now. when he was only about 1 mon I would put rice cearil in his breast milk cause he was allways hungery. By the time he was 4 mon he was eatting cearil with pars, bananas, pruns, ect. By the time he was about 6 mon I was blending the food that I made for me I would put some in the blender and blend it for him so it was a little soft for him to eat. And by the time he was a year i was cutting his food in to small peases. so if you want to put your son on solids go a head just make shour that if it is something that he would have to chew like meet cut is small and make shour he has some teeth mine did not get his first tooth till he was about 9mon

Lea - posted on 01/12/2009

I do agree that every baby is ready at different stages, but i do not agree with the thought that babies are ready as early as 6 weeks... ideally they say "supported sitter" is another clue for solids, and 6 weeks old I doubt is ever a supported sitter...

Lisa - posted on 01/12/2009

like others have said when you link your baby needs that little bit more then try him just start with a small amount once or twice a day befor his milk and then once hes ready brekki lunch and dinner. i have 3 boys and each 1 was ready at differant ages my first at 3 month aprox my second arround 4 and my last one was ill when he was bour so he has taken a little longer than the other 2 but is 10 months now and is having 3 meals a day with helthy snax in the middle, hope this helps

Raffaella - posted on 01/12/2009

Hi Lisa, you should start to give him solids if you give him formula but if you give him your milk you should wait until he is 6 months.

Ciao Raffaella

Raffaella - posted on 01/12/2009

Hi Lisa, you should start to give him solids if you give him formula but if you give him your milk you should wait until he is 6 months.

Ciao Raffaella

Jamie - posted on 01/12/2009

hi iam a new mommy and iam 22 i didnt have a clue when to start solids but my little girl is now 6 weeks and i tryed feedin her some rice cereal mixed with breast milk and she took to it so i would have to agree with the other ladies on sayin it all depends on the baby good luck !

Diane - posted on 01/12/2009

My son was getting 2 tbsp of cereal in his formula since the age of 3 months due to acid reflux. His pediatrician is really old school and at 4 months I began to spoon feed him the cereal (baby oatmeal). At first it was soupy and gradually we made it thicker. At 6 months he was eating stage one foods and fruits. I think you should go for it.  We even took him off formula at 10 months and put him on regular milk. It really all depends on your baby...your son will let you know if he is ready or not.

Diane - posted on 01/12/2009

My son was getting 2 tbsp of cereal in his formula since the age of 3 months due to acid reflux. His pediatrician is really old school and at 4 months I began to spoon feed him the cereal (baby oatmeal). At first it was soupy and gradually we made it thicker. At 6 months he was eating stage one foods and fruits. I think you should go for it.  We even took him off formula at 10 months and put him on regular milk. It really all depends on your baby...your son will let you know if he is ready or not.

Elliott - posted on 01/12/2009

If he's spitting it out, he's not ready for it yet. You can wait until he starts showing interest in what YOU eat -- that's the best sign that his gut and everything is all set and ready for it.

There is no nutritional or biological need to give solid foods any sooner than "when the kid starts grabbing for it," and studies have shown that the oft-given statement that they'll sleep better if they're on solids is a myth. Also, exposing them to solids before their gut is ready can lead to Crohn's disease and food sensitivities later, because their immune system starts reacting to the food (because their gut is absorbing too much into the bloodstream and confusing it).

Lea - posted on 01/12/2009

Thats when we started.  He would stare at mommy and daddy when we'd eat and a few times tryed reaching for our spoons.  Plus he started needing more and more formula feedings (unfortunately i tried at first and failed at breastfeeding) to stay full.

Lisa - posted on 01/12/2009

He really is not on a bottle at all, unless grandma is sitting! he is nursing and doing well with that, but he seems to be very interested i what we put in our mouths, so I want to try.

Lea - posted on 01/12/2009

Quoting Evelyn:

What do YOU think? Starting off at this age is not a problem. I have 4 kids and I waited until they 'told' me they needed more. I knew it when they got hungry more often and when they didn't last through the night. Also, I cheated...I started them on pablum in the bottle. I made the hole in the nipple larger, and presto! they were getting solids. I started once a day at bedtime when they could sleep through longer and gradually upped it until I started spoon feeding them. When they are this young, it can be a real pain to spoon feed and not have them spit most of it out! Have fun!

I do want to add, when they are that young they are spitting it out at first because developmentally they are not ready for solids... and they also need to eventually learn that solids come from a spoon, so why push them this early?

Lisa - posted on 01/12/2009

yeah, you aren't supposed to start them too early, the pancreatic enzymes need to kick in first. But we started giving him the 1 tblsp last week, and he gets some downand spits about half out. he gets aggitated and wants to suck on the spoon to get more out.

Lisa - posted on 01/12/2009

yeah, you aren't supposed to start them too early, the pancreatic enzymes need to kick in first. But we started giving him the 1 tblsp last week, and he gets some downand spits about half out. he gets aggitated and wants to suck on the spoon to get more out.

Lea - posted on 01/12/2009

PS Its every mom's decision if they think its ok to put cereal in the bottle, but I do not believe its a good thing, altho sometimes docs do end up recommending it for babies with reflux, but I worked in a daycare where a baby had it, and cereal was mixed in his bottles and i STILL came home smelling like his throw up and had to bring changes of clothes when I worked in that room...

Also... My child is a preemie and had a slight case of relfux, and still sometimes has issues keeping things down, but more often than not, its not a huge amount anymore, and not once did my doc tell me to put the cereal in the bottle

Also... I like to read and be informed of all possibilities, so I am constantly reading websites and mom advice books, and I read because they are sucking the cereal out of a bottle they don't realize how full they are till they have already overate so sometimes it also screws with the childs ability to know when they should stop eating...

don't berate me for voicing my opinion tho... you do what you feel is best for your child, if thats cereal in the bottle then go for it...

Lea - posted on 01/12/2009

weeeellll.... I was told definately no way are they ready for solids before 4 months, and that it could cause diabetes if you do it too early?  but also heard if you wait too long same thing?  Do not quote me on that tho... but I still think prior to 4 months they def should have nothing but breastmilk or formula... Im wondering if these moms feeding prior to 4 months are putting the cereal in a bottle??  I started cereals for my son around 5 months and for 2 weeks he did nothing but push the food right back out with his tongue.    They say start with 1tbsp mixed with 4-5tbsp of formula/breastmilk, and just to keep trying till eventually he stops that reflex (that reflex of pushing the food out means he is not developmentally ready for solids yet)  so we just trial and errored this way for about a week or two.  we were throwing most of the cereal away until that time.

Evelyn - posted on 01/12/2009

What do YOU think? Starting off at this age is not a problem. I have 4 kids and I waited until they 'told' me they needed more. I knew it when they got hungry more often and when they didn't last through the night. Also, I cheated...I started them on pablum in the bottle. I made the hole in the nipple larger, and presto! they were getting solids. I started once a day at bedtime when they could sleep through longer and gradually upped it until I started spoon feeding them. When they are this young, it can be a real pain to spoon feed and not have them spit most of it out! Have fun!

Jolene - posted on 01/12/2009

hi lisa, i think it really all depends on your baby. my son was 14 weeks when we started solids because he stopped drinking formula and has only just recently restarted. go with your gut, if you baby seems hungry and you feel he needs it, start off with the likes of baby rice or puree'd fruit like apple or pear. leave banana until baby is on solids a few weeks as it can be a bit hard to digest as a first food.
hth :-) j

Kellie - posted on 01/12/2009

hi i think it comes down to the baby for when they r ready for solids they tell u 6 months but i started at 5 weeks and it was only once a day mostly in the mornings after her first feed and it was only a teaspoon of farex mixed with breast milk or formula and i did that for about a month and by the time she ws 3 months she was having brekky and afternoon tea and then by 6 months small meals 3 times a day  and so on and she didnt have a problem with weight or digestion matter of fact she was tiny coz she was premmie i hope this helps u