so who else started solids at 4 months?

[AnnieW625]

This was first recommended to us by DD1's pediatrician (in 2006), and then again with DD2's pediatrician. DD1 could've waited longer as I see it now as she took forever to adjust to food, but I don't regret starting when we did. DD2 was pretty much ready for it. The first week with the rice cereal was the worst. Since we did oatmeal at the third week she's been eating like gang busters.

We were with a medical group associated with Blue Cross/Blue Sheild with DD1, and Kaiser Permanente with DD2. Kaiser in CA is uber crunchy with EBF (however are also supportive of FF moms:)) so I was really suprised when the pediatrician suggested solids at 4 mos. as I would've waited until 6 mos. had they told me to.

[llama8]

This was first recommended to us by DD1's pediatrician (in 2006), and then again with DD2's pediatrician. DD1 could've waited longer as I see it now as she took forever to adjust to food, but I don't regret starting when we did. DD2 was pretty much ready for it. The first week with the rice cereal was the worst. Since we did oatmeal at the third week she's been eating like gang busters.

We were with a medical group associated with Blue Cross/Blue Sheild with DD1, and Kaiser Permanente with DD2. Kaiser in CA is uber crunchy with EBF (however are also supportive of FF moms:)) so I was really suprised when the pediatrician suggested solids at 4 mos. as I would've waited until 6 mos. had they told me to.

My DD started solids at 4 months and loved it. She is 11.5 months and eats like a champ. She has had 3 meals a day of solids plus bottles since 6 months. She is doing very well.

BTW when we started solids, she finally began sleeping through the night

[WolfpackMom]

DS started at 4.5 months, he didnt like cereal so it ended up being mostly banana and pear to start. For us it was helpful with his reflux at night, so for the first month or month and a half he just had a little bit of solids in the evening.

ETA he was also showing all the readiness signs by then; watching us, reaching for food, when we started he would grab for the spoon etc.

[okinawama]

I did. I used Ruth Yarons book and she listed some readiness signs, and my son was showing most if not all. In addition to the book, our ped also gave us the go ahead, so we went for it. He loved it from day one, and we never looked back :)

[tmahanes]

We did! Our ped said it was up to us. B was sitting with support, watching us eat, and a couple of other things that I remember reading but cannot remember now what they were.

We tried rice cereal several different days and he hated it but was still watching us eat. So we tried bananas and they were a hit!! He has not looked back and has eaten every type of puree we have tried! We are just now starting to try some pieces of things but have been doing puffs for several weeks. He loves those.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I did with ds1 because that was the recommended range in 2002. But, it didn't feel right and he didn't seem ready. I quit and waited till 6m and I am glad I waited. I still get nervous about the whole immature gut, allergies, diabetes, obesity and all the other stuff with starting early. But, even more than that- I found solids to be a PITA! Breastfeeding= lift shirt, feed. Feeding him was so simple and there was nothing to wash. :) I didn't appreciate that till we tried solids.

Beth

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i think ds was 4.5mos when we first tried solids (rice cereal with expressed breastmilk). i would have waited, but there was no stopping him. he just really wanted solids.

i do agree tho that feeding a baby solids is the biggest PITA on earth bc of all the friggin mess and cleanup afterwards..nursing was just so easy by comparison (fast, no cleanup). but we didn't really have much option to delay solids, at least with my son. he would have screamed and grabbed food out of our hands. i'm hoping maybe we can delay it a bit with the next baby. now that my son is eating 4 solid meals per day the amount of time spent cleaning up (the chair, him, the floor, the table, bowls, spoons) is ridiculously annoying.

[BabyBearsMom]

We started at 4.5 months. Rice cereal (which she didn't like) then bananas. It worked out great. After a few days, DD got really into it. Also, it helped DD wean from her night feedings and she started STTN.

[bubbaray]

I did with DD#1 -- around 4.5m. Dr said to go ahead at 4m, I waited a couple of weeks.

With DD#2, Dr (specialist) told me to start around 5.5m.

With both girls, it was plain organic rice cereal (no formula, just rice + water), then bananas about a month later. They LOVED it.

[Fairy]

Yep. 4mo (end of the third, actually, I think), and he did outstandingly well. Rice cereal, then bananas. This worked very well for him, ate like a champ in those early days. If only he'd eat like that now!

[bubbaray]

If only he'd eat like that now!


No kidding.

[citymama]

If only he'd eat like that now!

Ain't that the truth!

I know that my mom started both my sister and I on solids at 4 months and we eat like champs even today! ;) My mom has been asking me when we're starting DD2 on solids pretty much since birth - and my answer hasn't changed! She is aghast that we've waited till 6 months.

[Tondi G]

we started at 4 months with DS1 and he LOVED oatmeal and went through the fruits and vegis with no issues. Only thing he hated was Peas so he didn't have them until he could eat whole peas. DS2 we tried at around 4.5 months and he didn't take to it like DS1 did... within maybe 3 weeks he was enjoying solids and was a great eater too.

With DS1 we started at 4 months because he was still nursing every 2 hours around the clock and my ped thought it would be nice to give me a little break and fill his tummy for a little longer. With DS2 my ped said it was up to us, they were changing the recommendation to 6 months, but that DS was showing a lot of signs of being ready.

We went straight to oatmeal with both boys. DS1 had some issues with constipation and we didn't want to cause any issues with the rice.

[Penny's Pappa]

Another 4 month starter here. We started with rice cereal + expressed BM then added bananas after 2 weeks. She got this concerned, "WTH is this stuff?" look on her face when we first started, but she ate it like a champ anyway. We haven't looked back since.

[ncat]

We did 4 months with DD and 6 with DS. Recommendations changed in those 4 years. They were also different babies and we were different parents (much too busy to spoon feed DS!). Both kids are healthy and eat well - DD has always eaten healthier than DS, but she has different (seemingly innate) preferences.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I started at about 3.5 months with my son back in 1991. By the time my next one came along in 2003, the rules had changed and I was so glad! I hated feeding solids. It wasn't fun, it was messy and a lot more work than just lifting my shirt.

My next two started at 10 months and 11 months. Much easier! They pretty much went to feeding themselves whatever we were eating.

[army_mom]

We started DD on solids a little after 4 months. Started with rice cereal, then oatmeal, then started introducing various jars of food. She LOVED to eat and still does. Since she seemed interested in eating and the Ped said it was OK to start, we did. Part of starting at 4 months was a bit selfish, since I was deploying when she turned 6 months and I wanted to feed her before I left. But since we were given the OK and it wouldn't harm her, we went ahead with it. To this day she is a fantastic non picky eater who eats pretty much everything (but inherited my sweet tooth!!)