Did you start solids early?

[KLD313]

If so, what was your reasoning. My ped told me that they changed the rec from 6 mos back to 4 mos for starting solids. I hadn't heard this. She also said I don't have to but I could try and see if it would help him fill up and go longer during the night. She said if it didn't work to stop and and wait longer since feeding solids is a pain.

I think I'm just going to wait for six months but I was wondering if anyone heard this new rec and if you started early.

I will say DS stares at me when I eat and will pull my hand toward his mouth.

[sntm]

It doesn't do a thing for sleeping. Recs are still 6 months for BF babies. I started DS 2 weeks early because I couldn't keep him off my plate. Dive bombed everything and opened his mouth like a starving baby bird. Sounds like you can wait longer

[hillview]

we didnt start early. Even at 6 months DSs were limited in what they wanted to eat. Rice/oatmeal for example was a total fail.

[KLD313]

It doesn't do a thing for sleeping. Recs are still 6 months for BF babies. I started DS 2 weeks early because I couldn't keep him off my plate. Dive bombed everything and opened his mouth like a starving baby bird. Sounds like you can wait longer

He's formula fed. I did hear it does nothing for sleep, she didn't think it would work either. He's just so huge and drinks so many bottles I don't want him to be starving. He can't go more than six hrs without having a bottle.

[flashy09]

It doesn't do a thing for sleeping. Recs are still 6 months for BF babies. I started DS 2 weeks early because I couldn't keep him off my plate. Dive bombed everything and opened his mouth like a starving baby bird. Sounds like you can wait longer

I started my baby at 5 months, 1 week for the same reason and I have to say her 5-7 month sleep was her worst ever! Breast milk/formula has a lot more calories than the purees appropriate for that age and I don't think they make much difference to be honest. Moving her to own nursery at 7 months made a huge difference!

[Liziz]

No, we didn't -- waited until 6 months. I haven't heard about new recommendations, at least for BF fed babies (which DD was/is) -- my pedi told me 4-6 months, but said that 6 months was preferred unless DD was very actively trying to eat food before that.

[rin]

we didnt start early. Even at 6 months DSs were limited in what they wanted to eat. Rice/oatmeal for example was a total fail.

:yeahthat: exactly.

DD1 didn't really eat much in the way of solids until she was about 12 months. DD2 is 7 months now, and doesn't like to be spoon-fed. She enjoys self-feeding, but of course has pretty limited motor skills so doesn't get a whole lot in. We first started offering food for both girls at 6 months; they had both *seemed* interested, lunging and watching, but that didn't translate to real interest.

I kind of suspect that whole idea that solids help them sleep through the night is just an old wives' tale. I haven't seen anything in either of my girls to suggest any correlation between solids & sleep patterns, except that sometimes they'll be fussier after eating a lot of certain foods, since I'm assuming the digestion is harder work?

[citymama]

We didn't start early with either (6 months) and DD2 didn't want to eat solids till nearly 8 months! With BF babies the thinking is to not replace breast milk before they need solids. But I too have heard the recc has changed to starting sooner and trying out everything rather than waiting longer with potential allergens. DD1 has no allergies but DD2 has treenut allergies and her allergist said there is some indication that early exposure reduces likelihood of allergies. Heck, even if I'd started at 4 months I wouldn't be feeding her walnuts at that age! The wisdom was completely the opposite 5 years ago so who knows. Start when you and your DC are ready, whether that's 4 or 8 months!

[Philly Mom]

We started at 4.5 months. I was headed back to work and wanted to start when I was still home. DD wanted to drink 30-36 oz of formula. Her ped suggested that we add in some solid food. For us it worked well. By 7.5-8 months she was self feeding and having 3 meals a day. She drank around 24-30 oz at that point. She is a great eater so it worked for us.

[KLD313]

We didn't start early with either (6 months) and DD2 didn't want to eat solids till nearly 8 months! With BF babies the thinking is to not replace breast milk before they need solids. But I too have heard the recc has changed to starting sooner and trying out everything rather than waiting longer with potential allergens. DD1 has no allergies but DD2 has treenut allergies and her allergist said there is some indication that early exposure reduces likelihood of allergies. Heck, even if I'd started at 4 months I wouldn't be feeding her walnuts at that age! The wisdom was completely the opposite 5 years ago so who knows. Start when you and your DC are ready, whether that's 4 or 8 months!

Thanks. I'm glad someone has heard about recs changing because I was starting to think my ped was crazy. She wasn't really encouraging it, she just said try if you want. He's 4.5 mos and just about 17lbs, the boy loves to eat. :).

I think I'll hold off for a little bit even thought he tried to steal my chocolate chip cookie tonight.

[citymama]

Thanks. I'm glad someone has heard about recs changing because I was starting to think my ped was crazy. She wasn't really encouraging it, she just said try if you want. He's 4.5 mos and just about 17lbs, the boy loves to eat. :).

I think I'll hold off for a little bit even thought he tried to steal my chocolate chop cookie tonight.

Ah, so this is different. If he's interested - it sounds like *really* interested - and meets the other criteria (sitting up, etc), I would try sooner rather than wait bc the clock doesn't say he's ready. My DD1 would smack her lips when we ate starting at 5 months and it killed me to wait bc I was told I should. I started her at 5 months 3 weeks and she loved it. Started DD2 at 6 months and she had zero interest.

[mikala]

I just spoke with our pediatrician about this the other day. Her interpretation of the newest research was to still waiting until six months and then at that point you can introduce new foods as you wish instead of the slow progression through single foods, delayed eggs, nuts, etc. Honey is the only real nono for the first year because of botulism risk.

From that and other conversations my understanding is that their little guts are still optimized for milk at 4 months and aren't ready for solids. I'm definitely interested in reading any study that suggests early is better than waiting for 6 months.

[KLD313]

Ah, so this is different. If he's interested - it sounds like *really* interested - and meets the other criteria (sitting up, etc), I would try sooner rather than wait bc the clock doesn't say he's ready. My DD1 would smack her lips when we ate starting at 5 months and it killed me to wait bc I was told I should. I started her at 5 months 3 weeks and she loved it. Started DD2 at 6 months and she had zero interest.

He doesn't sit up on the floor by himself but he supports himself and can sit up if something is behind him. He's really strong, rolled from back to tummy at 3.5 mos. He drinks like 32 or more ounces a day. When he wakes up in the morning he pulls himself into a seated position and dives onto the bottle, it's nuts. DD was nothing like this.

[KLD313]

I just spoke with our pediatrician about this the other day. Her interpretation of the newest research was to still waiting until six months and then at that point you can introduce new foods as you wish instead of the slow progression through single foods, delayed eggs, nuts, etc. Honey is the only real nono for the first year because of botulism risk.

From that and other conversations my understanding is that their little guts are still optimized for milk at 4 months and aren't ready for solids. I'm definitely interested in reading any study that suggests early is better than waiting for 6 months.

I can't find anything about the new research to read it. Has anyone seen it?

[roseyloxs]

DS1 started at 6 months, DD wasn't interested until almost 9 months but drank a lot more milk the DS1 ever did.

Also it did help his sleep. He has always naturally been a good sleeper, just two weeks before the 6 month mark he suddenly started waking up again during the night. I assumed it was teething. However we started solids and he immediately slept through the night again.

DD was a bad sleeper before solids and a bad sleeper with solids. So again every child is different.

[Tondi G]

With DS1, we got the green light to try solids when he was 4 months old. He gobbled down oatmeal like it was the best thing he had ever had in his life! LOL He was breastfed and was nursing pretty much every 2 to 3 hrs around the clock at that point. DS2 was 5 months when we decided to try solids. It was a little slower going with him ... but he seemed to enjoy it.

[Melaine]

With the girls I waited until they were 7.5-8 months old (taking into account prematurity) and with DS we started about 6.5 I guess. I have heard a lot of different things. DS loves to eat and he seems a lot happier now that he is able to self-feed (he is 9 months old and doing mostly finger foods as of this week). I wasn't really rushing it with him because he was BF and we were still trying to figure out his tummy issues but with a FF babe I would probably start sooner rather than later but that's just me.

[123LuckyMom]

We started DS at 5.5 months and DD at 6 months. My ped didn't mention changed guidelines but did give me a printed handout on starting solids at DD's 4 month checkup. He did caution me that solids do not help sleep and can, in fact, inhibit it, especially if you feed too close to bedtime. He said to continue to nurse frequently when introducing solids, that, nutritionally, there was no comparison between the excellent nutrition of breast milk and the nutrition she could get from purées or other solids. I assume he would have said the same for a formula fed baby, but I'm not sure.

He did recommend avoiding more than one exposure to rice (which is often hidden in puréed foods) per day due to arsenic. He said eggs and dairy are okay from 9 months but to wait on honey and nuts.

[Nooknookmom]

I fed both of mine when they were hungry. Forget recommendations, I go by my Mommy voice. DD1 was four months...and a hungry buggar. DD2 was eating rice real out of a little cup mixed with rice milk at 3-4 mo bc she had reflux and it helped my BM stay "in". Her pedi GI did rec that.

DD2 was eating toast pieces, tiny chicken pieces and smooshed veggies at 5 mo. Just in small doses, in between nursing. She nursed ALL day. Had MSPI so she needed the extra chow.

If they were grabbing at my plate I certainly wouldn't refuse them. They must be interested/hungry.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I did start at 4m with ds1. He slept worse so I quit and started again at month 6. It went better.

[Tondi G]

He's formula fed. I did hear it does nothing for sleep, she didn't think it would work either. He's just so huge and drinks so many bottles I don't want him to be starving. He can't go more than six hrs without having a bottle.

I would try some solids. If he is a big boy and drinking a ton of formula then it might be time to try some oatmeal ... or fruit or vegetables. I started my boys at around 4 months. DS1 LOVED solids. He gobbled down oatmeal like it was the best thing he had ever tasted... he was ready! he went through a lot of fruits and vegis pretty quickly and we got the go ahead on some chicken when he was 6 months old.

DS2 was interested but took longer to get the whole bring the food to the back of your mouth thing.... tongue was still thrusting forward... he liked it and kept opening his mouth but it was a bit of a mess. By around 5.5 months he was eating like a champ.

Both of my boys are big boys and have always been hearty eaters!

[lizzywednesday]

DD had some peach & nectarine at about 4-ish months, but that's only because she lunged at the ones I was eating (they were very ripe) and I didn't bother to stop her.

We started solids in earnest when she could sit up on her own because, frankly, the thought of giving solid food to a child who had to be propped up scared the living snot out of me.

[TxCat]

I think we started right around 6 mos, maybe 5.5. Our pediatrician also said we could start at 4 mos but we were in no hurry and DD had no interest in food at that point anyways.

[essnce629]

With DS1 we waited till 6 months.

With DS2 we also waited till 6 months, but he had zero interest till 8 months and then just ate everything on his own at that point (baby led weaning-- finger foods, no purees).

I haven't heard of a new earlier recommendation, but I have heard that if you wait till 6 months you can just give them anything after that. No delaying certain foods. So that's what we did with DS2.

[georgiegirl]

With DS, I waited until 7 months (because we were traveling around 6 months). But he showed all of the signs of readiness (sitting up, looking at our food with interest, etc.). We tried with dd earlier (since she was out first and didn't know to wait longer), but she wasn't interested until really late. With DS, we mainly did baby led solids. Neither of my kids were much into purees and preferred finger foods instead.