Did you start solids before 6 months?

[camomma]

This is the dilemma I'm facing.
The baby shows that she's more than ready for solids at 5 months+1 week. She
stares at our plates when we are eating (longingly). When we give her cereal she is eager to eat, she is very reluctant to have breastmilk or formula.
She's sitting on her own for a month now. I think she's ready for more solids like pureed lentils, pureed veggies etc.
DH says its better to wait for one more month because once the babies start solids they wean from milk and formula. The baby is already tiny (13 lbs at 5 months) and he doesn't want her to lose any nutrition she's getting from milk just because she's more interested in solids.
What do you guys say? When did you start solids for your baby.
TIA

[SnuggleBuggles]

I waited and think there are a lot of good reasons to wait. Their little bodies are still a work in progress. This is a bit from the Dr. Sears' site that I think is interesing:
"1. Baby's intestines need to mature. The intestines are the body's filtering system, screening out potentially harmful substances and letting in healthy nutrients. In the early months, this filtering system is immature. Between four and seven months a baby's intestinal lining goes through a developmental growth spurt called closure, meaning the intestinal lining becomes more selective about what to let through. To prevent potentially-allergenic foods from entering the bloodstream, the maturing intestines secrete IgA , a protein immunoglobulin that acts like a protective paint, coating the intestines and preventing the passage of harmful allergens. In the early months, infant IgA production is low (although there is lots of IgA in human milk), and it is easier for potentially-allergenic food molecules to enter the baby's system. Once food molecules are in the blood, the immune system may produce antibodies to that food, creating a food allergy . By six to seven months of age the intestines are more mature and able to filter out more of the offending allergens. This is why it's particularly important to delay solids if there is a family history of food allergy, and especially to delay the introduction of foods to which other family members are allergic"
http://askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp

I also agree that breastmilk are formula have better, more important nutrition and you want to make sure that for the 1st year they remain front and center.

Beth

[Dr C]

I certainly agree that milk is the primary source of your baby's nutrition until much closer to her first birthday, and that there is increasing evidence that we shoudn't rush to introduce solids at 4 months for all kids due to risk of allergy, obesity, etc...

That said, your baby is showing lots of signs that she is ready. I personally would go ahead and feed her! I'd go slow and follow her cues. Make sure you wait several days between each food introduction so you can pinpoint any reaction, and avoid highly allergenic foods. It sounds like you have already introduced cereal and she is doing fine with that.

Every baby is different. Some babies aren't ready for solids until 8 months or even later. Some are ready earlier than 6 months. My DD is 4.5 months old and is not yet showing signs that she is ready, but I am watching for those signs and will likely start solids when those signs appear.

[Katigre]

If your baby is showing signs she is ready to feed herself then I would give her the opportunity (but I would not spoon feed her).

BUT - it is very important that she not replace milk feeds with solids until she is close to 1 year old. The breastmilk is her main source of nutrition.

[jgenie]

No, we waited till 6 months but DS1 wasn't really interested until closer to 8 months.

[catsnkid]

We started DS on cereal at 5 months + 2 weeks as he was having some diarrhea from antibiotics and the ped sugested it. He started the veggies at about 6 months in, but he did take a week off due to pneumonia- not interested..

[poppy]

No. Started pureed foods at 6 months.

[arivecchi]

Yes. DS1 started at 4 months. DS2 closer to 7 months.

[lchang25000]

Skipped rice cereal and went straight to jarred baby food when DS was 5.5 months which he really enjoyed.

[scrooks]

With DD I waited until 6 months and one week...exactly what the books said. She did just fine.

With DS we started a week or so ago with some rice cereal and a stage one mix in (so far we have tried apples and sweet potatoes). We mostly started him because he was REALLY giving us the look when we were eating. We haven't given him solids even every single day at this point and when we do it's just once a day and 1-2 tablespoons....