Did you start solids before 6 months?

[Melaine]

Waited until about 7 months (corrected age due to prematurity). I agree with SnuggleBuggles that there are good reasons to wait. As many have said, it's just practice until about 1 year. I don't really put much stock in signs of readiness. Sometimes they act like they want to eat and then gag when given a taste.

[okinawama]

we started rice cereal at around 4 mo, and home made mashed food about two weeks later. My son too showed many signs of readiness, and at the 4mo well baby we were given the ok. We waited a week or so, but he seemed ready. He loved it from day one and never looked back Good luck with your decision and have fun. I remember loving watching him trying new tastes and textures, and he loved it just as much

[JBaxter]

Depending on the child for us. DS1 was barely 4 months DS2 7 months, DS3 had some rice cereal in his bottle due to reflux but ate from a spoon about months DS4 somewhere between 5 & 6 months.

The day they turn 6 months does not magicly make them ready. My boys all sat alone at about 4 months double their weigh ( or nearly) actively was grabbing for foods.

I started with purees none of them would eat rice cereal ( its gross if you ask me) Breast milk or formula is the main form of nutrition at that age but we started offering a few bits before 6 months except for ds2 who would spit it at you if you tried to feed him

[wellyes]

When she's looking longingly at your plates, she probably just wants to imitate you..... same way babies love cell phones, remote controls, laptops, craft stuff, or anything else they see mom and dad use.. My advice is to offer small bits of food and offer to let her use baby utensils. If she wants to play with a spoon, cool. If she wants to see what it's like to put a shredded carrot in her mouth, fine.

I see no benefit to offering purees or grain cereal that young. I started rice cereal and purees at 5 months 2 weeks and regretted it - she started dropping weight. The lesson that I got from it is that food is for play/learning, milk for nutrition.

[Indianamom2]

Yes, we started both kids before 6 months. With DD#1, she really wasn't interested until at least 6 months (we would try a bit every week or so, from around 4 months on, but no pushing). She had some oral motor sensitivities, so she was slower to figure out solids. She's now 5.5 years old and just fine.

Ds#2 is a slow gainer and at the time, would not take a bottle at all. He was showing all the signs of readiness and our pedi and pedi gastroenterologist recommended solids, so we did, slowly. I stayed with very basic foods (rice and oatmeal cereals mixed with fruits) for the first month and a half, then gradually added more first foods and now second foods and finger foods (he's almost 8 months now). He does two meals a day (sometimes three) and still nurses 5-6 times a day. In the last week or so, he's finally started taking a bottle of formula (HALLELUJAH!!!) so we're also supplementing there.

I know that everyone says that breastmilk/formula is best and more caloric, but honestly, my slow gainer has definitely done better since we added solids. It didn't replace meals, just supplemented. He's finally cracked the 16 lb. barrier and is starting to inch back up the weight chart, even though he's more active. The only thing that could have caused that, IMO, is the addition of solids, since I don't think he was getting enough breastmilk due to low supply.

I say, follow your gut and your childs' lead. I think the jury is still out on whether or not early solids = higher chance of allergies. I haven't seen enough proof yet. Then again, that's just my opinion.

[Twoboos]

Both girls were obviously ready (DD2 would actually drool watching us eat, LOL!) and I started them at 5.5mos. I figured 2 weeks didn't make all that much difference.

We always did BM/formula first, started at one "meal" for about a week, and introduced very gradually.

[ssand23]

We see a pedi GI dr for my son. He has reflux but we picked their office when my middle dd was a baby & had some major medical issues since they are the best around.

His dr said that the most current research shows that for babies showing interest, it's fine from a medical standpoint to start solids at 4 months. She said that old research used to think that holding off helped with allergies & digestive issues but new research shows it doesn't make a difference.

The dr said that bm or formula should still be the basis of their diets until they are at least a year old but they aren't recommending waiting on solids like they used to.

[Andi98989]

Right now we're doing oatmeal and rice a few times a day between bottles; he's still taking 30+ ounces of breastmilk a day, plus what we mix his cereal with.

Our pedi said we could start with fruits/veggies at 6 months, but we're thinking about about trying a little bit in a week or two. DS is sitting very well and whenever we eat, he's starting at us and imitating us. When I feed him, he'll grab my hand and guide the spoon to his mouth.

[AshleyAnn]

DD started cereal at 4 months because she would 'ask' for our food if we were eating and showed a ton of interest in eating solids with her pedi's blessing. Her pedi did say to wait as long as possible (ideally she wanted 5 months but the crying everytime she saw me eat got to me) because DD is tiny and her milk intake is on the low side of the spectrum so we wanted to keep her intake as high on calories and nutrients as possible. Her pedi said once she was eating more than she was wearing it was fine to begin vegs/fruits. DD loved the cereal and ate it great from day one and after 2 weeks I was all set to start jarred foods but then she started to teeth and her milk intake dropped very low so I decided to go all bottles and skip the solids until it went back to normal. I gave her a tablespoon or so of sweet potatos 2 days ago and she was sort of 'ehh' about them but so far so good on the reaction front. Her bottle intake has actually gone up since starting solids minus the teething period of about a week but its back up now.

I think babies all develop differently and some are ready for solids sooner than others (especially those that see a lot of adults/siblings eating real food).

[sariana]

DS: Six months exactly, but he was 2 months early, so he was 4 months corrected.

DD: About 5 months, 4 months corrected.

While there are reasons to wait, some of them are controversial (likelihood of allergies, for example), and some are correctable (don't let solids replace nutrition from breast milk).

My ped for DD said there are also risks in waiting, as there is a window of opportunity for the child's interest. If you wait too long, s/he may not want to try, and you will have a bigger struggle. Since foods need to be introduced one at a time, you want to give yourself time to do that before your child starts rejecting single foods.

As PPs said, all children are different. You can find reasons to support either decision (starting earlier vs. waiting), so ultimately it comes down to what makes you comfortable.