Introducing foods

firsttimeknottie

Hi All! My LO is 4 months. My SO and his mother have been trying to get me to start my son on baby food. Apparently, they (he and his family) start babies on food at 3 months. My SO has 4 other children. I personally wanted to wait until he was 6 months or at least until I received an ok from his pediatrician. Our last appointment the doctor said he recommends to start at 6 months but for those “eager parents”, 5 months. So for now I’m counting down to 5 months to get them off my back. When do/did you start your LO on cereal/baby food??

knottie126a020f22068461

We just started this week (4.5m) at our doctor’s recommendation. We are only doing one snack of one food a day.

rac2718

I didn't start my first son until 6 months and followed the "food is just for fun" mentality until he turned 1. We never had any constipation issues and he was the least picky toddler I knew (he's almost 5 now and eats pretty well). I don't plan to introduce solids to this one until at least 6 months. He was also a preemie so I want to give his digestive system plenty of time to be ready. Also make sure your son is showing signs of food readiness- holding head up, stopped tongue thrusting, usually has a tooth already, shows interest in food, etc

turtletaylor0522

My pediatrician told us to start solids at his 4 month visit based on my son’s development. He was sitting well and holding his head up as well as bringing things to his mouth with his hands. We didn’t replace any meals with solids but just added some extra snacks for the purées. If you don’t want to start until six months, then don’t. If you want to give it a try, it’s probably safe. We are doing baby-led weaning now. We started that at six months in addition to purées. Check out the Solid Starts app and their account on Instagram. They’re like a Bible for me right now. 

00kim00

Six months, unless there's a need to do so sooner (some babies with reflux, for example, do better with some cereal in addition to breast milk or formula) AND he's developmentally ready. Do NOT start feeding solids until your baby can sit up on his own and hold his head up well. If your baby is developmentally ready at 5 months, shows an interest, and you're ready, it's okay, but if he's not there yet, it's worth the fight to push back on pushy family.