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How to know if LO is ready for "solids"?

NJinAustinNJinAustin member
in Austin Babies
My LO is 4 months (yay!). How did you know if your LO was ready for solids (ie: rice cereal)? Doctor said we'd know when he woke up consistently in the middle of the night to nurse and if he begins cluster feeding. She said it could be any time between now and 6 months... he'd let us know.
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Re: How to know if LO is ready for "solids"?

  • ali-1411ali-1411 member

    I started Jakob at 4 months.  He was going through 8 oz bottles every two hours...that's a lot of formula!  I tried him on rice cereal and he took to it right away.  We moved on to veggies and fruits and never looked back.

    We tried Layna at 4 months and it didn't work at all.  She didn't get any cereal in her mouth, her tongue reflex was still to strong.  She spit everything out.  I tried again at 5 months and she still wasn't very interested.  By 6 month she really had the hang of it.

    So, all you can do it try!  Have fun, I love starting solids :)

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  • MrsBeckOMrsBeckO member
    We started at 6 months per the rec of many health organizations.
    https://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html
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  • kiarox2002kiarox2002

    We waited until Kate was 6 months old and then did Baby Led Weaning.  Basically we skipped purees all together including cereals and just gave Kate chunks of food to try.  She ate very little for the first 2 months and then something clicked and she started chowing down.

    They are supposed to get all of their nutrition from breast milk or formula for the first year, solids are supposed to be just for fun.  I would think that night nursing or cluster feeding meant that your baby needed more milk or formula, not solids, but Kate didn't sleep through the night until she was almost 10 months old so take that for what it's worth.  

    Good luck!  Solids are fun.  :)

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  • TayteeTaytee
    imagekiarox2002:

    We waited until Kate was 6 months old and then did Baby Led Weaning.  Basically we skipped purees all together including cereals and just gave Kate chunks of food to try.  She ate very little for the first 2 months and then something clicked and she started chowing down.

    They are supposed to get all of their nutrition from breast milk or formula for the first year, solids are supposed to be just for fun.  I would think that night nursing or cluster feeding meant that your baby needed more milk or formula, not solids, but Kate didn't sleep through the night until she was almost 10 months old so take that for what it's worth.  

    Good luck!  Solids are fun.  :)

    We did BLW too. Sleep has NOTHING to do with an infant's ability to physically process solids. The gut is still very immature before 6 months. I'll post more tomorrow as I have guests but basically - waiting is better.

    Cluster feeding is a sign the baby needs more nutrition to grow. Traditional early foods (strained veggies or "baby" cereals) are not very nutritious and therefore are not good subsitutes for formula or breastmilk. Baby needs MILK to grow, not cereal.

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  • TayteeTaytee

    If you wait until 6 months, you won't be sorry and baby will almost certainly be ready. You'll save yourself so much angst over LO pushing baby food out with the tongue thrust reflex =) I drove myself insane trying to feed Abby and created a lot of stress in our relationship. It hurt my feelings that she didn't want to eat the organic purees I slaved over to make at home. She preferred jarred when it came down to it!!

    Like I said above, if baby is eating more it's because they need more to eat/drink - nutritionwise. Cereal is almost devoid of anything helpful for building strong bones, muscles or the brain. Even homemade baby purees just don't have all the wonderful things formula or breastmilk provides.

    I know it's soooo very tempting to think that some rice cereal this early will make baby sleep or stop cluster feeding but it's just not true. It's sad that pediatricians (ours included) still peddle this information. Believe me, almost everymom has tried and few have seen a magical result. Usually you just end up with a constipated baby!!! Most babies don't eat enough cereal/puree for it to make a difference in their diet early on but if they do eat a bunch of cereal, it takes up room that could be filled with something better.

    I'm a HUGE fan of BLW both for the lower frustration and economical factor.  I feel it's made a huge difference for Emily. She'll eat anything. We didn't do BLW with Abby and she's a chicken nuggets/fish sticks kind of kid like most toddlers/preschoolers you know. Turns her nose up at tons of stuff, especially veggies. The only downside is that Emily will not eat off a spoon from us, so we have to let her feed herself yogurt which is messy but she's catching on.

    If you do go a more traditional route with the introduction of foods (purees etc). Please consider skipping prepacked cereals and "baby foods" and choose whole "nutrient dense" foods. This website is a nestie favorite and has oodles of good information on great foods and early things to choose.

    https://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

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