When to Start Foods

EvelynDeBelle · February 2013

When did you know your LO was ready to eat? Mine will be 4 months in 2 weeks, and while I don't think she's anywhere near being ready right now, I'm just curious of the signs to look for.

Empireceo · February 2013

I've been giving rice cereal for about a week and will start fruits and veggies in a couple of days. I haven't had LO's 4 month check up yet, but he had been watching us really intently for about a week whenever we eat and his formula intake had increased suddenly. I just felt like it was time to at least introduce the idea of eating food to him and he has really taken to it.

CLLDLL · February 2013

I plan to wait till close to 6 months, but also use this as a reference for signs to watch that he's ready a little earlier.

https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/readyforsolids.htm

atrinh11 · February 2013

If you are EBF and ask your pedi, I can almost guarantee they will say wait until at least 6 months. I just had this conversation with my pedi today, at my LOs 4 month check-up. (I must add that my pedi is also a very well-trained, well-respected lactation consultant who takes BFing very seriously). She said we will wait unitl 6 months to even talk about it, unless my LO is acting like he needs to eat more during the day when he is at daycare. If that never comes up, then no solids until after 6 months. She said if that does become an issue that I need to call her and we will go over exactly what to do and how.

EvelynDeBelle · February 2013

atrinh11:
If you are EBF and ask your pedi, I can almost guarantee they will say wait until at least 6 months. I just had this conversation with my pedi today, at my LOs 4 month check-up. (I must add that my pedi is also a very well-trained, well-respected lactation consultant who takes BFing very seriously). She said we will wait unitl 6 months to even talk about it, unless my LO is acting like he needs to eat more during the day when he is at daycare. If that never comes up, then no solids until after 6 months. She said if that does become an issue that I need to call her and we will go over exactly what to do and how.

Interesting... I wonder why they say to wait for the 6-month mark for EBFers. I definitely want to continue BFing for at least a year, so this is good advice.

inateapot · February 2013

With DD1 my doc (very old school, loved him) said anytime after 4 months that I felt she was interested was fine. So we started then, but it's not like she ate much until 5 or 6 months.

I've already given DD2 a little bit of oatmeal here & there...she's still got a pretty strong thrust reflex, so not pushing it for now. She's just very social & wants to be at the table when we are and is avidly watching us when we eat. (DD2 is EBF)

Best advice: you know YOUR child & you'll know when they're ready.

atrinh11 · February 2013

Evee

atrinh11:
If you are EBF and ask your pedi, I can almost guarantee they will say wait until at least 6 months. I just had this conversation with my pedi today, at my LOs 4 month check-up. (I must add that my pedi is also a very well-trained, well-respected lactation consultant who takes BFing very seriously). She said we will wait unitl 6 months to even talk about it, unless my LO is acting like he needs to eat more during the day when he is at daycare. If that never comes up, then no solids until after 6 months. She said if that does become an issue that I need to call her and we will go over exactly what to do and how.

Interesting... I wonder why they say to wait for the 6-month mark for EBFers. I definitely want to continue BFing for at least a year, so this is good advice.

I think one reason they want you to wait if you BF has to do with keeping your supply up. I am no expert, but I think the thought is that if you start solids to early because you want your child to get "more" food somehow, it could be a slippery slope. They still need to get the vast majority of their nutrients from the breastmilk, not the solids they start on. Also, like some of the other articles mention, many think they aren't truly "ready" before then... I would just suggest asking your pedi and your LC if you have one.

twinklefairy · February 2013

other reasons is baby's digestive system not ready apparently there is a coating that develops on lining of intesine after 6 months that protects from food allergies and other allergies.

LyndseylovesHugh · February 2013

Our pedi said anywhere between 4-6 months, whenever I felt she was ready, but not to wait much longer than 6 months (I think it had to do with texture issues or something, I honestly don't remember why). She also said it did not matter what order we introduce solids as long as we wait 3-4 days before introducing a new one. We just started yesterday (so 5 months 1 week) because she was showing all the signs of being ready. We gave her sweet potatoes, I am not sure how much she actually ate (most ended up on her), but at this point it is just for practice.

[Deleted User] · February 2013

We are going to wait until after 6 months. If she seems ready at 6 months, we'll go ahead and start with BLW. If she doesn't seem ready, we'll wait a bit longer.

cubuff98 · February 2013

We started rice cereal around 5 months and are waiting until 6 months to start fruits/veggies. I feel like 4 months is really early--I don't know why so many people feel like they need to rush into solids. DS has a really sensitive digestive system so we want to wait for it to mature a bit more.

AJKayakMomma · February 2013

We've already started cereal, she loves it and devours the spoon. Pedi said 6 months usually to start fruits and veggies but since LO takes soo much formula we could at 5 months if we want to.

dpraseutsinh · March 2013

i wasn't going to start feeding my DD foods until around 6 months, but babies never wait! they're ready when they're ready! i noticed one day she started chewing on her bottles whenever i would feed her, so i took a baby spoon without anything on it just to see what she would do with it and she totally knew how to eat haha. i make my own food, so the next day i fed her some pureed broccoli and she loved it! chewed (well as much as you can chew with no teeth lol) and swallowed it just fine. we only feed her one food a day though, it's important to us that her main diet consists of milk. as she gets older, we'll slowly add more food to her diet.

alake · March 2013

dpraseutsinh:
i wasn't going to start feeding my DD foods until around 6 months, but babies never wait! they're ready when they're ready! i noticed one day she started chewing on her bottles whenever i would feed her, so i took a baby spoon without anything on it just to see what she would do with it and she totally knew how to eat haha. i make my own food, so the next day i fed her some pureed broccoli and she loved it! chewed (well as much as you can chew with no teeth lol) and swallowed it just fine. we only feed her one food a day though, it's important to us that her main diet consists of milk. as she gets older, we'll slowly add more food to her diet.

Eryn is six months old. We started the day before her six month birthday. We didn't do cereal. She got avocado and loved it. We gave her peas this week. We are starting her with vegetables and have will move her to fruit.

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