Introducing Solids

Rebis58 · May 2014

DD is almost 4 months old. Everything I've read says you can start solids at 4-6 months, but most recommend waiting until closer to 6 months. DD is starting to show an interest in my food. She's been staring at the food while I eat for a few days now, and today for the first time she reached for my bowl/spoon while I was eating fruit and yogurt. She's a little chunk-a-monk and is in the higher percentile for weight/height if that makes a difference. Right now she's EBF. She was sleeping longer stretches without needing to eat at night, but is now waking up much more and is eating at each wake-up (not just comfort nursing, definitely hungry - I'm assuming it's a growth spurt and not necessarily a sign that she needs solids, but my mom suggested that I could consider trying pablum in the evening).

I'm not in a rush to introduce solids, I had planned to wait until 6 months or until DD showed me she was ready for solids. I don't mind breastfeeding her more often, I'm just curious. For those who are feeding their LOs solids or for STMs, when did you start with the solids? What cues from LO did you take to mean he/she was ready?

cpm1223 · May 2014

LO was interested in my/our food, he has more than doubled his birth weight, can hold his head/chest up easily and loves sitting up (assisted.) also our pedi gave us the ok to start, so we did. We started with oatmeal, then sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce and we are doing avocado today! We tried one at a time, and did the same food for 3-5 days to check for allergies.

sugarland726 · May 2014

We started DS about 2 weeks ago. I was thinking of waiting until 5 months, but he showed signs of readiness. The very first time I put a spoon in his mouth it was like he had been eating from a spoon his whole life. He just got it. We are still just doing oatmeal cereal. We'll start purees in another week or two. I'm not in a rush.

Rebis58 · May 2014

Thanks for the feedback. DD has her 4 month check-up next week, I'll check with her doctor what he recommends and then maybe give solids a try in the next few weeks and see how she reacts.

bethughknee · May 2014

My ped gave the okay at 4 mo but I explained I'm planning to do BLW, which she responded to really favorably which felt good. I feel like when I tell family about it they look at me like I sprouted an extra set of ears or something.

Anyway, my DD has also been waking to eat more often in the last few weeks (hungry, like you said. Not just for comfort) but I also attribute it to growing. I've upped her daycare bottles by a 1/2 oz each and that seems to be helping. Some days...

Also like you mentioned, she's definitely paying attention to us at dinner. She used to only care about the toy I put on the high chair tray but she is so into watching us eat right now. But I also wasn't sure if that was just because she's become very aware of what's going on around her and is a people watcher by nature. Now that she's gotten so good at bringing things to her mouth I *might* offer her a large piece of fruit to suck on soon. But any intro I do won't really be to help her sleep, like you said. It will just be practice.

amt0312 · May 2014

She has been staring at DH and I while we eat and smacking her lips, grabbing at our food, sitting up (with assistance). Just got the go ahead today (she's 4 months)- went out and bought her an avocado and oatmeal cereal. The avocado has to ripen for a few days, but we started oatmeal cereal just a little while ago. She liked it! She munched on the spoon and opened wide for the next bite, etc. Of course she made a huge mess, but she laughed and squealed the whole time I was feeding her.

Rebis58 · May 2014

I'm glad to see people with LOs relatively close to DD's age are already giving some solids. Part of me was expecting a bit of a negative/discouraging reaction to my considering introducing solids before 6 months. I feel much better about my instinct to try out solids with DD in the near-ish future

Thanks again ladies.

NenaMarie84 · May 2014

@amt0312‌ and @sugarland726‌ how often/ how much of the oatmeal did you start with? At my lo's two month the dr said she recommends starting food at four months if the child is ready and also encourages BLW. LO will be four months next week, so I'm in no rush however I do plan to eventually start with oatmeal before doing BLW so I'm curious how others started with it.

amt0312 · May 2014

A couple tablespoons of prepared oatmeal (mixed with formula) once a day is the starting plan. In a few days I will add the avocado (mashed and thinned with formula) and see how she likes it. So from there on out, I will go through a rotation of veggies every 3-4 days with a tablespoon or so of oatmeal each day. I'll increase as she shows signs of wanting more or whatever. Right now its just for fun with no plans to push it very hard.

edit: @nenamarie84

MiaMyPuggle · May 2014

I started 2 weeks ago....oatmeal cereal and just intro-ed carrots and zucchini. She loooooved the carrots....I make my own purées. Not that it matters, but I think she likes being a part of dinner time. I started DS on solids at 4 mo old as well. He eats everything (except olives and tomatoes)!

amt0312 · May 2014

Rebis58 said:

I'm glad to see people with LOs relatively close to DD's age are already giving some solids. Part of me was expecting a bit of a negative/discouraging reaction to my considering introducing solids before 6 months. I feel much better about my instinct to try out solids with DD in the near-ish future Thanks again ladies.

Meh, even if you did get a negative reaction from people, the AAP says you can start at 4 months and there is nothing wrong with what you choose to do. Of all the people I know who have had babies recently, very few waited until 6 months, so its my feeling that majority of people actually go ahead and start at 4 months. DD's pedi was saying that there is very little benefit in waiting until 6 months if you are concerned about allergies, which is part of the reason for waiting to introduce foods until later. He is of the mindset that the earlier you introduce allergenic foods, the less chance of developing an allergy.

But who knows what the BEST way is...these recs are changing so frequently and babies grow up to be just fine.

Rebis58 · May 2014

amt0312 said:

Rebis58 said:

I'm glad to see people with LOs relatively close to DD's age are already giving some solids. Part of me was expecting a bit of a negative/discouraging reaction to my considering introducing solids before 6 months. I feel much better about my instinct to try out solids with DD in the near-ish future Thanks again ladies.

Meh, even if you did get a negative reaction from people, the AAP says you can start at 4 months and there is nothing wrong with what you choose to do. Of all the people I know who have had babies recently, very few waited until 6 months, so its my feeling that majority of people actually go ahead and start at 4 months. DD's pedi was saying that there is very little benefit in waiting until 6 months if you are concerned about allergies, which is part of the reason for waiting to introduce foods until later. He is of the mindset that the earlier you introduce allergenic foods, the less chance of developing an allergy.

But who knows what the BEST way is...these recs are changing so frequently and babies grow up to be just fine.

@amt0312 So true. My mom and I were just talking about this - while it's great that we have so much information these days, she said she also feels a little bad for moms these days as it's almost overload. And with all of the information it can be easy to question your instincts.

TheBorg7of9 · May 2014

I'm going to do baby led weaning for this baby. I'm going to wait a while. Solid food is generally a pain in the butt and they don't even really need it till they are 1. I just made a post on the working mom board and got tons of info.

Eta: weaning not warning

sehudson821 · May 2014

cpm1223 said:
LO was interested in my/our food, he has more than doubled his birth weight, can hold his head/chest up easily and loves sitting up (assisted.) also our pedi gave us the ok to start, so we did. We started with oatmeal, then sweet potatoes, peas, applesauce and we are doing avocado today! We tried one at a time, and did the same food for 3-5 days to check for allergies.

This.

Lena122 · May 2014

DD is EBF and I plan to wait until 6 months even though her pedi said starting at 4 is fine. She does follow our food with her eyes from our hands to our mouths but she also follows toys so I don't really count that as a sign of readiness. She's growing fine. I'm just not really interested in delving into solids at this point.

Roses87 · May 2014

I ebf abd spoke to the pedi today abd plan to start at 6 months with oatmeal most likely. Then start veggies.

worleygirl · May 2014

With DS we did cereal at 4 months but I'm not going to bother this time. I plan to do BLW and start when she's ready. My pedi says no food until 6 months.

sugarland726 · May 2014

NenaMarie84 said:

@amt0312‌ and @sugarland726‌ how often/ how much of the oatmeal did you start with? At my lo's two month the dr said she recommends starting food at four months if the child is ready and also encourages BLW. LO will be four months next week, so I'm in no rush however I do plan to eventually start with oatmeal before doing BLW so I'm curious how others started with it.

I just kind of pour some in a bowl. It's probably 2 tablespoons if I had to guess. I don't want him to overly fill up since we do it at dinner, but he goes to bed shortly thereafter. I still want/need him to nurse well at bedtime.

precious72381 · May 2014

Abby had her 4 month check up yesterday and although the pedi usually says to try at 4 months, he told me to wait longer. She is gaining weight but is still below the 10% in weight. She also has been having reflux issues again so he upped her Zantac and he wants that under better control first. I'm not in a rush either, she's growing up too fast!! We are still working on the sleeping stuff that I can't handle all the info on how to make and feed baby food just yet. Hopefully over the summer, while I'm home, she can start.

JennaRaek · May 2014

At our 4 month appointment out pediatrician told us we could start on any #1 food. I didn't know what that meant because I make my baby food. I looked it up on the Gerber website and she told me pretty much any fruit or veggie that was pureed other than leafy greens like spinach. By that point DS was watching us eat and seemed interested. So far we've tried sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, and green beans. He had a slight reaction to the avocados (little blotchy rash on his cheeks) so we aren't trying that again for a while. But he LOVES eating new things and I love watching him experience them! It's so fun! He tries to take the spoon from me to feed himself if I'm going too slow and he'll sit there with his mouth open and holler at me! It's so cute. But he's for sure ready with all of those signs! I'm enjoying it as much as he is.

sugarland726 · May 2014

JennaRaek said:

At our 4 month appointment out pediatrician told us we could start on any #1 food. I didn't know what that meant because I make my baby food. I looked it up on the Gerber website and she told me pretty much any fruit or veggie that was pureed other than leafy greens like spinach. By that point DS was watching us eat and seemed interested. So far we've tried sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, and green beans. He had a slight reaction to the avocados (little blotchy rash on his cheeks) so we aren't trying that again for a while. But he LOVES eating new things and I love watching him experience them! It's so fun! He tries to take the spoon from me to feed himself if I'm going too slow and he'll sit there with his mouth open and holler at me! It's so cute. But he's for sure ready with all of those signs! I'm enjoying it as much as he is.

@JennaRaek, why no leafy greens?

JennaRaek · May 2014

sugarland726 said:

JennaRaek said:

At our 4 month appointment out pediatrician told us we could start on any #1 food. I didn't know what that meant because I make my baby food. I looked it up on the Gerber website and she told me pretty much any fruit or veggie that was pureed other than leafy greens like spinach. By that point DS was watching us eat and seemed interested. So far we've tried sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, and green beans. He had a slight reaction to the avocados (little blotchy rash on his cheeks) so we aren't trying that again for a while. But he LOVES eating new things and I love watching him experience them! It's so fun! He tries to take the spoon from me to feed himself if I'm going too slow and he'll sit there with his mouth open and holler at me! It's so cute. But he's for sure ready with all of those signs! I'm enjoying it as much as he is.

@JennaRaek, why no leafy greens?

@sugarland726

Honestly, I have no idea. I didn't even ask and should have.

sugarland726 · May 2014

If you find out @JennaRaek, I'd be curious to hear his reason.

amt0312 · May 2014

I'm also curious about the no leafy greens as some of the organic baby food pouches have spinach in the stage 1 varieties. Although I do plan on making my own baby foods, I'll still buy some of the store stuff in things that I really don't wanna mess with.

JennaRaek · May 2014

@sugarland726 & @amt0312 I might call and ask! When I figure it out, I'll let you know. I didn't even bother asking because I had so much other stuff to try first I wasn't worried about it. I'll find out!

amt0312 · May 2014

@rojovol34 daaaang. carrots too, huh? I don't have to worry about the other ones your mentioned because I won't eat those myself, but I had no idea about the carrots. That sucks.

sugarland726 · May 2014

@Rojovol34, very interesting. Thanks for looking into that!

katags · May 2014

If nitrates are the only risk, then I'm ok with still feeding my own. Most sites I google say it's very rare for babies to get the anemia from the food, it's usually from drinking well water. I will probably not intro these until a little later, just to be safe. And here I assumed it as because spinach is harsh on the tummy. I know I can't eat too much of it! ttp://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/nitratearticle.htm#.U3640Ym9Kc0

JennaRaek · May 2014

@Rojovol34 , Thanks!! And I already have carrots made up. Guess we'll hold off on those. Thanks so much for the info!!

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