The Solids Thread!

ColeBug89 · May 2017

Our LO's are growing up so fast already! Some of us have already started or are starting solids very soon. Post any questions or comments related to solids here!

ColeBug89 · May 2017

I'll start

We got the go-ahead from Ella's doctor to start solids at her 4-month check up last month, but I have been very hesitant. She will be 5 months next week and I think we are ready to start! I just have a few questions to begin and anyone please feel free to answer or add your own questions!

Do you plan on/are you buying premade baby food or making your own? Or some combination?

If you buy, are there any brands you do or do not recommend?

If you are making food, what kind(s)?

Are there certain foods your LO prefers over others?

I'll probably add more questions as I think of them...all of this is new to me as a FTM lol.

leprechaunlady · May 2017

The recommendations here are to wait til 6 months though it used to be 4 months so im not sure whats changed. but ive been getting organised in preparation. Ive bought a hand blender to puree fruit & veg but ive bought some Ellas Kitchen pouches aswell which are just pureed fruit & veg with no additives & some baby rice.
our health visitor said to introduce a max of 3 new flavours or textures a week and initially dont drop any of her bottle feeds.
we also ordered a high chair on sunday which should arrive today. We went for the stokke tripp trapp.
i have no experience so would be interested in hearing others thoughts & advice too

catmommac · May 2017

Oh thank you for again mentioning 6 months! Ugh I have my MIl and my mom continually telling me that he's drinking too much milk and it's time to start him on rice cereal. I said no, too early. They got to my DH though (MIL and her mom each have run home day cares for over 20 years). I said no solids, no rice cereal until the pedi says okay. He's only 3.5 months!

But my plan for solids is buying store stuff occasionally (I prefer the jars so I can reuse them!) but mostly just cook veggies/fruit and purée then in our food proccesor. We have some unopened, unexpired Gerber food that DH's coworker gave us. We'll use that too.

I have a high chair picked out, but all my Buy Buy Baby coupons just expired. I'm hoping a new one comes soon. The high chair was cheapest with them.

jlellis603 · May 2017

I'm excited for this thread, even though LO isn't there yet! He will be there around the end of June or early July. At our 2 month check up when the doctor was giving him his oral vaccine, she said he did really well taking it. I told her that I was using the syringe for gripe water and she said he might be ready for solids right at 4 months since he's gotten over that urge to push stuff out of his mouth haha. We will see!

kswiger06 · May 2017

Our Dr also said he recommends solids at 4 months... well specifically he said He "normally" recommended solids at 4 months. So I'm waiting until our 4 month check up just to be sure, but honestly my older kids had started cereal in their bottles before that and we never had any problems.

Just a tip, I know everything will tell you to use a high chair, but trying to spoon feed a baby in the beginning can be very difficult. They wobble and get excited or angry... We start our kids sitting in their carrier. They are slightly reclined back, and not trying to have to sit still. It made it so much easier to start them on spoon feeding. Once they were getting the hang of it, we put them in the high chair. Obviously I'm not a Dr but I thought if anyone has difficulties in the high chair, they might want to try it. Of course if you don't want to or want to ask the Dr, do so.

chef'swife · May 2017

ColeBug89 said:

I'll start

We got the go-ahead from Ella's doctor to start solids at her 4-month check up last month, but I have been very hesitant. She will be 5 months next week and I think we are ready to start! I just have a few questions to begin and anyone please feel free to answer or add your own questions!

Do you plan on/are you buying premade baby food or making your own? Or some combination?

With DD, we made most of her food and used premade when out and about. We used mostly Ella's and Happy Baby but used some Gerber too. We plan to do the same this time around. So far, Harrison has had mashed avocado, mashed banana, and sweet potato homemade and green beans, carrots, and squash permafrost.
If you buy, are there any brands you do or do not recommend?

Ellas and Happy Baby were our favorites.
If you are making food, what kind(s

We eat lots of veggies and fruit, so I'd typically just steam some of what we are eating and mash or purée it for LO. For DD, I'd cook a big batch of fruit to purée and then freeze in ice cube trays and store the frozen cubes in a gallon ziplock bag.
Are there certain foods your LO prefers over others?

Harrison wasn't too interested in the oatmeal cereal but we couldn't get the avocado in his mouth fast enough.

I'll probably add more questions as I think of them...all of this is new to me as a FTM lol.

ChaoticWolf · May 2017

No. Just no.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/health/many-babies-fed-solid-food-too-soon-cdc-finds.html

https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/

"As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health." -WHO (World Health Organization)

https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/faq/index.htm

"Breast milk alone is sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months after birth. For these very young infants, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that water, juice, and other foods are generally unnecessary. Even when babies enjoy discovering new tastes and textures, solid foods should not replace breastfeeding, but merely complement breast milk as the infant's main source of nutrients throughout the first year. Beyond one year, as the variety and volume of solid foods gradually increase, breast milk remains an ideal addition to the child's diet.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mother and baby desire. The World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond." -CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/3/e827.short

The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant." -AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics)

srscott3 · May 2017

ohstars · May 2017

Are you seriously trying to shame these moms who are listening to the recommendations of their pediatricians?

Image: https://media.tenor.co/images/e1d55943f5563c04ec8fdc206c318ce9/tenor.gif

birdiejo · May 2017

It doesn't sound like anyone's just blindly shoving a hoagie into their kids mouth.

imalwaysme79 · May 2017

Per AAP:

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/Switching-To-Solid-Foods.aspx

"Is he big enough? Generally, when infants double their birth weight (typically at about 4 months of age) and weigh about 13 pounds or more, they may be ready for solid foods."

"...If your baby has been mostly breastfeeding, he may benefit from baby food made with meat, which contains more easily absorbed sources of iron and zinc that are needed by 4 to 6 months of age. Check with your child's doctor."

"There is no evidence that waiting to introduce baby-safe (soft), allergy-causing foods, such as eggs, dairy, soy, peanuts, or fish, beyond 4 to 6 months of age prevents food allergy. If you believe your baby has an allergic reaction to a food, such as diarrhea, rash, or vomiting, talk with your child's doctor about the best choices for the diet."

leprechaunlady · May 2017

Whats with the judgey lecture?

also, my child is eff so i must be the absolute worst cause i also tried her with some baby rice last week too.

Eta: my husband is a general practice doctor with a diploma in child health so meh

MrsDramaK · May 2017

ChaoticWolf said:

No. Just no.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/health/many-babies-fed-solid-food-too-soon-cdc-finds.html

https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/infantfeeding_recommendation/en/

"As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health." -WHO (World Health Organization)

https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/faq/index.htm

"Breast milk alone is sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months after birth. For these very young infants, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that water, juice, and other foods are generally unnecessary. Even when babies enjoy discovering new tastes and textures, solid foods should not replace breastfeeding, but merely complement breast milk as the infant's main source of nutrients throughout the first year. Beyond one year, as the variety and volume of solid foods gradually increase, breast milk remains an ideal addition to the child's diet.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mother and baby desire. The World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond." -CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/3/e827.short

The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant." -AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics)

By all means, be a sanctimommy a-hole to these women. No way is there doctors years of medical training equivalent to your twenty minutes of googling.

Spicyweiner · May 2017

I feel like a "I'm waiting until 6 months" would suffice......

Patience7150 · May 2017

Yep @ChaoticWolf, those are reputable sources you've cited. Two issues though:

1) Sometimes I think about questioning my child's doctor...but then I think "mmm, better not."
2) Sometimes I think about criticizing the decisions other moms make for their kids, but then I think "mmm, better not."

And just incase you didn't get the message, sometimes I think about posting stupid crap on the internet to make other people who just wanted to talk about solid food for kids feel bad,

Image: https://media.giphy.com/media/XIP4uTEkY1UXu/giphy.gif?response_id=59232b8191d16679f36d70d9

ohstars · May 2017

We are dealing with some allergy issues, so we won't be starting solids until we can get that all settled down. But for my last one, we just bought whatever the grocery store was selling as the 1st foods. His first food was squash because we started him on Thanksgiving and that was the closest thing to a Thanksgiving-y festive food I could find. I'm considering making some of my own foods this time because it's not so new and overwhelming to me this go-around. Plus, I've been looking for an excuse to buy a food processor.

ChaoticWolf · May 2017

Eh, call me a sanctimommy or judgmental all you want but I just follow the official guidelines and studies. If you think posting links and quoting governmental guidelines is judgmental, so be it.

birdiejo · May 2017

If someone walked up to you while you were feeding your kid and went "no, just no." wouldnt you feel judged by that person?

Spicyweiner · May 2017

ChaoticWolf said:

Eh, call me a sanctimommy or judgmental all you want but I just follow the official guidelines and studies. If you think posting links and quoting governmental guidelines is judgmental, so be it.

It's the way you said it.
If you said "oh, I'm waiting until 6 months because of these guidelines" nobody would have batted an eyelash.
"No, just no" stfu you were absolutely trying to be a wench

kswiger06 · May 2017

Yeah or you can just piss off. Nobody on here has said anything that is outrageously crazy. The rules are always changing, and I have read those exact articles you linked, but when it comes down to it, if my Dr says we can start foods at our 4 month appointment, I'm sure he will give specific instructions and we will do so. If we have any further questions, we will be asking our Dr, but thanks. And my other kids were started on solids before 6 months by the recommendations and guidelines at the time and are just fine.

Partyof6? · May 2017

We have always made our own purees, and loosely followed the order of foods on this site (that I think used to be different, but I think this is it!) https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ I am pretty sure they recommended 6 months when my other kids were young, but now they say 4. It seems like they just did the opposite in Europe from what Jane said, lol. I think it's entirely up to you and your doctor! The site starts with cereal, and then adds other fruits and vegetables by stages. I feel like we started with pears, avocado and applesauce.

ColeBug89 · May 2017

For the record, my daughter's doctor gave the go-ahead to start solids at 4 months, but I chose to wait even with his recommendation. She just turned 5 months yesterday and I will be starting rice cereal within the next several weeks, probably closer to six months.

I thought this thread would be a great way to ask questions or get different experiences in anticipation of many mom's starting their babies on solids in the near future.

If a mom decides to start solids at 2 months or 12 months, it's not my place to judge, but if she had any questions I would be more than glad to help (with my limited knowledge of course lol). Starting solids can be an overwhelming experience, especially for FTM's who have never done this before.

I do appreciate the multiple posts that site the AAP and their recommendation of 6 months. Maybe that's helped a FTM decide to wait a bit longer. I do not appreciate posts that make others feel judged for wanting to start their babies on solids earlier.

Every situation is different and I might think starting solids at 5 and 1/2 months is what's best for my DD. She will still be getting all of her regular feedings, but with some solids added. Solids will not replace any of her meals. Which all falls within the AAP guidelines.

If anyone on this thread were doing anything crazy - like giving a freshly born baby rice cereal - I'm sure we would have politely tried to steer the mom away from that suggestion. At least from my limited knowledge as a FTM, I feel like everyone who previously posted was following doctor or AAP guidelines and doing what they thought was best for their LO.

imalwaysme79 · May 2017

For the record, the AAP links I was showing shows that you *can* start at 4 months. I absolutely would listen to my pediatrician and do what I felt was right from there.

WinchesterGirl · May 2017

We are going to be waiting until 6 months, and/or until he's got some teeth. Right now I'm just researching homemade baby food recipes, and looking at first food options.

I have severe food allergies.... so whenever we start it will be slooooow and careful!

chef'swife · May 2017

@ChaoticWolf As our doctor has been our doctor since my daughter was born 7 years ago and knows our complete medical history, I'm going to continue to follow her advice. She has given us appropriate medical guidance so far and we have a healthy, bright, kind 7 year old. Our doctor is competent, listens to any concerns we voice, and has full knowledge of my son's 31 day NICU stay. Her medical opinion is that it is appropriate for us to begin introducing solids for our 5 month old son. My mama instinct agrees that his strong interest in food can be satisfied with bites of suitable foods. His primary food source is now, and will continue to be, breast milk.

As previous posters have said, if you had phrased your statement differently it would have been taken as a respectful contribution to the conversation and we would have welcomed the differing opinion. Instead, you came into a thread and passed judgement on moms who are all just doing the best they can for their littles and have the blessing of the doctor acquainted with the child's developmental progress.

jab3-2 · May 2017

I waited until six months to start any solids with my first two kids, but have been having a really tough time with this baby and I was thinking introducing some might help once she hits the four-month mark which will be in a couple weeks. It's people like you who make me feel like crap for even considering doing that and make me second-guess myself. Not only is it what works for one family might not work for another, it's actually what works for one kid within the same family might not work for another. As long as people are consulting with their pediatrician on what to do with their own individual child and what works best for their family that's all that matters (within reason of course.) It's like @kswiger06 said, no one suggested doing anything outrageous so back off with the "official guidelines and recommendations" which I'm sure the vast majority of posters on here are already well aware of anyway. These same type of guidelines suggest breastfeeding is ideal. So would you respond the same way to someone who is talking about EFF? "No, just no?" I'm kind of thinking you probably wouldn't. But ultimately, it's pretty much the same thing. It's a personal choice that will differ for every baby and every family. What may be "ideal" isn't going to work for every family and every baby.

pennylucille-2 · June 2017

Our doc recommends 6 months, and said she would discuss starting solids at the 6 month checkup so we are definitely waiting till then. That's fine with us because we're using cloth diapers, and her being on solids is definitely going to change that routine! I'm starting to think she's going to be very interested in food though, so I am excited to see her try it.

We will be making our own puree's. A family friend got us a super fancy Beaba baby food maker which is awesome and should be so much better than our sad old and busted magic bullet we were planning on using, haha!

scifichick09 · June 2017

I haven't posted in a long time, but I just wanted to chime in here. My son is 4.5 months old and started solids about a week before he turned 4 months. He has always been very interested in food, started teething a few weeks ago, and so we started him on baby cereal. He loved it and ate it NO PROBLEM. His reflex to push things out was totally gone. At his 4 month check up our doctor said she usually recommends starting at 6 months, but ALL BABIES ARE DIFFERENT and that my son was clearly ready to start now and gave us her blessing to continue along with some tips for introducing baby food. Last week he started eating peas and he loves them. He can't wait until dinner time to eat them. I don't know where @ChaoticWolf gets off posting what she did, but I just wanted to share my experience to re-iterate what others have already said, which is that everyone is different, follow your mother instinct, and listen to your doctor. Your baby will be fine.

kswiger06 · June 2017

At our appointment for the 4 month shots (though it was two weeks + days late) our Dr gave me the okay to start solids. Austin is in the 86th percentile for weight so the Dr said just to go with how I feel because he's "clearly not needing the calories." Hahaha it was funny. He did say we could do baby cereal and any stage one foods. We have tried both rice and oatmeal once but Austin made a face of disgust so that was all we tried. (We tried them the week of and week before the appt) Now that I know I can go ahead with other stuff we might try them. (One new food a week was our instructions)

Vastra · June 2017

We started C on rice cereal the week after her 4mo appointment, and she was so underwhelmed at first that I almost stopped, but eventually she got the hang of it. We recently moved on to carrots, which she loved (warning: carrot poop is EPIC).

leprechaunlady · June 2017

We do rice mixed with fruit puree (usually mango, apple or pear) at coras lunchtime feed & then vegetables at dinnertime. Weve been using the ellas kitchen pouches cause we dont have a lot of freezer space to batch do our own. Cora looooooves her solids! Dives at the spoon & squawks for more when its finished. Shes now a little over 5 months & at 6 months im going to introduce meats & some finger foods like pasta & toast as shes doing great with everything shes had so far this past month.
she did take an alergic reaction to peaches & banana so im hoping that it was the peaches rather than banana in it! Ill wait until the rash is fully cleared and try some banana on its own.

kswiger06 · July 2017

We started giving Austin some rice and oatmeal cereal but he wasn't taking too it. Our Dr suggested that we try mixing a little in his bottles just to get him used to the new food without worrying about a new way of eating too. (Spoon) so after a couple weeks of that we decided to try some other stuff on a spoon now, and first we tried apples. Austin hated it. He made faces and it was clear he didn't like them. After a few days to ensure he didn't have any reaction to that, we tried pears. He really liked the pears. Then he had the biggest blowout ever lol.

poetryandoceans · July 2017

We've been having a lot of fun with solids for a few weeks now. I thought T was super not into solids for a little while, but it turns out he's just a slow foodie, and refuses to eat store bought baby food, even the super crunchy stuff with no additives. Apparently if I don't blanche the pears myself, he wants no part of it. Since we figured that out and have been prepping our own stuff, he's been having a ball. Peaches are far and away the fan favourite so far.

We're going to start on meats next week. For those of you who have started that, how have you gone about it? The instructions I have in my baby food book are to basically cook up ground meat in stock then puree it... but that sounds nasty. Any other approaches you guys have?

SawyerRichardson · July 2017

Senna was showing a lot of interest in our food so I made a huge batch of a bunch of different kinds of baby food for her and she wanted nothing to do with it. We tried sweet potatoes, rice cereal and blueberries before I decided to give her some more time before trying again. Good thing they will stay for a while in the freezer. Sweet potatoes made her cry and blueberries were ok. She hasn't grasped the concept of swallowing yet though. I'll probably try again in a week or two.

@poetryandoceans we haven't tried meats yet, but everything I've read says to do it just like you said. It doesn't sound too appetizing though!

poetryandoceans · July 2017

@SawyerRichardson We were stuck in that loop for a while. We got out of it by having food on our plates we could mush up and offer. T was so into what was on Papa's plate, and we just took some avocado from his salad and mashed it up, offered it on our finger, and we were off to the races. Might help if she's interested in your plate but not your baby delicacies!

leprechaunlady · July 2017

We havnt tried meats yet either, just fruit, veg & baby rice. Ive been doing purees so far but have tried a few finger foods which she is grasping the concept of aswell. She loves mango puree but didnt seem keen on the mango slices. Ive also given her some ellas kitchen carrot & parsnip puffs & last night we were out for pizza & i gave her a dough ball which she sucked on for a bit until she got bored & threw it on the ground. I would like to try meats but pureed meat makes me want to gag & im too scared of non pureed!

ColeBug89 · July 2017

We haven't tried meats either, just fruits and veggies. Ella has liked everything she's tried so far. As far as solids, Ella eats the melting banana "puffys" and yogurt bites. I haven't tried her on any pieces of adult food yet.

poetryandoceans · July 2017

Chicken puree was a total success! Cooked some ground chicken in stock, pureed it up and served it with peas and cereal, and he ate 2 oz!

kswiger06 · August 2017

Solids are not going all that well for us. Austin has had one day of good eating and that's about it. It seems like every food we offer him, he makes a face like I'm trying to feed him garbage. He ate pears really well the first time we offered it to him, but even those get a puckered face now. Its nuts.

leprechaunlady · August 2017

@kswiger06 were getting the same with any kind of stage 2 foods, im not sure if its the taste or texture shes not a fan of though.

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