When Did You Start Solids?

I started my kids on cereal as soon as the formula was not enough to fill them, which for my kids was between two weeks and six months.

Hi Cera,

We started at 4 months. My son was hungry and drinking lots of formula so we started with Rice then Oatmeal then Barley then added the fruits and veggies. He's 7 and still a huge eater.

Our pedi gave us the green light at 5.5 months...but, it was to start once a day, so I did breakfast and then slowly introduced Stage 1 veggies and fruits. But, only do one at a time to allow for checking of allergies or tummy upset.

Good Luck!

my daughter was exclusively breastfed until 6 months! then i started rice cereal (by spoon, in a bottle was not recommended by my pediatrician). after 2 wks of rice cereal we started vegetables (one a week) then i did fruits last!! coincidence or not, now my daughter LOVES vegetables and will eat them first!!! good luck!!

MOst babies start around 6 months. If you feel your baby is really interested in your food earlier, you can try as early as 5 months.- www.weelicious.com

my son started rice cereal at 6 months, and we started introducing the stage 1 baby foods about a month later (when he had gotten the hang of things), at the rate of 1 new food per week

he did very well with this

good luck!

Hi there,
I'm sure people will tell you 4 months, but I don't suggest it. IF you are breast feeding.....keep doing that exclusively. Otherwise, I think 6 months is a good age. Maybe at 7 months you can start adding a little veggies in her rice/oatmeal cereal (I had to switch my daughter from rice to oatmeal because it got her constipated), then fruit and then eventually I only gave her the veggies and fruit. I think she was about 9 months when that happened.
I was fortunate and continued breast feeding until my daughter turned around 12 months. I switched to whole milk then. Now she is 28 months old and I give her 2% milk.
Good luck!

Our daughter was just too hungry on formula/breast milk alone, so I added some rice cereal at about 5 months a few weeks ago. So far she has had rice cereal, oatmeal and sweet potatoes as a supplement to her milk (here is my mamasource post on first foods for some great ideas on what to start with (http://www.mamasource.com/request/15344619626633953281)
Just make sure its really runny so they dont get constipated and are still getting enough fluids and vitamins from the milk. Solid foods are so much fun! Enjoy!!

Six months. Rice cereal once a week for a full week. Then we started adding vegetables making sure to try one at a time for three full days before moving to the next. Have tried sweet potatoes, Peas, Carrots, Oatmeal (also tried for three days before trying something else new), squash and prunes. At seven months we moved to two meals a day. Almost everything has been Earth's best organic pureed which has nothing added but water. At this age, it is recommended NOT to serve homemade carrots and green beans because of nitrates in the soil (I think it's nitrates, I'm not 100% on that, but something that is okay in store bought but not necessarily cool if you're making it yourself). I'm saving fruits for last because they're sweetest and sometimes add formula to the cereal and oatmeal instead of water, because I'm paranoid that my milk supply will dip and she's not on formula yet.

A few other feeding tips that were passed along, if you're interested... let the kid get messy, don't clean too much as you go because you don't want to turn them off from eating. Don't force baby to eat. Take the spoon and move it up towards baby's mouth from the belly button area. If the baby holds open his hand, place the spoon across his palm. He will grab it and will put the spoon in his mouth. (this worked day one, it's amazing). Have a glass of water on standby in case baby chokes on anything. Calmly tip water into baby's mouth. Talk to baby while feeding but don't necessarily play games. That's about it. Enjoy!

Check out the book - Super Baby Food by Ruth Baron. It's a great resource and it will answer most, if not all, your questions. Good luck!

After their 6 mo. well visit. There's no need to rush this (in my opinion).

I started my daughter on rice cereal a week before her month visit.

Six months... I started cereal in his formula. From a spoon and bowl - not in her bottle.

I started my son, who was 6 weeks premature, at 6 months with pediatricians recommendation. He did very well. I did start with brown rice vs white cereal for easier digestion. I also gave him sweet potatoes as one of the first veggies because it has a lot of great vitamins and minerals and it's easy on the tummy. Scrapped banana is also great...just watch the quantity, since it can constipate. Good luck!

IF you are breastfeeding, the longer you delay solids the better it is for your baby's health. I try to wait until as close to 1 year as I can. All four of our children are allergy free and REALLY healthy. Their intestines just shouldn't have food in them, they don't have the enzymes needed to properly digest the solid food until closer to 1 year. 6 month is the YOUNGEST you should even think about it. Good Luck!
R.
Midwife, breastfeeding specialist, and mom to four

my daughter (a formula fed baby) started rice cereal at 3 1/2 months and then fruits and veggies at 5 1/2 months. she was demonstratig the rediness cues and with her ds okay i started.

My daughter nursed exclusively - I tried to introduce banana/avacado/sweet potato at 6 months, but she wasn't interested until she was 9 months (coincidentally? when she began getting teeth).

Do not start your babe on rice cereal too soon - the body is unable to digest grains until 7 or 8 months old. Start with sweet potato, avacado, banana, applesauce, etc.

Many people like the book "Super Baby Food" but I didn't love that one. It was somewhat helpful, I just found it difficult to follow at times, with all of the cross-references. We did like "Petit Apetit." Try making your own food - so much healthier than the jar stuff - they boil it so long to make it last on the shelf that many of the nutrients are lost.

Here is a very good link, all about solids:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_introducing-solid-foods_113.bc

We started our kids, from 6 months. But, initially, and at this age, "solids" is just introductory... a 3 meal a day thing, usually takes building up to it, gradually... over the course of say a couple of months.

And meanwhile, breastmilk/formula is STILL the primary source of nutrition for a baby. Not solids or other liquids.
So still nurse on demand... first. THEN offer solids afterwards. Or baby will be too full to nurse, if given solids before hand. This is per our Pediatrician as well.

Each Mom's routine varies, per their baby. But the link above, is very on target.

All the best,
Susan

I started my daughter on both rice cereal and baby food at 4 months. She was very interested and ready for food and so we tried it. I have pureed my food myself, other than the cereal since day one. The taste is so much better than the bottled food, but she actually will eat either.

She is now just starting to chew her food and is now eating meats, veggies and fruits. Her favorite is avocado and banana together:-)

Hope this helps!

i started w/ oatmeal b/c it doesn't constipate..rice does...i started at 5 months b/c my son had bad reflux and the medicine was gross..i tasted it..so..i opted for oatmeal. If you can wait the ideal time is at 6 months

5 months for VERY THIN rice cereal, and then at 6 months 1st stage babyfood!