When to start solids

Question

My little one is 17 weeks and has all the indicators that he is ready for more food. When did you start or when do you plan to start? And are you starting with cereal or going straight to fruits and veggies? Thanks for any tips or advice...first time mom here!

Answer

We're waiting til 6 months and skipping cereal too. It has no nutritional value, just empty calories and fills their bellies. If you do decide to do rice cereal, make sure you feed it with a spoon, not in a bottle! If you want you could look into baby led weaning. It's where you give them soft foods that they can pick up and eat instead of feeding them purees. We will probably start with sliced avacados when she's 6 months :)

Answer

We started at 4 months and have done rice, avocado, and green beans since then. I originally was going to wait until 6 months but when my doctor said he seems ready at the 4 month I decided to give it a shot and if he wasn't interested I would wait and then try again in a few weeks. He ended up loving it - opening his mouth for the spoon and leaning in for more. My original plan was to do baby led weaning so I will switch to whole soft foods at 6 months. Part of the baby led weaning philosophy is having theem feed themselves so that they know when to stop but my son starts marking noises and won't open his mouth when he is full so I feel ok about that.

Answer

Has your LO when to a 4 month check up? If not, I would wait until you see your pediatrician. At my LOs 4 month check up, he said rice cereal or oatmeal cereal was approved and gave me an information packed on developmental milestones for 4-6 months, when and how to start the cereal, and when to start baby food (6 months, stage 1 greens). I was instructed no fruits or fruity cereals or else baby will only want that because it's sweet.

Answer

At my sons 4 month his doctor gave the go ahead. I figured if he wasn't into it we would stop and try again later, no big deal. I started with banana because 1) rice cereal, to me, seemed like a lot of empty calories (dr said it was a good way for some to introduce solids and a spoon to baby) and 2) my baby has had serious constipation issues and I wasn't about to add something that would further constipate him. Since the banana it's been about 2 weeks and he has had great poops and is generally much happier! The myth of starting fruits first is just that, a myth. I've had no issue introducing the next thing, which was sweet potato. My son opens his mouth and makes noises for more food. It's so fun! See what dr says and let baby lead the way! :)

Answer

Doc said that he is definitely ready to start food so we are going for it! We are trying cereal just to get him used to eating off the spoon. The doctor also said the same thing about fruits vs veggies. So it is ok to start with whatever you would like. Thanks ladies!

When to start solids

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