My son was on solids from just before 5m - he grabbed food and ate it, yum yum. It wasn't a taste or a mouthing thing, it was eating it. That was an apple. Which isn't easy when you have no teeth!
I did a mix of solid-solid food and squishy foods: I did what I felt was right and what DS enjoyed. We did a mix of baby-led-weaning (as in, I watched his cues and all his snacks were adult food) and spoon-feeding (our meals, untampered, but fed on a spoon or squishy food/jar food when we had no kitchen). DS has never had a problem with digestion (aside from the smelly trumps, but then he is a boy!) and loves his food. He does prefer raw veg to cooked veg and started to go off cooked veg before I started mixing them in with other foods to get him to eat them.
As for "they don't starve".... PFWA. My DS was no longer gaining weight despite feeds every 1-2hrs, even overnight. He was famished. He was just feeding and crying. I could give solids or formula, my choice. As DS had already started himself on solids, I went for that option. And still did a bottle of formula too for a couple of months to delay the weaning. Babies DO sometimes need more than just breastmilk - but that doesn't mean every baby does. I wanted to wait for until at LEAST 7m before giving him solids, ignoring the rude comments from people who thought solids should start at six weeks, but DS just wouldn't wait. That makes me a good mother, not a bad one, because I did what my baby was ready and wanting to do.
The real age for solids is different for every baby. Maybe my next one will be fully breastfed for 12 months. Maybe not. Who knows? Who, aside from me, should care?
ETA: DS's favourites are pasta in tomato sauce, apples (but not apple peel), pears, mini spring rolls (seriously!), anything I'm cooking with such as onion, garlic, carrot (yes, raw)... sausages, most meat actually, I just cut it into bite-sized pieces, macaroni cheese and beans, rusks. We now give him a fork and he tries to use that a bit, but then finger-feeds. He's getting better with the fork now, but I'm happy for him to just play with it and if he gets food with it then great.
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