When did you??

Ok well my little princess is 4 months in 2 days and im so excited LOL..

Well just to let you all know all my boys started foods at 4 months.
Im looking to start dd in the next week or so as she is already stalking my food and crying when she gets none.. i know she doesnt understand what im doing but i am getting hints that she is ready to experiment with foods.

I cant remember what i started on with my ds's but i know i fed them all home cooked solids and they loved it.. I dont b/f dd anymore so im looking to start her as she is already dropping bottle feeds and will dismiss them if she sees us eating..
The nurse at the baby clinic suggested that once she turns 4 months i should consider feeding solids as this will maintain weight and she will be getting extra nutrients and since she is refusing the bottles, but also advised not to go over board feeding her as i dont want an obese baby??

I will start with introductions to solids and taste testing too
but i just wanted to know if anyone has fed their child solids at 4 months and what they started with? and how long before you weaned them onto more meals??

I think DS was about 5 months when I started him on pureed stuff, just mainly veggies I think from memory.

Then I discovered the wonderful world of baby led solids so both girls were fed that way from 6 months, so I can't really remember that much about pureed food.

I think sweet potato and broccoli mixed together was one of his favs though...

oh really!!

when you started though, how much did you actually feed? i have the little bowls but not sure (cant remember) how much i should give her lol

i think the key thing to remember here it that anything she eats is for taste and texture only, not for nutrition, as her milk is still the most important thing until shes one, id be trying to up her feeds before commencing solids. i also did BLS with DD from 6-7 months, much easier!

I started Jacko at 4 months just with rice cereal. I just read the directions on the packet which were 2 tbs!!! He ate the whole lot!!! It wasn't until afterwards I realised, perhaps a teaspoon was a gentler start for him :). Seriously, he'll eat until there's no more food, so I'm not sure how much you're meant to give them!

We just had purees (making sure there was pear or pumpkin in it so he didn't get too backed up) until now. He's still getting some mashes of whatever we're having at 6 months, but we're playing with food as well, sandwiches, salad, fruit and veggies, cheese, pasta... he's loving it and stops when he's had enough if he's doing it himself.

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oh really!!

when you started though, how much did you actually feed? i have the little bowls but not sure (cant remember) how much i should give her lol

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Gosh I can't really remember. I think I started with one meal a day, and I definitely didn't drop any of his milk feeds, if they went down, then I dropped the food down - food is fun till they're one and all that.

With the girls, they just ate when we ate, so I never sorta started on a certain amount of food, at a certain amount of time, if I was serving DS some food, they got some too, whether they ate it or just chewed and spat it out didn't really matter.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.. LOL

Before this thread goes too much further, I'm going to put on my mod hat and remind members that the World Health Organistion and Australian National Health and Medical Reseach Council and Australian Medical Assocation all recommend that soldis not be given to babies under 6 months. We all know that some parents choose to introduce solids before this age - this is an individual decision and it is the right of parents to research, watch their own baby and follow their own instincts. However, there is a lot of research to suggest that there are risks associated with introducing solids earlier and it is important for parents to be aware of this when making their decisions.

As Olive has said, many parents find that Baby Led Solids can assist with knowing when their baby is ready. By offering finger foods and allowing the baby to make up their own mind as to when and how much they actually eat, it means that the parent doesn't have to guess when the baby is ready. The risk with spoon feeding is that food is given before the baby is ready. There are many other advantages to Baby Led Solids too - have you seen the Chatter and Information threads on Baby Led Solids?

Both my boys started solids at 6 months. DS1 wasn't ready until later (nearly 1) and I still regret trying to spoon food into a child who clearly didn't want it yet. DS2 was definitely ready at 6 months and luckily I followed BLS with him (inadvertently) and he has always been a fantastic eater.

DD was about a week short of 6 months when we first tried solids. I tried rice cereal first :sick: never again. That stuff really is ordinary - cardboard. We quickly moved to pureed vegies. I tried pumpkin first then carrot then gradually moved onto more interesting stuff. For sweet foods we tried mashed banana (it can block some kids up though so be careful of that), apples and pears. I often added a bit of the apple to the savoury foods as babies often have a slightly sweet tooth and it helps to encourage them to eat savoury. In saying that, DD loved pumpkin and carrots. I did pureed peas as well but that was a PITA as I had to push it through a sieve to get rid of the skins as she wouldn't eat the skin for ages. Avocado was an early hit too and still is.

In the beginning, DD would only eat a few baby spoons full and that was it. Gradually it increased to a few tablespoons, then half a little Heinz snack tub full and so on.

Milk was always first before food though. She was still on 4-5 feeds at 5.5 months too. She would have her milk then an hour later, I'd try some solids. We started with solids mid afternoon then gradually added mid morning then we kind of rotated is slowly to be three meals around meal times. I can't remember when we moved her to solids before milk but it was a lot closer to one, maybe around 11 months.

BLS intrigues me but personally, I'm not a fan. It just freaked me out a bit but that was my personal choice, my hang up with it. I was more than happy to puree/mash foods and go from there. I think regardless of which avenue you choose, reading your child is the most important thing you can do. I knew when DD was really ready, we didn't push it at all, never tried to push solids over milk (milk was priority) and let her lead the way although her food was pureed/mashed, then lumpy, then finger food. It worked well for us and DD has had no issues with finger foods plus she learnt to master her spoon and fork from a young age :)

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I started Jacko at 4 months just with rice cereal. I just read the directions on the packet which were 2 tbs!!! He ate the whole lot!!! It wasn't until afterwards I realised, perhaps a teaspoon was a gentler start for him :). Seriously, he'll eat until there's no more food, so I'm not sure how much you're meant to give them!

We just had purees (making sure there was pear or pumpkin in it so he didn't get too backed up) until now. He's still getting some mashes of whatever we're having at 6 months, but we're playing with food as well, sandwiches, salad, fruit and veggies, cheese, pasta... he's loving it and stops when he's had enough if he's doing it himself.

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Exactly this. But it all depends on your bub. My DD showed interest at 4 months but hated the texture so i tried again at 5.5 months and she loved it and she still has days where milk is all she wants which is fine by me and other days shes a guts and eats and eats.

While i'm commenting i will say that i don't believe that places like the World Health Organistion and Australian National Health and Medical Reseach Council and Australian Medical Assocation should dictate to every parent about what is best for their child. As every parent knows each child is different they all have different needs. A cousin of mine was never satisfied with just milk and was on rice cereal at 2 months old, my aunt tried upping his bottles and he didnt want a bar of it and when he was offered solids he was happy and content. Now i'm not asking for somebody to attack me for having my opinion.

LMS, the organisations listed don't dictate to parents, they just have their recommendations which are usually based on research.

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Milk was always first before food though. She was still on 4-5 feeds at 5.5 months too. She would have her milk then an hour later, I'd try some solids. We started with solids mid afternoon then gradually added mid morning then we kind of rotated is slowly to be three meals around meal times. I can't remember when we moved her to solids before milk but it was a lot closer to one, maybe around 11 months.

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I forgot to mention that Jack still has 6 feeds a day at 6 months. He has a 'brekky' at about 8am (after his milk at 6-7) and either a lunch or dinner but only in addition to his milk. I'm not sure who I'm quoting, but I love it, and I'm sticking with it that 'Food is fun until they're one'. Thanks mystery person :)

Oh I definently won't be dropping milk at any time I would stop solids before cutting milk
I get the whole thing she is too little her tummy can't handle it etc
But I think she is ready I have put tiny fingertips of smashed up pumpkin on my finger while eating and see her reaction an she chews on it and goe crazy for more but I dont do it..
All I can do is try and if she refuses I'm fine with that as long as she is happy I'm happy


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LMS, as I said in my post, the guidelines are based on years of research and are just that - guidelines. Parents can choose to start solids earlier if they wish, but the guidelines are there to help parents navigate through the minefield of information out there - some true, some not. Anyone can make an informed decision that is different to a guideline. I personally chose not to start solids before 6 months as I have done lots of independent research and come to the same conclusion. However there are other guidelines that I have chosen not to follow so I respect other parent's right to the same.

One thing that is definitely not ok however is giving solids before 4 months of age. All the research shows this to be a very risky thing to do with a range of health consequences. Even the organisations who are trying to persuade parents to start solids earlier are adamant that giving solids before 4 months is dangerous. I would not be sharing stories about babies being given solids at 2 months and saying that it's ok based on one baby when there is clear medical evidence that this is not a safe thing to do. Starting solids between 4 - 6 months is a grey area, giving solids at 2 months is pretty black and white as something that shouldn't be done.

This post provides more information about how and why the guidelines were set - https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...solids-158404/ for those who are interested to read more about it.