Starting solids at 4.5 months?
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Anonymous
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We started solids with my first kid at 5 months and it was awful. He wasn't interested and it was a long struggle and he never got into solid foods until after his first birthday, and is still a picky eater today at 3.5. Even when he eats well he still has texture issues -- he sometimes spits out bits of lettuce or apple skin, for example. (He also turned out to have a speech delay and other oral issues, so it's all of a piece.)
Second baby is almost 4.5 months. We've had her at the table for mealtimes from the beginning, on our laps. She is very interested, in a way the older one never was. She has started reaching out for my plate (although her grip isn't good yet so she can't pick anything up), she tracks the movement of the fork, she watches us intently, she gets angry if we start eating with her in the pack and play beside the table rather than on our laps watching. Today she kept reaching for my salad so I let her mouth a few pieces and she kept opening her mouth to taste it. The cheese, too. Obviously she didn't swallow any, but she seemed to be enjoying it or at least not hating it, which again we never experienced with my son until he was much older. So. Pediatrician said to start solids by 6 months, and I know the recommendation these days is closer to 6 months (when my son was little, it was 4 months). Should we wait or just start in a casual way now, with a few purees and letting her taste table food that isn't a choking hazard? Will she keep getting more and more into it if we wait and be even more ready in a month? Or will we lose the window? My concern is that if we keep saying no when she's reaching for food, she may get the impression that table food is for us and not her. Help me out here -- I don't know which approach is better with a baby who may be a normal eater! |
Anonymous
| My ped said 4-6 months was fine as long as they can sit up and have good head control and also as long as it doesn't crowd out breastmilk/formula. I say if she's showing interest, go ahead and start. We did veggie and fruit purees around then and quickly moved onto other things. |
Anonymous
Thanks. She has great head control and sits forward but she does not sit independently in the tripod position. By sit up you just mean in a chair, right? That she can do. |
Anonymous
| Actually 6 months is the old recommendation. Now it's 4-6 months based on interest and readiness. So I'd say you're fine to start now, if you want. We started at 4.5 months and my DS absolutely loved it. |
Anonymous
Agree and we introduced solids around 5 months. We found the initial introduction of foods difficult because DD didn't seem to be into it but she still showed a ton of interest in OUR food. Turns out the kid just hated/hates purees and other baby foods. Now she's 8 months old and loves solids, she just wants food food not baby food. |
Anonymous
| My DS was very interested and sitting up in Boppy so we started right at 4 mos. He's a great eater now as a toddler. |
Anonymous
| We started at 4 months because our dd was behaving the way you describe your dd behaving. Purees, table foods, both in one meal, we haven't looked back, she loves it all still at 7 months. So try giving her something--worst case she hates it and you back off for a few more weeks? The pouch food options these days are amazing if you are interested in doing purees at all. |
Anonymous
I must have gotten backwards. Oh well. Appreciate all the responses. I think we'll go for it in a low-key way, a bit of purees to start when we're having a family meal, letting her taste what we're eating, etc. Maybe we'll save the formal high chair stuff for another month from now. |
Anonymous
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We started at 4.5 months because DD grabbed a spoon out of my hand and fed herself. Clear enough sign to me! She was a fabulous eater for the first year, now is a typical picky toddler. Oh well.
The recommendation is 4-6 months based on interest and readiness. Closer to 4 months if you are concerned about allergies. The issue with earlier introduction of solids is that parents replace formula/breastmilk with solids which is nutritionally inadequate. Enjoy your enthusiastic eater and go at her pace! |
Anonymous
| Starting earlier is meant to lead to higher degrees of food allergies. |
Anonymous
| My first was like your second. Ready for solids at 4 months and very interested. Go for it. Had zero feeding issues. |
Anonymous
That is out of date information, PP. Current recommendation is earlier introduction, not avoidance, to avoid allergies. The change is within the past year though, so lots of folks with older kids haven't heard the new guidance yet. https://www.aaaai.org/about-aaaai/newsroom/news-releases/early-peanut-introduction |
Anonymous
| My kids were 6 months plus- they were happy nursing and solids are a mess and a pain. I mean- my 4 month old was showing interest in the dog, too, but I didn't let her eat him. |
Anonymous
Really? My one year old's probably eaten pounds of dog hair by now from gnawing on the dogs. |
Anonymous
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I don't see how waiting increases or decreases a baby's interest in food. We started my first at 6 months and he wasn't much interested in food for several months but is a great eater now. We started my second at six months and he couldn't get enough!
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