What age did your child begin solids?

[MilkOnTap]

I dont want this to become an argumentative thread - I'm just curious what age everyone's children began solids.

I was intending on waiting til Jedd hits 6 months, but lately he has begun showing signs that he is almost ready; things like taking an interest in what I'm eating, isn't doing the poke-tongue-out reflex as much etc...

I'll probably cop some flack over this, but I let him lick my apple the other day - he absolutely loved it! I made sure there weren't any chunks or bits that could drop off into his mouth - but that made me wonder if he might be ready in a couple of weeks time.

Multiple choice poll coming...

[punkbaby]

Older dd was about 7 months she wasnt that interested really and happy with the boobie :)

DS was 5 months he was ff though from 4 months he just seemed to need it

DD2 was 8 months i tried her about 7 but she didnt want it she was on the boob too :)

I think every child is different though some start earlier some start later as you know already :D

[Fuchsia!]

both my kids started at 4mths. Cooper was no trouble at all, i think he was so ready for it!:thumbsup:

[Jenko]

DD I started just after 4 months, she was ready, took to it straight away.

DS I tried him on farex and a bit of apple just after 5 months and he wasn't ready. He still had a strong tongue reflex and just spat food out or opened his mouth for it to fall out. lol

I left him for a few weeks and introduced one solid meal a day after 6 months. He is almost 8 months and for the last few weeks has been having 3 solid feeds a day with morning/arvo tea.

[mm85]

i started ds on farex a week before 4 months he is fine now and he definatly was ready!

[shed]

We started at 6 months.

I would never start before 5 months and certainly not a 4 months, but lots of people do.

That's what they used to recommend so if someone hadn't heard the latest news then they would just continue to do this I suppose.

You, however, Missus, do have the latest information available to you :p .

But all babies are different. Are you still breastfeeding? If so, then there are websites that tell you about the flora in the gut. That was enough to convince me to wait.

[LMenz]

Jack was almost 5 months when we started. He was staring at me when eating, making movements with his mouth, reaching out for food etc.

I tried to wait until 6 months but he was obviously hungry and very curious. He really took to it too. Loves his food :) We started on farax. HTH

[SassyMummy]

Started at about 4 months for no other reason than that I wanted to. I don't think she was ready (though I didn't mark that option on the poll - sorry!)... I think i was just impatient and eager to try something new.

It wasn't until she was after 6 months that she had regular meals though... I just gave her food every now and again before that point.

I didn't have access to BH back then, so was pretty much relying on food packaging, books, and what people around me were telling me to do....

[♥Heaven Sent♥]

With dd i tried her on some things at about 4 months,she wasn't ready though and put it off till 6 months.

With ds i started him on it at about 5-6 months he was ready and loved his solids,but once i started him on it he didn't want boo boo and my supply dropped.I then gave him less until he was ready to take on more,i wanted his primary food supply to be boo boo.

[Milliner]

DS was 5.5 months and he was no way near ready for solids. It took a good couple of months for him to start actually eating something.

[allysophia]

6months, and then it was only tastes.

Even now at 1yr old he really has 80-90%% boobie , I really think food simply isn't an essential part of their diet till >1yr.

Is your child sitting up on their own? Can they reject food - ie, move their head away if they don't want it? Have they got the clasping reflux? These are all good starting signs.. not many 4months old have it!

Its very easy to feed a child around 4months even if they don't really want or need it.

[GraceUnhearing]

its not the fact they they are interested.
its their tiny tummies that arent made for food until after 6 months.

i waited until Rylan was 6 months.
Breast milk is the best thing for them up until then.

he loves his food so much now!


Solid foods should not replace breast milk or formula too early. Introducing solid foods early will deprive a baby of these crucial nutrients and also replace the amounts of breast milk or formula a baby needs. Fact - breast milk, and even formula, contains the proper combination of essential nutrients to sustain a baby's healthy growth and development well into the 9 month age range or longer. Around 6 months of age the infants gut matures - an immature gut may allow whole proteins, microbes, pathogens and possibly bits of foods to pass into the bloodstream. It is quite possible that this is a causative factor in developing food allergies and "colic”. Before 6 months a baby usually cannot produce the enzymes that are necessary to digest food properly and you may also run the risk of damaging your baby’s immature kidney’s.
The early introduction of solid foods may lead to obesity later in life due to the lack of self-regulation. Your baby needs to be able to learn for him or herself when he or she is full. Babies who are fed solid foods earlier than 6 months of age may lack the ability to regulate how much food they are eating. As you are feeding your baby, you control the amounts that your baby is eating. Until a baby is able to indicate that he or she is full (either by turning away from the spoon or clamping the mouth closed for example), the risk of overfeeding is high.
Babies who are introduced solids early also tend to wean early also. Introducing cereal too early can increase the odds of diabetes in children already at risk for the disease there is a similar risk for introducing gluten-containing foods too soon. Starting solids at the wrong time could overwhelm at-risk infants' immature immune systems and trigger changes that might lead to diabetes. A University of Colorado researcher found a fourfold increased risk of developing pre-diabetes antibodies in babies started on any type of cereal before the recommended period.

[MilkOnTap]

Are you still breastfeeding? If so, then there are websites that tell you about the flora in the gut. That was enough to convince me to wait.

Yep - still breastfeeding :yes:

Thanks for that info Kellie - I haven't really done much research into the reasons why 6 months is the recommended age - I just knew that the recommended age is 6 months (derrr... lol)

I guess the lil man will just have to wait... The last 4 months have flown on by - I'm sure 2 months wont take long at all.

[MilkOnTap]

ntroducing cereal too early can increase the odds of diabetes in children already at risk for the disease there is a similar risk for introducing gluten-containing foods too soon. Starting solids at the wrong time could overwhelm at-risk infants' immature immune systems and trigger changes that might lead to diabetes. A University of Colorado researcher found a fourfold increased risk of developing pre-diabetes antibodies in babies started on any type of cereal before the recommended period.

This is really interesting - I had gestational diabetes, and I wonder if that history of diabetes could affect Jedd anyway...

[Samaras Mummy]

DD was 6 months.

[Seekrit]

5.5 months, he was more than ready... :)

[bubbasmum]

5.5 months, he was more than ready... :)

Ditto:yes:

[honeydew]

DS started solids at 5.5 months- he was definately ready and just didn't seem 100% satisfied with his bottles anymore. Plus I was so excited to try something new! We only gave him farex for the first couple of weeks and didn't introduce vegies etc until after 6 months. And he only really had a tablespoon or 2 anyway.

6 months is the recommended and I wouldn't consider trying any younger than 5 months, that is just my personal opinion though and each to their own :)

[elissas]

No option for me to select. 13mths when DS finally accepted solids. Rejected it before that.

[Nowhere]

kenzee is 17 months and still not on solids, or liquids for that mater. so i couldnt answer your poll

[draught]

The World Health Organisation recommends 6 months - regardless of 'signs' that they are ready. I like to take their impartial advice.

DS has only just started on solids at 9 months - he wasn't interested before that and was completely fine, healthy and active on breastmilk alone.

[tyler's mum]

Tyler started farex at 3 weeks then when onto fruits at 4 weeks, Then when on to meals at 6weeks. She never like her milk it made her sick. So she was always hurgry

[RainbowStars]

Farex from 4 and a half months.
Added puree fruit at 5 months.
Added puree vegies at 5 and a half months.
Then started on the puree meat/vegie combinations from 6 months.

[mandi24]

Ds started farex at 4 months but didn't really start eating a lot more till nearly 6 months

[ShadyCharacter]

There is no option for older than six months? We started at 7.5 months, and even then, it was just tastes of food, rather than meals.

[BubbaNoogie]

We introduced solids at 10mths with A (she was about 13mths when she ate them regularly)

My first started solids a week off 7mths (that was 12 years ago)

[mum2bubba]

Hayley started on solids at 4 months and have gotten Skye on solids recently too (shes 4 months) they were/are both ready. I tried Skye on some pureed pumpkin last night and she scoffed it down, she is like a bottomless pit.

[EskimoMumma]

6months for all my children

[MummyCharmzy]

Zachariah began solids at 12 weeks (or... gasp from this.. adjusted age was 3 weeks as he was 9 weeks prem) he had severe reflux and was drinking 8-10 200ml bottles a day.. my health nurse said he was ready and he wassss!!!

Isobella was 4 months and was fine

Savannah we tried at 4 months, wasnt ready, tried at 6 months, wasnt ready... at 7 months she started happily :D

[Tan-mumof3]

I started dd at 4 months and she was more than ready.
DS i tried at 4 months but he just wasn't interested so it was more like 6 months before he was ready and interested.

[zenifa]

DD was 5mths old when we started solids, but we did it very slowly and she had no probs at all!!

[A Party of Five]

The older three started at four months but the twins really wasn't interested until seven months.

[forbetoel]

I chose 6 months but all my kids were different. DS1 6 monthe DS2 just under 4 months DS3 7 months and my last bubs, was not interesed until 8 months All different, I just chose 6 months in the pole as a bit of an average, plus with even the two that started eating solids after 6 months, I had tried to feed them before then, just no interest, so I delayed.

[Ana Gram]

DD started just before 4 months. She gobbled it up. She was not satisfied with formula alone and was constantly hungry.

[Shanaynay]

I couldn't vote - it was 7m+ for us (she already had teeth by then) and even then it was just bit of finger food. Have never fed her from a spoon.

[lukaelmo]

Chuckie is 6 months old now, showing all the signs, but I pop some rice cereal in his mouth and he makes a face and spits it out :laughing:... so no, not ready yet.

Luka started at 6 months, and I started him then because that's what the books said.

[Chub Chub]

DD was 5 and a half months but she gave very good signs.

Being a excellent sleeper, she being a breastfed baby slept through from 5 weeks old. She started waking at night at 5 and half months for an extra feed. We started adding solids and she slept through the night again.

She also went from 1 solid feed in 1 week up to 3 the next. She was defiantely ready although I was super reluctant as I wanted to hold out wayyyyy past 6 months. She had other ideas:o

[Shanaynay]

There is no option for older than six months? We started at 7.5 months, and even then, it was just tastes of food, rather than meals.
That's what I meant, more just tastes. She really started getting into it at about 11 months, but breastmilk was her main food until about 13 months.

[djkinks]

She started at 4 months, only 1 meal though (3 tbs). It won't be 3 meals a day til 6 months. She was most definitely ready! We had to start her because I got sick of her trying to eat my dinner and crying cause I wouldn't let her.

[HollyHotLips]

i started ds on farex a week before 4 months he is fine now and he definatly was ready!

ditto, my dd just started on farex, she was definitely ready!!!!!

no doubt will cop some flack from the chn but might have to point out IT IS MY BABY!! :laughing:

[QTB]

10weeks

but it was because he was vomiting up all feeds (every drop), hadnt reached his birth weight again, drs wouldnt do anything and i was desperate.... it turned out that he had a milk protein allergy. which was discovered at 12weeks, so we then stopped solids again til 6months....

[Queen]

Earlier than 6 months, on the advise of my CHN.

[wahine]

Tom's been on solids for a couple of weeks (he's 5.5 months) - he was showing all the signs of being ready. He now has Farex in the morning and pureed vegies for lunch and dinner - he probably eats about a tablespoon or more each time.

I feed him in between his milk feeds (which are four hourly). Sometimes he misses a solid feed, but he doesn't complain and it doesn't bring his milk feed forward.

He loves kumara, avocado, carrots and pumpking - he's not fussed on the farex.

I reckon you go with whatever your child's telling you as they are all different and if you're at all concerned check it out with either the CHN or Paed.

[Beany]

6 months. He wasn't really ready until closer to 7 months, though.

[EsSjAy]

I've just introduced my ds who has just turned 4 months this week on farex. Tomorrow i'm mixing it with some 'fruity pear'. He's up to about 2 tbs now and is absolutely loving it... Going to introduce pm solids next week. week later i will introduce lunch solids... This was on the advice of the paediatrician for reflux...My paediatrician is very renowned for his work and an expert in his field specializes in reflux and renal problems in babies so there is no doubt in my mind... They are ready for solids but only certain types up until 6 months. The health org recommends 6 months now because of allergy problems, however if there is no history of food allergies in your family and no digestive issues then it's quite safe to start at 4 months...

[mumslilspunks]

Ds1 was 5mnths and DS2 was close to 6 months. Both my boys hated farax so it was vegies and fruit then at about 7 mnths they started weetbix.

[babyflash]

Hi,
I actually started Nat on solids today and she is 6 months old next thursday.

She loves it she ate the whole serving of farex and then had a boob i think my little girl is going to be a good eater :laughing:

I hope she will put on some weight now as she is still tiny (5.63kg to be exact).

[lillyflower04]

I couldn't vote either as DD didn't properly start solids until she was about 7 months due to the tongue reflex.

[LitVoiceSP]

We started Jazzy a week before she was 6 months. She was ready earlier I think but because of her allergies it was recommended we wait. She's taken to it so well and just loves her food. :)