When should I start solid foods?

Starting solid foods is not recommended before the 4th month of life, though close to 6 months is generally considered ideal. Before this point your baby’s digestive system isn’t ready for solid foods. The exact right time varies from baby to baby.

Here are some signs your baby may be ready:

• Exhibits good neck and head control.
• Sits well supported.
• No longer automatically spits things out using tongue.
• Makes chewing motions and swallows spit.
• Seems hungry even after being well fed.
• Has doubled birth weight and is older than 4 months of age.
• Shows marked interest in solid food.

If my baby is ready, what should I feed him/her first?

Mot pediatricians recommend begging with rice cereal. In the beginning you can even mix it into bottles thinly to get baby and his/her digestive system used to the change. Then slowly thicken the mixture and move to a spoon fed method. After rice cereal you can move on to other varieties such as oat or wheat. Once your baby has mastered cereals you can step up to strained or mashed fruits and vegetables followed by mashed meat. Be sure to introduce foods one at a time at least three days apart so that you can detect food allergies.

How much and how often should I feed my baby solid foods?

At first stick to one feeding a day, Rushing into solid foods will result in digestive upset. You can slowly increase the number of feedings as your baby ages. Typically by 8 months of age the baby should be eating three solid food feedings a day.

How much to feed each feeding will depend on your baby and even vary from meal to meal. Simply let him/her eat until they begin to show signs of being full, which include:

• Leaning away from spoon.
• Turning head away from spoon.
• Refusing to open mouth.
• Showing interest in playing and no longer eating.
• Just over all disinterest

When should I begin to wean my baby off of bottle feeding and on to just solid food?

Weaning should not be done until at least one year of age, until then your baby will still need to be breast or bottle fed in addition to the solid food. Usually a baby will let you know when she/he is ready to be weaned and doing so before then will result in a lot more difficulty for both parents and child.

If your child no longer shows very much interest in breast or bottle feeding or doesn’t mind taking a sippy cup rather than a bottle/breast it’s likely he/she is ready. Remember to wean slowly and at first allow the child to have the regular feeding if she/he really wants it.