Starting Solids at 4.5 Months - Worried!!

[louiemum]

My LO is 4.5 months and is quite big for his age.  We've been advised by our Plunket Nurse (Baby specialist nurse in New Zealand) that he is ready for solids.  He does seem to be meeting most of the signs in the ready for solids thread, e.g. watches me eat and reaches out for food, opens mouth and puts things in all the time, has way more than doubled his birth weight, lost the tongue sticking out reflex.

He is EBF and almost on 4 hour EASY (about 3:50 at the moment).  He feeds well but has started waking in the night sporadically for a feed - generally around 4:30am.  I'm not considering starting him to solve this - but it does seem to be hunger.  I feed him at 6:30am, 10:20ish AM, 2:10ish PM and 6:00PM.  He also gets a wee top up feed at 7 before his bedtime.  We dropped the dream feed ages ago as he seems to be one of those LO's who gets disrupted by it.

Having read all the FAQs I'm now terrified I'm going to do him damage by starting him on solids this early....  Is it okay to do this - I'm a bit scared but have a feeling he does need something more???

Thanks!!

[speechie]

I too had a LO who was ready earlier than most. I started with just little bits of cereal mixed with breast milk. He took to it very quickly at 4 mos, and ate very well. We then progressed on to pureed veggies/fruits, yogurt, then meat. He had 3 meals a day along with BF at 6 months old, which IS early, but for my DS, he was ready.
I don't think there is any harm in trying just a small amount to see his reaction. If he's not ready he will probably show you by pushing it back out of his mouth and turning his head away.
You know your LO better than anyone else, don't feel like you have to rush into it, but also, don't feel scared to try something if you think your LO is ready. Every child is different.

[louiemum]

Thanks so much for your reply - it can be so worrying when you hear all these different things !!

[speechie]

I know, I was terrified to try foods, but it went really well for us.
Do you have any reasons to be worried? Food allergy history?
Does your LO sit fairly well and have good coordination?

[louiemum]

I was allergic to eggs and cow's milk as a child but outgrew it - so obviously going to avoid dairy and eggs till he's much older!  He's a pretty good sitter and good co-ordination as long as he's not tired!

[speechie]

Well, when you decide to try, have fun, have a camera rolling and enjoy!

[LeeLeeMelis]

I am in the same boat with my 4.5 month old. For some reason it's nagging at me to start cereal but I am so worried I'm rushing it or I"m going to do him harm. I want him to get BM as long as possible and dont want to give him solids as a convenience to me in hopes to sleep longer (I know BW says solids dont improve sleep but everyone I know has experienced it so it's a 50/50 chance right?) 

Will he tell us if he's not ready?

[speechie]

Solids definitely do not help them sleep through the night. At this age, solids are just for fun, their main intake of nutrition and calories should be BM/formula.
If you do start this early, just go slow, try one helping of one food once a day. We did it in the AM so I could watch for any adverse reactions throughout the day. nick was definitely ready and ate with gusto. he had all the signs of being ready, though. Most LOs aren't ready this early, in my experience. No harm trying small amount once and seeing your LO's reaction.

[louiemum]

Well I tried him with a teaspoon of cereal mixed with BM yesterday - he liked the spoon - not so sure about the food!  More came back out of his mouth than went in    He really liked a bit of water in a sippy cup - thought that was great.  Got some great pics - thanks for the camera advice! Just going to keep trying a teaspoon a day and see how he goes for a few days. 

[speechie]

Glad he likes it- very cute!
Definitely go easy on the water, most LOs don't take water yet, as all they need is BM. I used to pump BM and give it to him in a sippy or regular cup with help.
also, keep an eye on the dipes as cereal can be a bit binding, we used just a bit of applesauce to keep poops loose. Never had a real constipation problem.
So fun, isn't it!