Who's doing the 4 month thing?

[~Emma~]

I read recently that some folk are now recommending starting solids at 4 months. Seems awfully early to me. Anybody taking this advice?

[~inbalance~]

No personal experience from me Emma, F wouldn't even entertain the idea until after 6mos even if I did want to start early!!

Here are my thoughts.  I personally feel 4mos may be too early for a lot of babies.  But the only ones who know this are the babies and mommies.  If you think she seems interested, you can always give it a try to test it out.  Just make sure you don't push the issue if it's a no-go.  I know some babies go nuts for solids around 4mos, but others are just not ready, and I hate it when moms feel pressured to do it early just because it worked for other moms and babies.

I'm assuming too you mean doing the puree route.  If BLW is something you are interested, D really has to be 6mos to be developmentally ready.  She needs to be sitting upright on her own.  I really think though that any baby starting solids needs to be sitting on their own no matter what for safety reasons.  Eating while reclined is not safe for anyone!

(((hugs))) 

[lesliemarie]

I started DD1 on solids just after 4 months.  We started with the different cereals (rice, oat, barley, etc).  She was more than ready by then and did really well.  I think DD2 will be ready as well.  Already I'm giving her her Losec (for reflux) with a littl bit of apple puree (a baby teaspoon or so) and she is taking the spoon really well and not spitting anything out.  She is also trying to sit up and she is only 3 months   She sits up very well in her bumbo.  I agree it is down to the individual baby though.

[~Emma~]

 I didnt go down the cereal route with B, he didn't really like it. We started at 6 months and i just tried him on everything boith purees and finger foods. We were fairly relaxed and he did well.

 D is almost 4 months now and just still seems like a little blob of a baby kwim?  I couldn't imagine trying it with her just now. Just interested really.

[~inbalance~]

Good luck Emma.  I think it's easy to start wondering when new 'breaking' information comes out saying "we now recommend doing xxx instead".  And there is so much conflicting advice.  At the end of the day, just follow your gut. 

[yaely jelly belly]

here in israel the advice is to start at 4m but it is preaty new, untill recently they were saying to start at 6m. the explanition behind this new advice is that babies need to develope the chewing muscles to start talking and because a lot of mothers started a lot later then 6m they now say 4m so that by 6m every one will have started.
i started at 5m because DD was super intrested and she loves solids. she gets over exited when eating and she holds the spoon and screams between bites.
it also helped her reflux and she doesn't spit up solids.
i simmer her fruits and vegies and then mash them up with a fork so they have some texture.

[lesliemarie]

I'm not sure what I'm going to do this time around in regards to what I give her.  Here in Canada they recommend doing cereals first then fruits and veggies and then meat (my pead says cereal, veggies, meat, then fruit so that they don't refuse other foods because fruit is more appealing).  I'm not sure what I'll do this time around because she has reflux and digestion issues.  I may start with fruit and veg and then try cereal.  Who knows.

[Shiv52]

I can't even imagine starting to feed R solids yet!!  I don't think the age recommendation should be set in stone.  I think its more important they can sit upright on their own, tongue thrust reflex away etc rather than an age thing.   I started with M about 5.5 months and fairly quickly moved to a mix of foods as she was never fussed on just pureed carrot etc.   

The thought of all that cooking and freezing!  I really must read up about BLW!  We did finger foods with M from very early on so think will do the same this time round! 

[~*Nicole*~]

Our pediatrician recommended starting cereal at 4 months and then fruits/veggies at 6 months. We followed that plan and DD did really well. We did rice, then barley, then oatmeal. Then veggies, I think carrots were first...and then moved on from there.

If she hadn't taken to the cereal, I would have held off though.

[clairebear79]

DS is almost 5 months & we started him on solids a week ago as we felt he was ready.  He LOVES it & sits with his mouth open & making mmmm sounds waiting for the next mouthful!!!  We started with baby rice & moved on to root veggies & fruit purees.  We plan to progress onto finger foods once he reaches 6 months.

[ABGsMommy]

It does depend on the baby.  In the US it's still 6 months - but that's recent.  My Dr. said we should start our LO at 4 months.  We did the rice cereal as recommended.  It was a mistake.  She was very constipated and has had issues since then.  She loved it, but her tummy didn't!  I will wait till 6 months with the next one, but it all depends on the baby. 

[Guedo]

Our doctor gave the ok for solids at his 4 month checkup. I tried to give him some but he hadn't lost his tongue reflex yet so waited until about 5 months. He's never looked back haha. He was trying to get our food from us, leaning forward and opening his mouth when we'd take a bite etc.
 
We did cereals, purees and now a combo of BLW and purees.....He will eat ANYTHING.

[squeakersmum]

We started DS at 17 weeks as he was sooo interested in everything we were eating. He would grab at bits of fruit I was eating so we started out by letting him gum them when I was eating them. He never got more than a little taste in his mouth but it was really clear from that that he was keen. He'd never been great with milk neither BF or formula but we started solids and he loved them and was much happier. He was on 50th centile for weight up until he started solids then shot up to 75th centile which considering he's always been on the 91st for height was no bad thing!!

I guess with all that waffle what I'm really saying is that I agree with pp that you know your baby best and when they are ready to start!

[MommaBrooke]

We have DDs 4month appointment today and we're hoping to get the green light to start.  It definitely depends on the baby though.  She's so happy watching us eat, I've even caught her making chewing motions with her mouth while she watches.  But that's just her, she always wants to move on to the next skill that's just a little bit out of her reach...she may get frustrated with it at first that she can't do it all by herself and needs my help, but it seems so sad to make her watch for another month or two when all she wants to do is join in the fun!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We started at 5 months or so because the kids were both super interested in what we were eating (Spencer used to pretend to chew while she watched us eat) We did pear, apple, banana for the first bit, very tiny amounts and went from there.  Plus they both could sit up well unsupported and had lost the tongue thrust reflex when the spoon went in their mouth.

[LifeGiver]

Well, here in Ireland they recommend starting at 6months if the baby is EBF and between 4 and 6 when FF. But the public health nurse always said "she'll let you know when she is ready". And since DD wasn't EBF anymore, I decided to give it a try when she turned 4 months (few days ago) because it might help her with the weight gain (she had slow weight and got sick, losing some precious grams as well...).

She's absolutely loving it! I mean, she doesn't sit unsupported yet, although she has a very good head control and is trying to sit up on her own but she's very into it. I think on the very first day she still had the thrust reflex but now (after 4 days) she already knows that to do with the spoon (and the food!)