Ready for Solids?

[Blueone]

My son is 4.5 months old and seems ready for solids. He sits mostly unassisted (tips to side occasionally), he watches people eat and will stop eating when he sees others eat solids, but he's never in a place to reach and grab because he's on the floor while we eat. He also doesn't have tongue thrust either. I also heard that when they really start drooling a lot that means they have saliva to break down food. That is true, right?

Anyways, what do you think? I did offer him a couple small bites of banana, but it was a bit green and so sour. He was interested though.

[JMJ]

If the drool thing was true, I should have started feeding my baby solids by the time she was 2 months old. If I were you, I would wait until he is at least 6 months old and is pushing himself into a sitting position and sitting stably. I think that most of the "solids readiness signs" are somewhat arbitrary, but for most children, by 6 months old, they will not be harmed by feeding them solids. There really is no external way to know if the gut is prepared for solid foods, so I think it is most safe to just wait until 6 months. According to some, introducing food too early may harm his immune system. The sitting up thing is to prevent choking. If a child looses ballance with something in his mouth, then he is more likely to choke on it. The other signs seem somewhat arbitrary to me, and I would just follow the child's lead. DD feeds herself as much as she wants. I don't push her to eat more or limit how much she can eat.