Are some babies ready for solids earlier than 6 months?

[mummy marja]

I was all set to wait at least 6 months before starting solids, but my 5 months +1 week old is desperate to eat.  If someone is eating while he is nuirsing, he unlatches and tries to grab the food.  I've been giving him sips of water from my own glass and he just loves it.  Yesterday he drank some expressed breastmilk out of a glass and didn't spit any out.

I'm thinking of giving him a bit of banana.  It's more to satisfy his desire than because I think he needs solids.  He's big, but getting enough from breastmilk.

Thoughts?  Reasons to wait?

[Knitting Mama]

I would hold off personally. I don't think it's only about their desire to eat, I believe it's also about the readiness of the digestive system. When my daughter was that age and desperate to eat, I gave her frozen breastmilk cubes in a mesh feeder. They worked like a charm-- she could eat while we ate and I was a lot more comfortable giving her frozen breastmilk than I would have been giving her food. Honestly, sometimes I think it's less about them wanting to eat so much as it is about them wanting to grab and chew. I think by this point their awareness is at a high enough level that they want to grab what they see. After all, I wouldn't give my daughter a glass of wine that I was drinking even if she desperately wanted to grab it!

[lovermont]

I think Aimee has some great suggestions for delaying starting solid foods.

I struggled with this too as our son was acting similarly to yours. We ended up giving him cereal (I wouldn't choose to start with rice cereal again - the next time we started with avocado) a little before he was 6mos old.

When dd was born I was (still am) involved with an awesome ap playgroup. Everyone was talking about how their kids didn't really start eating solids until 12 months (more the kid's choice than the moms although the moms weren't upset about the delay). I was feeling bad about ds starting before 6mos. It's exciting to have them try solid foods - maybe we rushed it?

We went back and watched video of him eating for the first time and my doubts were laid to rest. He was crazy at tracking the spoon and panting after the food.

But we also have let our kids have sips of wine when they ask ;)

I would start with avacado over banana just because bananas are so sweet. I've seen recommendations for starting with vegetable/less sweet foods first but I don't think it's harmful to start with a banana.

[Contrariety]

I think it's okay to be an intuitive mother and follow your baby's cues... so long as it's just that... baby asks for food, you give them food, KWIM?  Not "oh he's showing interest, time to schedule him for so many ounces of cereal three times daily." and just keep shoving food in the kid's mouth.  FWIW, my DD was very interested in food at about that age.  She was very curious.  When she acted interested at about that age, I gave her something to try a few times.  She gagged on it and puked and didn't really want anything to do with solids for a few more months.  Had she responded well and wanted more, I would have let her have more.  As it was, her curiousity was satisfied and she wasn't ready for solids, so she didn't eat solids until she was ready.  She didn't really eat enough solids to count until she was about 12 mos.  DS on the other hand was a solids fiend from about 5mos on.

If you think your babe wants a taste, and you are comfortable with it, give him a taste.  If he isn't ready, he'll let you know.  If he is, he'll let you know. 

Though for sure for sure give him some REAL whole foods.  None of that nasty cereal.  Blech. 

[MJB]

Yes.

[Terrilein]

Skip the cereal and go straight to the good stuff! As a pp said, avocado is a good first food, especially if you want to avoid starting with sweet fruits. I don't bother avoiding sweet-tasting foods, though. Why bother?

[Anna Phor]

We followed baby's cues for readiness--can the baby sit up unassisted, do they have a pincer grip? And our child was definitely interested in solid foods earlier than 6mos. We watched and waited for a week or two, and then started on banana at 5.5 months. (And myself, I think there's a different set of cues for readiness for wine. :) )

[lrgs]

I think so

[JudiAU]

Being interested in solids is not the same thing as being physically ready to digest them nor does it mean he is ready to have perfect calories replaced with inferior calories (well anything rather than bm).

[mummy marja]

Thanks all.  I decided to go ahead and let him have a bit of banana to see his reaction.  He liked it, swallowed all of it, but I'm still going to wait a while.  I really think he's just excitred to hold and chew everything, not neccessarily food. I definety won't be doing the baby cereals!  Maybe just a little bit of wine.:)

[plantnerd]

Yes, they can be.  I started ds at 4 months on fruits and veggies.  He had 6 teeth, was sitting in a high chair, weighed 15 lbs, and had lost his toungue thrust reflex.  He also was jumping into my plate and helping himself anyway, so I relented.  I'm glad I did, no problems with food or allergies or growth today at one year, no regrets.

[Ellien C]

I followed the baby's lead on that one. I figured if I was a monkey mom, who didn't know my baby wasn't "supposed" to eat until 6 months ( and had no idea of time either) and I had a little baby who was grabbing food off my plate (or er,,, my monkey fingers) than I would give them tastes. We started at 5 months and it's been fine. He didn't have ALL of the milestones (still no  pincer grip at 9 months) but he's been fine and manages to feed himself quite well with his fist. I don't do a lot of spoon feeding but I give him hand-held bitesized food. 

[mummy marja]

Originally Posted by Ellien C 

I followed the baby's lead on that one. I figured if I was a monkey mom, who didn't know my baby wasn't "supposed" to eat until 6 months ( and had no idea of time either) and I had a little baby who was grabbing food off my plate (or er,,, my monkey fingers) than I would give them tastes. We started at 5 months and it's been fine.

This was my thought too!  Thanks for all the replies everyone!

[ann_of_loxley]

No. 

Most four and five (and 6+) month olds simply have the developmental urge to do what everyone else is doing.  Humans are social creatures and that is just what we do - socialise (monkey see - monkey do! lol).  Babies are just as much interested in daddy's razor or your glass of wine - just as much as that banana you are eating.  Before 6 months I wouldn't give either personally (obviously to the razor and glass of wine - but also to that banana).  I would even argue that breastfeeding exclusively for even longer than 6 months is most ideal.  If breastfeeding, I would recommend waiting until 9 or 12 months to introduce solids.  The enzymes for carbohydrate digestion and fat digestion don't reach adult levels until around 9-12 months. 

[suddenlyamama]

Hi, 

just chiming in to say definitely skip the cruddy rice cereal and go straight for the goods like avos, bananas, sweet potatoes!

[1973Cougar]

Hi - I am new to the boards and this is actually my first post - but my daughter Sophia who is 5 months old tomorrow has been eating Cereal and Fruit for the past 2 weeks.  We got the ok from our doctor and our daughter loves it.  We started her on Apple Sauce and Pears from Gerber Stage 1.  We havent tried any other fruits but I just bought Bananas and Peaches.  The doctor also said to give her a vegetable with her lunch like Yams.  We havent done that yet but will be trying it in the next few days.  So my daughters eating routine starts off with Cereal, half of the fruit container and her bottle of similac.  Then she drinks formula for the next bottle and the third feeding consists of Fruit, Oatmeal and Similac and then finally a bottle of similac before bed.  Sophia has been a lot more content now that she is eating solid foods.  We have noticed a big difference in her.

Scott

[indie]

Originally Posted by 1973Cougar 

Hi - I am new to the boards and this is actually my first post - but my daughter Sophia who is 5 months old tomorrow has been eating Cereal and Fruit for the past 2 weeks.  We got the ok from our doctor and our daughter loves it.  We started her on Apple Sauce and Pears from Gerber Stage 1.  We havent tried any other fruits but I just bought Bananas and Peaches.  The doctor also said to give her a vegetable with her lunch like Yams.  We havent done that yet but will be trying it in the next few days.  So my daughters eating routine starts off with Cereal, half of the fruit container and her bottle of similac.  Then she drinks formula for the next bottle and the third feeding consists of Fruit, Oatmeal and Similac and then finally a bottle of similac before bed.  Sophia has been a lot more content now that she is eating solid foods.  We have noticed a big difference in her.

Scott

For formula fed babies it can sometimes be beneficial to give solids before six months, but for breastfed babies definitely wait. Two of my three kids started reaching for solids before six months and I just handed them a spoon or something and that took care of the problem.
 

[indie]

Originally Posted by 1973Cougar 

Hi - I am new to the boards and this is actually my first post - but my daughter Sophia who is 5 months old tomorrow has been eating Cereal and Fruit for the past 2 weeks.  We got the ok from our doctor and our daughter loves it.  We started her on Apple Sauce and Pears from Gerber Stage 1.  We havent tried any other fruits but I just bought Bananas and Peaches.  The doctor also said to give her a vegetable with her lunch like Yams.  We havent done that yet but will be trying it in the next few days.  So my daughters eating routine starts off with Cereal, half of the fruit container and her bottle of similac.  Then she drinks formula for the next bottle and the third feeding consists of Fruit, Oatmeal and Similac and then finally a bottle of similac before bed.  Sophia has been a lot more content now that she is eating solid foods.  We have noticed a big difference in her.

Scott

Oh, I forgot to say earlier that it is recommended to just start one food at a time (so don't start with mixed foods) so if your baby has a problem or allergic reaction you know right away which food it was.

[1973Cougar]

U are right - we started with Cereal first and then added in fruit....

[treegardner]

I thought DS was ready around 5 months. We started giving him a baby bowl and spoon to play with when we ate and he was happy with that. He showed no real interest in actually eating until 10-12 months. I'm sure some LOs are ready at 5 months, but I would try other things first to make sure it's really eating that he's interested in.