4 1/2 month old REALLY wants food...

[jksmith]

So I know the guidelines used to says 4-6 months to start solids, and now they say only breastmilk until 6 months... BUT, my baby wants food. Whenever we eat, he drools and chomps on his hands and reaches for the food with hands and open mouth. If I have food on my hands (from chopping carrots, tomatoes, pineapple etc.) he sucks on it, and the other day I was eating an apple and leaned right over and started sucking on it.

It's not that he's hungry, because I still have lots of milk and he's gaining exactly as he should. Even if I feed him right before supper he still does it. He just seems to REALLY want it... should I let him try solids now? or wait another month?

[2goingon2]

I would wait.  At that age, they want to put everything in their mouths.  They are learning to control their arms and hands and automatically want to put whatever they can grasp in their mouths for tactile stimulation.  He probably isn't hungry and doesn't realize it is food you are eating.  I would wait until he can sit up on his own.  Your breast milk is all he needs.

[happysmileylady]

As evidenced by the fact that most of us are still alive after having started solids at 5 months, 4 months, 3 months, even as young as 2 or1 month old, starting solids at 4 months isn't going to kill him.  It's not going to doom him to a life of obesity or anything like that either.

What it COULD do is cause him to nurse less.  A baby filling up on solids isn't filling up on breastmilk.  And breastmilk has has more calories than solids. 

I don't think that if a baby is giving readiness signs, there's anything wrong with starting solids that early.  There's no magic switch that's automatically flipped in every baby's body that says it's suddenly ok to give a baby solids at 6 months.  Every kid is different and your baby might just be ready at 4 months.  Or not.  Only you can decide.

But you aren't putting your child in danger if you start to try a couple of solids sooner.

Just start small, make sure to nurse baby FIRST, a full nursing session, and just take it in a slow and relaxed manner. 

[moona]

I had the same experience with my son. We had planned to start solids sometime after 6 months, but around 4 1/2 months he started showing an interest in food, and dinnertime became frustrating and miserable because he would be fussy and grabby everytime we sat down to eat, and he wasnt comforted by nursing at the dinner table. This went on for a couple weeks before we figured out what he was trying to say. We decided to just try a little food. We were having butternut squash that night, so his dad pureed some for him, and he loved it. So then we gave him a little food each night when we ate. He didnt nurse significantly less after he started eating food, and continued nursing for almost three years. For us, it worked well to be flexible about our preconceived ideas, and respond to his individual needs.

[marinak1977]

I started giving DS solids to suck on when he started demanding them around 5.5 months. I found that even though he sucked on different foods he didn't really start to swallow much until way after 7 months, so even though he was experiencing tastes it wasn't really affecting his diet in any significant way (even his poop didn't really change for a while)
I started by giving DS large chunks to suck on to avoid choking and that worked really well and prevented him from swallowing much.

[tibeca]

Have you tried offering a plastic cup, spoon or plate? My DDs have found that playing with the utensils was almost as fun as the food!

[Bokonon]

My kids showed an interest in chewing on my keys and cell phone at that age - it didn't mean they were ready to eat them.  :)

Yes, it CAN be detrimental to their long-term health if you introduce solids before the gut is closed, and there is no way to know if that has already happened.  A lot of people are harmed by introduction of solids at 2 months or whatever.  Obesity, autoimmune disorders, and allergies are rampant in people of all ages.

Breastmilk slushies and playing with plastic spoons and cups is a great solution.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

My kids showed an interest in chewing on my keys and cell phone at that age - it didn't mean they were ready to eat them.  :)

Yes, it CAN be detrimental to their long-term health if you introduce solids before the gut is closed, and there is no way to know if that has already happened.  A lot of people are harmed by introduction of solids at 2 months or whatever.  Obesity, autoimmune disorders, and allergies are rampant in people of all ages.

Breastmilk slushies and playing with plastic spoons and cups is a great solution.

I found that cubes of frozen breastmilk in a mesh feeder bag were very popular with my little guy. We call them Momsicles.

[hildare]

yup-- i was going to write what patiogardener and bokonon did..

[CI Mama]

Originally Posted by moona 

I had the same experience with my son. We had planned to start solids sometime after 6 months, but around 4 1/2 months he started showing an interest in food, and dinnertime became frustrating and miserable because he would be fussy and grabby everytime we sat down to eat, and he wasnt comforted by nursing at the dinner table. This went on for a couple weeks before we figured out what he was trying to say. We decided to just try a little food. We were having butternut squash that night, so his dad pureed some for him, and he loved it. So then we gave him a little food each night when we ate. He didnt nurse significantly less after he started eating food, and continued nursing for almost three years. For us, it worked well to be flexible about our preconceived ideas, and respond to his individual needs.

This was my experience as well. We introduced a few solids very gradually and it didn't adversely impact breastfeeding (DD is still nursing, and she's 31 months old now). I agree with moona about being flexible and responding to individual needs.

[averlee]

The first time my baby snatched and tried to eat food, was a piece of cantaloupe from my plate, she was 10 weeks old!  I did not, at that point, start to let her have solids, although I did start to watch her and notice an interest in food and utensils. I did let her play with spoons, tiny bowls, and cups, and a teether-feeder thing with a mesh bag (empty). I also got the idea to catch or save leaking breastmilk, and started letting her "play" with eating breastmilk from a spoon or cup. She would get so excited when she saw me with the tiny bowl of milk!

After talking with her doctor about it, I started letting her have tastes of things at about 3 and a half months. It never impacted our breastfeeding relationship negatively, it actually seemed to make her want to nurse more. And she never gagged, or pushed food out of her mouth, or had tummy aches, or anything but breastmilk-looking poop. 

At 4 months I started letting her have very tiny amounts of real soft food mashed & mixed with breastmilk. I would give her like a single bite-size bit of avocado or yam, smooshed with a few drops of breastmilk. I never tried to make her take it. I tried to pay close attention and follow her cues and even feed herself at that tiny of an age.

I would never go around telling people to start their babies on solids as early as I did with my daughter. I don't think it's right for most babies. I think the 6-9 month range is more reasonable. But I also think it could be okay, depending on your baby.