Introducing solids... what is normal?

[Calliope84]

So, DD is 6 months old and so far I gave her some mashed potatoes on her tray and a few days later, she got some mashed banana. Both of those caused a lot of poopy diapers and she barely ate any. I think she managed to get more banana in her than potato, and she slept terribly that night. She tossed and turned like she used to when I was eating dairy and soy. 

So.. is this normal? I imagine there would be gas, tummy aches and lots of poo if a person went from a totally liquid diet to a solid one, but do her reactions mean her system maybe isn't ready? I personally don't feel like giving her too much food yet, but the pediatrician said to start out with at least some soft pureed type foods so she can start tasting them and exploring them.

[lkvosu]

ds is 7 months and we recently tried to introduce some solids. We backed off, though, once we saw how constipated he got. I personally think 6-7 months is a bit early for a lot of babies based on what happened with ds and several of my friends' babies. Specific to your post, I will say that bananas are known to cause tummy problems, mainly constipation. If you're wanting to continue with solids, you might just stay away from problem foods like banana and stick to foods that are well tolerated by most babes like avocado or prunes. With some trial and error you'll find what works best.

[whozeyermamma]

I would agree that bananas can be constipating - maybe try something like pears or apples? My LO (now almost 1) sometimes seems to have trouble with grains if I give him too much even though he loves them. He did really well with carrots, green beans and peas. He didn't like banana when we started solids and still doesn't!

He also loved some stuff that was supposed to be problematic - or given later - strawberries, blueberries and mangoes. So, you never know! Try another food and see how it goes!

[TheDivineMrsM]

How ripe was the banana? Did you try cereals or are you skipping them? We had fewer issues with ones that were very ripe (lots of brown spots). What about mashing half a very ripe banana for DC, mixing it with oatmeal (rice can be constipating too) and a lot of breastmilk? The milk helped keep everything moving for us, and it probably gave the banana a more familiar flavor. It's DD's favorite breakfast.