How do you start feeding your baby solids?

Question

My son is 5 months now and i havent given him solids yet. How do i start and with what do i start? What would a daily feeding schedule look like?

Answer 1

You shouldn't offer solids until the baby is old enough to pick them up, put them in their mouth, chew them and swallow them.

Also in the begining it is not necessary -nor particulary good, to offer solids every day. Once every other day or so is just fine.

Solids for babies under 1 year are for fun and learning, not nutrition. And there is nothing fun nor educational about flavourless infant cereal.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html
How do we get started with solids?
6 - 7 months Offer solids once a day, at most. Many start out offering solids every few days or even less often.

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/rapley_guidelines.html
"Many parents worry about babies choking. However, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon fed. This is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have learnt to chew. And they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things. Thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get the food into his mouth in the first place. On the other hand, the action used to suck food off a spoon tends to take the food straight to the back of the mouth, causing gagging. This means that spoon feeding has its own potential to lead to choking – and makes the giving of lumpy foods with a spoon especially dangerous.

It appears that a baby’s general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it. It is important to resist the temptation to ‘help’ the baby in these circumstances since his own developmental abilities are what ensure that the transition to solid feeding takes place at the right pace for him. This process is also what keeps him safe from choking on small pieces of food, since, if he is not yet able to pick up small objects using his finger and thumb, he will not be able to get, for example, a pea or a raisin into his mouth. Once he is able to do this, he will have developed the necessary oral skills to deal with it. Putting foods into a baby’s mouth for him overrides this natural protection and increases the risk of choking.

Tipping a baby backwards or lying him down to feed him solid foods is dangerous. A baby who is handling food should always be supported in an upright position. In this way, food which he is not yet able to swallow, or does not wish to swallow, will fall forward out of his mouth, not backwards into his throat.

Adopting a baby-led approach doesn’t mean abandoning all the common sense rules of safety. While it is very unlikely that a young baby would succeed in picking up a peanut, for example, accidents can and will happen on rare occasions – however the baby is fed. Rules of safety which apply in other play situations should therefore be adhered to when eating is in progress."

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html
Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:
Baby can sit up well without support.
Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
Baby is ready and willing to chew.
Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.
We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.

More on developmental readiness...
In April 2001, a literature review () "of the developmental readiness of normal full term infants to progress from exclusive breastfeeding to the introduction of complementary foods" was jointly published by Wellstart International and the LINKAGES Project. Per the authors, "The review does not focus on health outcomes associated with discontinuing exclusive breastfeeding at a particular age but rather on the biologic/developmental readiness for this complex experience. Four processes or functions were selected for inclusion: gastrointestinal, immunologic, oral motor and the maternal reproductive processes that relate to the continuation of lactation and the provision of breastmilk."
Following are some of the conclusions of this review:

"Thus, exclusive breastfeeding to about six months allows the infant to have greater immunologic protection and limit the exposure to pathogens at a vulnerable age. This in turn permits the energy and nutrients that might otherwise be diverted to provide for immunologic responses to be available and utilized for other growth and developmental processes."
"These clinical reports indicate that the majority of normal full term infants are not developmentally ready for the transition from suckling to sucking or for managing semi-solids and solid foods in addition to liquids until between 6 and 8 months of age."
"Using this available information on the development of oral motor function, maternal reproductive physiology and development of the infant’s immunologic and gastrointestinal function, the expert review team concluded that the probable age of readiness for most full term infants to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding and begin complementary foods appears to be near six months or perhaps a little beyond. The also felt that there is probable convergence of such readiness across the several relevant processes."
"The consensus opinion of the expert review group was that given the available information and the lack of evidence of significant harm to either normal mothers or normal infants, there is no reason to conclude that exclusive breastfeeding should not continue to six months."

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/ci2.asp
"Many babies become constipated when foods are first added to their diet. The main reason for this is that the standard recommended starting foods are all constipating - rice cereal, bananas, squash, and applesauce. Why do health care professionals choose these starting foods when they know they will make most babies constipated? Good question. Even my own Baby Book lists these as starting foods.

The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don't actually even need rice cereal. So, if your baby becomes constipated after starting foods, here is what you can do. "

Answer 2

Ultimately follow his doc's advice. Usually they have lots of handouts with this info too. But most babies are ready by 6 months of age. Current recommendations are to start w/ rice cereal. Check the box for mixing directions. As people here have stated it's not the most appealing but that's not the idea behind starting solids. It is to learn new textures. As they get older new flavors come in play. Solids should not replace breast or bottle feedings. They are to compliment them. His main source of nutrition is still breastmilk/formula for now. Once he gets a hang of cereal after 3-4 weeks you can add other single foods, like fruits or vegetables. One new food every 4-6 days, to watch for allergies. Hope this helps. I'm sure you will do fine and your baby will grow and thrive. Good luck on this new adventure. :)

Answer 3

Usually following your bay's cues as to whether he is ready for solids is a good indication of when to start. it's true that babies only need breastmilk for the first year and there are planty of plump happy babies who go that route, but I suggest finding what works for you and your family as everyone is different and WHO quidelines are blanket statements that dont take into account your specific family's needs and dynamics.

Usualy people start with the baby cereals because it's plain and easier digested. You just mix it up with some formula or breastmilk, make it kind of soupy, and then using your clean finger or a spoon you can attempt to put it in your baby's mouth. Your baby's first instinct will be to push it out with his tongue but if you wait till he opens his mouth nice and wide and then put the spoon in it will make it easier and he'll eventually get the hang of it.
Once he's a pro with the soupy stuff you can slowly make the mixture thicker- like yogurt, and feed him like that.
When you start out you should only try it once per day, at breakfast, lunch or dinner time. At this age the cereal meals will not replace breastfeeding or bottle feeding yet.
Just do the once a day feedings for a month or two and then you can slowly start introducing baby foods, vegetables first, and staying away from anything that anybody in your family is allergic to.
Usual guidelines suggest staying away from strawberries, peanut butter, honey, chocolate, and milk products like yogurt and cheese until after they are 1.
Have fun.

Answer 4

My daughter was just over three months old when my wife and I started to realize that she just was not getting full. She was up to drinking 5 bottles a day, it was as if she could not ever get enough in her tummy. Noticing this I took things into my own hands because my little girl is not going to go hungry! I went to the local grocery store and bought some of the Gerber's first foods. We took it easy the first few weeks by just giving her little bites, however, she took to it VERY well. Do not worry about a schedule. Feed your son in the morning whenever he seems to be hungry and then again at night when he seems to be hungry. Anndelyn is 12 months old now and is eating about three of the gerber's second foods. When she was your sons age she was eating 1 1/2 to 2 of the first foods. She started walking at 8 1/2 months, crawling at four months and had four teeth by age eight months. I think the food worked!

Answer 5

Solid food is normally started around 4 months old. You have to introduced it one at the time to observed for any food allergy.Moms usually likes to give their baby Gerber foods.But you can also start giving your baby with mashed fruits or vegetables.Pls. observe for diarrhea, colic,vomiting and etc.

Answer 6

Once a day 1 tbsp rice cereal with breastmilk or formula until it is watery and slowly thicken every few days.
After a week or so add in a spoon or two of jarred veggies or fruit.

Answer 7

At 4 months you can start rice cereal by spoon, mixed with some formula, or breast milk. At 6 months you can start jarred veggies, like peas, carrots, green beans, etc. Introduce the rice cereal first though, when you start the veggies, start off with the green ones, as they are not as sweet as the carrots, etc, so give them the taste of the green ones first, so at least they get that in their diet. Its best to give them the same veggie for at least 3-4 days or more, so they can get use to them, and you can find out if they have a reaction to them.
My daugther is 5 months, and she gets...
Oatmeal/barley cereal in the morning, and rice cereal before bed. She has been eating cereal since 2 1/2 months though. When she is 6 months, I will introduce the veggies to her at lunch time.

Answer 8

Start off by mixing the dry baby cereal with his formula, start off with a little and begin to make it a little thicker each time. That way he gradually works his way up to baby food in the jars. Little spoons and lots of wipies!

Answer 9

I think that you should have a look at this blog at http://www.crucialstart.com/tips-feeding-solids-baby/ because these tips are very useful.

Answer 10

I found this for you. This could be really helpful. It talks about your baby's development and solid foods etc. Hundreds of other articles too.
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/baby/article/0,19840,1538365,00.html?topic=l1358&age=11975