when did you start solids?

the boys adjusted age is 4 months since they were born a month premature. i was just curious when everyone started solids. my goal for this weekend is to assemble their highchairs and start solids within the next few weeks as they turn 6 months old, first with veggies and then with fruits.

i'm just wondering when everyone else started to introduce solids to their babies.

 

Last mnth at 4 months old. They love them!

Ps-as to your other post, I would not worry-mine are 5months too and doing exact same things as your boys

 

I would start with rice cereal (which i think you are putting in their bottles) and see if they will take it. We started when my two were willing to take it in (at 4 months). My older son refused to swallow food until he was 5 months old. Once they are eating rice cereal, really well, then I would move on to things with taste. Good luck!

 

I started them at 4 months old. I started with rice cereal. At first I would only give them a couple of bites once a day. It took them over a month of doing that once a day to get the hang of it. Then I moved to veges and fruits. Now at 6 months they are having 2 meals a day. It has taken over a bottle yet but we are getting there. They actually demand feedings now. LOL!

 

I started at four months and should have waited until 6. It was nothing but frustration until they were almost 7 months.

I would seriously consider whether you want to start solids with yours right now given your struggle with getting them to take in formula. It would be a bad thing for them to decrease their formula intake because they are eating solids. They don't get nearly the calories from solids.

 

I tried at 4 months old but they weren't ready and I thought it was too much trouble since they didn't want it. I started again at 6 months old and it went a whole lot better.

 

I started at 4 mo with my daughter and she took it very well. I'll do the same with the boys. I cannot wait...lol

 

Same here. We started out very slowly at 4 months old (on our pedi's advice) with just a few bites of oatmeal cereal a day. The first 2 weeks were very challenging (ie. frustrating) but then they got a little better each week. For the past 1.5 months we have fed given them cereal in the morning (Happy Bellies rice cereal plus formula plus some pears or other fruit mixed in), and then in the late afternoon/evening we give them a veggie (sweet potatoes, carrots, winter squash, or peas). They do really well with their feedings now and Brandon often times gets impatient waiting the 3 seconds for me to give his brother a spoonful.

We've been feeding them solids in their infant-to-toddler rockers (which sit up a little higher than a bouncy seat) but I hope this weekend to try them out in their folding booster seats (the kind that strap to a chair). I think they are big enough now and have enough control to use those.

 

4 months for all of my kids. However, I agree with Rachael, when she said you need to consider their formula intake, and since yours are still having issues(I think I read one only took 10oz one day), I would hold off until that is under control. Formula is important now, solids are not.

 

Me too, we started at 4 months with rice cereal. But my babies were taking 32-35 oz of formula a day, almost too much, and it was time to start filling their bellies with more than just formula.

I would hold off until the boys are either eating their formula better, or until it's okay for them to start decreasing their formula intake. They need their formula way more than they need cereal, and since they are already getting rice cereal in their bottles that's already helping to fill their bellies up.

 

Our pedi said that solids before the age of 1 are really just practice for the big game. Their primary source of nutrition should still be coming from formula/breast milk.

When we started at 6 months, solids came AFTER the bottle, not before. We started with veggies and introduced a new one every week. It took us until about 9 months old to get through the veggies and fruits (figure about 12 weeks and one new food per week).

We gave them their last bottle at 1 year and were completely on solids at that point. It was a very gradual progression overall for us. If I remember correctly, the morning bottle was the last thing that we cut.

 

I started the twins at 4 months with rice cereal (which I knew they could handle because we used a lot in their bottles) and it was nice and messy. Once we moved onto oatmeal things went much better. At 5.5 months they finally started to get the tongue thing and I started feeding them veggies. It took till 6 months for them to get it. Just remember this is all practice, they won't get hardly any nutrition from it for quite some time.


Oh and my youngest I decided to hold off till he was 6 months old and it took forever for him to get it! He finally is just now starting to really understand it and he is 10 months old.

Just don't rush it and know that it's no big deal how much they eat of it. I think the best advice I got for feeding was from another twin mom on this board and it was don't ever feed them when they are HUNGRY and never when they are mad. If they start getting upset stop. It also helped us to put oatmeal in all the food to help thicken it up. Not as messy and they seemed to like it better.

Good luck!

 

We started three days before they were 4 months. We did rice cereal for two weeks (mixed with breastmilk or formula so it wasn't bland). Then we added sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, and apples. My girls LOVE solid food. Now, I mix a half of a jar (fruit) with some rice cereal in the morning and a whole jar (veggies) with rice cereal at night. Last night I gave them each a jar of their own without the cereal and they ate it in literally two minutes. One of my girls goes mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm with every bite. They are also very impatient so I use boons http://www.amazon.com/Boon-Squirt-Baby-Dispencing-Spoon/dp/B002K99IUM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1262193925&sr=8-7 so i can feed them at the same time and they don't have to wait.

 

Funny, my boy is impatient also! My girl doesn't care about food too much so it is more challenging to get her to eat, she does eat just likes to take her time which her brother (twin) isn't very happy about. So I have to give him 2 spoonfuls to her one. UGH!

 

are these adjusted ages or actual ages?? i feel like i'm slacking because i haven't started solids yet but none of our peds want us to start doing it until 6 months when their adjusted age is 5 months.

is there any reason that you guys started at 4 months rather than wait until 6??

 

I started at 4 months actual (2 months adjusted) with the boys. They were already getting a ton of cereal in their bottles and they were taking a ton of formula on top of that. So I decided to try with a spoon to try and get the cereal out of their bottles. They really didnt get it until about 5.5 months actual. I didnt do it everyday, just when I had a little extra time to goof around.

If they can sit well assisted, take enough formula by mouth, then it might be worth a try. I would guess since they are gaining, they are getting what they need. But I would hate for you to give them solids by spoon and totally abandon the bottle altogether.

 

they are still a little wobbly when sitting so that's why the ped is hesitant. i thought i would put together the high chair and see how they sit in it plus it's got toys.

i wouldn't abandon the bottle it's just to get the process started i would supplement solids with the bottle since they don't get a lot of calories from baby food.

 

Sorry, I meant them abandon the bottle, not you. I mistyped.

 

Each pedi is different, but mine had us start at 4 months, which is why we started at that time. It was more for practice and we started with small amounts of rice cereal with formula (like 1 tbsp). Our pedi suggested to start with cereal for one week and then the following week add a veggie at another feeding. I would wait until your pedi gives you the okay to start.

 

We started at 4 months actual, 2 months adjusted. The pedi recommended spoon feeding them cereal (in VERY small amounts initially) for their reflux. She was not a fan of adding rice to their bottles. And neither was I after I attempted it and had to deal with clogged nipples, LOL.

 

I haven't really started. I goofed around a few days w/ some prunes, but never made it part of our routine. However, I have decided that starting on the 1st (mainly cause it's a brand new year and the day after their "5 month birthday") that I will begin practicing solids. I was given the go ahead at their 4 month well baby appointment, so that would have been about 1.5 month adjusted. I already do one scoop (not a tablespoon, but an actual scoop from a formula can) for every scoop of formula I use. So right now they get their 6oz bottles w/ 3 scoops of rice.

Anyways, I'm going to begin their practice as an every day thing on the 1st, once a day. I'm only going to do rice cereal for now until they get the hang of it. Then I'll figure out where to go. So I'll be starting at 5 months actual, 2.5 months adjusted.

 

I started at 4 1/2 months. I had planned to wait until 6 months, but my boys were literally trying to grab food away from us. They met all the criteria for solids so I gave it a try and they couldn't get enough. I was also looking for a way to decrease the number of supplemental bottles the boys took. With my second child, I was able to exclusively breastfeed once we started solids.

Like some of the pp have said, I wouldn't start solids until you have all of your feeding issues sorted out. My boys were great eaters and had been gaining tons of weight so we knew that they would be ok if they got less formula/breastmilk.

 

We started around 4 months. We would offer about 1 TBSP of cereal once/day after their morning nap. It was more for practice than anything. Around 6 months we started offering it twice/day and also introduced veggies/fruits. Have fun!!

 

they are eating much better now that i've more than doubled the amount of cereal in their bottles. they start to refuse it after the first go around with feedings but it's mostly because they are definetly teething and it hurts thier gums after a while of sucking. they are still gaing a ton of weight (almost a pound in a month - i had it checked yesterday).

i guess i just feel like i'm missing the boat and being a slacker for not starting them sooner or now really. i know a few people who waited until 6 months but not very many. i think since they already get so much cereal in their bottles when we do start we will go straight to veggies since it's the same consistency.

i tried putting together their fisher price rainforest highchair today and after a half and hour of swearing at it and getting very frustrated i gave up. DH can put them both together tomorrow...it's like the directions were written in chinese! either that or i'm retarded...lol, either way i can't do it.

i REALLY want to get them going on solids though, sooner rather than later.

 

we didn't start until closer to 8 months. they were really ready then, and I might do it a little sooner if I had to do it over. But I'd still wait until 6 months. that's just my opinion. my doc didn't push starting solids b/c its really just for practice.

I just did the 4 day wait rule on everything we started. and took info from www.wholesomebabyfood.com and made my own cereals and veggies/fruits etc. I also liked the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.

their little tummies and digestive systems aren't ready for everything... so don't feel like a slacker, just take it slow and enjoy it!

good luck.

 

6.5 months for my full-termers. They were skinnies and I didn't want to fill their stomachs with lower calorie foods too soon. When we did get started, there was very little mess because they knew what to do and the tongue thrust reflex was gone. Cereal did tank their appetites, though, and their weight gain took a nosedive. That's what I'd be careful of if I were you. If your heart is set on starting now, start slowly.

 

this is what i did too. the dr actually told me to start them on the rice at their four month check-up because they are so big. lol. (~18 and ~20lbs @ 4m!)

she had a feeding schedule that she gave me a copy of. it says to start them with just like a tablespoon of rice for about a week and see how they do with that once a day. and then, if they do well, start them for a week on the oatmeal and then after about a week, start them on the multi grain cereal. she said that they should be eating cereal morning and night and veggies at lunchtime by 5 months. then at 6 months, you can start adding the meats and fruits.

i realize that not all drs believe this, but mine does. the dr that my daughter went to when she was the boys' age didn't think that way, but i did what i thought was best for my dd...that was start her on cereal at 4m and baby food at 6m. she was big too, though. she was 17lbs at her 4m check-up. it helped to keep her full for longer and she was drinking less bottles.

good luck!