How long did you wait to introduce solids?

We got the okay today to give solids at 5 months or 40 ounces whatever comes first. However, I met a nurse when I went in for my gallbladder surgery that said she waited until 8 months to introduce solids because of the link between food allergies and autism. Just wondering what other people have done, I was thinking of waiting until at least 6 months anyway.

 

I've been trying cereal, but one of my girls refuses to drink it out of a bottle. She just gags & gags. The other one will drink it right up. I haven't tried any other foods though. According to the WIC office, it's OK to start cereal at 4 months. They recommend to start out with rice cereal. Other than that, I think it just depends on how your baby handles it.

 

QUOTE(Gen&ThadsMom @ Oct 16 2008, 08:48 PM) [snapback]1029352[/snapback]
We got the okay today to give solids at 5 months or 40 ounces whatever comes first. However, I met a nurse when I went in for my gallbladder surgery that said she waited until 8 months to introduce solids because of the link between food allergies and autism. Just wondering what other people have done, I was thinking of waiting until at least 6 months anyway.


We waited until 6 months, but they were actually only 4 months adjusted at that point. I had intended to wait longer, but they seemed like they might be ready and I think they were because they didn't have tongue thrust issues. We started with cereal and waited 4 days between new foods to watch for any reactions. We also are avoiding the highly allergenic foods such as peanut butter, strawberries, etc. until our ped gives us the go ahead.


QUOTE(clb8899 @ Oct 16 2008, 08:53 PM) [snapback]1029361[/snapback]
I've been trying cereal, but one of my girls refuses to drink it out of a bottle. She just gags & gags. The other one will drink it right up. I haven't tried any other foods though. According to the WIC office, it's OK to start cereal at 4 months. They recommend to start out with rice cereal. Other than that, I think it just depends on how your baby handles it.


Were you told by your doctor to put cereal in the bottle? It is generally not recommended to put cereal in a bottle unless you are told to thicken it due to reflux. The purpose of cereal/solids at 6 months is to get practice spoon feeding, so if it is given in a bottle, they aren't learning any spoon feeding skills.

 

We waited until 6 months. DS wasn't really interested until 7 months.

 

We just started this week, when they were 4 mo adjusted (5 1/2 actual). DD was practically begging whenever I would eat in front of her, and she was showing all the readiness signs ( no tongue thrust, sits in high chair, desire). DS wasn't as interested, but we fed them both at the same time. He really got excited once he tasted that food though!

 

My ped said that if the baby starts waking up at night after sttn, then it's time to start the food. With Natalie, we just started introducing rice cereal and oatmeal. She still doesn't know what to do with the spoon and most of it winds up on her bib. I have to admit, we haven't tried it consistently everyday. I need to do it more to get her used to it. My plan is to continue with just rice and oatmeal until she is six months and then start introducing other foods. That's what we did with the twins and it seemed to work well for us.

 

We started at 6 months and then dd took a solids striked from 7-10 months.

 

With the twins, I started at 6 months (they were 4.5 months adjusted). They took to it pretty quickly and loved their solids.

Olivia has been a different story. I didn't start her until 5.5 months (just b/c waiting with the twins was so much easier). Well, she HATES cereal and won't eat it, so we had about 3 weeks where I really struggled with her. Than, I started giving her just plain baby food and she loved it. I am now just able to sneak in 1-2 tbs of cereal per jar of baby food to get the iron intake in for the day, but she will NOT eat it without soething mixed in and it can't be too think. You would think a 20+ lb. baby wouldn't be too picky, but she is...lol!!!!

Do what you feel comfortable with and when your baby thinks it's time!

 

We waited until 6 months based on the AAP guidelines and they took right to it. It's such a huge mess and I wasn't in any hurry so really it ended up being more like 6.5 months because we started after our vacation. In hindsight, it might have been better to wait longer since they struggled with weight gain from the time they started until just after 12 months. The solids are much less calorie dense than milk and the carb-laden cereals tanked their appetities.

 

We started cereal at 4 months. We started rice for a week (morning and night) and then the next week started oatmeal and then went to veggies, introducing 1 each week. The pedi was very specific on what order we do things - she said squash first, then sweet potatoes, then carrots, then a green (we did green beans and then peas) and then a meat and then fruit in any order. Until we got past the stage 1 foods we only introduced 1 each week. Now we wait about 3 days. We have had not problems except for the first time we gave them cereal. They got it quickly though. It just takes practice and that's how I look at it. It don't stress if they don't take too much. It's not that big of deal.

 

Having been down this road twice before (though not with twins yet!) I move more firmly into the later, the better camp every day. The later they start, the sooner they'll move on to real people food and be able to feed themselves and the less time you'll spend messing with baby purees smeared everywhere. My older two both started about six months, but I wouldn't mind if I can push the twins a little later.

 

i have been going by them. theyre only 3 1/2 adjusted, 5 1/2 actual, but ds has been interested and no tongue thrust for a good month or so. i give him 1 serving a day. dd doesnt care for it yet, and still does the tongue thrusting. i try every few days with her, but im fine with waiting til shes ready. wic office told us to start them now, and the peds have been pushing it too. on the other hand the developmental specialist told me to wait til theyre 4 months adjusted.

 

Per AAP/WHO guidelines, we waited until 6 mo adjusted. They weren't really interested in eating anything until ~7.5 mo adjusted.

 

We started rice cereal at 5 months and jarred baby food at 6 months

 

With DD1 we started at 5 months. With our twins, we started at 4 months. They were ready, no real food allergy history, and our pedi. said to go for it.

 

I know you can start at 4 months, and some say you should start at 6 months, so I figured I'd split the difference. We're starting next week when the twins hit the 5 month mark, and hoping for the best

 

We started a few days shy of 6mnths, and both were ready and eager to try the food!

 

We started rice cereal/oatmeal at 5 months then moved onto to veggies at 6 months.

 

QUOTE(Queen of Carrots @ Oct 17 2008, 12:35 PM) [snapback]1030148[/snapback]
Having been down this road twice before (though not with twins yet!) I move more firmly into the later, the better camp every day. The later they start, the sooner they'll move on to real people food and be able to feed themselves and the less time you'll spend messing with baby purees smeared everywhere. My older two both started about six months, but I wouldn't mind if I can push the twins a little later.


THIS! Mine are only 16 wks but I'm in no hurry. With DD the recommendation was 4 mo., and what a time sink it was. I'm not doing that with the twins. Too much other fun with them to be had

 

QUOTE(debid @ Oct 17 2008, 10:22 AM) [snapback]1029902[/snapback]
We waited until 6 months based on the AAP guidelines and they took right to it. It's such a huge mess and I wasn't in any hurry so really it ended up being more like 6.5 months because we started after our vacation. In hindsight, it might have been better to wait longer since they struggled with weight gain from the time they started until just after 12 months. The solids are much less calorie dense than milk and the carb-laden cereals tanked their appetites.


Same here! No need to rush things...

 

We started at 5.5 months and they really look forward to there solids once a day.