Your little one will need to be upright while eating, so they should be able to sit in a highchair. Another telltale sign that your baby may be ready for solid food is when they express an interest in your food. After several months of only consuming breast milk or formula, some babies have difficulty adjusting to solid foods.
To start the introduction process, mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of iron-fortified rice cereal with 4 to 6 tablespoons of formula, breast milk, or water.
Some people mix rice cereal with fruit juice, too. Spoon feed an iron-fortified rice cereal to your baby. You can nurse or bottle feed first, and then end feedings with rice cereal. And do include other iron-fortified, single-grain cereals besides rice. Variety is the spice of life — even for baby!
When introducing new solid foods to your baby, do so one at a time. This way, you can detect any potential food allergies or sensitivities early. For example, after you feed your baby peas for the first time, wait 3 to 5 days before introducing carrots. You might have heard of adding rice cereal to a bottle to thicken breast milk or formula. If your baby has episodes of acid reflux , your doctor might advise this method to thicken the milk and try to prevent regurgitation.
But this is rare. Doing so poses a few different risks. When in doubt, talk it out — with your pediatrician. You may have questions about feeding your baby. How much should they eat? Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies. Introducing solid foods is one of the most exciting if messy milestones of your baby's first year. Think of all the tastes and textures that await your little one — from savory cheese to juicy mango to creamy avocado. There's a whole world of flavors to discover and explore, and starting solids is the first step.
Encourage your baby to enjoy herself while trying new foods, even if a good portion of them ends up on her bib, the tray or the floor. It's all part of the great experiment of taking those taste buds to the next level.
Most babies are ready to start solids between 4 and 6 months and experts recommend waiting until closer to 6 months in many cases , but your little one's individual development definitely tops the list when deciding whether or not it's time to graduate to a more varied diet.
Though you might be eager to hop on the feeding bandwagon sooner rather than later, there are plenty of reasons why starting a baby on solids too soon isn't smart. First, a very young baby's digestive system — from a tongue that pushes out any foreign substance placed on it, to intestines still lacking many digestive enzymes — is unready developmentally for solids.
Plus, solids aren't necessary early on — babies can fill all their nutritional needs for the first six months of life from breast milk or formula alone. Bringing on the solids too soon can also undermine future eating habits baby may reject those spoonfuls initially simply because she isn't ready, then may reject them later because of previous parental pushing. And especially in formula-fed babies, early introduction of solids can lead to obesity later on in childhood and beyond.
When Do Babies Start Teething? On the other hand, waiting too long — say, until 9 months or later — can also lead to potential pitfalls. An older baby may resist being taught the new and challenging tricks of chewing and swallowing solids, preferring to cling to the tried-and-true and easy methods of breastfeeding or bottle-feeding.
And, like habits, tastes can be harder to change at this point. Unlike the more pliable younger baby, an older baby may not be as open to solids when milky liquids have long monopolized the menu. Some parents also choose to adopt an approach called baby-led weaning , which bypasses pureed solids in favor of gummable solids presented in thick, long pieces, which younger babies can hold in their fists. If you're following a baby-led weaning approach, you'll want to wait until after the 6-month mark to offer solids; by that age, your little one is more capable of holding and gumming these types of foods.
Just remember that it will be a few months until she's able to make the leap to finger foods the pincer grasp usually develops around month 8. To decide if your baby is ready for the big step into the world of solid foods, look for the following clues — and then consult your doctor:. One of the first and best steps in raising a good eater is to model healthy enjoyment of food yourself. Babies who see adults eating good food and enjoying it are more likely to be interested in following their example.
No matter what's on the menu, if you're introducing solids in the form of purees as opposed to trying baby-led weaning , the texture of your baby's first foods should be super smooth and practically dripping off the spoon.
If you prepare your own baby food, you should strain, puree or finely mash it, and then thin it with liquid if necessary. My son is just 2 weeks younger than hers, and I am wondering if I should be introducing solids soon too.
When should I start? The best time to introduce solid foods is when your baby has developed the skills needed to eat. Doctors recommend that breastfeeding moms wait until their baby is 6 months old. But sometimes babies are ready for solids sooner than that. How will you know? To eat, babies need good head and neck control and should be able to sit up in a high chair. This usually doesn't happen until they're 4 to 6 months old. Also, if you try to feed your son solids before this age, you may notice that he pushes food out of his mouth as quickly as you put it in.
Babies start to lose this natural tongue-thrusting reflex at the 4- to 6-month mark, which makes it easier for them to start eating solid foods.
Wait until your baby is at least 4 months old and shows these signs of readiness before starting solids. Babies who start solid foods before 4 months are at a higher risk for obesity and other problems later on.
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