Why Rush to Start Solids

I am in the same boat with my 6 month old!! Trust me you’re not missing anything I like the saying “ food before 1 is just for fun” we give him food every once in a while but we plan on breastfeeding for as long as possible and gonna wait to feed him actual meals. 😅

I think many people say it will help the baby sleep through the night 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m not sure though really. Do what feels best to you!

Totally hear you, solids feel like such a chore at first! I started giving my little guy tiny bits around 5 months when he got super interested in what we were eating. His first teeth popped through too, which felt like nature’s way of saying “okay, time to start!” He’s still mostly on breastmilk but gets a little beans, rice, banana (good for their gut!), and yams. Honestly, it’s messy but it’s been cool seeing him explore new things and it’s good for their digestion and development too. You’re doing awesome following his cues!

I think it’s SO fun! I started giving my LO bits here and there around 5 months, and now (at nearly 7 months) he’s a hungry monster with food 😂 .. honestly though, I view foods right now as more of a learning thing for him. He is learning new textures (both orally and by touch on his hands), he’s learning warm and cold, he’s learning hand-eye coordination etc. most of all, it has been a huge bonding thing for us, and for him and his brother and dad. He gets to sit with us at all our meals now and explore most of what we are eating! He gets to be engaged in our conversations and gets to have fun while he’s doing it! Mess is mess in my opinion 🤷🏼‍♀️ the messier he is the more fun he had and the more learning that is taking place!

My pediatrician told us he was cleared to start at 4 months! I wasn’t ready then but started purées at 5 months. I did this mostly because he would cry when we ate and was reaching for all my food but couldn’t sit up completely yet. He can now at 6 months so I’m starting to give him bits of real food too. He’s just so excited to eat and feel the food 😅 I usually just put him in a diaper and bib to minimize mess and it’s easier to see if he is having any type of skin reaction with new foods.

My baby also doesn’t sit up unassisted and is not interested in food but everyone’s like she’s 6 months!!!! You need to get on it 😣 I already have to make two meals. One for my husband and one for my toddler 😂 we started two days ago with purées and safe to say she’s hated it lol this isn’t fun.

Second time mom and I feel the same, have barely started solids just given her tastes and she’s almost 8 months , so much extra work with solids for sure, breastfeeding is soooo much easier in comparison

Both of my kids were interested in food around 4 months. Actually, both of their first foods were strawberries! But I waited until they could sit unassisted to give them actual meals. We gave them little tastes here and there by putting some fruit or cooked veg in a mesh feeder when they were fussy but honestly, I'm in the same boat as you. It's messy, it's hard sometimes to deal with the mess and crying and staring at them to make sure they don't choke, but if you educate yourself about how and when to feed certain foods, what choking vs gaging is and let them explore the food without pressuring them to eat "the right way" they will have an excellent relationship with food in the long run. BLW is definitely the way to go and the app Solid Starts really helped up with our first.

Same, my six month old is my second and I’m dreading starting solids because it’s just another added thing I have to manage and take care of. She is exclusively breastfeeding and she is very chunky and happy so I’m not worried. I think starting off slow, maybe doing one food once or twice a week and then adding in more. That’s what I did with my first and it took the pressure off.

From what I’ve seen, many people follow what their pediatrician recommends without question, while many pediatricians unfortunately are not up to date on the current recommendations.

I think we all do what’s best for our baby and that’s just fine. As moms, we can do our own research of course but there’s no definitive answers since new research is always being done. We can do our best to follow today’s guidelines and respect other mom’s journeys as well.

This is my second baby and I’m definitely not as excited/eager for solids like I was with my first 🙃 my oldest did so well with BLW and loved everything but after his first birthday started the slow progression to pickiness. Just not ready to deal with that again 😂

We started solids with my son at the end of 4 months. We mainly started because he seemed ready. He kept trying to eat our food and could sit up well assisted with good neck control. We didn’t give him a lot to start, just tastes here and there. He eats solids more regularly now at 6 months but they still never replace a breastfeeding feed 🙂

We only started early because my daughter has severe allergies and her GI specialist recommended we start earlier to reduce the risk of more allergies and because we had to introduce single foods very slowly