https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 16 Apr 2026 08:41:29 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-611073 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:32:24 +0000 irene 611073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@runsyellowlites: I wish I knew you in person so I have the guts to wait until 9 months! It is the culture that pushes us to give solids at 4-6 months... and if it were up to me, I won't start solids until a lot later as well. Kudos to you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-611051 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:25:56 +0000 irene 611051@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started shortly after LO turns 6 months. And I wish I had an option to wait longer!! It was such a messy, frustrating, confusing 6 months (between 6-12 months) when you constantly wonder is he eating enough, why is he not eating, or why is he eating but not drinking milk, why is he not eating and/or drinking as much as all the pamphlets says he should be (OH I HATE THOSE DAMN GUIDELINES), if you should give him water and when to give him water, and why is he not drinking water, or you spent all that effort to cook up some awesome stuff only that he didn't even want one bite of it. </p> <p>Finally we are passed 12 months, switch to cow's milk, eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day pretty well, and he acts like a human being. I just wished we never had to do solids until at least 10 months so we could have skipped all those drama / trauma!</p> <p>I also think solids was part of the reason why LO self weaned (from breastfeeding) at 8+ months. Then of course a huge reason was the bottles, and teething. Why settle laying down staring at a breast while there are all these different ways to eat?</p> <p>But then again, he slept through the night (11-12 hours) starting 7 months, and I think it is definitely because of the solids. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-611027 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:19:56 +0000 bushelandapeck 611027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started at 4 months per our pediatricians recommendation. LO was still waking every 2-3 hours at night and had all the signs of being ready for food (reaching for our food, sitting up mostly unassisted, great head control) so we went ahead. We started with fruits and veggies. He's almost 7 months now and eats pretty much everything we do, just mashed up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610980 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:04:53 +0000 mediagirl 610980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started at 5.5 months with purees. Gradually, I added in some small pieces of food. She's almost 9 months now and she gets 3 meals a day. We do oatmeal for breakfast, a puree and a finger food for lunch (like stewed meat and carrots or hamburger meat or shredded chicken) then we will do the same for dinner. We will give her puffs now for snacks and at mealtimes, as well. We just followed her cues. She wasn't really interested in feeding herself until just recently (past month or so). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610947 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:50:56 +0000 hilsy85 610947@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Beehive: part of my thinking was to figure out a way to add calories to my skinny guy as well! I'll see if his pedi recommends it at our 5 month weight check.<br /> @runsyellowlites: ha definitely NOT looking forward to stinky poo...and like I said previously, we're struggling a bit with breastfeeding (LO doesn't always seem very interested) so I definitely wouldn't want to compromise it further. @hellobeeboston: same here- re: watching us eat! I bet the sitting up thing isn't far off for our munchkins </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610847 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:18:30 +0000 hellobeeboston 610847@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>thanks for starting this thread @hilsy85: </p> <p>I have been wondering the same thing - we left the Ped's office &amp; said we could start with rice cereal - or meat puree's as we discussed (still grossed out by that but it makes sense!).... I am also worried that he'll stop wanting milk &amp; only want food! I have one friend who's child got a taste of food and never went back to BFing or formula, it was pretty unusual, but that was what happened &amp; she freaked me out! She didn't start solids until just after 6 months though.</p> <p>J isn't sitting unassisted yet either, so maybe I'll wait for that - he is Definitely interested in food now though - he always is watching us eat &amp; our food now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610838 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:15:01 +0000 anbanan15 610838@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We initially waited until he was 6 months because he was EBF and I wanted him to be on breastmilk for a solid 6 months. It was also per our doctors recommendation since he already had allergies to the proteins in my BM. However, on his 6 months birthday he took one bite of homemade rice cereal and had an allergies reaction (lead to our FPIES diagnosis). He was not given another solid until he was 9.5 months old. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610799 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:07:08 +0000 cascademom 610799@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At 4 months old, we started with oat cereal. He kept on spitting it out. Since then, we've slowly introduced veggie and fruit purees. He likes fruit better than veggies which is pretty normal. I've been using a mesh feeder to feed him bananas which he likes. He's a little over 6 months old. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610794 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:05:19 +0000 runsyellowlites 610794@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We waited until after 9 months. P's pedi really started pushing them at 6 months but she still wasn't fully sitting unassisted &amp; was still growing fine on just breastmilk. </p> <p>Waiting for us meant:<br /> 1. P was generally getting more calories a day because she'd drink more milk per sitting than eat food (4 oz of bm is ~ 80oz whereas 4 oz of many veggies have less calories, some equal the same)<br /> 2. Our breastfeeding relationship wasn't possibly compromised. Here &amp; on other groups I've seen a lot of moms struggle with nursing strikes &amp; even self-weaning in infancy after starting solids. Since the quality of breastmilk far outweighs any regular food I wasn't willing to risk it.<br /> 3. Other purely selfish perks were non stinky poo for longer &amp; not having to clean the high chair. Lol</p> <p>ETA: We also started with meats &amp; totally skipped baby cereals bc most have soy &amp; are wheat contaminated, both being thing P was/is intolerant too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why/page/2#post-610744 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:54:13 +0000 tequiero21 610744@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Waited until 3 days before 6 mos cuz 6 mos was recommended and the kids were ready... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610732 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:52:02 +0000 Beehive 610732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Great topic @Hilsy85, I'm really interested in this too! My pedi said I should get his weight gain / liquid feeding stabilized before starting on solids, but I'm not sure why, since it seems like a lot of people start solids on the earlier side to bulk up their skinny babies a little! We'll probably start closer to 5.5 or 6 months since we're away on vacation in a couple weeks, and don't want to start something just to stop for a week and then pick it up again once we're back. As far as BLW vs. purees, I think I'm also leaning toward doing a combination. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610655 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:34:31 +0000 GrapeCrush 610655@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>4 months because he was very interested in food/our food/watching us eat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610644 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:30:55 +0000 Sammyfab 610644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started a 5 months when I introduced the spoon. I would just put some breastmilk on a spoon and offer it to him but he didn't really get it. We also tried avocado, squashy sweet potato and oatmeal. He didn't start actually eating food until 2-3 weeks into it when he coincidentally started sitting independently (totally unassisted...not just in a highchair or bumbo). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610638 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:28:23 +0000 littlecasita1122 610638@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: We started with fruit and veggie purees the first few weeks and then did oatmeal after that. He still eats oatmeal a few times a week for breakfast now (8.5 months old). I didn't see the need to start with the rice cereal or oatmeal first, so pears was his first food! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610620 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:23:16 +0000 buffalove 610620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: we started very slow....pretty much exactly what @littlecasita1122 described! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610613 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:20:21 +0000 littlebittyhouse 610613@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: my mom and MIL (daycare) were nervous to give him table food so up until recently he was 100% purees when he was away from me. Now they will give him table food if I send it but still prefer the purees.</p> <p>To be fair, LO was a gagger when we first started with the BLW. It was hard for DH and I not to get freaked out. After a month or so of BLW there was no more gagging! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610604 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:17:19 +0000 purrpletulips 610604@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hilsy85: it is funny to watch especially because it is pasty/mush that he's eating </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610600 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:16:22 +0000 hilsy85 610600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@purrpletulips: ah gotcha. Ha that's so funny that he "chews"! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610599 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:16:03 +0000 hilsy85 610599@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlecasita1122: did you do oatmeal/cereal? or something else? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610598 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:15:49 +0000 purrpletulips 610598@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: he was able to sit up pretty well supported and when at the table with us he would mouth his lips like he was chewing; we are not doing BLW so we started him on cereal that was runny and have been thickening it as he gets better with the chewing action </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610596 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:14:43 +0000 littlecasita1122 610596@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started at 4.5 months with giving 1-2 tablespoons once a day around lunch time (about an hour after a nursing session). He got the hang of eating off a spoon after two tries, so I knew he was ready. We slowly added more food every couple of weeks - so at 6.5 months he was eating about 2oz of a solid for breakfast and 2oz of something else for dinner. We always made sure to feed him solids an hour after nursing/or bottle so he filled up on milk first. Also followed his cues of when he was full (he'll turn his head away real quick and also make a sour face). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610595 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:14:14 +0000 hilsy85 610595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@buffalove: ah gotcha! Yeah I would need to find out how much she recommends he actually be consuming vs just experimenting with.<br /> @purrpletulips: what signs did you see?<br /> @littlebittyhouse: I think ideally we would also do a mix of purees and BLW! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610590 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:11:20 +0000 littlebittyhouse 610590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>at 5.5mo i gave him fruit and oatmeal on the weekends in the morning. at 6mo we started a regular breakfast (puree and infant oatmeal) at daycare and at home we were giving BLW a go. Now at 8mo we are a mix of purees and BLW. He still has about 24-28oz of breastmilk per day.</p> <p>One of the best things I ever heard was 'food before one is just for fun' it put the whole solids thing into perspective for me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610589 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:11:12 +0000 purrpletulips 610589@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>around 4.5-5months because he was showing signs of being ready </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610587 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:09:47 +0000 buffalove 610587@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: i think my pedi is kind of the opposite - that they are taking in so much liquid in that little body that they should probably be ready for solids. Of course, with using formula I knew exactly how much DS was eating, so it was easy for me to gauge. The balance between solids and liquid is still key though - she kind of mapped it out for me b/c he's still getting most of his nutrition from the formula. I'd say from months 4-6, the solids were mostly just about learning to eat from a spoon and sit in the highchair (for us at least!). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610586 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:09:44 +0000 NovBaby1112 610586@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>subscribing to this as I am interested in this as well...everyone is pushing us to start solids at 4 months, but i am leaning more towards 5/6 months....she is def interested in food, but she cannot really sit unassisted. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610583 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:09:08 +0000 littlek 610583@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: He could sit indefinitely on his own before we started solids. I was in no rush to start solids because starting solids has been known to lead to childhood obesity. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610557 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:57:41 +0000 hilsy85 610557@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@buffalove: hm interesting! I'm pretty sure my LO isn't taking in close to 30oz of breastmilk....I guess maybe the fear is that if they're not taking in enough milk/formula, they might fill up too much on solids? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610554 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:57:24 +0000 lovehoneybee 610554@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started at about 6 months. He was sitting mostly unassisted, watching us eat intently, and eventually grabbing at the food on our plates. We're half doing BLW so we weren't going to start any sooner anyway, we just followed his cues on when he was ready. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-did-youwill-you-start-solids-and-why#post-610547 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:55:11 +0000 buffalove 610547@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: My pediatrician uses the amount of formula per day as one of the factors in being ready for solids. She thinks that 30oz per day is at the high end and can indicate baby is ready for solids. Lots of other factors too (like being a supported sitter, being interested in food, etc). </p>