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No, at 6-months they're still getting most of their nutrients from milk. I know some parents don't start solids til their babies are 8-months, so I would just focus on teaching baby how to eat - they're just learning how to maneuver their tongue, mouth, and swallow reflexes at this point. I wouldn't worry too much about them getting their nutrients from solids just yet.

@T.H.O.U.: Yes!

Though 6 months is a good time to start, don't necessarily expect her to gobble up food at that time just because you're starting. It took a good month or two before LO was actually interested in eating. If your LO doesn't like solids for a while, I promise she won't suffer from malnutrition.

You definitely do not HAVE to give her food. You may also want to wait until she is really able to sit up on her own, to reduce the chance of choking.

@NovBaby1112: Absolutely NOT! As long as you are efficiently keeping up with baby's intake needs & they're still continuing to grow sufficiently there is no reason you can't delay.

Here are some great resources concerning solids & the breastfed baby:

Common growth patterns (so you know what's normal in the 6-12 month stage)
http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/weight-gain/

Why Delay Solids
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/

Other solid foods info:
http://kellymom.com/category/nutrition/starting-solids/

We actually delayed solids until 9.5 months when P showed all signs of readiness & I wasn't so worried about early self-weaning before the 1 year mark. She's maintained steady growth (despite still being small on the %) and is now easily eating 3 good meals a day on top of nursing ~5 times a day at 1 year old. =)

thanks for this post! we are about to start in the next few wks and this makes me feel a lot better about starting slowly!

@NovBaby1112: I would go by the same things we use in the nb stage, steady growth & output AND if you are okay with the frequent nursing.... I know I was fine nursing 12+ times a day, but some days it was a tad draining. lol

My ped says BM is superior to any food so, no if you're nursing then you don't have to. I still would (very slowly/minimally) just because they need to get used to it and practice. I FF so I went in more quickly. I probably wouldn't have jumped in so aggressively if I was BFing because of its amazing qualities.

It is not necessary for nutrition, but it is a developmental window. If you start too late it can lead to lead to oral motor delays or food aversion. The window varies from baby to baby, usually 6-8 months. but this is when they are primed to start "getting it."

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:
Baby can sit up well without support.
Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
Baby is ready and willing to chew.
Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

I waited until ALL of these milestones were reached - and that translated to starting solids at 6.5 months. You'll know when your LO is ready!

I started at 6 months and she only ate a tiny amount once a day. She was EBF until we started at 6 months...it took several weeks for her to eat even a tablespoon of food...it's just practice so they start getting used to it. By 8 months she was eating 2x a day but again not a ton of food...still mostly nursing. Probably around 10 months she was eating a lot more food at each meal. Again, it's just practice so that they slowly start eating more solid foods and consuming less milk. I think the worry is there are toddlers who won't eat anything but milk and when they get older (over a year) they start needing nutrition from foods other than milk. By 11 months my LO nurses 2x a day and was eating 3 meals a day with 2 snacks (a banana for one snack and yogurt for her other snack).

Just because it was mentioned, here's some great info regarding breastfeeding toddlers & nutrition... the first delaying solids resources I posted gave info from studies that showed no issue with oral mechanics or motor delays when solids were pushed back & this one shows the nutritional needs of the toddler age nurser. I have talked to lots of moms that have almost ebf babies even at past 12 months & they've grown up to be fine eaters & not developmentally behind. I really think in most causes it's just what's commercially accepted & pushed.

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/toddler-foods/

I would just keep offering. We started solids around 5 months but lo never ate more than a couple bites until maybe she turned 8-9 months? I always BF her first. I think at this point you're just trying to get them used to solids, textures, swallowing, etc. I wouldn't worry about how much they're eating!