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We started at 5 months with DD1 because I was an over eager first time Mom excited for milestones. She was a huuuuuge eater and was nursing so much at the time but I’m sure I could have dragged it out. DD2 we gave her some tastes at about 5.5 months but she wasn’t interested. She didn’t really take to solids until 7 months. She was also smaller and not a huge eater so wasn’t such a drain on me (literally). I did a lot of reasearch and just came to the understanding that it really wasn’t necessary. I also felt uncomfortable being lumped in with the masses of moms who feed at 4 months. I was disappointed I had fallen captive to wanting to reach a milestone.

I think both my kids tried their first foods at just shy of six months but we did mainly BLW so they didn’t eat huge quantities of food until at least 12-15 months (they both nurses until at least 2.5 so still got plenty of nutrition from breast milk).

With my first she started one week shy of 6 months, though the pediatrician gave us the go ahead whenever we were ready at her four month appt. I felt fine waiting. I did mostly blw too.

With my second it was just past 6 months when I realized I should start, so truly mostly laziness.

We started BLW right about 6 mos with both kiddos

First we did around 4 1/2 months. My second we just did this week a little after five months. My pediatrician said for both boys it was OK to start at four months and to definitely start by six months. My first was ready sooner. we watched for the signs. Tracking our fork and spoon, moving his mouth like he’s chewing while we ate, etc. My second showed those signs just a little bit later but he was also born a month early. So I wanted to wait until he showed me he was ready.
Now, it’ll still probably be two or three months before I feel like it’s a substantial supplement to his bottles. Right now of course it’s just tastes and textures and he probably had like a teaspoon or less of butternut squash the other day. And I haven’t done it since. But I’m going to continue slowly introducing things over the next month as he approaches six months.

I think my first started at 6.5 months and my second at 5.5 months.

I started about 5 months with DS1 and 4 months with DS2. My pediatrician recommended it at 4 moths to reduce the likelihood of food allergies, but I was nervous the first time. I did some research, and did not find any studies saying starting at 4 or 5 months had any downsides, and it had a small decrease in food allergies, so I went with it. There were not a lot of studies, though. I would have waited until 6 months if my pediatrician recommended that. I started with a few basic foods (banana, sweet potato, avocado) and then moved on to foods that are likely to cause allergies.

I think we started at 5 months with both, but can't remember. We started when they met all the developmental signs. Both kids were early independent sitters.

We started at 5.5 months with my first and closer to 5 months with my second. They were both ready by then, sitting on their own, wanting food from our plates.

It took awhile to get my older one interested in solids. He hated anything with texture and would not pick up any food until around 11 months. My second was not on purees long, he was shoveling food into his mouth by 7 months.

We started a bit shy of six months, because he seemed ready. He went from below the 30th percentile at the 4 month check to around the 70th at the 6 month check, so clearly he was getting enough calories without solids.

It's ridiculous how much conflicting advice there is, about when to start and what to feed. I think the AAP says 6 months in their breastfeeding section, and 4-6 months in their general feeding section. At LO's 6 month appointment, the advice the nurse gave explicitly contradicted the handout - i.e. when to give potential allergens like eggs. The nurse also said no finger foods until 9 months, last time we saw the pediatrician she said we'd talk finger foods at 6 months, and the handout said purees until 11 months. I've tried giving LO chunks of very soft fruit and he has zero interest (whereas when he sees a spoon with puree he grabs it and shoves it in his mouth) so we will just keep following his lead.

@Silva: I have to say I always love when you respond because I know you’re coming with a pediatrician parent perspective.

@Silva: not an asshole at all! It seriously has given me so much comfort. And it’s great to see that even a pediatrician/Pediatricians wife faces the same kid issues we all have!

We did a few days shy of 6 month with LO1 mainly because DH was super interested in letting her try food. With LO2 we waited until a week or two after 6 months just out of laziness/lack of necessity. Eating is messy and EBF is so much more convenient! We did BLW with both and both were sitting up by 6 months so that was only a partially deciding factor. We did allergens very early, especially peanut butter (try Bamba puffs - LO2 loves them!).

Following because we are at just over 5 months and it feels kind of daunting so I sort of want to put it off just for that reason! Our ped suggested 5-6 mos at our last appt. She only shows mild interest in food and can’t sit up alone, though her head and neck control is great and she is a master roller. My guess is we’ll do it right at 6 mos.

Before 6 months because my LO was tapped out drinking the maximum amount of formula he could and his doctor was concerned about weight gain. He was already drinking 30-32 oz of formula a day.

@Mrsbells: interestingly, I think the recommendations are changing again! The evidence for allergy prevention when exposure occurs prior to 6 months is pretty strong, so I think now there is some push to get kids exposed to things like nuts earlier (with primary nutrition still coming from breast milk/formula).... it’s always changing, no wonder we can’t keep up.

We stopped trying to prevent him from grabbing our food and beverages around 5 months but didn’t start actively offering solids until 6 months. He didn’t do much more than play/taste until close to 9 months.

We started at 6 months and did BLW. I wanted him to be confident in sitting independently before starting

@CatchAFallingStar: that shouldn't be an issue at all. I think the main thing is you shouldnt be reducing her formula or breastmilk amount to fit in a solid food at that age.