When did you give solids?

Question

what signs did you look for to start solids

my son is 3 months so not ready yet he has about 36-38oz a day and sleep well at night down at 7pm feed at 11pm awake at 5.30/6 am

he's big 16lbs and 11 weeks

what signs should i look for

Answer 1

Signs you want to look out for are him waking in the night (which would seem odd as he sleeps so well at the moment) wanting a bottle.  Also bottles in the day just not being enough, with him crying increasingly more out of hunger after he's eaten.  I started my son on solids when he was about four and half months as he was showing all these signs above.  I checked with the health visitor first and she took one look at him and said he was ready.  He too is a big boy and milk just didn't satisfy his hunger.  I would definitely speak to your health visitor if you are thinking on starting your son on solids before 6 months just to get reassurance.  

Answer 2

i think start giving some thin cereal in the beginning to check if he can swallow or uses his tongue to take it out. keep on feeding little portions of cereal and then go on to thick consistency when he gets the hold of swallowing when fed with a spoon. when u start he will take it out and gradually will learn. try it between feedings.

i started teaching my baby at 3 months of age. and now at 8 months she drinks water from the glass and hates the bottle. she never needed the sip bottle or the handle to teach her how to hold a bottle. she directly went for the glass.

Answer 3

i started my son at 16 weeks, my sons 1 now and still loves his food. to start with i gave him banana flavoured baby rice, and then after 2 weeks mashed banana only a little bit once a day, and then intrduced other foods slowly.  I knew my son was ready because he would sit and stare when me and my partner ate and would mouth every time we took a mouthfull. hope this helps a little.

Answer 4

20 weeks.  My son breast fed every 1/2 hours and was very unsettled in between. He was also chewing everything in sight. My health visitor advised me to wean him and he is a lot more settled now! Be warned that you will get a number of people on here who will say babies have to be weaned at 6 months, if you do it any earlier then you are a bad parent etc etc but you should trust your instinct and take advice from your friends with experience and health visitors. Good luck!

Answer 5

Absolute minimum age is 17 weeks. Recommended though at 6 months.

Signs are

Wanting feeds more often

Not sleeping through at nights(if they previously used to)

Showing interest in your food.

Also using a chewing motion with mouth.

I started giving my daughter baby rice at 14 weeks, no one told me when to, it was only baby rice and she was ok with it.

At 17 weeks I started introducing different foods, like root vegetables and baby yogurts and cereals.

She now has 3 meals a day, which is banana cereal and 7oz milk at breakfast.

A yogurt and another 7ozs at lunch.

Either another yogurt of different type of vegetable or fruit (like mashed banana) and another 7/6oz of milk at dinner.

Then 9oz of milk at bed.

He sounds like he is doing really well now. Sounds like you get a good nights sleep.

Good Luck.  

Answer 6

i started my daughter 1 week before she was 6 months, some of the signs are waking up through the night for milk after previously regularly sleeping through, not satisfied after normal bottles through the day and feeds becoming closer together than normal, not napping well through the day, waking up early from naps or hard to settle to sleep during the day, my hv told me to start whenever she kept waking up earlier and earlier in the morning for a bottle over a period of a few days.she was drinking around 55 oz a day but i waited a few days just to check it wasnt a growth spurt.  My daughter didnt like the taste of baby rice so i started her on root veg like carrots, sweet potato etc

Answer 7

son son started properly at 16 weeks he was very interested in food so I just went with that at 6 months he was eating what we are eating  and feeds himself. My son is only 16 pounds now though but tall he is still breast feeding 4 times a day .

good luck  sounds like he is doing well

Answer 8

I started solids at 6 months. At my sons 6 month pediatrician visit she told me not to give him more than 6 ounces at a time because he would just spit it up. She told me if he is drinking more than a can of formula a day then I needed to add something else. As you mentioned 3 months is a little young for solids so ask your doctor and see what he/she says to do. I hope this helped you some. Good luck!

Answer 9

World Health Organisation recommends a baby to start weaning diet at 6 months of age.  It's too early for your baby to be started on solids.  You can start giving scraped fruits, baby cereals or gruel at late 4 months old for "trial" purposes but main weaning diet are to be started only at 6 months of age.

Answer 10

My first, about 6 months.

My second, 12 weeks on medical advice (and I really wish I hadn't, he's had problems).

If it's a question of looking for signs, don't. Wait until he's six months. There is no advantage in giving solids early and lots of possible serious disadvantages - lots of babies are fine, but why roll the dice and hope your baby will be one of the lucky ones? The best thing you can do is to wait as long as possible. I know it's really hard (especially when every other mum is discussing their baby's latest roast dinner and how good they are with a knife and fork :) ) but it's the best for them.

The only time you should give solids before six months is when you really have no other option (my son was feeding continuously, throwing up because he was so full of milk, then demanding to be fed again, over and over and over pretty much 24/7. And even then, he wasn't "ready" - I just had no choice.) The best option to "my baby's not satisfied" is more milk. You'll know if he's a baby who needs something other than milk before six months, believe me you will know. You won't need to look for signs.

The main sign you look for after six months is hunger and interest. Baby trying to eat everything in sight, still being hungry after he's had plenty of milk, trying to grab your spoon, watching you eat... but be aware that lots of babies will grab spoons and watch you eat long before their digestive system has physically matured enough for solids to be safe.

Answer 11

My son is just now 15 weeks.  He is a large at 17 lbs and change.  My husband and I just introduced a tiny bit of rice cereal into his formula (about a half teaspoon for 4oz. to start for his last feeding before bed).   This week he was taking in over 50 oz per day of formula (85%) and breast milk (15%) and also starting to wake up in the middle of the night for more feedings.  He had been sleeping 8 hours a night for about the past month and a half.  Since he was seeming to not be satisfied and no longer sleeping as long/well, we decided to introduce a little cereal.  It seems to have worked for us.  Our baby is much happier than he was earlier.  I know what the experts say, but I personally do not believe in "one size fits all" parenting.

I recommend consulting with your pediatrician about introducing solids earlier than 6 months if you see signs such as waking up more often to feed, not seeming satisfied or only briefly seeming satisfied (1 hour), starting to eat a much larger amount of formula or breast milk - these are just a few that I noticed with my son.  Definitely consult your pediatrician, and do what works best for your baby as an individual.  Good Luck and congratulations on your big healthy boy!

Answer 12

You'll get a lot of varied replies on this. The NHS recommendation is no solids until 6 months, but it used to be 16 weeks, which some people prefer to adhere to.

Personally, I'd say to only start at 16 weeks if you think he is ready. Look out for signs like his feeds becoming more frequent and closer together, or he seems unastisfied after a feed. Start very carefully with maybe some baby rice or pureed fruit or veg. Fruit and veg that is steam cooked rather than boiled will keep more of it's nutrients. Don't introduce him to too many new tastes at once, take it slowly. I'd recommend Annabel Karmel's the complete baby and toddler meal planner (you can get it on amazon) for advice and recipes.

Good luck!

Answer 13

Sounds great so far!! My twins began some rice cereal about 5 months then mash veges and fruit at 6 months. I recommend you wait a bit as bub is too young yet to digest solids. He is sleeping well for his age so be patient. They grow fast and before you know it he will be ready for food...dont push it though as it can actually make them sick.