when should i start solids?

whenever you & your husband are comfortable. (after 5 mo).

6 months :)

6 months ... everyone else has said the rest!

solids = any kind of additional/complementary foods, i.e. anything given in addition to breastmilk or formula. Anything else has the potential to trigger allergies or digestive upset and detract from milk intake. Current research indicates that when babies are developmentally ready for additional foods, there is actually no need to offer pureed foods or porridge unless you want to - you can just offer finger foods or typical (healthy!) family table foods. (ETA cross-posting with kiwispiers - sorry for the redundant answer!) <em>edited by BFC on 06/07/2011</em>

"solids" generally means anything that is not milk

When you say solids, does that include pureed fruits, veggies and porridge?

I think that solids started to be given early for a few reasons, one of which was that women, following the 4 hourly scheduled feeding advised in the 60s, found that by about 3 months their supply was not enough, and so either switched to formula, or began to introduce extra calories via rice cereal and other things that could be made thin enough for a baby that age to swallow. (conveniently produced by the same companies that made formula) A &lt;4 month old still has an immature digestive tract (open gut) which leaves it open to infection if anything other than milk is given, they do not produce the digestive enzyme amylase so are unable to convert starch (eg baby rice) into sugar and so it basically ferments in their gut. Breastmilk (not formula) contains this enzyme, presumably to help a baby digest starch before they make enough of the enzyme themselves (which they begin to make in small amounts at approx 6 months and digest like an adult by age 2.) With a tummy full of rice cereal, they probably take less milk and so potentially miss out on all the good nutrients it contains, which are important for their brain development. Cavemen were not pureeing carrots and apples to feed their little cave babies and I agree with BFC that it is much better for a few reasons to wait until your baby is actually physically ready to eat, and so can sit (unaided) and lean forward to take food from a spoon or take a bite of banana etc. Waiting until your baby "wants" to eat puts the ball in their court, and eating is a fun experience rather than an ordeal. It also makes life easier for you, as you haven't spent months making/freezing sloppy purees and trying to convince your baby to drink them. A &gt;6 month baby is likely to be able to graduate quickly to chunks and textures and can be given meat. Personally I chose not to give rice cereal and instead started with fruit, meat and vegies as I think they are more natural first foods than fortified rice http://www.pediatricnews.com/article/S0031-398X(09)70296-6/fulltext . I liked the idea of BLW (and still do) but decided to go with purees/mashes for my baby. By 5 months, many babies will be more ready for solids, and by 6 months most babies will have a "closed" gut. I personally think my baby was physically ready by 5 months, but I chose to wait until 6 1/2 months because I saw zero benefit in early solids and a potential risk. I did change my breast-feeding habits at around the 4 months mark and saw an increase in weight gain and the end of his reflux which I would have mistakenly attributed to solids had I started them then. For me it is not worth a risk in the hope of better sleep and if your baby is hungry, they need more milk. When I did finally give solids it made zero difference to my babies sleep, there are developmental brain changes in alertness after sleep cycles at around the 4 months mark which probably are responsible for the many previously good sleepers starting to wake at this age especially if they have strong sleep associations with dummies, rocking or nursing. My baby is a big, in the 98th centile for length and a lot of people gave that as a reason why I should start solids early, there is no logic in this, clearly he had got this large being EBF and continued to grow at an alarming rate EBF for the next 2 months. I have also heard it suggested for small babies, in my mind if your baby is taking a small amount of calories, they should be the most nutrient rich possible (ie milk). The other reason for not rushing solids, in my mind is you risk creating a negative association with food. If you baby hasn't lost the tongue thrust reflex, which protects them from choking by pushing out anything you put into their mouth, and you attempt to overide this by forcing in a spoon, it can potentially be a bit scary for the baby,they feel like they could choke, at this age they are generally sitting in a reclined position, which means that if they do start to gag, gravity is not working in their favour from a safety perspective. There was a recent article, which reviewed some prior research and questioned waiting until 6 months, it was very controversial but cited some studies saying that their was a risk of iron deficiency in BF babies and that a Swedish study had shown a reduced risk in gluten allergy with an earlier introduction of solids. With a family history of food allergies, I did quite a lot of reading at the time and actually read quite a few of the cited studies. The authors of the Swedish study actually attributed the drop in celiacs to the fact that more women were still breastfeeding at the 4 months mark and so more babies had the protective effect of being breast-fed during the introduction of solids. Breastfeeding, not age was the relevant point which was conveniently left out in the controversial "breast is not always best" review. It might be something to consider if your baby seemed ready earlier and for some reason you did not plan to be breastfeeding at 6 months, you would have to keep in mind though, that without BM your baby might struggle later with starchy foods and digestive upset. Iron deficiency is maybe a valid point, some babies may not have sufficient iron stores to last until they are able to consume iron rich foods, it has been suggested this might be in part, caused by early cord clamping at birth meaning the baby misses out on a large volume of blood which they were meant to have. However a lot of studies have not shown anemia even in BF babies who were not given solids as late as 1 year of age, so evidence is conflicting on that one. Of course you can always give an iron supplement rather than an apple puree (which clearly doesn't contain a lot of iron) and if your baby is FF you essentially already are. Sorry that was a very long answer, the short answer is your baby might be ready sooner, but unless you are prepared to get a gut biopsy to confirm it, the safest thing to do is wait until after 5 months, preferably after 6 and then look for developmental signs of readiness.

I found that starting solids did not in any way help with encouraging a baby to sleep through the night. The early solids contain so few calories nor do they take much volume, so you're not actually increasing their caloric intake much - so don't expect a miracle :)

Current recommendations are 6 months. This is because introducing solids too early can risk harm; most babies are not ready before 6months, and those who are ready slightly earlier will not be harmed by waiting longer However, as every baby is different, it's more accurate to watch out for the signs of readiness. It has been found that the gut, immune system, motor skills and oral skills are all ready to deal with complementary foods at the same time. For most babies, this is 6 months or later (and Never Ever before 17 weeks). Reliable signs of readiness include: - Head control, and can sit with minimal support (e.g. in a high chair) - Loss of the tongue-thrust reflex - Baby can pick up food (pincer grasp) - Baby can chew - Baby can help themselves to food off your plate! Waking during the night and reaching a certain weight have been found to *not* be reliable signs. (Waking during the night is a normal phase related to brain function rather than digestive system/nutritional needs.) If in doubt, wait till 6 months. However, if your baby is showing all the signs above (and a few of them do before 6 months) then you're OK to introduce complementary foods if you wish. Good luck, and enjoy this new stage of your little one's development! xx

6 months is recommended age, at 4 months the baby's digestive system is not mature enough to cope with solids. At 6 months start with rice cereal & etc.