To start solids at 5 months or not??

L

lisa88

Registered User
My baby is now just 5 months old and is exclusively breast fed. She is generally content with her feeds, although she has a healthy appetite and is displaying more interest in food that we are eating. The thing is, I keep getting unsolicited advice from everyone - my mum, my sister, colleagues, even my domestic helper - that baby is ready to start solids. The nurse at the govt clinic where my baby gets her vaccinations said to wait til 6 months. (No paed as baby has been healthy all this time) Baby is about 300g away from doubling her birth weight, can sit up with support, and has cut her first 2 teeth already. What to do - wait til 6 months, or start solids??
 
I had the same issue before. I ended up starting solids just before his 5th month. The main thing I looked at was his desire to feed and interest in my food, as well as it seemed like he stopped gaining weight for a while (though had already doubled his birthweight long before). I always read that you shouldn`t start solids before 6 months, but it seems like it`s just the thing to say. every baby is different. If you think she is ready, then start. It takes such a long time anyway for them to have tried all fruits and veg etc and to be on a regular solids diet. No harm in starting now if you think she can handle it.
 
I began solids with my son at around 5.5 months. He was almost exclusively breastfed as well. I chose to wean him then because I thought he was ready and he was. Everyone can tell you different things about what is best, their experiences etc..but in the end, the mom knows his/her child best. My son showed great interest in food and weaning him then was the best thing I've done. If you feel like your baby is ready, why not try giving him some rice cereal and see how it goes - it won't hurt.
 
both of my kids, i started at about 5 months, maybe 5m1w. they've both turned out all right.

you need to tune everyone else out and follow your own instincts.

you can always try a little one day, then nothing the next for a few weeks to see how it goes. it's not like they go immediately from drinking only milk to eating 3 full meals... it would only be a tablespoon or so at most for the first few times anyway.

good luck with your decision.
 
My son was also exclusively bf but around 5.5 months he really was interested by what we were eating. So I tried baby rice mixed with a lot of bf milk, and he really loved it ! but he got constipated very quickly, so I just stopped during a week and started again, and then it went fine.
Maybe you could try, see if she is interested by the spoon or not...
 
my girl start to have solid food at 5 mnths old , she is alright just start with it bit by bit. I feed my girl few spoon per day after a week u can tell yours little one is ready or not. Good luck.
 
Hi

My boy was over 10 pounds at birth so I had lots of people telling me that we would need to give him solids early. We waited until 6 months as saw no need to give earlier than that as:
- he was almost exclusively breastfeed except one formula feed at night and
- he slept through the night from 12 weeks (dream feed at 10.30pm then slept until 7am).

Go with what you think is best for your baby but no harm in starting at 5 months. We used the Gina Ford Book of Weaning and it is FANTASTIC. Step by step on how to introduce solids, what solids to introduce and a whole section on introducing at 5 months instead of 6 months. Also good to give you a guide on when to increase solids and decrease milk. Interestingly, the section on introducing solids at 6 months recommends moving through the food groups quickly so that you can progress onto proteins (chicken etc) as soon as possible to get iron into the baby. So there would appear to be some benefits to introducing solids earlier. I did not like the Gina Ford Contented Baby book until much later (when bubs 6 months or more) but the Weaning one is excellent if you want some hand holding on what to do and when.

SB2
 
Hi everyone

I am happy to report that my baby greedily gulped down the 2 tsp of brown rice cereal mixed with breast milk that I offered to her a few days ago and demanded more! By day 2 she was watching the spoon and the bowl like a hawk and reaching out to grab the bowl. So its off to a good start and I don't think we will be looking back! Thanks for all the suggestions and support!

Cheers
 
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