solid for 4 months old baby

[concernedmomiya]

My doctor said that its okay to introduce solids as early as 4 months. I followed it. However, another practitioner said it should be 6 months. What's the difference? Which is more beneficial?

Thanks

[5Homebirths4Kate]

Most babies are ready for solids at 6 months of age or older, and truly don't need solids earlier than this. The breastmilk or formula they are given will give them all the nutrients they need for the first year of life.

My children started solids around 8 months of age. The baby led weaning approach suggests watching your child's developmental cues and starting around 6 months of age.

If you do a search on this site for "baby led weaning" you'll find a lot of good information and some videos of how other parents introduced solids to their babies the baby led weaning way.

Warm regards,

Kate

[ljmarsden]

I just wanted to second Kate's advice above. The latest guidance (from the World Health Organisation and many other respected healthcare advisers) is that it is best to wait until your baby is 6 months old until you start introducing solid food. Your baby needs to be developmentally ready for weaning e.g. sitting up and able to reach out and grab food. It is best to exclusively breastfeed until 6 months of age.

From 6-12 months of age a baby can then start exploring and playing with food and trying the different tastes and textures. At 12 months of age it is still possible for a baby to get 85-90% of their nutrients from the breast milk. This percentage gradually reduces throughout the second year of life as solid food becomes more and more important.

Best wishes,

LJ

[5Homebirths4Kate]

More really good information from LJ. Isn't it wonderful to know that even at a year of age, a child can be very healthy if he gets 85-90% of their nutrients from breastmilk? My first baby probably fell into this category as she really wanted very little do to with table food until she was a year old.

Kate