Introducing solids before 6 months

[Lollibert]

Hi I was given the go ahead to introduce solids into my 4 1/2 month olds diet due to bottle feeding aversion by her dr has anyone ever been down this road? Was told by HV not to let her taste anything sweet so unsure what to get her as all the baby purées I’ve seen seem to be made with sweet veg like carrots or sweet fruits so very confused here I went with hipp baby rice because I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t sweet

When my DCs were born, the advice was to wean at 4 months. Looking back, that was certainly too early for one of mine, but if you have medical advice to do so, that is different.

It's very easy to make your own purees. Just steam some veg, blitz in a blender and then freeze in ice cube trays. Just take one out to defrost in advance. You can also mix different fruit and veg together to reduce sweetness, so eg mix carrot and broccoli.

I wouldn't worry too much about carrot and fruit though - stay away from sweet yogurts etc, but natural stuff is fine.

Don't give baby rice, it has no nutrition. Make homemade purées and freeze in small pots.

Hipp Baby Rice is just metabolised as sugar, no nutrition at all.

Make your own purees.

First ones could be

• carrot
• pea
• broccoli
• sweet potato

You can thin them out with bone broth for extra nutrition, or add Greek yoghurt or butter for fat/protein balance.

Far too young in my opinion.
But if you must ..blend veg with breast milk. My daughters first food at 8 months was blended cauliflower and breast milk.

The World Health Organization recommends that all babies be exclusively breastfed for 6 months, then gradually introduced to appropriate foods after 6 months while continuing to breastfeed for 2 years or beyond. Stopping breastfeeding is called weaning. It is up to you and your baby to decide when the time is right.
This is what l did.. but she was 8 months and breast fed until 2 and half.

@Jeffreybubblesbombom she has been medically advised as it says in her op

I made my own to start with as they only have a couple of mouthfuls.

@Jeffreybubblesbombom Your opinion is a bit irrelevant, as this has been advised by a doctor who has a) trained and b) actually seen the baby.

Don’t be so snotty.

We were also advised to start weaning one of ours at that age due to reflux.

We did baby rice mixed with formula milk- yes it’s not the best nutritionally but a) you can get more milk in that way which is important if it is being refused/vomited and b) it’s very easy for them to digest. To the baby rice we’d add a few spoons of homemade puree, one ingredient at a time, because their stomach is not as developed as when they’re 6 months, starting with root veg e.g. carrot or sweet potato. You can make in bulk and freeze into ice cube trays for individual portions. Then when we added breakfast it would be the rice cereal again with banana or apple puree- at only 4-5 months they can’t have wheat or oat based stuff, eggs or cows milk, also they can’t self feed so honestly you don’t have many options!

They were off the rice completely by 6.5 months though, and from then on totally on baby lead weaning. So it really is just for the early days that the baby rice comes in handy.

Tbh honest though OP I’d ask if you could see a paediatric dietician if you’re struggling. Or ask your mum for some 1980s/1990s advice! Not many people these days have weaned a baby that young.

My children were all weaned from 4 months ( normal in the 1980s) on a mixture of bought baby food and homemade. I used to buy jars of puréed food or powder that I mixed with water if I was going out but at home I tried to make everything myself. We were not told that fruit was unhealthy so a lot of the first tastes were fruit especially bananas. I would basically purée a few bits of whatever I was cooking for us, such as vegetables with maybe a bit of meat or gravy from a casserole.

i went back to work full time when my eldest was 6 months old so relied on freezing things at the weekend for his mid week meals.

I think we were left to get on with it really, far less advice around as no social media or internet to search! I don’t recall our young children being overweight even if their diets seem wrong nowadays, but then they played a lot more outside as there were no tablets or computer games!

I agree with the suggestion about mixing vegetables together to make them more appealing, I really don’t think puréed broccoli would taste very pleasant on its own!

My premie was advised to go onto solids a 4 months. I used the Ella pouches

This is absolutely nothing to do with the OPs question. She has a bottle feeding aversion. Obviously she is not breastfeeding.

I started with my FF son at 4 months on advise of health visitor and did it all homemade until around the 8 month mark. Started on brocolli puree, steamed with added water then moved onto potato, carrot, suede, sweet potato. When he was 5 months moved onto fruit purees (pear was great for when he was constipated!) Then baby led weaning with finger food at 6 months. He is now 2.5 and will eat whatever is put in front of him and thriving.

You do you mama and trust your gut!

@Glowz question do I keep feeding her until she stops? I fed her some baby rice this morning made with her formula I just fed the amount that was on the box 1 tea spoon of rice 4 teaspoons of milk I did the measurements with her baby spoon tho not a tea spoon and when it was all gone she seems like she could’ve eaten more but I’m scared to overload her system so I didn’t give her anymore but she loved it was opening her mouth for the spoon

I weaned my youngest at 4 months (because that's the medical advice in my country based on the latest research), I just made my own purees from vegetables to begin with but soon just started blending up whatever we were eating (before salt was added) so that he would get introduced to lots of different tastes and exposed to different allergens.

I fed him until he had enough but he usually stopped wanting after a few baby-spoonfuls at that age.

Presumably this has been advised because there are concerns that your baby is not hetting enough calories as she won't take her bottles? If that's the case, I would be looking for solids to be a vehicle to get more into her, by making my own putrees and mixing with formula. The kind of simple foods like fruit and veg that are suitable at this age are all low calorie - if you think about it, they're the kind of things we'd eat if we were on a diet. The last thing you want is to fill her up with, say, carrot, and find that she is then taking even less milk than before. There are very few first foods that are more calorie dense than formula or breast milk but I have a vague memory that avocado is. That's perhaps a bit of a strong flavour at this stage though. Sounds like you probably could do with advice from a dietitian to be honest- have you been referred?
In the meanwhile I would give milk before solids and keep things simple with basic fruit and veg, porridge etc made with a bit more formula. When she is a bit older you can start to include dairy produce like yoghurt and cheese to compensate for the lack of milk but I don't think that's recommended before 6 months. Also no gluten before 6 months. (I could be wrong though as my children are all grown up so its a long time since I have been at this stage.)
Good luck, hope you get her taking enough soon.

@MrsAvocet hi yes she’s been reffered to a dietitian I got a text saying we have a phone call appointment in November that’s a good idea when I make my own foods for her I’m going to blend them with baby formula

It’s a bit like when I was trying to get calories into my Mum who had Alzheimer’s and sometimes refused to eat. The dietician advised adding full fat cream to as many dishes as possible to increase the calories. Obviously you would not give cream to a baby but add as much formula as you can to everything you purée!

Best way to start is by giving a couple of teaspoons worth. Use breast milk or formula to blend. Start with your green veg, green beans, peas (blended), broccoli. You can steam them til they are over cooked and give along side puree as a gentle baby led weaning technique. Let baby play with the food.

Instead of baby try baby oatmeal or make your own by blitzing it in the food processor and then make as normal but use ypur baby milk of choice.

There's some fantastic weaning advice on Jenny mom it's an American website but babies are the same wherever their born.

Why can't you give wheat / gluten at that age, to those who have said that?

The advice varies but gluten is an allergen and for a long time they were advised to avoid before 6 months, I was actually advised to introduce earlier.

@Lollibert I would just follow guidance and keep an eye, I personally didn't like using the baby rice. I think my son tried it once then that's when I went onto making purees myself and just fed until he wasn't interested anymore. I would rather he filled up on veg ect than the baby rice and pouches at first but you need to do what you think is best. You're their mum and know them best :)

I have no idea actually, maybe because it’s harder for them to digest? But everywhere seems in agreement on it ie the baby rice is 4 months + but the oat based baby cereals are all 6 months +. Or maybe because it’s an allergen?? If anyone does knows why I’d be interested!

Its outdated advice that the NHS etc. haven't got around to updating yet. Nowadays its known early introduction can reduce risks rather than increase them as earlier thought.

@Natsku that's what I thought too - that it's better to introduce allergens early - thanks

Weaned all of mine from 4m for different reasons, one was a reflux, the other was an off the centiles little unit who was crawling and sitting and reaching for food at 16weeks so my instincts told me he needed it.
the general pattern of introduction for me was:
blended up root veg - carrrots, swedes, sweet potato and squash etc for a couple of weeks exclusively- the fibre will wake up the gut lining and get them ready for more acidic or hard to digest foods.
then avocado and pulses -Lots of mashed potato with real butter.
then I introduced fish and meat and cheese and wheat so that they were tucking into salmon fish pies and little cottage pies and spaghetti bolognaise by about 5 months. This is a sweet spot for them tolerating a bit of texture so that you’re not blending food anymore, just serve it soft let them feed themselves if they will.
by 6m they were eating everything I was just without salt and spice. I have a lovely picture of DS at 6m licking the high chair tray after putting away a beef casserole with dumplings. He was a brilliant little eater and I used to run him a bath while he munched away so that he could enjoy it without me worrying about mess. This has given me lovely happy memories of mine before they knew everything and stressed me out. Favourite age was 6-18m.