Solids before 6 months?

[snowmoon]

Hi. I know the current guideline is that solids should not be introduced before 6 months. But I have heard that some people start at 4 months. Can anyone give me some advice? Anyone out there who have started their babies on solids at 4 months with no problems?

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I also weaned from 4 months as like yorkiegirl, dd seemed ready for it by then. I didn't have any problems and dd ate pretty well until recently, she is now at 19 months and quite fussy!!!!!!!! Don't think this has any thing to do with when i weaned her though.

I weaned my son at 17 weeks on the paedeatrician's advice! My son had reflux and the doctor thought that more solid food may help. I asked him about whether or not it would be problematic based on the "not before six months" mantra, and he said not - just to 1) take it slowly; 2) make it more about fun than anything else, and 3) to remember that most (if not all) of the nutriants at this age will be coming from his milk. I found the Annabel Karmel books the most helpful. Hope this helps. PS. My son is now six months and is happiest when covered in some type of vegetable!

Both mine (now 5 & 3) were given solids at 4 months. Both eat me out of house and home now and I've had absolutely no problems with them at all. If I'd had to keep ds off food til 6 months he would hve been the worst baby EVER! (9lb 8oz born - he needed food). Go with your gut feel. Health visitors are there to offer advice.... but they have guidelines to follow. If you feel it's right then you're going to be OK.

Snowmoon, we made it to 5.5mths but I had tried DS before this with solids but he just wasn't interested. My DS was one of those happy and contented but failing to thrive babies (I think he thought milk came out of his thumb!) Each child is different and in the end I was lead by him. If you think yours needs it then try, otherwise don't worry. HV can put the fear of God into you with all these new guidelines but IME do what you think is right for your child.

BTW he is now 9.5mths and eats everything, including dog biscuits Don't tell the HV!!

I did both of ours at 4 months with no ill effects to date. I had breast fed them totally until then, but they seemed more than ready for steak and chips and it got beyond a joke when they fed so frequently tbh. hth?

The HVs in my area have told me that the guidelines are based on WHO research worldwide and are an "average" which is influenced by smaller babies and poor water supplies in some 3rd world countries. So their advice was to wean between 4 and six months. With the HVs ok I started to wean my youngest son at four months (as I had for the other 2) as he was waking more frequently and dropping off his percentile. I also had some problems breastfeeding this time around, which I won't bore you with, and he did not take to a bottle until he got used to having solids, i.e. finally realised that there was more to life than boobs!
He took the solids fine, though I would admit that he seemed to puke a lot until he passed the 6 month stage so maybe it is good advice if you can stick it out? I think if he had taken an occassional bottle, I would have been able to hang on for longer.

Sorry to disagree pabla, but your HV are talking crap. The WHO guidleines are for EVERYONE. 1st, 2nd and 3rd world. They are not based on average weights etc, and have nothing to do with poor water supplies. It is based more on gut maturity and the effect that introducing non milk proteins to immature guts has on later development of autoimmune problems. Gut development is not correlated to babies size or weight.

Of course, many babies will cope fine with solids before 6 months (especially if, like yg, you control carefully what they get), in some it will cause problems - you have to weigh up the chances of problems with the actual problems you are having with a very hungry baby. But solids are not necessarily the answer - milk, whether breats or bottle, has more calories than pureed carrot.

Both mine had solids at 4 months, my first because he had very bad colic and I was advised by my doctor, second one because he was hungry! both are fine.

I started ds on solids at 4 months and dd at just under 4 months, as that is what I was advised by health professionals at the time. Doesn't seem to have had any ill effects. Just about every baby born between 1960 and 1995 would've been weaned at that age. It's only quite recently that guidelines have changed - and they'll no doubt change again before long. Perhaps the best thing is to use your instincts; it's pretty easy for a mother to tell whether a baby is thriving or not. Don't misunderstand me; I'm not saying that a respected organisation like the WHO is wrong, only that all it's doing is reflecting current thinking, just as it was when it issued different guidelines in times past.

Thanks all for your response. I would like to try introducing solids at 4 months and see how it goes. Of course if I see that DS isn't ready I wouldn't push him. But just wanted to know that it's okay to try at 4 months. I'm reassured by what I've read here. So thanks!