Is my baby showing signs of being ready to start solid foods?

[Nessamommy]

My son is 5 months old. It seems like he is feeding more often lately...during the day only though (at night he can sleep from 9-12 hrs straight). He has been putting his fist agressively in his mouth lately and seems to be grabbing at food when I hold him and I'm eating. I don't know if he's grabbing because he grabs everything to put in his mouth it seems. We have been trying a non-valve sippy cup with water which he seems to not mind at all (with water that still goes all over him as opposed to in him). My husband really wants to try the solids, and I know I'm eager too...but I don't want to start too soon. What does it sound like to you?

does he sit up well by himself?
has he lots his tongue thrust reflex?

if you do blw (ie offer finger foods for him to pick up and eat himself) you'll soon see if he's ready - if they can sit up, pick up finger foods and eat them themself then they're ready to eat them. And if he can't he'll have fun playing with them till he can .

i agree with mrsbadger, have a look at www.babyledweaning.com for info.

Well...he can sit up (still need some support) but for the most part he does pretty well. When I feed him his vitamins during the day, he swallows them way better now than what he used to. He just seems like he wants to eat more frequently during the day now! I don't know if that's related to starting solids or not? He grabs for the dropper when giving him his vitamins and he grabs at his cup and stuff too when we try to give him some water. He seems more tired during the day...even after a nap. Does this have anything to do with it? I guess there is no harm in trying some rice cereal to see what he does??

finger food will give you more of an idea of his readiness than spooning in puree though.

steamed carrot sticks are good because you can see from the nappies how much went in

he will be interested in evberything and grabbing for all sorts of things

the thinks that mrs badger has mentioned are important and there is some good info on www.kellymom.com too

i;d give him as much milk as he wants and let him play with a bit of finger food, but he is probably just going through a growth spurt in which case milk is more filling than food due to the amounts he could eat