When is a baby ready to eat?

[cosmicdust]

So I read all the reasons for waiting until 6 months & was planning to do so. Almost every night I go over these reasons with my husband to convince both of us that we should wait. However, on Sunday, my 4 1/2 mo ds was sitting on my lap during lunch and several times reached out to grab the rim of my plate (as I'd pushed it far onto the table away from him) pulled it towards him then grabbed at the food. Everything's going to his mouth at the moment, so he almost had a taste of broccoli cheese but I caught his hand on route. Does this mean I should start feeding him? When dh & I eat, he sits (supported, not on his own yet) and watches are every move intently. He's a skinny baby, off the scale on length and 90% on weight, birth weight 10lbs4oz, up to this point exclusively bf.

My little brother(now 42)was given 'solids' in the hospital before he was 2 weeks old as he was a 'hungry baby'. He now suffers IBS...there are quite a few people that are the same if you look at previous threads on the same/similar subjects. I don't think the gut is ready to cope with anything other than milk at such a young age. My Ds is now 10 and the guide lines were(as given to me by the HV)to start weaning at 16 weeks. I weaned him from 14 weeks because I was returning to work. Dd is almost 2 and I was told 6 months to start weaning and I did that. For me it was so much better then than so early.