we started at 5 1/2 months --organic rice cereal mixed with breast milk --just to introduce our girl to solid food. then some smushy bananas, avocado, applesauce, smushy pears and now sweetpotatoes...so far so good and none of which she prefers to the boob.

we first talked withour pediatrician and she said to introduce our baby to solids and see how it goes but to absolutely continue breast feeding. we kinda just waited for the baby to show her own interest in food and went with that.

now we offer some solids everyday at mealtimes or when we are cooking in the kitchen. she has been into it. it has been a pretty relaxed and easy transition into something new. i hope it goes well for you!!

this doesn't have to be a stressful transition and if it really feels stressful maybe step away for a bit until you are more inwardly comfortable with moving on into this next space with joy. food is so much fun and such a whole fabulous world anyway, it really should be a joy to bring other foods into your baby's experience.

happy food-ing!!!

you're right. there's lots of different views on starting solids. i started siena on solids at 6 1/2 months after she'd showed a lot of interest since around 4 1/2 months. i give her small amounts of food once a day just to get her trying it out, but she still gets her needed food solely from breastmilk. i only feed her veggies after she's nursed.

kellymom has this advice. i think it's a well-balanced site with lots of good info and ideas.

www.kellymom.com/nutrition...index.html

definitely not something to stress about. she's getting all she needs from the boob and won't wean herself because of the solids, unless you're replacing nursing with the solid food. good luck to you! it's been fun seeing siena feeding herself her yams and avocado. this week she stopped using her hands and started eating it right off of the table. cracks me up everytime!

I felt the same stress, but we just followed Jozie's lead. We started solids at 5 1/2 months because she showed interest, but after a few weeks she totally lost interest in all solids. We decided not to push it and would offer but not stress if she had any or not. At about 11-12 months she took us up on the solid food offer and didn't slow down. It needed to be on her terms and she nursed the entire time otherwise. So, while it's easier said than done, don't stress.... you're baby will eat when she is ready.

I second the Kellymom articles. The one on delayed solids really calmed my nerves.

abigail had a taste or two around 5 months, but only because she was giving us the stare-down any time we put food in our mouths, but she wasn't really thrilled, so we just went slowly ... then around 6 months, we went full on with organic brown rice cereal & breastmilk, unsweetened applesauce, avocado mash, banana, then finally, sweet potato ... no reason to stress, do what seems right for your girl.


www.llli.org//NB/NBsolids.html
www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp
www.superbabyfood.com/chapsoli.htm
www.wholesomebabyfood.com/