Solid Food

You can introduce solids any time between 4 and 6 months if your baby is ready. Until then, breast milk or formula provides all the calories and nourishment your baby needs and can handle. His digestive system simply isn't ready for solids until he nears his half-birthday.

How Mom and dad will know when I'm ready?

I will give them clear signs when I'm ready to move beyond liquid-only nourishment. Cues to look for include:

• Head control. I need to be able to keep my head in a steady, upright position. (check!)
• Losing the "extrusion reflex." To keep solid food in my mouth and then swallow it, I need to stop using my tongue to push food out of my mouth. (check!)
• Sitting well when supported. Even if I'm not quite ready for a highchair, I need to be able to sit upright to swallow well. (check!)
• Chewing motions. My mouth and tongue develop in sync with my digestive system. To start solids, I should be able to move food to the back of my mouth and swallow. As I learn to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling — though if I'm teething, you might still see a lot of drool. (check!)
• Significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they've doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old. (check!)
• Growing appetite. I seems hungry — even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day. (check!)
• Curiosity about what they're eating. I may begin eyeing mom's bowl of rice or reaching for a forkful of fettuccine as it travels from dad's plate to his mouth. (check!)

I am 5 months and 1 week old and it is still best to wait until I reaches 6 months before I could taste my first solid food. But since, I show all the indications above, I might have my first solid food in a couple of days (yipeee!).

Have a nice day,

P.S. My momsie (grandmother) just arrived this afternoon and I'll be sharing with you our first encounter