When Should You Start Solids?

When to start solids is one is the most disputed topics out there! Is it 4 months, 6 months? How do we know? Fortunately all official Australian guidelines agree on the same things!

The health guidelines from the World Health Organisation, ASCIA and the Australian NHMRC infant feeding guidelines all recommend starting solids at "around 6 months". This wording often gets misconstrued for being at 6 months however the wording "around 6 months" was specifically chosen to highlight the fact that when babies are ready differs depending on the baby just like every developmental milestone. The developmental signs are the most important thing to look for and these will happen at different times for different babies!

In our experience its pretty rare for babies to show all the true signs at 4 months but a lot more common to see them at 5 - 5.5 months (which in our opinion is more in the realm of "around 6 months")

There is very little to be gained from starting solids earlier than 6 months as babies don't really need any nutrition from foods until closer to 6 months so our suggestion is usually to wait as close to this as possible! Plus there's the added work of food prep and cleaning once your little one is eating meals!

Parents are often told that starting earlier will:

• Help with weight gain (But why is bub struggling to gain weight? First food usually aren't very calorie dense and can displace milk intake...we prefer to deal with the root cause of slow weight fain here!)
• Help with reflux (no evidence for this and can make it worse)
• Help with sleep (again....no evidence for this and starting early when their gut isn't ready to digest food can make sleep more difficult!)

So if you have the above challenges get some 1:1 support and wait to jump into solids until they are showing the signs they are ready!

To summarise, you should start when your little one is close to 6 months (4 months minimum),showing all the signs of readiness and you are feeling comfortable to start!

1. Good head and neck control - no flop left. We don't want to see their head bobbling! This is essential for baby to swallow foods safely and reduce risk of choking.

2. Able to sit with a little bit of support - if your little one is still younger than 6 months and needing assistance to sit we recommend waiting until 6 months. The more stable your little one is the more they will be able to focus on the fine motor skills needed for eating. 

3. Around 6 months old - this one means different things to different people. 4 months is the minimum. Rarely is a bub ready at 4 months!

4. Starting to pick things up and bring to the mouth and starting to lose their tongue thrust reflex. 

5. Showing interest in eating - important to remember this one is only a sign when shown with all the other signs. This sign in isolation would not be a reason to start!

When did you start? Was it different with different babies?