Starting 6 Month Old on Solids - New York,NY

Definately start with a green veggie. Orange veggies and fruit are much sweeter. I always started with dinner first then went to breakfast and lunch as they wanted more food. When my kids were eating 3 meals a day I did fruit for breakfast ( I would buy all diff flavors so they would be use to a variety of food) Lunch and dinner were veg. mostly peas, green beans, the garden veg and carrots. I thought those were the most important veggies. As they got onto table food they ate everything the family ate. No picky eaters in my house!

I have taken a somewhat more laid back approach than some of the other mamas. Our ped said fruits and veggies, didn't specify one should be first before the other so we started on what we have. I've done a combination of homemade vs. jars depending on what we are having (peas are super easy to make, steam in the bag and pop into the blender, you'll get 8-10 servings for a fraction of the cost). So far, my son is 8 months old and he has eaten everything we've given him! We started with butternut squash (homemade), then went to sweet potatoes (homemade), and jars of apples, peaches, carrots, green beans, and banana. The only thing I wish I would've done homemade first was banana, after eating the jar banana he didn't like the mushed actual banana, but we'll try it again in a few weeks. I do a fruit or veggie for lunch and he has cereal with BM for dinner, along with nursing before each meal. I think introducing solids is as difficult as you make it, try to follow everyone's "rules" and you'll go out of your mind! My nephew ate baby food with no trouble, but is a super picky 2.5 year old now, so I don't know that it's really related to what they are introduced to as an infant as much as when they start eating table food.

I started both mine with fruits before veggies and they both eat veggies. And they are both very picky eaters in their own way. So, don't worry about what you introduce first.

I think homemade food tastes (or at least smells) way better than most of the jars, so I'd suggest that for a start.

At 6 months, start with rice cereal or oats mixed with BM. In a couple of weeks you can start adding fruit purees (cooked/blended apples/pears/blueberries are a good bet). Chances are she'll eat it. We also did:

Cooked/mashed apples or pears (or applesauce with no added sugar)
Mashed bananas (use the extra ripe ones so they mash better)
Sweet potatoes (cook in the microwave and scoop some out)
Pureed peas blended (I used a food mill)
Mashed avocado

We didn't do meats for a long time. Items that didn't go over well were egg yolks and fish. Neither of them went for it. They both still don't like eggs and only eat minimal amounts of fish.

How can a six month old be picky? Kids are picky because the parents allow it, and believe me this is NOT a pattern you want to get your child used to or meal time will be hell for the nest 18 years. Start with veggies and hold off on fruits.If they get sweeter foods first it's a huge battle to get them to eat veggies. And don't give up. It take the taste buds time to acquire a liking for some foods.Remember that your child will not starve. He/she WILL eventually eat what you serve just be strong and consistent. The minute your child knows you will "do whatever it takes" to get them to eat you have lost and they have won and meal time will be a battle ground.

Food before age 1 is just to teach the child to chew and swallow, not to feed them nutrition. So in my opinion the later you start feeding solids the better. Formula or breast milk is complete nutrition and each drop of it you take away from them because they are too full of baby food is less nutrition they get.

That said. At 6 months they should have nothing more than rice cereal mixed with a bit of formula or breastmilk in a soup like consistency and fed to her with a spoon so they get the feel of something else instead of just formula or breastmilk. At 7-8 months you can add different cereals and start adding simple veggies, just a teaspoon or so, NOT MEALS. Just to teach them to accept different textures.

Hi there-
I started out doing solids once a day, at dinner time. I know you are "supposed" to do it in the morning (in case of allergies) but I wanted my husband to be in on the action. I made some purees-I'm having a mental blank at this exact moment but I'm pretty sure we did this order- green beans, then squash, then avacado. Avacado was and still is a big hit and is super easy-just mash with a fork and thin with a bit of breast milk/formula. We followed this with things like peas, zuchini, carrots, broccoli. Istarted mixing in a tiny bit of onion sometimes, or garlic, just to add some flavors. All homeade in the beginning, other than carrots becasue of the nitrates. I waited quite awhile (several months?) to introduce fruits. My daughter is great veggie eater now at 15 months, so it seems to have worked out. Good luck!

Yes, can you explain how your six month old is picky if he's not started solids, yet? Oh - wait, is this your second child you're starting on solids? Not very clear in your question.

Check out the book Baby Led Weaning. It advocates skipping purees alltogether and going straight to real food. Let them eat whatever (within reason) you're eating when you eat it. For example, if you're having chicken and carrots for dinner, cook the carrots a bit longer for your baby, put one or two on his plate/tray (either whole baby or cut into about finger-sized peices) along with a slice of chicken (again, finger size peices).

I think at 6 months I was every now and then giving my daughter cereal. She grew tired of it quickly.

Always offer, never force. Let him experiment and explore. The majority of his nutrition should still be breastmilk/formula.

I would recommend making your own baby food-I did for my daughter. I started with veggies-I was told if I started wth fruit, getting her to eat veggies would be more of a challenge. I started with carrots and rotated between orange and green veg. Then I started in with fruits. I found this website incredibly helpful:
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/index.htm
Sorry if its a repeat post-I havent looked at the other responses. Good luck!

My first didn't seem to want much solids, so he mostly nursed even after 6 m/o; my second was so eager to start, that it was all I could do to keep him from eating solids for the full six months. With neither did I do store-bought food; someone had given me a few jars of baby food, but my older son refused a second bite both times I tried, so I saved myself the expense. With both, I would feed them from my plate, whatever they were able to eat (i.e., nothing too spicy, too hard, or otherwise dangerous); and if they slept through a meal, they would just nurse, and that was okay. Most of the food eaten at this stage is not really digested by babies anyway, so they get most of their nutrition from breastmilk (or formula). I didn't do any schedule, and was pretty laid back.

Put them in a highchair and let them watch you eat. When they start begging as bad as the dog they're ready for solids. I really don't think jarred vs home made matters much when it comes to picky as long as you offer a variety. And keep offering over and over....

Well, first off remember that although this is a huge milestone to some mom's... really, all you're doing is allowing them to "practice" using their gross motor skills. 95% of their nutrition should still come from breast or bottle, so that should take the pressure off.

As far as schedule - ALWAYS give breast or bottle first. then give your baby the cereal mixture or whatever you have chosen. I didn't offer ANY fruits or orange veggies for the 1st 2 months. I wanted her to get her "taste buds" for veggies. I also used fruit etc as "dessert" so from the very beginning she knew she only got the sweet stuff if she ate the other stuff well.

I introduced a new food every 4 or 5 days and then rotated them, reintroducing anything she hadn't really loved the week before.

I didn't make my own (I don't really think it matters much. Again, this isn't really giving them nutrition anyway).

I also did the food for dinner. Primarily because her dad and I both worked full time, so I didn't want day care to be the one introducing foods to her.

Good luck!

by assuming they won't be picky! "Picky" just doesn't fly in our home!

All of this is said with a smile.....

& honestly, attitude has a lot to do with it: be cheerful & upbeat. Don't cajole or bribe.....