When Did You Start Solids? - Schaumburg,IL

Both my boys started solids around 6mos. We never used infant cereal, its so overprocessed its like feeding a baby straight sugar. My boys were both started on homemade applesauce, and we made all the baby food here at home from fresh fruits and veggies. www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great site for making you own baby foods.

I agree with you. Everything I've read says 6 month secondary to allergies and the infants stomach not being very mature. Here is a great chart on feeding progression:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030500.asp

Ways to prevent allergies include (from: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041800.asp):
1) Breastfeed your baby as long as possible. The longer you breastfeed, the less chance your child has of developing allergic diseases, such as eczema and asthma. Breastmilk is rich in an immunoglobulin called secretory IGA, which acts as a protective paint, coating the intestines and keeping food allergens out of the bloodstream. Breastmilk keeps the intestinal lining healthy and better able to break down proteins into individual amino acids. The amino acids themselves are not likely to cause allergies when they get into the bloodstream. Intestines that are damaged due to infection or inflamed by foreign milk or formula may allow whole protein molecules to seep through, setting up an allergic reaction in the bloodstream. To further decrease the risk of developing food allergies, it would be wise for a breastfeeding mother to keep the most allergenic foods out of her diet until her baby is at least one year of age.
2) Delay introduction of solid foods. Mature intestines are better able to screen out potential allergens and keep them from entering the bloodstream. If you feed your infant solid foods (especially those containing protein, such as wheat, soy, and dairy) before the intestinal lining is mature, food allergens can seep into the bloodstream, causing baby to build up antibodies to those allergens and later become allergic to those foods. When you do start solids, introduce the least allergic (lowest protein) foods first, such as fruits, vegetables, and rice. Wait until at least eighteen months before introducing potentially-allergic foods, such as egg whites, tomatoes, shellfish, and peanut butter . Make citrus fruits the last fruits you introduce. Also, if you're formula-feeding, discuss with your doctor the use of hypoallergenic formulas (a partial whey hydrolyzed formula), such as Alimentum or Nutramigen. Avoid soy formulas . Also, delay introducing cow's milk products until at least a year of age. By twelve months of age, your child's intestines are mature enough to screen out most of the food allergens. (See Starting Solid Foods)
3) Variety, variety, variety. The less children eat of one particular food, the less likely they will become allergic to it, since most food allergies are dose related. Encourage your children to eat a variety of foods. Continuing to bombard the body with the same food risks turning on the food- antibody response. Rotation diets make good sense for every eater, and especially for the allergic person.

I still feed my one year old rice cereal before bedtime, as it has iron in it which he needs. We started our son on rice cereal at 5 months, he loved it. Now he is on solids, but we didn't start it until about 10 months old. If you are worried about allergies, just start with a small amount of different food and stay away from dairy til he is one year. This is just my opinion, as it's all been a learning experience, and all kids are diff. Good luck!!

Starting foods at four months doesn't trigger allergies. Just start with low-allergenic foods. Stay away from cow's milk, nuts, fish and chocolate. Introduce foods one new one at a time so if an allergic reaction occurs, you'll be able to identify the culprit. Eating at this age is not as nutritional as it is practice. It takes babies a while to "learn" how to eat and appreciate the taste of food and develop their taste buds. If you start early, she'll be a good eater but the time she needs food for added nutritional value.

I started my girls any where from 7 to 9 months. We went straight to table foods. Mashed banana, baked sweet potaoes, pureed pees. things like that.

We started both of our boys on rice cereal at 4 months, when our ped gave us the go-ahead. He said any time between 4 and 6 months is ok to start, and that the best gauge of readiness is the baby's interest in your food. Neither of my children have shown any signs of allergies. We did the rice cereal for about 2 weeks before I began introducing veggies--squash was our first choice, since it has a pretty mild flavor. Good luck and enjoy this fun time!

I started both my girls at six months. They were both breastfed, and I continued breastfeeding the first one until 2.5 years and the second one until 13 months (she is a biter!)

Babies who are exclusively breastfed should remain so until they are 6 months. Allergies are one reason. Also their immune system/gut works better/is healthier if they remain that way. My second son was the same way, showing alot of interest in food really starting around 3 months, but I waited because he was satisfied by the milk, he was just curious and wanted to do what we all did.

I planned on starting when my son did all the things you talked about, showing interest, etc. And waiting for him to not be satisfied by just milk. One day when he was about 4 1/2 mos, he was just ravenous. He couldn't nurse enough, and was reaching for my food. After a day and a half of that (to give my milk supply a chance to catch up if he was just in a growth spurt), I couldnt' take it anymore and bought some rice cereal, which he gobbled up with no problems. I did one meal a day of rice cereal mixed with breastmilk for about a month, then started adding in solids like veggies and fruit purees. Just make sure you always breastfeed first to let her fill up, then do a meal with solids, so that your milk supply doesn't drop.

As of about 2 yrs ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed their stance on delaying foods for allergy purposes. There has been no evidence that delaying foods will lesson the chance of developing allergies. Unless there is a family history of food allergies, they don't recommend that you delay things anymore. Now it is just a matter of baby being ready to digest, which is the signs you are looking for and describing. And also choking hazards and things like honey should be avoided, but not out of fear of allergic reactions.

Even if you don't want to make your own baby food, I second the site listed below, as well as this one: http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/index.html They have tons of great information on feeding your baby. Making your own food doesn't have to be a huge time consuming thing, you can even just make some things. This one was my favorite, and even has a monthly newsletter. Hope that helps!

We started my son at 6 months. According to our ped, we skipped rice cereal because there is not nutritional value at all. It is just a filler. We went right to single-grain oatmeal. Much tastier and much more nutritious. Good luck!

we waited 6 months with both our kids but would offer tastes of food earlier. The reason you wait is because breastmilk is the most important source of nutrition and you don't want your baby to fill up on other stuff. We actually started with apples I think. First we'd just let my son suck on a slice of apple, which he loved. This we did earlier than 6 months - maybe around 4-5 months, and certainly not every day, just on occasion - because he enjoyed it. We didn't start "meals" until 6 months.