As your little one reaches 5 or 6 months, you may be wondering if it’s time to get them introduced to solids. Starting solids is a big milestone in any family, it’s fun, adventurous and even a little overwhelming. Lalo’s co-founder Michael Wieder talks to Kim Grenawitzke, feeding expert at Solid Starts, to help you understand if and when your baby is ready to start solid foods.
Michael: How do you know that your little one is ready to get started?
Kim: I love this question, and I wish there was a really straightforward answer, because it's not about age, it's about developmental signs of readiness.
There are three main signs of readiness for starting solids:
1- We want them to be able to sit with a little bit of help. Now, this doesn't need to be perfect, we just want them to be able to either sit on your lap or sit on the floor with either your hands on their hips, or sit in the high chair, and they're not toppling over.
2- The second thing we want them to be able to do is we want them to actually be able to use their hands when they're sitting. If you put a 4-month-old in a high chair, they may be able to use every muscle in their body to keep themselves upright, but there's no way they can reach and grasp and use their arms.
As your baby gets a little bit older and a little bit stronger, they're able to sit, reach out and grab something, and then bring it to their mouth. So if you were to hand them a toy, they could grab it and bring it up to their mouth.
3- The last thing, and a very often overlooked one, is we want the baby to be able to be interested in food and eating, looking around. Again, that 4-month-old might come to the table, fall asleep, want a nurse, get fussy. They're really not engaged. You bring a little bit of an older baby to the table, they're like, what is that? I'm so curious about that. I want to put that in my mouth. Give me that, put me in coach, I'm ready.
So the three things that we're looking for, being able to sit with a little bit of help, ability to reach and grab and bring those hands to the mouth when they're sitting, and then interest in food and eating.
How old are babies when they’re ready to start solids?
Kim: Most babies are going to be doing all of these things somewhere around 6 months. Some are a little closer to 5 or 5 and a half months. My first daughter was closer to six and a half, seven months. My second daughter was closer to five and a half.
Somewhere between 5 and 7 months is typically when we see this.
When are premature babies ready to start solids?
Kim: I know there are some people talking about babies who are born prematurely. You want to be looking at their chronological age as for when you think that's going to happen. So when your baby's been with us for around 6 months, you're probably going to see those skills.
This is not medical advice, speak to your pediatrician with any questions or concerns regarding starting solids.
