Ready or Not?

The Real Scoop on Solids

Part One

By Ann Calandro, RNC, IBCLC

After a perfect start with nature's best food, there comes a time when your baby will be ready for other foods. Up until this time, your baby's gut has been soothed and coated, and his nutritional needs were perfectly met by breast milk. It is an ideal food – unsurpassed in quality and nutrition – and that makes it a hard act to follow!

It stands to reason that when it comes to starting solids mothers have many questions: Why? When? What?

Why in the world would we start adding something to Baby's diet that is going to cause more work for Mom (stinky diapers, changes in the perfect GI flora and possible allergies or tummy upsets)? The main reason is iron.

At some point, the iron supply your baby was born with will begin to dwindle, and breast milk has easily-absorbed but low iron content. Iron needs to be added to your baby's diet to assure that his iron levels stay at a healthy level. As he becomes more active, he also needs more protein and calories to help with weight gain.

When to start solids is the million-dollar question. Even the experts disagree on exactly the best time.

The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommend starting solids at 6 months. The American Academy of Pediatrics Breastfeeding Committee recommends exclusive breastfeeding until starting solids at 6 months. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition encourages parents to begin solids between 4 and 6 months. (Many pediatricians have learned the 4- to 6-month rule in medical school.)

All of these medical groups agree that it is wise to wait until Baby is at least 4 months before starting any solid food. There is no nutritional advantage to starting solids sooner. In fact, starting sooner may lead to an increase in allergies and obesity.

Before this age, Baby's intestines lack the enzymes to digest complex proteins and starches. Studies have shown that foods other than breast milk before 4 months increase the likelihood of Mom's milk supply decreasing and Baby having more ear infections and diarrheal illnesses.

If the wisest medical experts on earth can't exactly agree on when the perfect age is to begin solids, how are new parents supposed to know when to start? Fortunately, it's really not so hard. The key is in knowing your baby's developmental cues. These will clue you in to when he is ready to begin foods other than breast milk.

Rather than looking at the calendar – as many pediatricians and experts suggest – the wise parent observes Baby for these readiness cues. Cues may begin at 4 months, 6 months or even later. (Children prone to allergies seem to instinctively understand that they should start solids later.)

Want to see more?

• Breastfeeding and Other Foods
• Tips for Making Your Own Baby Food
• Baby's First Solids
• Who's the Boss: Eliminating Mealtime Struggles
• Talk about it!