your baby can be exclusively breastfed until six months easily without worrying about solids (this is standard advice from World Health Organization).  more than the age, the more important issue here is to follow the signs of readiness.  for example:

• can your baby sit up on his/her own yet without too much help?
• has your baby stopped thrusting his/her tongue out (a natural reflex that needs to be gone before you can start feeding your baby effectively)?
• does your baby reach for food when you are eating or act very excited/curious about what you are eating?
• is your baby showing obvious signs of hunger or frustration, leading you to think that breast/bottle is no longer satisfying?  (sometimes this manifests itself in waking up more during the night)

if all of these signs are present, i would consider introducing a rice cereal mixed with breastmilk or formula.  otherwise, i'd wait until your baby is more ready.  there really is no rush.

I was given a very good book called Baby Love, by Robin Barker.  She says and I quote - "The optimum time to start solids changes every decade or so.  In the 1920's it was 9mths, in the 1970s it was 6 weeks, in the 1980s it was 3-4 mths, in the 1990 it was 4-6 mths and now it is 6mths."

I would suggest go with what your baby is telling you but no earlier than 5mths.  As everyone else has told you make sure your baby can sit up on his/her own and and have good head control.  Make sure that the poking out of the tounge reflex has gone.  Is your baby reaching out for your food?, always watching you eat?  and mimiking you with chewing? All these are good signs that baby is ready to eat.  

Starting baby early can cause digestive problems, allergies and lots more things.  Milk whether it be breast or formula should be the main source of food at the moment.  Don't be in a rush to start feeding, kids grow up so quickly these days.  

I started my bubs at about 5.5 mths with only rice cereal at breakfast, then  slowly introduced vegies and fruit one by one. 

Current recommendations are to start around 6mths. Problems that can occur from early introduction of solids include increased risk of asthma, allergies, excema, gastointestinal problems, food intolerances and obesity(and all the health problems associated with that).  Babies are born with an open gut sometime between 4 and 6mths it becomes a closed gut. Until it does allergens etc can play havoc with bubs system. To be on the safe side waiting until bub is as close to 6mths as possible reduces the risks significantly.

Signs that your bub is ready include being able to sit unsupported (like when they are int he highchair they shoudl be able to sit up by themselves), losing their tongue poke reflex, not being satisfied by milk despite increasing their intake (offering more BF or more bottles) over a few weeks.  Introducing solids early will not necessarily help bub sleep or gain weight despite it being popular reasons.

With my first I was pressured by the CHN to introduce solids at 4.5mths because he wasn't sleeping through. He has food intolerances that are caused by foods. My second son I knew better and he didn't take to solids until after 7mths.

There's no rush. Wait for the signs and start slowly. BM or formula still accounts for over 70% of a babies diet until at least 12mths of age.

Hope this helps

I started Jade now 6 half mths at 5mths, i gave her mushed vegs ,pumpkin is her favourite. Just introducing one veg at a time. She also likes baby yogurt. But she was staring at me while i was eating as if I was keeping something from her.lol She now eats fruit as well. I steam a heap of veg and fruit separately then put them in a zip lock bag and feeze it.

Now I just snap a bit off one or two and it will thaw quickly, great for going out too.

Have fun good luck

if you are breast feeding you really dont need solids till 6 months old but then again you should be able to tell if the baby needs it or bubs might indicate that he would like some ie staring opening mouth when food comes near him and so on it doesnt hurt to feed baby rice ceral at 4 months but i wouldn't go any earlier than 4 months

The later you leave it the better, or so they say.  6 months is the recommended age, but all kids are different.  All ours have started looking for food from around the 3 months mark, and we have managed to put them off for another month or so.  If your son is ready, then start him at about 4 months.

I started my daughter at 4 months for the same reason as muma2b, she was always staring at my food and would try and grab things from my hand.  I too started on rice cereal which she wasn't a fan of so went to vegies.

alot of my friends did fruit first but that is much sweeter than vegies and some of them had problems getting the kids to transfer to vegies.

I started my son on solids at just over 5 months. I knew my son was ready because it was like he was stalking my food. He started staring at whatever i was eating and imitating the mouth actions of chewing (sort of). I started him on baby rice cereal, but he didnt take to that much so i moved him on to vegies after about 2 weeks.

If your baby is putting on weight and seems to be getting enough from the milk then i would suggest waiting until he is looking like he is interested in solids. If he isn't then i would talk to your doctor first and find out what you can and cant give him.

They can develop digestive problems because their little tummy's havent developed properly yet, although, there are many people out there who have started their bubs on food very early and have no problems.

Hope this helps. Cass xx