With the history of having issues with gaining weight I owould hold off on the soids. Unless the Dr has given you the okay to add things to it to bump up the calories like we were given for our son.

He has medical issues so we were TOLD to give him thigns to MAKE him gain wiegth...

BM or formula will have WAY more calories in it than ANY baby food you can give to him. The jars will have  up to 4 oz in them but only have aorund 45 cals. That's not good for a baby with a history if weight issues......

Jedd was DX with FTT (failure To Thrive) due to a heart defect and severe SEVERE reflux (GERD or GORD) He has always had weight issues.

We were allowed and TOLD to give him unslated REAL butter to his veggies...that added LOTS of calories. BUT, like I said you need to get the DR to OKAYt his before doing it.

We also mix less water and more powder when making his fomrula. He was on 27 calories an ox versus normal formula at 20calories per oz. Buyt let me state again.... DO NOT do t his unless speciafially TOLD to do this...Jedd was being monitored by home nursing as well as the epdi. and the cardiologist and his GI all at the same time.

By reduceing hte amount of water and adding more powder we had to watch for dehydration. But with Jedd the risks WAY outweighed the benefits. He NEEDED to gain desparetly so that he could be big enough is blood volume to go on a heart lung bypass machine.

Goddluck, its just MHO but I wuold hold off on solids until the weight curve gets a little better. Solids will jsut make him loose possibly.

My daughter started on soups...and I would gradually add cubes of veggies (carrots, potatoes etc) just till she got use to the texture..  Eventually once she caught on she liked apple slices and thinks she could hold... Cheerios also are get because they go mushie fast

Hi there!

My daughter started cereal at 16 weeks...rice cereal to be exact and shortly thereafter I tried fruits and then veggies...My doc said told me to introduce any new food one at a time with a three day space so if there is an allergic reaction to something, I'd be able to pinopint it..ie don't try bananas one day and prunes the next..

Did the midwife tell you that solids are actually not as weight gaining as BM or formula? My guess is no. Solids are given in such small amounts that they make little to no difference in weight gain. If weight gains are an issue (and remember in normal infant growth weight gains plateau around 3-4mths) then increasing the milk feeds is a better idea. If that doesn't make any improvement over a week or 2 then the solids issue can be revisited.

And as others have said the recommendations are to wait til 6mths. Somewhere between birth and 4-6mths the gut goes from being 'open' to 'closed' While it is open the potential for food particles to pass into the bloodstream increases the risks of allergies etc. Since we can't tell for sure when the closed gut will happen it's best to wait as clse as possible to 6mths to help reduce the risks.

Generally it is recommended to wait until your baby is around 6months of age, but every baby is different.

We knew ours were ready to start solids when they would copy our mouths when we were eating and would try and grab the food off us.  From there, we very slowly introduced rice cereal, but it took a few months before they were really ready for a full time solids diet.  Ours ranged from about 5months to about 6 months, but with some of them, it took until they were 9 months before they were having a regular solid diet as they just weren't really interested in it.

You will 'know' when your little one is ready, you really can't ignore the signs and for me, it was an instinct more than medical recommendations.

Hi, There is some great advice on minti on starting solids just click here to have a look.  Also the world health organization recommends waiting until 6mths.

Signs that your baby is ready to starts solids is:  Good head and neck control,  the tongue reflex has gone (where they push the food out), your baby is wonting your food. ie reaching for the food you are eating.  Always watching you eat, and is very interested.

I started my son on solids at about 5 mths.   I started with some rice cereal.  I made it runny and gave only 1 -2 teaspoons for 2-3 days then slowing increased the texture (made it less runny) and the amount given.

When you have mastered the cereal then you can progress on to other food like pureed pear or apple again give only one at a time for 2-3 day incase on allergies.   Then progress to vegetables like pumpkin, avadado, sweet potato.  

If you are going to start giving solids early then I would highly reccommend that you speak to your maternal health nurse or your Dr.

Hope this helps

mine were 4 months and showed signs of wanting food. ie lunge when one of us were eating and try and get it.

i first tryed the baby cereal and apple sauce/puree' they chowed that down in seconds. by 5 months my kids were eating what we were but mashed and at 7 months with lumps and by 10 months cooled food cut up into bite size pieces. i still at 6 and 4 have to hand feed them at times as i have special needs kids who give up some nights but i dont care.

the 1 rule to remember is 1 food at a time for a few months to make sure there are no allergies. no milk (cows) till 1 and cheese ask the doc/midwife as things change. there is baby yogurht to buy for them too.

make your own food rather than bought as it is cheaper and less crap in it. also it is fresh as you just make what you eat and puree about 2-5 table spoons depending on childs want.