i started my boy on solids at 4 mths.pureed food.i found it was filling him up more and he was sleeping better.

All children are different.  Depending on the size at birth, breast or formula fed etc.  The most important way to know when to introduce solids is by your gut feeling.  A mother always knows what is best for her child.  All my children (7 of them) were born big and healthy.  They were great sleepers, eaters etc.  With my first child I went by the book, but it didn't seem to work - eventually I through it away and went with my gut and things improved.  I started solids with all my children at approx 4 mths.  Good old fashioned weetbix in the morning approx 1 teaspoon with formula or breast milk depending on what you are feed them, this will increase over time - you will know.  by the time 6 mths come pureed fruit, mashed veges.  I never bought baby food.  If a food is sitting of a shopping shelf it mush have preservatives and additives etc in it .. children will have enough of these in their life time - spend a little time on a weekend and puree all sorts of foods for flavour and feeze them for the week nights.  good luck, I used to enjoy spoon feeding my children and was always a little sad when they wanted to do it themselves.  Do not worry about the mess, it will always wipe away with a hot washer.  Best Wishes,  Mum08

This is some info I was given when I had my daughter. It is from the Department of Health.

0-6 months   Breast milk,formula

6-8months   Rice cereal,puree foods-brocolli,peas, spinach,lentils,kidney beans.Commercial baby foods (single fruits),kiwi fruit, tomato, melon.

8-10 Months    Mashed, grated & diced texture - beef, chicken, lamb, fish, pork baked beans, carrot, potato, pumpkin, zucchini,corn etc and fruits- apple, pear, peach, apricot etc.

10-12 months   Finger foods- eggs,pasta, rice, bread, couscous, mils desserts, cheese

12+ months   Nuts, cows milk

Add single foods individually to monitor for allergic reactions.

Contact the Department of Health or Ngala (08)93689368 or website www.ngala.com.au

 Babylove by Robin Baker is highly recommended (also contain general baby info as well as diet and recipes)

no I don't know any books (tho I'm sure they exist) However I'm certain you will get so many helpful ideas from this site, you won't need to waste your money!

1. You don't have to wait til 6mo. Many babies are hungry for solids sooner than that. (My own daughter was so desperate at 4mo, she lunged at the spoon the first time I waved in front of her face so I thought she was going to take my hand off! This meant I never got to use the ice-cube tray idea I'd heard suggested (b/c she ate a whole half teacupful from the word go)

2. Icecube tray method; when you have cooked up a batch of mashed fruit or veg etc, use icecube trays to freeze it so you can defrost/heat one or 2 cubes at a time & not have to cook every night.

3. Keep it simple at first.  Simple, bland (resist the temptation to season it) veges & fruits. No sugar, no salt, no peel. Mash/moule/blend it to make it smooth. Apparrently certain foods can cause allergies if introduced too early; nuts, beans, bananas & even dairy foods. Mine didn't have any allergies like that so other parents will have more info than me on that. (Mine just scoffed anything that was offerred). At 2mo mine sucked a slice of watermelon white so go ahead & try things. Just keep the foods unseasoned & fresh.

4. Supervise. If you have a good eater, in a few months it might be tempting to step into another room to answer a phone or check the washing while they do their hands-face-front-mouth mucky thing. But you just never know when  a sneeze/cough or slightly chunky bit might happen. I was lucky myself but I did have to unchoke a neighbour's bub who reached a nut-bowl while she wasn't looking. Mum was too panicked to do it & while blue's a pretty shade in clothing it isn't so nice in a babe's complexion. Better be there & be safe.

5. Its ok if they don't feel like eating; don't make it an issue. For most babes solid food is recreational rather than necessary. If it is necessary they will eat w/out any pressure from anyone; just try & stop'em! Even 3 or 4yo will stop eating for a day or 2 with no ill effect whatsoever. Our ancestors didn't eat every day, let alone 3 times a day. So it might take awhile before the cultural norm of frequent eating takes hold. (tho I confess I never had that problem; I was always worried about worms)

now I'll just pass on my daughter's favourites: Mashed Pumpkin; Mashed Pear; plain yoghurt (nobody told me about dairy foods being a possible problem) up to 1yo. Then I could give her anything if I mixed yoghurt w/ it. Even odd things like bean sprouts (not mashed). As a toddler she regularly opened the fridge & chomped capsicum like it was an apple. And if we ate out, she really enjoyed all the stuff I wasn't keen on (like radishes, olives, pickled onions & endive). She liked finger food best & would rather use her hands than have me weild a spoon (I think they like the texture thru their fingers). So I recommend a good supply of long front, long-sleeve bibs. & a lot of semi-nudity for eating in warmer weather. Newspaper spread on the floor under the high-chair can be useful too. & a shower straight after dinner!

This is a fun time as long as you don't get stressed about mess or routine. Just go with the flow & enjoy it...  The manners will come later.

Enjoy!

I was given a wonderful book from the child health care nurse, it put out by Heinz foods but it had heaps of good info in it, we started to offer our little guy different things as long as they weren't to salty or sugary as soon as he showed an intrest in it, hope this helps?

Hi Beth, I found a awesome book that may help. It is Womens Weekly Babies & Toddlers Good Food.  There is a section at the front that tells you how to freeze, reheat and about food intolerence and allergies. Then it goes on to sections for diffeernt ages 4-6 mths, 6-9mths, 9- 12mths, 12- 18mths. Then 2-3 years. It has a section on snacking and finger food, portable food and lunchboxes, adapting family foods and also pary food and birthday cakes. In each section there is written info on that stage of development.

 I started all my children on pureed apple then after a few days introduced ( allow time for any reactions/ allergies to be known) some pear pureed. You may also like to try pureed potato or pumpkin. Also the rice cereals are good even though they taste yuk. I found my girls wern't that keen on it so introduced it with some pureed fruit.

You may also find some recipes on th internet, i found some great sites. Unfortunately that was 12 mths ago and i can't remember the web addresses anymore sorry.

Hope this helps you and all the best.

There is definitely no rush to introduce solids. There are benefits to delaying solids and avoiding slop!

I plan to give tastes after 6mths and then meals after 12mths depending on when he is ready.