A common question we get in pediatrics is, when can my baby start solids?

Absolutely! As a breastfeeding mom, I was so eager – I mean, that was a long time ago now, but 10, 11 years ago – I was so eager to find out, “Hey, when can I feed this baby something so I can take a break and eat?”

Sure! And so you can actually start at 4 months of age. If your baby is breastfeeding, gaining good weight and you have plenty of it, you can wait until six months. But typically the recommendation is to start right at four months.

And most people will start with pureed foods, but there also is something called baby-led weaning. Yes, which is more of a new phase. It is a little bit newer, and I think it’s one of those things that if it works for your baby, it works, and if it doesn’t, kind of maybe then that’s okay. It is okay!

You can do the purees and kind of start slow. Typically it’s one or two meals a day, and then by nine months they’re then getting three meals a day.

And when you start with your purees, of course you always want to start with like your rice cereals or your oatmeal or something like that. But once they have tolerated that well, I know myself I was giving my children – I was not like – everything! They were eating everything! Like we had the little baby blender, and I would, you know, just add a little breast milk to it, puree down chicken, rice. That’s right! Salmon like… Don’t limit them! They want to eat what you eat!

That’s right! And then also with a lot of people in the past used to hold off on the common allergens. We actually recommend now that you do give them a little bit of peanut butter earlier, a little bit of scrambled egg, something like that, once they’ve started and have tolerated solid foods. And that way, hopefully it reduces the risk of them getting allergies down the line. Absolutely!