• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Women Deserve Better

Women Deserve Better: For us, that means better information, better support, and better choices. Life brings challenges. We bring empowerment, because we’ll never underestimate women.

  • Work
    • Find a Job
    • Build a Career
    • Take Maternity Leave
    • Thrive As a Working Parent
    • Know Your Rights at Work
  • Learn
    • Earn Your Degree As a Parent
    • Know Your Rights on Campus
    • Finance Your Education
    • Medical Care for Student Moms
    • Housing for Student Parents
    • Child Care While You’re In Class
  • Live
    • Child Care
    • Feeding Your Family
    • Elder Care
    • Housing
    • Clothes
    • Medical Care
    • Getting Around
    • Money Matters
    • Gardening
    • Special Needs
    • Fun
  • Love
    • Adoption
    • Bonding
    • Fathers
    • Your Parents
    • Support Networks
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Contributors
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • View Cart/Checkout
  • Support Us
  • Donate
  • Home

When and How to Start Your Baby on Solid Foods

March 1, 2017 by Bethanie Ryan

baby being started on solids

Starting your baby on solid foods is an exciting time and an important step in his or her growth. Once your baby is 4 to 6 months old, it is usually time to start introducing solid foods into his or her diet. But all children are different and are ready for solid foods at different ages, so it is helpful to know what to look for when deciding if your baby is ready for solid foods. Below are several tips to help recognize if your baby is ready:

  • Holds his or her head up straight with little to no support.
  • Opens his or her mouth for the spoon and closes lips over it.
  • Keeps his or her tongue low and flat for you to put the spoon on it.
  • Shows an interest in the food others are eating around him or her.
  • Sits upright with some to little support.
  • Has had significant weight gain since birth.

Once you have decided that it is time to start feeding your baby solid food, many questions arise about how to implement solid foods into his or her diet. Below are some tips on how and what to start feeding your baby to make the transition from a pure breast-milk or formula diet to a solid food diet:

  • Begin feeding your baby when he or she is well rested and in a good mood.
  • Wait two to four days between introducing each new type of food to see if there is any allergic reaction.
  • Solid foods are not a replacement for breast-milk, which is important for nutrients and is recommended to continue feeding your baby for about a year.
  • If you notice diarrhea, vomiting, or rashes after offering your baby a new food, stop and ask your health provider.
  • Be encouraging as you try to feed your baby new foods as he or she can sense your feelings.

Different parents prefer different techniques of introducing solid food to their children. Some prefer to put food on a spoon and hand feed the baby, while other parents prefer to put a chunk of soft food in front of the baby to let him or her figure out how to eat it. There are many suggestions on the internet and in library books on the best practices of introducing solid foods to children.

Several websites also offer advice on how to make your own baby food, including what types of fruits and vegetables are the best to start with. Making your own baby food has advantages as it saves money and you know exactly what you are feeding your baby. Below are some helpful websites that have detailed explanations about introducing and preparing solid food, including explanations of how to tell if your child is ready for solid food and possible problems you might encounter in the process:

  • UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital
  • Wholesome Baby Food
  • Mayo Clinic
  • Healthy Children

Filed Under: Feeding Your Family, Live Tagged With: feeding baby, feeding baby solids

Primary Sidebar

Suggested Articles

Getting Help Paying for Your Food

5 Tips for Planning and Budgeting for Meals>

fb-share-icon

Footer

Women Deserve Better

7 hours ago

Women Deserve Better
So true. ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Women Deserve Better

1 day ago

Women Deserve Better
I can relate. ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

womendeservebetter

Check out "Learn the Basics of Unemployment Benefi Check out "Learn the Basics of Unemployment Benefits," courtesy of Women Deserve Better Expert and legal aid attorney Susan Schoppa.
https://www.womendeservebetter.com/learn-the-basics-of...

 #womendeservebetter
A woman out of work recently sent us the following A woman out of work recently sent us the following email. We wanted to share her thoughts with you:
The most common feelings I experience as an unemployed job seeker: 
1. Rejection/Sorrow. Something is wrong with me… because it cannot be that I don't have more than the required training or education or experience... so it must be me.
2. Anxiety from inadequacy of effort. Something would come along if I just tried harder (more than daily searches, weekly job clubs, outreaches on LinkedIn, etc.).
3. Aloneness. Other people with fewer skills, less education and experience… are getting jobs. They won't understand how alone I am in this. Other people must have a lot of resources to not have to work for this long, and I am barely making it and can't afford things now. I am alone in this.
4. Hopelessness. Scores of applications and letters to employers have gone unanswered for weeks and now months. What's the use?
5. Blaming myself and/or self-doubt. Why didn't I see the writing on the wall and find something while I still had a job? I guess I really am as stupid as these employers think I am.
6. Confusion. I am now out of my routine, so things don't fall into place like they once did. Am I getting dementia? Is this normal?
7. Anger. If my employer thought I was so great to give me a very good review several years in a row, why haven't they told me of other available jobs after this one ended? Shame on them!
8. Embarrassment. People may think I lost my job because I was a marginal or lazy employee. They don't know how hard I worked, and that the termination was due to issues not of my doing. They may see me as someone who deserved this.
9. Fear. What if I can't find a job in time before we lose our place to live?
10. Happiness. It can be a good thing to start over sometimes.
Have you ever felt like this woman? Please know that there is help. Check out our latest article on Women Deserve Better, "Find Help When You Can’t Find a Job":
https://www.womendeservebetter.com/find-help-when-

#WomenDeserveBetter
Are you struggling to pay your rent or mortgage? A Are you struggling to pay your rent or mortgage? Are you worried about losing your home? Here is some information about what could happen if you can't pay all of your rent or mortgage, courtesy of Women Deserve Better Expert and legal aid attorney Susan Schoppa.

www.womendeservebetter.com/how-to-find-legal-help-for-evictions-and-foreclosures 

#WomenDeserveBetter
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Thanks for signing up!

GET OUR LATEST NEWS

ABOUT

  • Our Mission
  • Contributors

SUPPORT US

  • Donate
  • Become a Partner
  • Share Your Story or Your Expertise
  • Promote Women Deserve Better

Women Deserve Better: For us, that means better information, better support, and better choices. Life brings challenges. We bring empowerment, because we’ll never underestimate women.

Copyright © 2022 — Feminists for Life of America • All rights reserved.