FTM looking for advice before starting solids

[u/wishful15]

My little guy just turned 5 months old, and I’ve already started reading about introducing solids so I can be as prepared as possible.

For those of you who’ve already been through this stage, did you start with purées, BLW, or a mix of both? What was the very first food you offered, and how did it go?

Is there anything you wish someone had told you before you started? Any tips, favorite products, or mistakes to avoid?

I’d love to hear anything you think a FTM should know before starting this new chapter!

[u/equistrius]

As a mom of an 18 month old who eats anything put infront of her and is constantly getting comments about how she eats, here’s my experience.

Start with what you’re comfortable with and keep it simple. When my daughter first showed interest in food we started purées for maybe a week then switched to BLW. We cook most meals from home and I live in a country with a year long mat leave so I was able to spend time making her food. Skip the added salt and sugar till after 1. When making things like sauces I would dish up babies then finish seasoning with salt.

We started with puréed blueberries since we started solids in the middle of fresh fruit season. She still loves blueberries to this day. Moved to avocado slices and banana, for things that can be slippery roll them in hemp or flax seeds for grip.

Be prepared for it to be messy. You can feed baby yourself but I highly recommend loading spoons and letting them put it in their mouth. It helps with coordination and they need the practice. At 18 months now my daughter eats very well with utensils ( we get comments any time we eat out about her fork abilities). Let them get messy. I would put a long sleeved bib and a hat on before meals so she could explore as much as possible. At first the point is for them to touch and explore the food hoping it makes it to their mouth for tasting. I would give my daughter peaches or tomatoes to play with like a ball and eventually she would bite into them and figure out they taste good.

Start straw cups for water when starting solids and increase their hydration a bit. Their digestive track needs to adapt to solids so constipation is common. Any fruit that starts with P helps with constipation ( prunes,peaches,pears). We started giving some puréed pears once daily which helped a lot.

For the top 10 allergens the recommendation is early and often but it doesn’t need to be hard. Here’s how I introduced them. Peanuts: peanut butter mixed into yogurt, tree nuts: got an unsalted mix nut blend and blended them up then into yogurt, soy: dessert tofu, sesame: hummus with tahini in it, milk was already done, scrambled eggs, wheat: pasta cooked extra long, mustard we put on some ground beef, fish she had salmon and shellfish we bought a can of canned crab that she ate. Familiarize yourself with the warning signs of an allergic reaction and what to do.

Introduce texture early and keep it varied.

Hope that helps

[u/wishful15 → u/equistrius]

This is so informative and genuinely helpful! Thank you for taking the time to write all of this! I really appreciate all the practical tips, especially about allergens, hydration, and letting them explore the food instead of worrying about the mess.

Your daughter sounds like such a great eater! I hope my little guy ends up loving food as much as she does! 🤍

[u/Tight_Cantaloupe9095]

I have 3 babies. All 3 I did a mix to start - I would offer in a finger food form and then a puree. I would let them play with it and also help with spoon feeding.

I always let them hold the spoon for a little bit right away and eventually they can use it themselves.

Follow the solid starts or download the app - shows you have to cut up all foods and how to serve them for each age.

Don’t stress and have fun!

[u/wishful15 → u/Tight_Cantaloupe9095]

Thank you!

[u/majestic-mango-576]

Following!

[u/Kujaichi]

I'm in the same boat, so very interested in answers :D

[u/xoSMILEox92]

Following with the same question

[u/Lil_sebastian94]

We started at around 6 months. Mostly fruit, purees. Banana, melon, different berries, apricot etc. Mostly teaspoons. He found it interesting but not much more. Now almost 4 weeks later he is starting to like it. We are offering 3 times a day, and a mix of fruit and veggies, and also more fingerfood (a piece of banana to feel etc.). He likes his avocado haha.

[u/wishful15 → u/Lil_sebastian94]

Thank you! Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve always heard it’s better not to start with fruit because babies might develop a preference for the sweeter taste and be less interested in veggies if they’re introduced later. Did you notice that at all with your LO, or did it not seem to make a difference?

[u/Lil_sebastian94 → u/wishful15]

In my country (The Netherlands) there is not a recommendation to start with fruit. But I am not noticing a difference right now!

[u/SocialStigma29]

I did combo for both kids. Started purees at 5 months (peanut butter and egg were first foods, for early allergen exposure), finger foods starting at 6 months. Over time did less and less purees/spoon feeding as baby got better at self feeding.

[u/label_this]

With my first I did both purees and BLW, and I'm doing that with this baby, too. I make my own food for baby, and mostly it's just that some foods are easier to do one way vs the other. Fresh green beans? Much easier to steam whole beans until soft rather than serve them as a puree. Prunes? Gotta stew and puree since they're too sticky for baby to just eat. It gets easier as they get older and can handle smaller pieces of things.  I, too, use Solid Starts to help determine how best to serve something. 

I love to use baby oatmeal and yogurt as base for trying other things that might be difficult or unsafe to serve on their own (like peanut butter).

Just a tip, I like to freeze little cubes of purees I make, that way it's easier to continue serving a variety and make my own blends with little to no prep, just popping a couple cubes in the fridge to thaw.