How Young Can You Feed Solids To A Baby
Summary: Some babies at a very young age appear to have insatiable appetites. 8 to 10 feedings of breast milk or approximately 32 ounces of formula. This should be related to the pediatrician and options discussed. The recommendation is to not feed solids to babies younger than four months. The reasoning is that a baby that young has not mastered tongue movements.

There are some milestones that should be observed in your baby’s development that indicate your child may be ready to start on solids. If your baby can sit up and hold up their heads it’s possible they could benefit from solids. They have learned to control some tongue movement and can push food from the front of the mouth to the front of the mouth. They open their mouths when they see food coming or show interest in your food.

At first you will be giving your child iron-fortified cereals such as rice, wheat, barley, or oats.
There are also mixed cereals as well. Mix 1 teaspoon of dry cereal to 5 teaspoons of formula or breast milk. It will have a runny consistency. Follow your pediatricians recommendation as to when to increase the quantity or thickness of the cereal and for how often to feed your baby solids.

It is further recommended that starting solids should happen at around 6 months of age. The reason for this is that these children are delayed in developing control of tongue movement and may have difficulty “taking to” chewing actions or the tastes of various foods.

The best time to start is between 4 and 6 months of age. Iron fortified cereals will probably be your child’s first taste of solids. This start them on a whole new world of tastes and flavors. There  will definitely be some definite food preferences. If you note a specific food that is not enjoyed by your child note it and give something else. You can retry it again in few days.

Your child may develop food allergies and if you  suspect this is the case discontinue that food. Your pediatrician will advise you as to alternative foods and treatment of the suspected food allergy.  

Some parents will mix a little bit of cereal in their baby’s last bottle or give it after the last feeding of breast milk of the day so that they will sleep better.  This is not advisable as either the child will be too young or could spit up during the night.