Why We DON'T Start Solid Food Before Six Months

Many moms are encouraged to start feeding their babies solid food at four months. Here’s why we follow the current expert advice to wait until 6 months.

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We reached a milestone a couple of weeks ago – Baby Andrew turned 6 months! I can’t even believe he’s halfway to a year already! Where does the time go??

**UPDATE! Our third baby — sweet Annabel — is now 6 months old, and we’re here all over again!

One reason the six-month mark is a big deal at our house is that it means we start introducing solid food!

I know a lot of people start introducing rice cereal (something I won’t do at all this time around) and solid food at four months, but after doing some research when my first baby was an infant, I found overwhelming evidence to convince me to wait until six months.

This is not at all to judge or shame anyone who has chosen to start solids at four months. Until relatively recently, that was the traditionally accepted time to start.

(In fact, many new moms are still given this advice by their mothers, grandmothers, friends, and even pediatricians. I know I have been pushed by a few to start early.)

However, the vastmajority of current research now recommends waiting until 6 months to start introducing solids.

The purpose of this post, therefore, is not to start an argument or put down anyone who chooses otherwise, but simply to share what I have learned. Many moms do not know any differently, and I want to help them make the most informed decision possible. What they do with this information is then up to them!

When Should I Start Introducing Solids? What the Experts Say

Most moms begin to hear they should start feeding their baby solid food by the time their baby is aboutfour months old. However, the 4-6 month range is actually an outdated recommendation.

The current consensus among most researchers, health scientists, and breastfeeding experts is now that babies should be six months of age or older before starting solid food.

Here are just a few organizations (there are many others) that have modified their recommendations to agree with current research that it is best for babies to remain exclusively breast- or formula-fed for the first six months of life:

World Health Organization
UNICEF
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Family Physicians
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council
Health Canada

My Top Reasons to Wait:

Greater protection from illness
If the baby is breastfed, he/she receives the greatest immunity when exclusively breastfed.
The digestive system is more fully-developed
Several parts of a baby’s digestive system are not fully developed until around 6 months of age.
For one, the enzymes necessary for breaking down fats, protein, and complex carbohydrates have not yet been produced. Feeding a baby food before this development can lead to issues like gas, constipation, vomiting, and diarrhea.
In addition, prior to 6 months of age, a baby’s digestive system has what is called “open gut” – spaces between the cells of the small intestine which allows macromolecules to pass through it into the bloodstream.
While a baby is exclusively breastfed, this is a good thing – it allows good antibodies from the breastmilk to easily pass into the bloodstream, building up an immune system against illness and allergic reaction.
Most babies begin to produce these antibodies on their own around 6 months, around the time this “open gut” closes. This is why feeding babies solid food before 6 months has been linked to increasedrisk for food allergies.
To learn more about the development of a baby’s digestive system:
http://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/delay-solids/
Lower risk of obesity
Delaying the introduction of solid food until 6 months has been strongly associated with lower incidences of obesity and Type 2 diabetes later in life.
See Also
50 Easy Ways to Be a Fantastic Parent
Solid food is less nutrient-dense than breastmilk or formula.
Solid food is less nutrient-dense than breastmilk or formula, so we prefer to stick with the more nutrient and vitamin-packed breastmilk diet for as long as possible.
Related Post:A Nursing Mom’s Guide to Pumping at Work
They are more ready to handle semi-solid or solid food.
Young babies have what’s called a tongue thrust reflex to keep them from choking. Liquids (such as breastmilk) are able to get around it, but when anything more solid is placed on the tongue, a young baby’s tongue will push it out rather than back to the throat. Babies usually develop the ability to push food from the front of the mouth to the back around 6 months of age (though some do develop itsooner).
In addition, an infant’s tongue and swallowing mechanism are designed to work best for sucking. In most babies, these two things are not able to work together effectively for eating solid food until closer to 6 months of age.
Waiting until these developments means you can skip right over the unnecessary rice cereal and thin purees and go straightfor the semi-solid and solid food.Thismay lead toan easier transition to table food.
(Note: Our first baby had a terrible time transitioning to food. We waited until six months with him, but we started with rice cereal, something I definitely will not be doing this time around.)

Refuting the 2 most common arguments against waiting:

My baby is too hungry
Introducing foods does not generally add tooverall caloric intake, it simply replaces some of a baby’s intake of the nutrient-dense and immunity-offering milk.
(See point #10 ofthis section of Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk by theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics, which states,

“Introduction of complementary feedings before 6 months of age generally does not increase total caloric intake or rate of growth and only substitutes foods that lack the protective components of human milk.”)
I want my baby to sleep longer at night
There is no medical evidence to support this.
Here aretwogreat arguments against the popular advice to add cereal to the last bottle to make baby sleep longer:
Will giving formula or solids at night help baby to sleep better?
Misconceptions About Starting Solids