My baby’s first taste of solid food is nothing more than just plain good ol’ rice. All mashed and pureed at it’s finest. Baby Clarisse got her first experience of solids when I decided to start her off when she was 4 months and 3 weeks old.

My mother whipped up some pureed rice out of the blue one particular afternoon and tried to feed it to baby Clarisse. Surprisingly, baby Clarisse really enjoyed the meal and ate all of it. Albeit it was only a tiny serving of rice puree but I was pleased she did not spit it out. Babies who aren’t ready for solids tend to push them out with their tougue.

My mom said that I should have introduce solids earlier since baby Clarisse likes it so much. Some people start introducing solids to their babies as early as 4 months while some, on the other hand, wait until their babies are at least 6 months of age. There’s no fixed rule as far as I know when you can start giving your baby solid food.

Safe to say, babies knows best when they are ready to eat solid food. Look for the following clues to see if your baby is prepared to eat solids:

• Ever noticed that when you put something into a young infant’s mouth, their tougue would push it out as if it’s some kind of reflex action? That is called tougue thrust reflex which is meant to help infants push out foreign matter out of their mouth. When my mom fed baby Clarisse her first tiny bit of rice puree, Clarisse did not push it out with her tougue, a sign that her tougue thrust reflex has gone. If not, the food comes right back out again and again.
• By the time most babies have reached 4 - 5 months old, they should be able to hold their head up well without swaying. It is not advisable to feed your baby solid food if there’s any hint of straining to hold his/her head up when propped to sit.
• Take note of your baby’s tougue. This time see if your baby can move her tougue up and down and back and forth. If he/she does, chances are she’s ready for solid food.
• Whenever I eat, Clarisse would watch intently. She gets excited with every bite I take. This is a significant sign telling you that your baby is looking forward to eating solid food.

When it comes to giving her rice porridge for the first time, make sure it is mashed or pureed fine enough for your baby to swallow. Here’s how I do it. After I boiled the rice porridge, I push the rice porridge through a sieve and you can see the porridge is so fine that your baby can just swallow it.

If the rice puree is a bit dry, I add a teespoon of warm water to make it easier to swallow.

Some concerns introducing solid food too early for babies

I have read an article in the newspapers saying that it’s not advisable to introduce solid food too early as it may trigger allergies in babies. The safest food to introduce are rice porridge, cereal and barley. Do not introduce any other food. I’ve only introduced rice porridge to Clarisse when she was 4 1/2 months. Now that she’s 6 months old, I’m starting to give her cereals too. I will also mix some vegetables into the rice puree. Remember to introduce one food at one time for at least a week, to make sure the food will not cause allergy to your baby.

Personally, I would choose to go with the fact that what you feed your baby is more important than when you start them on solid food.