Photo Courtesy of Firefly Books Ltd
There are many signs to watch for that your baby is ready to start solids. But there are also several false signs of solid food readiness that can confuse some parents.
1. Weight gain
Many parents hear that if a baby has doubled his birth weight, or if he weighs more than 14 pounds (6.4 kg), it?s time to start solid foods.
Many babies double their birth weight at some point between 4 and 6 months, so this ?guideline? may bring the baby into the recommended timetable for starting solids. But a smaller baby (such as a premature baby) might double his birth weight at a much earlier age, even though his system is likely to be ready for solids later than average.
The 14-pound guideline is similar. If a baby is born weighing 7 pounds (3.2 kg), which was the average weight for a newborn a generation ago, that baby will typically have doubled his weight to?surprise!?14 pounds by between 4 and 6 months. (Today?s average newborn weight is 7 pounds, 13 ounces (3.5 kg) in Canada and 7 pounds, 8 ounces (3.4 kg) in the U.S., so the weight guideline would need to shift anyway.) And of course, this guideline only applies to an average baby. A baby born weighing 11 pounds (5.0 kg) is likely to hit 14 pounds by 8 weeks, which is much too early for solid foods. It?s not so much that achieving this particular weight gain indicates readiness for solid foods. It?s simply that it tends to happen (on average) around the middle of the first year, when babies are ...