Yep!  Samuel is already 7 months old.  I feel like I just wrote about him being 6 months old.  I decided it was time to introduce a little food.  Taliah and I had a lot of fun making a video together so Samuel decided it was time to give it a try too!

While I did must of the talking Samuel did lend some vocal talent but he was the main attraction.  I have to apologize I did start to ramble a bit.  Also as I am the one recording and feeding him,   the spoon looks huge,   as well as,   a toy I offered him,  bear with us,  we will eventually get the hang of it.

If you don’t feel like watching the video,  you will miss out on my cutie but we basically covered the why,  when and what of choosing to feed solids.   At 7 months of age Samuel has been showing a few signs of readiness.   The first thing I look for is teeth.  My personal theory is no teeth,   no need for solid foods.  Of course,   there are exceptions to every rule.  Some babies cut teeth really early and others super late.  So I do not use this as my only measuring tool.  I also look for an interest in food.   Samuel is very interested in what we are doing when we are eating,  he has started mimicking chewing when we are eating.

I  chose to start Samuel on pears.  I realize most parenting books will suggest starting with a  pablum of some sort rice or oatmeal.   My children have had issues with digesting grains at a young age.  If we look at teeth again it is our molars that grind grains,  so maybe it is not a bad idea to hold off on some grains until we have some more teeth.  I realize that pablums are already ground super smooth,   yet it doesn’t mean that it is easy to digest for all babies.   I know I am going against the norm but I find something like pears to be extremely gentle on the tummy.

Finally, I move at his pace.  I will continue to offer just the pears for about a week this way if he reacts I will know what is causing the reaction.  If he is showing signs that he is hating it I’ll back off.   Some of my kids have gone straight to table food.

Should you start feeding your baby at 4 months 6 months or a year???  If your baby is gaining weight there is no rush to introduce food.  I feel this issue,   like many other parenting issues,  needs to be examined to see what works best  for your family.   I guarantee that a baby born at the equator and one born in the Arctic are going to have different diets so there is definitely not just one right way for feeding a baby!

What are your thoughts?

Oh,  as soon as I turned off the camera Samuel gave me  the biggest smiles.  (I had some trouble uploading this video Samuel turned 7 months on the 15th,   and this posted very early on the 16th.)