For months now the only means of nutrition your baby has received is either breast milk or formula but could it be time to start adding something else to your childs diet? This question is one that often has parents puzzled because information given from pediatricians and healthcare workers may be very different from one another. So, when should you start adding some soft, solid foods to your babys diet?

Just like all babies are different so is the answer to this question. There is no magic time frame as of when you should start giving your child solid foods, bottom line; it is you as a parent who decides when to start giving your child solid food. A parent can normally judge better than any expert if their child is no longer being satisfied with only breast milk or formula.

Many experts says that a child should not start getting solid foods before they get close to a year old or at times even later but as most parents know, this is not necessarily true. Most children require food long before the age of one, but the problem is that many first time parents are afraid of doing something to harm their child and will therefore follow the advice of the so called experts even though it might not be right for their baby.

A lot of people start adding soft solid foods to their babys diet as early as 2-3 months old. Naturally they do not take the child off its main diet but just implement a little solid food as a part of their daily diet. If you decide to try this, make sure you start out with something which will be really light on your babys stomach, such as applesauce, because anything you start out with will be hard on a babys tummy.

When you do start to add solid foods to your babys diet it might be good to let the baby have a little more water than what you normally would give him or her just to make it easier on its stomach. It can actually take quite a while before your childs stomach is able to adjust to solid foods so make sure to take it slow and keep feeding your baby what he is used to whether it is breast milk or formula.

If you as a parent feel that your child may be ready for something other than its formula do not be afraid to try it out but do remember that the baby will most likely encounter some stomach problems to begin with. This is quite normal and nothing to be worried about so if you feel that it is ok to start adding some solid foods to your babys diet, go for it.