I recall from La Leche League getting the very practical advice that babies needed to be ready for solids, and they would let you know when they were-typically somewhere between 4-6 mo when they produced digestive enzymes that were appropriate for solids and when they could chew & swallow rather than tongue thrusting food back out.  That age varied somewhat from baby to baby, as one might expect.  In the '50's & '60's you could actually buy a bottle with an enlarged hole in the nipple and a plunger  at the bottom that would push the strained solids up as baby sucked so you could get the solids into them before they were really ready (for those competitive mothers whose babies had to be first), but LLL & pediatricians warned of aspiration risk.  I think I actually still have one of those in a box at home along with an old Lloyd B pump and some other relics of the past.  My foreign-born & very BF-friendly family ped advised me that my baby would let me know of her readiness in no uncertain terms by displaying a great interest in what I was putting into my own mouth when eating, and she might even try to pry my mouth open to see what I had there.  And that's exactly what she did.  She also developed an interest in what was on my plate and began trying to reach for things there.  At her 6-mo checkup the ped advised me that in light of those signs, I should put a single grain of cooked rice in her mouth to see what she did with it.  If she chewed & swallowed and looked eager for more, she was ready for solids.  If she tongue thrusted it back out, I should wait.  It was easy, and that advice lasted me through four children.

LLL was always very practical and took their cues from the biology, and that seemed so eminently reasonable to me.

P. D. Gordon RN, BS, BSN, IBCLC
Clinic Manager, Home Visiting
DE Division of Public Health


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