NUTRITION HOTLINE
By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
QUESTION: I'm planning to raise my baby on a vegan diet and wondered what the latest thinking was on starting solid foods.
M.W., via email
ANSWER: Watching a baby's expressions when they taste a new food is a highlight of parenting so it's natural to want to start feeding solid foods sooner rather than later. It's important, however, to wait until the baby is developmentally ready for solids.
These days, recommendations are to introduce solid foods (or liquid other than breast milk or infant formula) when the baby is around 6 months old.1 Although there can be some individual variability in terms of when to start solids, the consensus is that earlier than 4 months is too early. Babies younger than 4 months definitely have trouble eating and digesting solids. And, just to lay a popular myth to rest, there's no evidence that starting solids helps babies sleep through the night.
One sign of readiness for solid foods is the disappearance of a reflex that makes it challenging for babies to swallow anything other than liquids. When this reflex is present, a baby will push solid foods out of their mouth with their tongue instead of using their tongue to move food from the front to the back of their mouth. This reflex goes away between 4-6 months after birth.
Once babies can sit with little or no support and have good head control, they can lean forward to show they want food or lean back and turn away to show they are through eating. This is another sign of being developmentally ready to start solids.
Another sign is showing interest in food — trying to grab what others are eating. Introducing solids before age 4 months increases the risk of obesity2 because young infants are less able to indicate when they have had enough food.
Generally, there is no reason to wait past 6 months to intro-duce solids. At 6 months, most babies are ready to develop skills like swallowing solid foods and self-feeding. Waiting too long can increase the risk of later feeding problems.
Nearly one in three infants in the United States are given solid foods much too early — before 4 months.3 You're already helping your baby to have a good start by planning to feed a healthy vegan diet. Waiting to start solids until 6 months is another positive action that you can take.
REFERENCES:
1 American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition. Complementary feeding. In: Kleinman RE, Greer FR, eds. Pediatric Nutrition, 8th ed. Itasca, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2020:639-654.
2 Huh SY, Rifas-Shiman SL, Taveras EM, Oken E, Gillman MW. Timing of solid food introduction and risk of obesity in preschool-aged children. Pediatrics. 2011;127(3):e544-e551.
3 Chiang KV, Hamner HC, Li R, Perrine CG. Timing of introduction of complementary foods — United States, 2016-2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 202069(47):1787-1791.
