4 to 6 Months Old Baby Feeding Guide
by littlethingonline Admin on Mar 19, 2021
Months 4 to 6 mark a big transition in a baby’s life. Your little one is growing bigger every day and is acquiring many new skills. By this age, your baby should be laughing and making early babbling sounds. Around the 6 month mark, you can expect to see your little one starting to roll over from his or her back to his or her stomach and rolling in reverse.
Your little one will even grow coordinated enough to pass objects back and forth between his or her hands during this time period. This guide will help you learn more about feeding a 4 month old to 6 month old baby.
Bottle and Breastfeeding at 4 to 6 Months
Your baby should still be receiving some nutrition from the bottle or breast during this time period; however, most pediatricians recommend gradually introducing solid food at this stage.
At first, your little one will get most of his or her nutrition from formula or breast milk, but as you introduce new foods, his or her need for liquid nourishment will decrease.
Signs Your Baby Is Ready for Solid Food
There are a number of signs that your baby is ready to start eating solid foods. You can learn more about starting solids by checking out our Starting on Solids article.
It’s also important that you discuss the transition to solid foods with your baby’s pediatrician. Don’t begin the process until he or she tells you it’s safe to introduce first solids to baby.
What Should Your Baby Be Eating and When?
From months 4 to 6, your baby should be drinking breast milk or formula plus starter solids. There are only two types of solid foods that your baby should be eating at this point: pureed fruits and vegetables that are either prepared or homemade and iron-fortified infant cereal.
Don’t give your baby pureed meats or any other types of grains at this stage. Finger foods should not be started until later as well.
Here are some tips to help you with starter solids
- Your baby only needs about 1 teaspoon of pureed food or cereal per day to start.
- To prepare infant cereal for a 4 to 6 months old, mix 1 teaspoon of cereal with 4 to 5 teaspoons of breast milk or formula. It will have a soupy consistency. This is normal and best for baby.
- As your baby begins to adjust to solid foods, you can slowly increase to 1 tablespoon of baby food once per day.
- You can gradually decrease the amount of breast milk or formula that you add to infant cereal as your baby gets more accustomed to solid foods. Babies 4 to 6 months of age can have up to 1 tablespoon of cereal plus breast milk or formula twice per day.
When in doubt, talk to your pediatrician about solid foods and if your little one is ready for them.