Formula Feeding FAQs: Starting Solids and Milk

The major health organizations - including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Medical Association (AMA), the American Dietetic Association (ADA), and the World Health Organization (WHO) - agree that solids at 4 months, the AAP now recommends waiting until your baby is 6 months old. Why? Because feeding solids earlier than this can increase the chances of your baby developing food allergies.

Water, juice, and other foods are usually unnecessary during a baby's first 6 months. Breast milk or formula provides everything babies need nutritionally until they start eating solid foods.

Watch for signs of solid-food readiness, such as your baby's tongue-thrusting reflex subsiding and your baby beginning to reach for other people's food. Always start with baby cereal (rice cereal is usually the best one to introduce first) on a spoon before advancing to fruits and vegetables. But do not add cereal to your baby's bottle unless your child's doctor instructs you to - it can make babies overweight and make it difficult for newborns and young infants to digest breast milk or formula.

Also, fruit juices should not be given to babies younger than 6 months. Even when your baby is older, keep fruit juices to a minimum (no more than 8 ounces, or 240 milliliters, per day). Too much juice can fill your baby up (leaving little room for more nutritious foods), promote obesity, and put your baby at an increased risk for cavities when teeth start coming in.

When you do give your baby juice, make sure it's pasteurized and try diluting it with water. And remember to never put your baby to bed with a bottle or capped cup of juice, formula, or breast milk because the sugar in them can cause dental cavities.

When can I start giving my baby milk rather than formula?

Infants under 1 year shouldn't have milk or any dairy products at all because of the possibility of a milk allergy. But at 1 year old, you can begin offering your little one whole milk. Why not skim or 2%? Because babies need the fat in whole milk for normal growth and brain development during the busy early toddler period.

You can transition your baby from formula to whole milk by beginning to replace bottles of formula with bottles - or sippy cups - of milk. However, by 1 year old your baby should be eating other foods and only needs 2 cups (480 milliliters) of milk per day, so you could switch from formula to milk without a transition period.

If your baby was put on a soy or hypoallergenic formula because your child's doctor tested for and confirmed a calcium is fine.

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