Baby Food

I don't really believe in pureed baby food. Something just doesn't seem right about propping a tiny infant up and pouring mechanically processed (no matter how "natural" the actual ingredients are) food into it. All three of my kids have been different about showing they were ready for solids and at wildly different ages, so I don't think you can really have a standard age guideline, but just watch your kid. If they have teeth, and are sitting up or moving around on their own, and grab a hunk of food off your plate, they are probably ready.

My first baby wasn't interested in food (though I did make a pretense of offering various textured items from about 6 months, as per pediatrician recommendation) until she was almost a year old. At which point she began with well cooked meat and some veggies. I was really adamant even then about staying dairy free and avoiding processed foods and sugar, so she actually was really lucky to have been basically paleo for the first 2 years even though I wasn't trying to do that exactly.

My second child was "interested" much earlier, but basically stuck with gumming drumsticks and not much else between 6-9 months, and then started chewing up cooked veggies, beef, egg yolk, etc.

My current little one is just 4 months old, and has no teeth, but is already way too interested in what's on mommy's plate. I can't quite wrap my head around a 4 month old being old enough to introduce foreign protein too, so I keep distracting him and offering to nurse (no supply problem here, though the ped did suggest I might not be able to keep up with the 20 lb chubtastic's demand. "poppycock" I said, "how do you think he got to this size?") but I am keeping an open mind. I may let him mangle some soft bits of grilled squash or pre-chewed meat soon.

My list of preferred first foods is:
beef
egg yolk
chicken
squash
carrot
avocado (although so far none of my kids have been particular fans, a huge disappointment to me, lover of the daily avocado if at all possible)

And NO GRAINS! I used to feel so sad when I saw all the other mom's feeding their babies rice cereal and extolling it's supposed virtues to even newer moms. (all the while dosing the poor kids with bottles of prune juice to compensate for the constipation...)