Our little Harrison turned four months old when his pediatrician suggested introducing solid foods (starting with rice cereal). He has about 1-2 teaspoons (or as much as he will eat), 1-2 times daily for now, and we're thinking of waiting to introduce veggies and fruits at month five.

I'll be making my own baby food from fresh and frozen veggies/fruits, and found this site to be really helpful: www.wholesomebabyfood.com

It even lists vegetables to avoid when making your own, due to their high nitrate content (spinach, carrots, etc). I may be buying these already prepared, as the baby food companies go through testing to ensure the lowest possible amounts of nitrates.

I think one of our books (the AAP one) mentioned that by month six, a pediatrician will recommend that a baby eat 3 meals per day (plus snack/nightcap before bed), that include milk/formula, cereal (optional), and veggie/fruit (optional).

The WholesomeBabyFood link above also has a helpful calendar that I may use to figure out how often/when to introduce new items.

we introduced food at 4 mos, my son wasnt so into it, so we held off till 5 and gave baby food.  my dr recommends giving the same color foods at a time....sweet pot, carrots etc....

My daughter is 4 months old and we introduced rice cereal.  At first she just pushed it out.  Then she got a cold so we quit for the week.  When we started again she was a little more interested.  She loves the spoon!  She doesn't eat very much but at this point I think it's more about learning how to eat rather than how much she eats.

thanks for the baby food website! i haven't started with solids yet, but i look forward to exploring it! my friend also got me a book about making organic baby food.

it seems like 4 months is when people start introducing foods. sacha is just now 4 months but i think we'll wait a little while.

Our daughter's pediatrician recommended we wait until she was about 6 months to start solids. We started with rice cereal and then moved to oatmeal. It took a while for her to get used to it initially and she only ate a small amount. We fed it to her once a day. The trick for us was to use less breastmilk (or formula) than what the box suggests. The texture was more interesting for her that way. We then started introducing pureed fruits and veggies (carrots, peas, pears, apples, etc),1 type at a time, over a three day period. That way, we could see whether or not she was allergic to anything. We started with a small amount (1-2 oz.) and gradually increased the amount as she got older, and when we could start cutting down the amount of milk she drank. When she was around 9 months and had more than a couple of teeth, we started giving her solids that were chunkier and had protein. We also introduced her to juice (that was watered down) and small snacks like Cheerios and Gerber puffs. Please note: bananas and rice cereal can make some babies constipated. Giving them apples, pears and prunes help to counterbalance that.

If you are a parent that doesn't always have the time to make the food yourself, a lot of supermarkets sell organic baby food. Earth's Best is a brand that you might commonly see at most Supermarkets and even Babies R Us. Safeway also has it's own line of organic baby food. Gerber also has organic baby food and juices. 

Organic is definitely important, but what I found with my son was homemade was really the best.  I read somewhere that it is important to introduce babies to lots of tastes and textures early on.  When I didn't have time to make my own, I would use the frozen baby foods which are like homemade.  I tried a couple of different brands, but liked Plum Organics the best.  Their flavors were most like what I was making for my son and I liked the convenience of the portable cups.  Just my perspective, hope it helps!!! :)

We started at 6 months, but next time around might start rice cereal as early as 4 months.  My daughter drank a ton of milk between 4 and 6 months.  I had banked more than 200 ounces of breastmilk in the freezer and she went thru it all very quickly after 4 months.  I'm a working mom and could only pump twice a day at work and she clearly needed lots more calories than that.  I think if we had introduced rice cereal a little earlier the milk may have lasted longer.

I recommend 2 books if you're interested in making your own baby food:  Super Baby Food, by Ruth Yaron and Mommy Made, by Martha Kimmel.  They're very complementary.  Super Baby Food covers vegetables well, but doesn't have good info on how to cook fruit (which I find odd, because most people know how to cook vegetables but aren't accustomed to cooking fruit).  Mommy Made seems to have all the info that Super Baby Food does not.  I used to make all my daughter's food on the weekend and freeze it in ice-cube trays.  Take some care with Super Baby Food, because it encourages you to give your child nuts much earlier than is typically recommended.

We started at 4 months, as per our pediatrician.  At first, it was just rice cereal.  Our son was really big and very hungry and breastmilk and formula supplements just weren't doing the trick.  He was over 16 pounds at this point.  Hungry man. 

With my first son I was really young and kinda on my own so I did what the pedi said and started cereal and foods at 4 months.  That did not go well at all.  After that I really spent a lot of time researching all the first year milestones and such.  When I had my second one I waited till he was 6 months and that went a little better but I have realized that both of them are very very picky eaters now that they are older.  When the third one came along I didnt do anything by the doctors or the books.  I just watched him and waited and he let me know when he was ready.  Now he will eat anything you give him, he is not picky at all and is the healthiest of the three oldest.  Now with my fourth we are barely introducing cereal and food and he is 9 months.  He is not quite ready.  He is sitting up on his own, and will take about 3-4 bites without spitting out the spoon or food and that is about it.  Once he pushes everything out with his tongue, he is done.  Another thing is the pincher grasp like mentioned before, is an important milestone to look for as far as introducing foods.  One thing that we are doing with Brennan is half/half juice and water and Gerber Zwieback Toast.  He has done really well with that!  One other thing is avoiding anything that will have a overly sweet or bitter taste.  Tastes are going to be very strong for the babies, especially when it's new, make sure it's something that isnt overpowering.  Another thing to watch for is the atmosphere.  My youngest wont take a bite with his brother bouncing around him or the TV on.  I suggest a very calm and relax enviroment for you and baby.