Make a spot for your baby (and her high chair) at your dinner table. "The ideal time to introduce solids is between four and six months -- that's when a baby's digestive system can handle them," says Tanya Remer Altmann, M.D., author of Mommy Calls. Cues your baby is also developmentally ready:

She's a hungry, hungry hippo. If your baby looks longingly at you when you eat, drinks more than 32 ounces of formula a day, or, when nursing, pulls off and looks around (as if searching for a snack), she'll likely devour starter baby cereal.

She has good head control and sits well with support. At first, she may prefer dining in your lap or her bouncy seat. Or recline her high chair if you can.

Her tongue knows what to do. Babies develop the ability to move food with their tongues back to their throats between 4 and 6 months. If she keeps pushing that soupy mixture forward during her first feeding, she's not quite ready. An extra week may be all she needs.

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