You can start feeding your lo rice cereal if he/she has strong neck and head control, able to sit up and shows interest & look at you when you have your meals. One hint that i've got from my lo one is that she tries to swallow her saliva and open & close her mouth quite frequently when its close to her feeding time. You may tryto feed your LO with rice cereal mixed with fm to see if he/she rejects the spoon. If he/she rejects, you may try again a few days or a week later.
You can start now if your LO has good head and neck support, show interest in your food and opens mouth when you offer food. If not you can just wait till 6 months then feed him.
My girl started on solids at exactly 5 mos, with our pd’s green light. The criteria to start was that my girl should be able to support her own head.
Wait until at least 6 months to introduce mashed food or rice cereal for ur LO.
I started once LO turned 6 mths. Started with baby rice cereal...