Child development experts advise parents not to introduce solid foods, such as baby cereal, into an infant's diet until the infant is at least 4 to 6 months old. The researchers also found that formula-fed infants were much more likely to be given solid foods too early than were breast-fed infants. Health authorities do advise parents to wait until after 4 months because infants aren't developmentally ready to eat solid foods before. There are a number of other reasons why experts don't recommend early feeding. One is that the early introduction of solid foods has been linked to a shorter duration of breast-feeding. Early solid food consumption has also been linked to the development of chronic conditions, such as childhood obesity, celiac disease, diabetes and eczema.