EXCLUSIVE breastfeeders how long - Page 2

[russianthistle]

DS, who is still nursing at 3.5 yr, was EBF until somewhere around 15 mo...this was purely by choice as he really did not want to eat.

I did start experimenting with food around 7-8 mo, but he should little to no interest in most foods...so I was lazy and didn't push the matter.

I think that you can take cues from your baby about what is right.

I think that my ds2 will probably eat earlier than ds 1 (ds2 is currently 5 mo.)...we'll see...

[skueppers]

My daughter wasn't terribly interested in solid food until she was 8 1/2 months old. Up to that point, she was satisfied with tasting little bits of food, but it was really just a novelty for her. Then all of a sudden, she wanted to eat!

My son, on the other hand, acted like we'd been starving him when we started letting him try solid food. He insisted on having solid food at every meal from six months onward, and was eating things like an entire cup of pureed chili for dinner at 7 months. I had plenty of breastmilk, and he'd been gaining weight at a normal rate, he was just totally ready for solid food. It was actually pretty inconvenient at times!

Oh, and he's still nursing now at over 2 1/2, so clearly his early interest in solid food didn't cause any problems for our nursing relationship.

[catters]

DS had tastes of things around six months because he showed interest, but didn't really "eat" where he was actually getting substantial calories from solid food until around 9 months. His interest waxed and waned. DD is almost five months and she watches everything we eat like a hawk... trying to grab at cups and food, etc. I'm not planning on giving her anything until she's six months, but I'll just let her decide how much she wants just like I did with DS.

[JessicaS]

Dd wasn't interested in solids until 18 months!!

Ds started grabbing things off my plate at five months.

It is really individual, IMO once they start taking your food they are ready. My dd at eight doesn't like spicy things but ds who is 16 months will eat chili, curry and all manner of things that dd doesn't.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

We started attempting solids at about 8 months but he refused almost completely until a little past a year.

[cdmommie]

DD1 got rice cereal and banana at 5 months old (before I knew anything) and things did NOT go well. It was a really awful experience with constipation and Allergy issues. So we stopped and Held off until 8 months. At that point I had researched and learned much more so we gave her soft finger foods and she did well. Now at 25 months she eats very well and nurses well too.

DD2 is almost 7 months and we just started letting her try stuff. We tried oatmeal first and she is allergic. So we waited a week and tried baked sweet potato. She only actually takes maybe one or two bites and the rest she just squishes and bangs and throws. She doesn't seem all that interested in it unless it's my food on my plate lol. Just takin' it slow

[mokey4]

I love this thread, it is making me feel so much better about how DD is doing with solids! Everyone I know IRL started spoon feeding somewhere between 4 and 6 months, and they all think I'm a freak for refusing to do purees or baby food.

I started offering DD soft finger foods around 6 months, but she hasn't done any real eating until now, 8 months. Even so, she's not all that interested in it so I don't really push it. So far the only thing I think she has eaten with any excitement are Cheerios (oops, I really didn't want to do cereal this early) and quinoa. Oh and she loves to suck on a nice juicy fruit like nectarine. She also likes to drink water from a cup- this started when I would drink water while holding her, and she would reach for the cup.

We still go many days without offering any solids and she doesn't seem to mind so much. I was worried that I was doing something wrong and being too lazy, but this thread definitely dispels that notion for me! I don't mind if she EBFs past a year, except that I just started working part time and the whole pumping thing is such a pain.

[fruitfulmomma]

I "forced" my lo to wait until 6-7 months this time. There is no way she would have waited longer than that though. She just loves to . We don't do baby foods or cereals. She just gets whatever little bits off my plate she is allowed to have. She mostly gets breastmilk still at 10 months and I have no plans of weaning for at least 2-3 more years.

[franklinmarxmom]

I voted "around 6 mos" because I introduced DS to cereal around 7 mos, but not seriously. We were traveling on vacation about that time, so it was easier to just not bother. We really fed him more consistently around 8 mos, and he just loved to eat. Still, breastmilk was his primary nutrition until about a year.

[SunShineSally]

Ds could have cared less until about 10ish months. Yet my best friends Ds2 wanted food at 7months I personally would take the LO's cue and not a time line ya know? I would not want to give anything until about 6 months at the earliest but if the LO showed LOTS and LOTS of interest I would at least give a bannana in one of those net thingys (Ds loved his) or homemade applesauce

[Baby_Cakes]

We offered solids around 6 months, but DD mostly played with the food until she was closer to 7 or 8 months. I think it really depends on the child. Some kids are *ready* earlier than others, and you really have to let them lead the way, and vice versa.

[BlackSheepPDX]

Started dabbling in solids at 6 months, but 6-9 months was pretty uninterested. Plus, it's so much easier to bring your boobs than pack a meal. I'm the queen of convenience About 9-10 months is when she really got serious about food.

[joyfulgrrrl]

Originally Posted by listipton

My little man is going to be one in about a week and a half. He has shown zero interest in food until about 2 weeks ago and now he is downright insistent that he try EVERYTHING I'm eating . It's too funny. With dd, we did the whole baby food spectrum and I have to say, it's been much easier and more fun this time around.

That's totally what we do as well. It's fun to try foods with baby but we're pretty random about it - she usually lets us know she wants in on the fun - she loves sitting in a high chair at the table, though.

[threadbey]

With DS we were travelling a lot and I just didn't want deal with solids. But people (esp. MIL) were making me feel pretty bad about it after 6 months. I pushed it to 7.5 months, but voted for 10 because hecreally didn't take to it (gagging, etc) until nearly 10 months when he could feed himself cheerios. He weaned at 13 months, which I'll admit was not fully CLW, but was also not entirely me forcing it.

This time I plan to just wait until finger foods are attractive and not worry myself over it! I hate spoon feeding!

Curious to see what the ped has to say about

[ewe+lamb]

dd didn't show any interest until after 12 months, ds loved and ate at 6 months, very interesting their differences but glad that we just followed their lead.

[Barefoot~Baker]

I started my dds on solids at about 5 1/2 months. I wanted to wait longer (dh has food allergies), but they were READY. They looked so jealous whenever they saw us eating! They devoured their first meals! We'll see what this little guy will do...

[rissierae]

Actually, we started solids at 5 months. I kind of didn't want to, but ds was sooo ready. He was basically trying to get the food from me any time I would eat with him on my lap. I can't tell you how many times I ended up with food down my front because he was trying to get at it! And the first time we fed him (sweet potatos with breastmilk) he devoured them.