Delayed solids/Baby-led

[Shanelovr]

i'm just hoping someone can talk to me about delaying solids. ds just turned 6mo and he's only tried a few foods. all natural, organic, fruits or veggies, raw. he's tried green pepper, green leaf lettuce, carrot, banana, apple, pear, i think thats it. i'm really in no hurry to feed him anything besides bm and he doesn't really care either way. i nurse him on demand, and things are going fantastic so i know hes healthy and nourished, and i'm not planning on weaning ANYtime soon. i already know about and am planning to delay pretty much all bread substances based on my research. but my main question is: is there any harm done in not giving him things to try? i'm just not sure if i should be letting him experiment more. can someone tell me where to get more info on delaying solids? tia

[OTMomma]

I'm not sure where to tell you to read more- I hope someone else can answer that. Personally, I think setting baby up at meals with soft bits of well cooked foods to play with and experiment with is healthy at that age. I put my little ones in a high chair or my lap with stuff that they could grab and try but not choke on, if the baby ate some great, if not that was fine too. I made a point of not spoon feeding, so whatever baby ate was baby's choice.

[JMJ]

This is probably what you're looking for.

Most of the research is showing that beyond 6 months, there's really not really any harm done by introducing solids, but breast milk (or formula in cases when it is needed) should provide most of baby's nutrition at least until a year old. The extra callories that baby gets from solids should be to get used to tastes and textures, not to replace breast milk since there is no better food for your baby than breast milk.

Baby Led Weaning is one option you have for introducing solids in a way that respects your baby's own pace for introducing food. Other people prefer purees of super baby foods and are just careful to respect when their babies say "no."