Delaying solids

[Asiago]

After much research, I'd like to delay solids if possible (within reason) for my 6 month old. Just looking to hear stories from moms who have done so also as well as any other good info links that you may have to share.

Thanks!!

[rparker]

This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but I offered solids at 6 months and my daughter wasn't interested. She was at least 12-13 months before she really began eating them at all and she was totally fine (i.e. huge) growth-wise. Deliberately delaying solids is a totally valid choice. The only scenario in which I would hesitate to do so would be if the baby were over 6 months, had all other physical signs of readiness, and was literally grabbing the food off of your plate.

[Asiago]

Thank you for the feedback!

[hijadelrey3]

My daughter is 7 months, one week. Just this morning we gave her, her first chance at solids. She has been grabbing at everything (including the food off my plate ) though she hasn't put it in her mouth. So this morning I put some well cooked sweet potato cubes on a tray in front of her. She took just a little off of my finger. Made a face. Spit it out. Refused more and then had a great time mashing the rest and spreading it all over the tray (and herself) That was the end of our experiment for today. I think she will grab it and put it in mouth when she is ready. She has quite the family history of food allergies so I am going to give her chances to try food but if she doesn't go for it on her own, I'm going to assume she isn't ready. I don't know if this helps much but it is my experience so far.

[Asiago]

Yes, it does help, thanks hijadelrey3. I would like to do the same when my instincts tell me to. I will likely do as you, offer cubes or something similar, and see if he feeds himself.

[mamaw/two]

My best advice is to follow the baby's lead. Two of my four children wanted solids right at 6 monthes, and probably would have eated them earlier if I had let them. I offered cut up bits of food and they fed themselves. My other two were not interested and didn't begin until they were, one at 9 monthes and the other around 13 monthes. If you listen to your baby, it will work out for the best.

[spughy]

This isn't a decision you get to make all by yourself. Your baby has some input into it. Actually, if you typically eat with your baby on your lap, frankly you have zero control over it because when he is ready, he will just grab your food and stuff it into his face. They're speedy little boogers. You might get lucky and he may miss the first time or two, but he'll figure it out eventually.

Readiness for solids is one of those things where a timeline or a preconceived notion of what's "right" is detrimental to health and happiness. Generally, when a baby can sit unassisted, grab items intentionally and place them in his mouth (either by opening his hand appropriately and mashing them in, or using a pincer grasp with his fingers and thumb), and has a tooth or two, he's ready. This can happen any time between 4 1/2 and 10 months. I completely concur with pp's who advocated self-feeding - it's the best way. Think of it as adding a toy that happens to be food. You can do it whenever you like, it's not going down his throat until he's good and ready. Cubes of sweet potato are great, but if you're really, really worried about choking, make your own chicken stock, make sure it gels really well (reduce it lots), and cut it into cubes. It'll be messy if he holds it in his little hands for too long, but there's minimal risk of choking (it melts when it goes in his mouth), it's a great, nutritious first food, and a good stain stick will manage the laundry issue. (Unlike bananas. Banana stains are the WORST.) Don't bother with baby cereal, it's a waste of tummy space and it requires you to spoon it into his mouth.

[annettemarie]

Moving to Life with a Babe.

[Altair]

I concur with letting the baby lead. I've found that the more ownership the baby has over the process, the better of an eater you have! Let food be something fun and interesting and easy-going. Let your baby grab food from your plate and try it and spit it out and eventually eat it (one day). It's so nice with nursing that you can let the experimentation happen and not be so worried about creating a perfect balance of nutrients every time-- you know you still have MM to count on.

I honestly never really made food for my boy, he tried whatever I was having and to this day he abhors plain foods and has quite the gourmet palate.

[Abraisme]

I think it's more important to look for signs of readiness rather than to wait for a set age. Some babies are ready to eat at 5mo and others aren't ready to eat much until 12mo+. Both of my kids starting eating at 5mo because they showed extreme interest and had most of the readiness signs. By 6-7mo my children were pretty much eating whatever I ate at any given meal. However, my best friend's son hardly ate anything until he was 14mo and then one day it clicked on. Anyway, my personal feeling is that if your baby wants to eat, can sit up and can feed his/herself then you should go with that.

[New_Natural_Mom]

We delayed solids. Didn't even attempt to introduce them until about 8-9 mos. I started by offering some avocado...he wasn't interested. We tried again a few days later with some banana...then as time went on and he was more interested we used organic jarred food : b/c we both worked FT and it was just easier. Now DS is 2 and eats pretty much what we eat. I just followed DS's cues to eating. But I am glad we delayed and didn't force him.

[Kmama2]

Originally Posted by New_Natural_Mom

We delayed solids. Didn't even attempt to introduce them until about 8-9 mos. I started by offering some avocado...he wasn't interested. We tried again a few days later with some banana...then as time went on and he was more interested we used organic jarred food : b/c we both worked FT and it was just easier. Now DS is 2 and eats pretty much what we eat. I just followed DS's cues to eating. But I am glad we delayed and didn't force him.

I don't really offer till 8/9 months or later either. After 6 months Ill do carrot sticks, pickles , cantalope for teething... baby likes to hold and chew on but doesn't actually eat anything. I wait for teeth and a pincer grasp and the ability to feed self. DD didn't start eating much till after 12 months and around 18 m became a much better eater. Ds is almost 7 months and is still totally breastfed.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by Kmama2

I don't really offer till 8/9 months or later either. After 6 months Ill do carrot sticks, pickles , cantalope for teething... baby likes to hold and chew on but doesn't actually eat anything. I wait for teeth and a pincer grasp and the ability to feed self. DD didn't start eating much till after 12 months and around 18 m became a much better eater. Ds is almost 7 months and is still totally breastfed.

Yeah, these are reasons why each kid is so different. Both of my kids started getting teeth at 4mo, where tasting food around 5mo and were full on chewing and eating by 6mo. My DD is 8mo and eats 3 full (baby sized) meals plus plenty of bm. She also has 6 teeth now, so perhaps there is a correlation there.

[redvlagrl]

All kids are different, but my brother just told me of a study that has come out in Australia regarding delaying. Apparently they have been advising to delay all solids until 10 or 11 mths of age! And they think this is now causing allergies. There are other studies which show that early introduction of potential allergens might have a protective effect. This is why we did BLW with DD (now 19 mths) and she had egg whites, dairy, etc etc etc right from when she started eating solids (6 mths).