New to TF- Breastfeeding and Solids Questions

[Casey44]

I'm so glad I found this forum!! It has been really helpful already! I'm new to TF and have a 5 month old that I'm breastfeeding. We haven't started solids yet but I've been doing a lot of research as we get closer. I just have a few random questions relating to this that I'm just going to throw out there:

1. Hubby and I are taking FCLO from Green pastures and our pediatrician agreed that it would be ok to give it to DD as long as it came from a good source and had no mercury. I have heard that the Blue Ice is the best, and that's what we have, but I can't find anywhere that will reassure me that there is no mercury in it. Does anyone know and if so, how do you know?

2. If I do start giving it to her, what is the best way? Just through a dropper? YUCK! Poor girl!

3. This whole child led solids thing males sense to me in some aspects, but I'm just wondering what the real benefits are? The part that doesn't make sense to me is that people say if they don't eat it, they're not ready. I mean, if I had said, "well, she's not breastfeeding, so she must not be ready," she never would have eaten! I know that's different and we have to use our common sense, but I'm just making the point that they are babies, and we have to help them with so much, why take this theory when it comes to solids? And how does this work with foods that are difficult for them to pick up and put in their mouth like avocado or banana?

4. What are the benefits of holding off on certain foods that might cause allergies. Is it that the older they are, the less allergic they might be when they try it? Is there more danger when they are around 6 months to trying an egg yolk? I was just thinking we could try it and if she's allergic, then we'll stop, but I'm thinking there's more to waiting than I'm currently understanding!

5. Also, not sure if anyone happens to know why, but my dd poops have been smelling HORRIBLE lately and she is still only on breastmilk. Could this be related to the FCLO I've been taking and the fact I've been eating more eggs? I think the two started around the same time but am not positive. Is this a concern or a sign of an allergy?

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by Casey44

I'm so glad I found this forum!! It has been really helpful already! I'm new to TF and have a 5 month old that I'm breastfeeding. We haven't started solids yet but I've been doing a lot of research as we get closer. I just have a few random questions relating to this that I'm just going to throw out there:

1. Hubby and I are taking FCLO from Green pastures and our pediatrician agreed that it would be ok to give it to DD as long as it came from a good source and had no mercury. I have heard that the Blue Ice is the best, and that's what we have, but I can't find anywhere that will reassure me that there is no mercury in it. Does anyone know and if so, how do you know?

They did do some testing at some point, and it came back very clean. But it's not clear if they've continued to test. The head of their company doesn't communicate very well about it, honestly, but since at least one round of tests came back clean a lot of folks feel fine about it. I believe the testing was reported in an issue of Wise Traditions? Can anybody else remember?

Originally Posted by Casey44

2. If I do start giving it to her, what is the best way? Just through a dropper? YUCK! Poor girl!

I just gave it to my babe on a spoon. She might love it. My babe loved it until just recently. He's 11 months. I switched him to salmon oil from Vital Choice when he started refusing the FCLO. That particular salmon oil still has its A and D, and tastes much milder than the FCLO, so he'll still do that.

Originally Posted by Casey44

3. This whole child led solids thing males sense to me in some aspects, but I'm just wondering what the real benefits are? The part that doesn't make sense to me is that people say if they don't eat it, they're not ready. I mean, if I had said, "well, she's not breastfeeding, so she must not be ready," she never would have eaten! I know that's different and we have to use our common sense, but I'm just making the point that they are babies, and we have to help them with so much, why take this theory when it comes to solids? And how does this work with foods that are difficult for them to pick up and put in their mouth like avocado or banana?

Well, everyone's body is different, and the idea is that you can trust your child's body to direct you nutritionally better than you can a book. When her body is ready for food, she'll start feeling interested in it. My second baby started leaning in, watching, opening his mouth while watching us eat, and grabbing things and putting them in his mouth if we gave it to him. Or, if I held a bite in front of him, he'd lean forward to get it. My first baby took a loooong time to get to that point.

Have you ever read the study they did where they put babies in a room with a bunch of whole foods, and just wrote down what they ate? They found that if they just let the babies follow their cravings, they ate an extremely nutritionally balanced range of things -- over the long term. Short term, they sometimes looked like they were interested only in a certain item, but then it all evened out. And they would also take care of their own deficiences. One baby who had rickets, for example, ate bunches of cod liver oil, of his own accord, for a while. Then he stopped and focused on other foods.

So, as long as you are following cues and eating a wide range of nutrient-dense foods, you can trust that your baby is the expert in picking what they should be eating. I just made sure that I had plenty of high-fat, nutrient-dense snacks on hand to offer, in addition to our meals. My baby did NOT like avocado, and loooooves liver. He liked fish roe for a long time, then stopped. He loves curried chicken broth. I just offered him things from our meals that seemed the most nutrient-dense and full of good fats.

I also haven't offered grains to my baby yet -- they don't make the enzyme for digesting grains until they're older, apparently, and grains also have inflammation issues with enough people that it seems wise to wait. They're also not incredibly nutrient-dense. That said, the other day he found a piece of his brother's sprouted-grain bread with butter and honey and munched on that for a while, and I certainly didn't stop him.

Originally Posted by Casey44

4. What are the benefits of holding off on certain foods that might cause allergies. Is it that the older they are, the less allergic they might be when they try it? Is there more danger when they are around 6 months to trying an egg yolk? I was just thinking we could try it and if she's allergic, then we'll stop, but I'm thinking there's more to waiting than I'm currently understanding!

There are a lot of different perspectives on this -- maybe try the allergy forum to get the range of answers. A lot of the ladies there are also eating TF-style.

Originally Posted by Casey44

5. Also, not sure if anyone happens to know why, but my dd poops have been smelling HORRIBLE lately and she is still only on breastmilk. Could this be related to the FCLO I've been taking and the fact I've been eating more eggs? I think the two started around the same time but am not positive. Is this a concern or a sign of an allergy?

Good question! I don't know -- it would seem that she's having trouble processing something. Maybe someone else will have some ideas.

[Casey44]

Thank you for all the information! And I'm sorry for all the questions! If anyone else has any comments I would really appreciate it, but no need to respond to everything! I just combined all my questions into one huge post!

That is interesting about the FCLO. When I called Green Pastures, the man I talked to said he didn't think I needed to give her FCLO if I was breastfeeding. I don't know who he was or how informed he was on the topic, but that makes me hesitate if they aren't very vocal about it?

Thanks again!!

[JMJ]

1. I don't know what to tell you about FCLO. Personally, I chose to give my baby regular CLO, but FCLO may be just fine too. There's a little bit of a controversy with GP FCLO. Some people think the Vitamin A content is too high (though because it's from a natural source, not synthetic Vitamin A, it's likely not a problem). Some people think that the vitamin content is necessary because fish oil is polyunsaturated, and the vitamins help counteract the potentially toxic effects of polyunsaturated oils. Some people are concerned about possible contaminants. Some are confident that their FCLO is clean or are convinced that there are properties of the FCLO that will protect/detox their bodies. My personal choice was to give my baby other CLO with lower vitamin content and independently tested for contaminants. Was it the right choice? I don't know. I'm still learning, and I may make a different decision for the next child. You'll have to learn what you can and make your own decision.

2. DD takes her CLO off a spoon. The kind we get doesn't taste bad. If you do purees instead of BLW, you can put some in a puree. I tried pouring it on veggies that I was feeding her a few times, but so much was left on the bottom of the bowl, and she was eating so little of the food that I know she wasn't getting enough of the CLO, and I hate to waste something so expensive.

3. The science behind the child-led solids is that your breast milk can meet every nutritional need that she has for at least a year. There is no hurry to introduce solids, and you should be careful about not doing it in a way that is going to cause problems with food later. Our bodies are built with wonderful mechanisms that tell us when we are hungry and even help us to crave certain foods that contain nutrients that we are deficient in.

The normal way of feeding babies in the West is to puree foods as soon as we are "allowed" to give it to our babies, and get as many spoonfulls into his/her mouth as possible, or at least to empty the jar before we have to throw it out. Basically, the parent is deciding what the baby should eat and how much. Many times, parents are concerned that the baby is not eating enough and will give their babies too much fruit/processed carbs just to convince their babies to eat. The baby learns that her/his hunger cues are not something to be trusted and learns bad eating habits.

It's kinda like if I served you a nice serving of food for every meal and expected you to eat all of it and no more. If I don't give you the right amounts of everything for your body, you may gain weight, loose weight, or feel unsatisfied about the kinds of food you are eating. It's far better to let you have some choice in what you eat and how much you eat so that you can get what you need. The same is true for our kids.

You compared it to breastfeeding. While you may have had to overcome difficulties to breastfeed, the difference is that your baby was moving from having food come automatically to having to work for food. Now that she knows how to nurse and knows that she can get nourishment that way, there's no need to force your breast into her mouth if she does not want it. You can trust that she'll eat if she's hungry and not if she's not. The same goes for food. She's old enough to observe that you put this stuff in your mouth, and when she gets to the point that she cares enough to try herself, she can eat.

4. There are lots of different perspectives on this. The old thinking was that kids are less likely to develop allergies if they aren't introduced right away. This has been proven to be false. Many BLW advocates encourage you to offer your baby any kind of food starting at 6 months and just dealing with allergies if they come up. They argue that by waiting until 6 months (Some kids used to get introduced to rice cereal or strained meats at just a couple weeks old.), the problems with early introduction of allergens are avoided. Some people point out that a lot of kids will outgrow allergies/intollerances, so if you wait to introduce it, your kid will never have to have an allergic reaction to it. Other people who are concerned that the allergic reaction may require medical care will argue that you'd rather treat a toddler with a little more body than an infant. Some people wish to wait until the child is old enough to communicate pain better to give the parents better information if the child is having a more minor allergic reaction. Other parents feel that they are so in tune to their babies' needs that they'll know if something is off. Again, this is one that you have to do your research and decide for yourself.

Personally, I focused on egg yolks over egg whites, but I didn't completely avoid egg whites, and my focus on egg yolks was for the nutrients more than for avoiding egg whites. I did not give her much grains. Rice was actually the only thing she's ever reacted to when she ate too much. I haven't given her nuts/nut butters yet because nuts are a choking hazard, and I haven't been eating nut butters recently. I held off on shellfish until a year at the recommendation of her pediatrician who explained that although uncommon, shellfish allergies tend to be severe, and a toddler would be able to withstand the treatment that would be needed better than an infant.

5. There's so many things that affect poop smell that it's impossible for us to tell you what would be causing it. Perhaps it is from the changes that you are making to your diet. Perhaps it is from changes that are happening in her gut, getting her ready for solids. If it turns green, maybe she's getting too much foremilk. We had this problem a lot leading up to the introduction of solids, and then it went away. I'd just keep an eye on her. If a red ring appears around her anus, consider that she might be reacting to something new in your diet. If she seems happy, I wouldn't worry.

Don't worry about all the questions. Many of us get overwhelmed and post lists of questions. We've been TF for several months now, but as I get into each new stage, I post another list of questions.

[Casey44]

Thank you! Everything you shared is very helpful! And that makes more sense about the BLW... I think we might do a little bit of that and pureed foods as well. I want her to get that bone broth so I'm thinking pureed foods are a good way to fit that in.

With the CLO- what do you mean by "independently test for contaminants?" Like, you had your baby test or the CLO?

I do think the green poop is sometimes a foremilk issue and I've tried pumping a little in the morning before I feed her to cut down on the foremilk she gets. It still just seems to be green every once in a while. I will also try cutting back on eggs and see what that does. I would prefer to keep eating them though as long as they aren't causing her problems?

Thank you again for all the help!!

[JMJ]

Originally Posted by Casey44

With the CLO- what do you mean by "independently test for contaminants?" Like, you had your baby test or the CLO?

That's where another company tests their CLO and publishes the results. It's considered more likely to be accurate since the outside company's income is dependent on the accuracy of the tests. The producing company may be more likely to fudge results if they don't come out well because their income is dependent on convincing people that they have a good product. I'm not saying that GP is guilty of this. I'm just saying that some people would prefer to see some independent testing of the potential contaminants known to exist in some CLO.

Glad to help.