Is this normal - solids, gas, constipation?

[Tattooed Hand]

We started giving DD steamed veggies in the last week or so. Not much, just a bit of carrot, green bean, broccoli, potato. She gets really gassy, strains all day, is constipated and thrashes around farting in her sleep. It's rather like when she was little and colicky.

She has food sensitivities - I can't eat wheat, dairy, corn, nuts, or soy because it bothers her through my milk. I delayed solids this long because of these sensitivities. Are these reactions to solids normal, or is it a sign her digestive system is still not ready?

[Skrimpy]

I would say that her digestion is not ready for them. Carrots, green beans, and potatoes are really starchy and babies don't start to develop the enzymes to break down starchy foods well until after their first birthdays. I would recommend maybe holding off and trying easier veggies (avocado, steamed/baked squash... lots of babies also do well with sweet potato. Banana comes with its own enzyme but some babies still have problems). Broccoli and cauliflower aren't too starchy but they can cause gas on their own. I would totally hold off on beans and higher-carb veggies if she seems to be having trouble. She may be able to do meat purees or suck on fist-sized chunks of meat (if you're going with baby-led weaning) without the gas problems.

If she is having trouble with *anything* I would maybe hold off a few weeks and try again.

[ladyleah]

This thread is helpful to me as well! And actually is making some sense re: my LO's "issues"....(sorry to highjack your post! lolol)

My LO- born on 12/9 as well....is having a tough time with the solids. In my breastmilk he only seemed to be senstive to salmon(?!) and tomatoes...so we were not limiting anything with solids except for the typical wheat, dairy, peanuts, and other allergenic foods. We have let him decide when he wants to eat them- and for the first month or so (introduced a little after 6 months) he really wasn't interested. Now he is interested and I am having a hard time finding things that don't give him a crazy hassle in his belly/intestines! Carrots and green beans are not things that settle well with him (and he isn't eating that much of it!). So far, peas seem ok and oatmeal with prune puree.

I need to try a straight protein--because I had made an organic chicken puree but it had both sweet potato and carrots in it--and another organic chicken puree with a million veggies in it as well. lol Neither of these things settle really well in his system.

I am going to try some straight squash, plain protein, and avacado (he didn't dig that the first few times, but we can try again!) and see what happens.

Anyone else have any feedback for us as well?

[Tattooed Hand]

I tried what I did because they were on the list of least allergenic foods. The weird thing is that she had the same reaction to eating some peach, which I am pretty sure is not startchy, right?

Anyway, she isn't that interested, so we will wait. I'd like to avoid going back to the days when she would thrash and kick for 2-3 hours starting around 3am because of gas and wake up from naps because she had to poop but not be able to! She's already better today after 48 hours with just BM.

Ladyleah, I hope your LO digests better. If you want to wait, we found DD to be perfectly well entertained with spoons, bowls and sometimes frozen/mushy breastmilk. We've also soaked a baby sock in BM, frozen it and let her suck on/gnaw it at the dinner table. We reserve all these things as special dinner time things and she's pretty into them and doesn't reach for our food.

[Skrimpy]

peaches are still fruit which is a lot of sugar and babies are still developing the starch/sugar enzymes throughout the first and second year of life. Peaches can also be a little hard on the mouth for some people (just like tomatoes bother some people).

Food allergy research has shown that really, unless your family has a history of allergies, delaying certain foods doesn't make much difference in allergy rates. The exception to this is gluten-containing grains and celiac. There is evidence that delaying *all* solids for 6-7 months helps reduce allergy risk

I think you're doing alright to decide to wait a little while, especially since she's not interested. You can try re-introducing with a single food at a time and see what/if anything causes her problems. A little food diary can be helpful, too, for babies who may have sensitivites.

Ladyleah - I would say see how your little man does with an organic chicken puree. Lamb puree is another that lots of babies tolerate well and like the taste of. Then try some single-ingredient foods to see what he's liking and what sits well with him