first solids at 7 months gone wrong -- need reassurance

[moonInLion]

we do BLW, have been offering DS (7 months) his first solids for a couple of weeks (soft pear, sweet potato, rice cake). until this past weekend, he was keen to grab items, put them in his mouth, and then asked me to peel them off his tongue. last weekend was the first time he actually ingested something, it was cantaloupe, and he obviously liked it, asking for more (interpreting his gestures of enthusiasm). since then, he was offered other foods: sweet potato, pear, avocado, cantaloupe, rice cakes, of which I think he only swallowed some rice cake and cantaloupe. so far so good. But this morning he woke up at 5 with obvious GI discomfort, made a big poo, and through the course of the day his poos turned into diarrhea which was accompanied by pain. needless to say that his anus is all red. poor chap. my instinct tells me that his guts are not ready for this. my inclination is to pull off solids for a month to give him time to heal. thoughts?

[Knitting Mama]

A month might be pushing it, but I would definitely cut back on solids until his poop is back to normal and his poor rear is healed.

I also wonder if this is part of the reason why it's a good idea to offer only one food at a time for a week before trying the next new thing?

[momto4plus4]

Ditto Aimee's post. My first thought was that he may not be able to handle so many different foods so fast. Maybe ease off for a couple days then offer one food for a few days. Maybe one of the foods isn't setting well but the others are okay.

[october]

I wonder if it could be the rice cake? Maybe that's a weird suggestion, but I'm under the impression that it's better to hold off on grains and wheat until about 10-12 months.

Also, avocado could be the culprit.. I've heard it goes hand in hand with having reactions to banana and latex. So maybe after you give him a break and if he has banana and reacts, it could have been the avocado. Does anyone else agree with that? I'm a total amateur but this is what my intuition says.

[Addie]

My DS had a similar reaction after starting solids - not the diarrhea so much but the waking up in the night with discomfort, followed by monster poo. I think it was mango in a mesh feeder that did him in. I'm no doctor, but after 6.5 months of nothing but breast milk, I figured he was bound to have some sort of gastrointestinal adjustment when we started solids - and I figured that adjustment would take place no matter if we started at five months or eight months. So, I think holding off for a month is a bit much, but maybe back off a bit to let him settle.

I do think it's a good idea to follow the guidelines of introducing one new food every 3-5 days... I don't know if people think that advice contradicts BLW or what, but to me it just made sense to go gradually and to have the ability to look for specific reactions.

[Knitting Mama]

I don't think that contradicts BLW at all, although I will admit that I haven't read the Rapley book yet, just used internet resources.

[Eresh]

BLW maintains that it's not necessary to wait 3-5 days to introduce each new food when you're waiting to 6+ months to introduce solids.  She says that the waiting thing was a legacy from the practice of introducing solids early and not necessary unless there is a family history of food allergies.  That being said, you're the parent and it's totally your call.  I see no reason to rush to getting baby on solids even at 7 months.  He is still getting his nutrition from your milk, so might as well take it easy for a little while.

[Knitting Mama]

Yeah, personally, I feel safest introducing foods slowly, because I'd like to know what it was that caused a reaction, if Cecilia has one (which, thankfully, she hasn't yet). But now I am interested in digging into my Rapley book so I can read it for myself. Time, why do I never have enough of you? LOL

[moonInLion]

Thanks for your input! My little one's anus is slowly improving, and this morning he had that yummy breastmilk poo again, followed by several diarrhetic projectile painful shoots. Hope his guts can completely recover.

The avocado thing makes sense. This was the first new food, that I had not offered him yet (as said, he has been offered things but did not really ingest them for a few weeks already). Both my older children reacted to banana when they had it first around the 7month mark (that's why I do not offer banana to this little guy for quite a while) -- did not no that there is a connection between the two, what a shame, it's such good food!

Great thing is, he seems to understand that and why he is not getting anything offered now, and is happily gnawing on his wooden vegetables during mealtimes. Smart baby........

Thanks again!

[mum5]

for what it's worth, my experience w/ avocado has not been a good one. My middle child had avo. as her 1st food, and enjoyed it ( about 61/2 mths ) for a while, then all of a sudden it made her throw up constantly. It was def. the avo. My dr said that she would be allergic to banana and also latex, but this is not the case.

Ds also had avo as a first food, and is now rejecting it, as in gagging, which he had not done before. Seems strange to me.

Anyway, as far as food goes, I would think that you should wait a week or so, then start w/ chunks of pear, sweet pot, but I would wait 3 -4 days to see if there is a reaction. Also don't feed new foods before bed / nap time.

Pear has quite a bit of fibre in it, maybe that's what bothered him also?

[momto4plus4]

Hmm, avocado's been a great one for my babies. My ped has been encouraging it as it can help with poo'ing, my babe is super constipated. It's always good to hear others' experiences with foods.