Does my baby NEED to start on solids?

[coffeegirl]

Sorry, this is long. Please bear with me, I could use some advice here from the more experienced mamas.

My little girl is 5 and 1/2 months old now and at her last check-up the doctor mentioned that we might want to start thinking about starting her on solids. She said to start with grains-- a little rice cereal mixed with formula-- then move on to vegetables later, etc. Also, my MiL has been kinda nudging us to get on the solids train as well. I guess she started her own 4 kids on solids somewhere between 3-6 months. 

For background, this is our first baby, which explains why I'm asking this question because I have no idea what to do lol. Her diet since she was born has been roughly 20% breastmilk and 80% formula due to some really sucky low supply issues on my end. She's doing good on milk/liquids only....she sleeps through the night like a champ, anywhere from 8 to13 hours. She's not underweight but she is in the 20th percentile for weight, so she's definitely not chunky either. 

I guess I just think of it like...ok, a.) she has no teeth. b.) once she starts she's going to be on solids for the rest of her life so why rush it when liquids-only is working? And then c.) this may be irrational, but my already-sucky milk supply has been dropping off even more lately, and as a result my girl seems to be almost losing interest in it... :( Even though my supply has never been enough to feed her exclusively, it's still usually been her most favoritest thing in the world lol. We'd nurse at every opportunity and it always relaxed her, made her happy. But now with this "starting to lose interest" thing I'm just concerned that if we add yet another kind of food supply to the mix she may lose interest entirely. Again, that may be irrational but I'm just throwing it out there. The thought just breaks my heart. She's only 5- 1/2 months old.

I guess I just feel like, if it's not broke, why fix it, you know? Is there any good reason for her to start solids now? We've been thinking of waiting till much later, like closer to 9 months or so. Would that be bad?

Any insight is appreciated....

[Knitting Mama]

Nope, there's no reason to rush it if you're not-- and she's not-- ready. I assessed my daughter's readiness based on a few things. I waited until she was sitting very well independently, interested in eating, had lost the infant tongue thrust, and could pick food up and bring it to her mouth with relative ease. For Cecilia, that was a little over 6 months, but I would have happily waited longer if she hadn't shown readiness signs. Even though we started offering her stuff then, she did not pick up in her eating until the last month (she's almost 10 months old). So we probably could have waited until 9 months.

Grains or not is a hot button issue, even here on MDC. Some people swear by early grains, others believe in delaying grains. We didn't start with grains because we were following BLW (baby led weaning), which advocates starting with fruits and veg, and not pureed. Cecilia has had rice crackers by now but that's about it grain-wise.

[coffeegirl]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

Nope, there's no reason to rush it if you're not-- and she's not-- ready. I assessed my daughter's readiness based on a few things. I waited until she was sitting very well independently, interested in eating, had lost the infant tongue thrust, and could pick food up and bring it to her mouth with relative ease. For Cecilia, that was a little over 6 months, but I would have happily waited longer if she hadn't shown readiness signs. Even though we started offering her stuff then, she did not pick up in her eating until the last month (she's almost 10 months old). So we probably could have waited until 9 months.

Grains or not is a hot button issue, even here on MDC. Some people swear by early grains, others believe in delaying grains. We didn't start with grains because we were following BLW (baby led weaning), which advocates starting with fruits and veg, and not pureed. Cecilia has had rice crackers by now but that's about it grain-wise.

Thanks mama. Love your baby's name, btw. :) Cecelia was on our list; I loved that she's the patron saint of music, and it's just a pretty name.

Anyhow...Annemarie is 5 1/2 months and she's not sitting up independently....she shows *some* interest in food but then again she's at that age where she shows interest in everything so I don't know if that's a cue. I'm definitely going to wait then. Surprised that starting with grains is a hot button topic here. Do you know why? Is it just because there are two camps who each are pretty passionate about it?

I always figured rice cereal made sense as a starter for solids since if you mix itwith milk, it'd be like easing them into solids. So...when we DO start Annie on solids, doyou know the advantages of starting on vegetables/fruits first? Also, why not pureed? How else would the baby eat them, with no teeth?

TIA! :)

[jenifera2]

The book Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley is a great resource to answer those questions. You may be able to find it at your livrary, and it's a quick read.

If you've ever let your baby gum your fingers, you know she's got some strength! It's easy for them to gum cooked veggies and softer fruits. Plus, for a few months food is much, much more about exploring foods - textures, flavors, how to put it in their mouths and move it around. She'll continue to get most of her nutrition from you and formula for a long time. And since purees and being spoon-fed aren't things that will be with her later in life, practicing those skills isn't a necessary part of early solids.

[SeattleRain]

Well the reason why a lot of people don't start with rice cereal is that it doesn't really have a lot of nutritious value. Daniel's first food was sweet potato.

Look, you don't HAVE to do anything. You especially don't have to do anything until your baby shows some interest in food. If she does, you can choose to go the BLW route and just give her a hunk of avocado and tell her to go to town. She won't really eat THAT much so it would be good if you're trying to protect your nursing with her. You can also start feeding her little bits of puree and see how she does.

[luckiest]

You'll get different opinions on this, but I don't necessarily think cereal/grains make the best first food.  White rice cereal is little more than sugar; it has almost no nutritive value.  And evolutionarily speaking, people don't need grains - were cavewomen feeding their babes ground up rice?

A better start I think would be mushy fruits like bananas and avocados, things you can mash up with a fork rather than having to puree.

And it doesn't sound like either of you is ready for solids!  There's no reason to start them now, keep doing what you're doing and follow your gut :)

[Knitting Mama]

Dr.Greene is a wonderful source for why rice cereal is useless. Cecilia's first food was avocado, her second was butternut squash, and her third sweet potato. At this point I do spoon feed her some food, but it's foods I would eat with a spoon too, like yogurt and soup.

Name: I actually didn't know that St. Cecilia was the patron saint of music until we'd already decided on the name. But when I learned it, I was so excited, because I'm a singer and I hope Cecilia will love music too!

[KenzieBee]

We are new to this too with a six-month-old.  Last week we gave DD some mashed (almost pureed), very ripe avocado mixed with breastmilk as her first food.  She loved it!  We did that twice, and tonight we tried banana.  Our pediatrician also encouraged us to start "before six months"--actually he said that at her 4-month visit.  But from what I am told, solids at this point are more for exploration and fun than nutrition.  I also picked up some Earth's Best oat cereal (supposed to have more nutrition value than the rice cereal I guess) as well as some jarred food, but we haven't tried them yet.  I would like to to do the boiled/soft chunks of veggies at some point when she's older, if I can find the motivation to prepare the food lol.

[Knitting Mama]

I actually find it really easy (and cheap, way cheaper than prepackaged food) to keep Cecilia in food. I just give her the fruits and veg we'd be eating anyway! When she was younger I'd just cook her veg for longer if need be.

[JudiAU]

No, she doesn't need to start on solids yet and when she does, she doesn't need to start on grains. I usually start around 7 months with whole foods.

Boy I am jealous of the STTN