starting solids...looking for advice

[Kelley55]

lola is coming up on her 4-month check-up and the doctor wants to talk about solid foods.  i know traditionally, a lot of moms start with rice cereal, but i really don't like that idea.  it seems like filler to me and i don't see what's wrong with just starting with pureed veggies. i didn't expect to be thinking about solids at 4 months - i was going to EBF for the first 6 months and then gauge her interest in solid foods.  BUT...she is showing a huge interest in what we are eating and constantly nursing.  after i nurse, she still turns her head and opens her mouth.  its not a supply issue, i know i'm making milk and i pump a few times a day too.  i am starting to feel that she just needs a little more.  i have no issues with the frequent nursing (at night 2-3 times), but i feel that she actually NEEDS more at this point. i have a baby bullet and a few baby food recipe books.  considering whipping up something and trying it out in the next few weeks.  any advice?   

[hildare]

you're going to hear this a lot here, but i wouldn't do solids till 6 months. 

if you want to play with foods, try frozen breastmilk slushies, etc. 

there's really no reason to start so early.

can she sit up?  how's her tongue thrust reflex?  those are better signs of readiness than an interest in your food.  also, it's pretty common for them to have a growth spurt around 4 months and nurse you like crazy :)

[Kelley55]

do you mean sit up on her own?  no she can't.  we use a bumbo here and there, but that's about it.  not sure about the tongue reflex.  how would i test that out?  its been weeks of constant nursing and while i don't mind doing it, i feel like she needs more.

[mad4mady]

Hello:)I might get flamed for this but, I wanted to throw it out there anyway. I did not wait until the 6 month mark with either of my children. Our ped recommends waiting until 6 months so it was in no way influences by anyone except my baby. We are actually just starting solids with dd2 becaues she leaned over grabbed a banana from my hand and put it in her month at 4.5 months. Sure I could have taken from her but, I didn't. I let her gum and it and she enjoyed it. So I took that as a sign that she is ready. I haven't started anything regular but, when she shows interest I let her have a nibble. She is now just about 5 months and has tried avocado, banana, peach and a little baby oatmeal mixed with alot of breastmilk. She is happy and likes it. It works for her and so I am not saying it would work for every baby. I am not trying to tell you to start or not I am just giving you my experience. If you do not want to start solids yet, I would jsut nurse her at the table while everyone else is eating and see if that makes her happy. BTW dd1 is now 9 years old healthy, not a picky eater and no allergies

[BabySmurf]

so, i'm all about letting your baby be the guide for solids, but here are a few things to consider:

does your baby actually seem interested in solids, or is she just hungrier?

there are several "readiness" signs that you should be looking for to help decide if your baby's GI tract is mature enough to handle foods, i.e. being able to sit upright, the tongue thrust reflex moving further back in the mouth, and the baby being able to make a pincer grasp.

my ds will nurse more, not only at growth spurts, but also when he is hitting a milestone, teething, or just feeling "under the weather".  he will nurse ALL the time some days, and then all of a sudden he eats very little, or goes back to normal.  there's lots of reasons why babies nurse besides hunger.

i liked looking at this site for a lot of general info and recipes : www.wholesomebabyfood.com  it's a good starting point, and can help you figure out where you stand on introducing foods.

i would be careful about giving your LO solids just yet based on what you have said, but you are the mom, and you know your baby best.  i thought my ds was going to be a huge eater; he put EVERYTHING in his mouth.  everything except food.  i started letting him explore just before 6 months, and now at almost a year he is still mostly just exploring.  some days he will eat a lot other days nothing at all.   babies are funny.  i know this is a really fun and exciting time, but try not to focus on it too hard and let your baby be the guide!

[TheDivineMrsM]

We started solids at 5 months (let the flogging begin!) DD snatched a piece of sweet potato off of my plate and hasn't stopped eating since. 

Whenever you decide that your baby is ready for solids (whether that's tomorrow or three months from now) you don't have to start with rice cereal. Try avocado, banana, sweet potato, squash... anything you want. I love wholesomebabyfood.com for information and recipes. 

[katelove]

If you're interested in baby led weaning this is a good website, based on the Gil Rapley book. She doesn't consider a pincer grip to be a sign of readiness, as long as the baby can grasp food in his/her fist and take it to their mouth that is fine. She recommends "chip-sized" foods to start with because of this and then progressing to smaller pieces as the pincer grip develops.

[RStelle]

I had planned to wait until 6 mths but I the whole point of AP in my mind is to be in tune with your baby and do what is best for him/her. If your baby is ready for food then I don't think you need to stick to the guideline. The guideline is there because the majority of babies are ready at 6 mths, but I don't think it makes sense to keep a baby from having food when she/he's ready at 5 months, just like you wouldn't want to force a baby who isn't ready to eat at 7 mths. Anyway, dd was ready for food at 4 mths but I held off because there is so much focus on 6 moths being the cutoff point. Then at 4 mths 3 wks she grabbed a handful of my spicy, garlicky guacamole and gobbled it right down, and I realized I was being silly to not just listen to by baby and do what was right for her. She's almost 8 mths now and happy and healthy. I did start with organic brown rice cereal with lots of breast milk, which she loved, then I did Natures Best jarred foods, but now we have mostly moved on to making our own. On Halloween I made her pumpkin oatmeal--I put the oatmeal through the baby-food grinder and then mixed in some chunks of cooked pumpkin. I just used the pumpkin that was left over from caving jack-o-lanterns, and she loved it!

The one thing I've found that didn't work out was banana--it made her a bit constipated. Also I always give her a few sips of water from a cup after she eats. The best way to see if they are ready is just give them a little bite and see what they do--if they gag on it then wait and try again in a few weeks.

[semmel84130]

I can't weigh in on whether your baby is ready. I will tell you that my DD was interested in food - watching every bite that went into our mouths, smacking her lips, etc.- long before she was able to reliably swallow even a very thin puree. We started at almost 7 mos. We did not start w/the rice, but with an oatmeal cereal, mixed with a lot of breastmilk to make a slurry. We gradually added more oatmeal and less breastmilk over time to get to a puree-type texture. Then we used Earth's best 1st foods, and then I used a combination of jarred foods and stuff I blended up in a Magic Bullet. One thing that you should keep in,mind is that solids won't be for nutrition for awhile yet. They just aren't as calorie and nutrient rich as your breastmilk. Even now, my DD still nurses before every "meal" of solids (or gets a bottle at daycare). I also give her just a few ounces of water in a sippy when she eats solids. We found that she did better with a straw cup at first than with a regular sippy. I would have thought it would be the other way around!

[mad4mady]

Originally Posted by RStelle 

I had planned to wait until 6 mths but I the whole point of AP in my mind is to be in tune with your baby and do what is best for him/her.