Exclusively breastfeeding past 6 months, question

[E m i c h i e e]

My son is still exclusively breastfed at 6 months. He has not shown any interest in solids.

The pediatrician however told us it is important to start solids soon, because my breast milk will be lacking iron.

I was planning to start with solids very slowly since he does not seem interested, but need I worry about his iron levels now? Should I maybe take supplements (I still take the occasional prenatal)?

Is there any other reasons breast milk will not be enough past 6 months?

I would just like some advice and a plan, in case he will not totally like solids soon.

Thank you :)

[trekkingirl]

A lot of people don't start solids till closer to 12 months. I didn't push solids on my DD. Your baby will let you know. I would be really surprised to learn that your breast milk is lacking all the nutrition that your baby needs. I take what doctors say with a grain of salt.

[Bokonon]

Your doctor is not very well-informed about iron and breastfeeding, which seems to be the norm.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

[Carriebird]

I let my son and daughter decide when to experiment with solids.  He was interested and stealing food off our plates at 5 months... she was over a year old.  The only thing I supplemented my breastmilk with was vitamin D drops, as we live in Canada and don't get outdoors enough in the winter months.  They are both very healthy.

[blessedwithboys]

Your ped is wrong

[E m i c h i e e]

Thanks everyone! I was guessing her advice was mainstream, but I wanted to be sure.

I will give my boy time to adjust, and if I understand it correctly I don't need to worry if he gets mostly breast milk for up to two years? (kellymom)

On kellymom it also states that ebf for a year can reduce the risk of allergies. A LC in San Diego told me so too, and said it would be a good idea for us since his dad has a lot of allergies and I have food intolerances. But a La Leche League leader in Germany said it is not true, and not adding solids can be harmful.

[blessedwithboys]

Righto, mostly BM for the first 2 yrs is just fine.  If you don't believe me, ask my super healthy, strapping 17yo ds1!  :)

[McGucks]

My LO was EBF until 6.5 months.  His iron was low at a year because he was mostly only still BFing.  We offered lots of different foods and he sampled them all, but I would say he easily got 90% of his nutrition from BM until he was a year at least.  We did start Floradix after a couple month's failed attempt to raise his iron nutritionally (he just didn't eat enough iron-rich foods to make a difference).  The Floradix brought his iron up nicely.

At 23 months, he still replaces probably a meal a day with breast milk and nurses on demand every couple hours or so.  It has worked beautifully for us. 

My child is extremely healthy and at the 97% for weight and 75% for height.  We plan to keep on doing what we're doing!

We switched peds, in part, due to the old one harping on me about solids.  Our new one just doesn't care as long as he is growing and healthy.

Congratulations on your successful nursing relationship!