Baby Led Weaning - Starting Solids - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

I love your new avatar, Christina!

Anyway, I am glad you started this thread.  I am thinking I might start giving D some things just to gnaw on, but don't anticipate he'll ingest anything.  I think his tongue thrust is in full effect- it was the last time I checked.  He can sit up though.   He was due the 17th and born the 24th.  He is only just 4 months so I would only give him foods to hold as a way to occupy him.  He likes sticking things in his mouth- might as well give him something that tastes good?

Actually, now that I am thinking about it, I won't start for a couple more weeks at least.  I am trying to see how cutting gluten out of my diet affects him, so I don't want to introduce anything new, just in case.  

 

Thanks, J!

That's great D can sit up! I'm eagerly anticipating Rhyko getting that down! 

I think that's smart to wait a bit until you've worked out what you want to with your diet. Let his tummy adjust, first. 

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

Yeah I think it might be best to leave our ideas of "optimum nutrition" out of it.  We have a wide spectrum of beliefs here, in that regard (vegetarian, vegan, paleo, standard, etc) and I think that it can be a serious point of contention.  

Yes, I totally agree. I really didn't mean for this thread to get into that, but I guess it's just going to come naturally given the topic. I would be really happy if we call all respectfully allow one another to discuss what they are giving as first foods within their personal nutritional beliefs. I'm not bashing anyone for their beliefs and I'm hoping to receive the same treatment. There are so many ways to feed a human, and what works for one doesn't always work for another. 

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by LunaLady 

That's great D can sit up! I'm eagerly anticipating Rhyko getting that down! 

Personally, I would also wait to introduce foods until he can sit up on his own.

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by seraf 

Haha, the communication differences are wild.  DS1 spoke in 3 word sentences and DD spoke in syllables at 18 months.

I don't think Shay is advanced.  Rhyko is kicking his rump in several areas.  He's just older than a lot of the other babies.

But Shay looks like he's sitting unassisted and standing while holding on to things and ... other things, I'm sure. I am not great with knowing what babies do/when other than what I'm experiencing right now, so Shay just seems like he's a bit ahead of the curve. 

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

Personally, I would also wait to introduce foods until he can sit up on his own.

I mentioned this to his ped and she said that is certainly one of the signs and Rhyko is really *almost* there. That's why I'm not full-fledged jumping into solids and giving him lots of different things to try just yet as I don't think he's really meeting all of the readiness criteria.

[seraf]

Originally Posted by LunaLady 

But Shay looks like he's sitting unassisted and standing while holding on to things and ... other things, I'm sure. I am not great with knowing what babies do/when other than what I'm experiencing right now, so Shay just seems like he's a bit ahead of the curve. 

He can't get himself to sitting yet, just stays where I plop him.  Loves to stand, but he's been doing that for a while. 

I feel like if I was reading the October DDC I'd feel like he was way behind.  He is right where big brother and big sister were at this age, so I feel he's right on track as my kid.

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by seraf 

He can't get himself to sitting yet, just stays where I plop him.  Loves to stand, but he's been doing that for a while. 

I feel like if I was reading the October DDC I'd feel like he was way behind.  He is right where big brother and big sister were at this age, so I feel he's right on track as my kid.

.

Edited by LunaLady - 6/27/12 at 8:56pm

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by LunaLady 

Side note... I tried to check out the September DDC as that's when Rhyko was born... it's like dead quiet over there...!! Hardly any posts since September/October!

That's why we rock! 
 

[wellforth]

I also appreciate this thread, because I've been wondering what to do with Luca the past few days.  He looks at us so longingly whenever we eat or drink in front of him.  He always reaches for my cup.  I've been giving him drinks (of water anyway--no coffee yet!), and though I don't think he gets much, he really seems to like it.  Yesterday, I got out the stash of sippy cups and found one that was not spill proof, so he could actually get something from it.  He seemed to enjoy it.  I also got a mesh feeder and gave him a small bit of banana.  He "nursed" it, and managed to eat a bit of that too.

What is the deal with them being able to sit unassisted and introducing solids?  Luca is sitting somewhat.  His front to back balance is great, and he was actually sitting for about a minute today, unassisted.  But his side to side balance is not so good, and he face plants quite often if he reaches to the side.  If he holds onto one of my fingers, he can sit indefinitely.

I am glad this is an active DDC!

carey

[wellforth]

How we both wake up in the morning!  Coffee!

[LunaLady]

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

That's why we rock! 
 

We sure do! And, to be fair I went and looked again and they are more active now then they were when i had checked them out before 

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by wellforth 

What is the deal with them being able to sit unassisted and introducing solids?  Luca is sitting somewhat.  His front to back balance is great, and he was actually sitting for about a minute today, unassisted.  But his side to side balance is not so good, and he face plants quite often if he reaches to the side.  If he holds onto one of my fingers, he can sit indefinitely.

I believe that part of it is mechanical.  If baby cannot sit up unassisted then he cannot use both hands to bring food to his mouth and he may fall forward in the process of trying to eat or need to lean on the high chair, all of which could impede safe eating and swallowing.  The other part is simply the natural progression to food readiness.  There really is no rush to feed solid foods, but out culture is sort of obsessed with starting solids as soon as possible.  Here's a quote from a BLW article:

Baby-led solids is simply about trusting your baby to feed herself, the way she has ever since birth (feeding on demand).  It involves realizing that we do not need to trick or coerce our babies into eating, nor do we need to ‘teach’ them how to eat, nor is there any ‘window’ whereby if we do not make them eat by a certain age, then they never will.  Eating is an essential survival mechanism, it only makes sense that a human child will instinctively begin eating when she is developmentally ready to do so, just as she will begin to sit up, walk, and communicate, all on her own with no specialized instruction or coercion from her parents. So long as they are given the opportunity, all healthy babies will do all these things by themselves, in their own time.

http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/13/baby-essentials-that-arent-part-7-baby-food/

So, for me, I wouldn't bother with actively introducing solids until baby could sit in a booster or high chair unsupported and bring food to his own mouth.  Swiping a taste here or there is one thing, but really offering food is not something I would do until the readiness signs are all there.  Plus, once you start the solid food process, eating time becomes much more complicated- it's actually not my favorite thing to deal with!

[seraf]

Originally Posted by Jaimee 
Plus, once you start the solid food process, eating time becomes much more complicated- it's actually not my favorite thing to deal with!

I give Shay food to play with at meal times so I can eat with my own two hands and not try to keep my plate out of reach because the little dude is trying to grab my plate and its easier to wipe his hands and face after the meal than clean up a whole plate of food.  

[LunaLady]

Thanks for that link, Jaimee! That's a very informative article. 

[LunaLady]

Wow, this thread already made it to the 'hot discussions' banner on the community home page! 

[CDsMom1031]

We have a Bumbo seat with a tray that we put Conner in. I put him in there AFTER he nurses and offer him foods with a spoon (Sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, etc.). While he love, love, loves it... He'll never take more than a few bites because he's already full from nursing. I consider this "practice" his dessert.

[wellforth]

Conner's so cute!

I'm totally unprepared for this.  I don't have a high chair or booster.  I really am quite content to wait til he's older, but he seems so very interested in food, it seems almost mean to deny him a chance to eat or drink. 

I have several articles to read!  Thank you mamas!

carey

[Abraisme]

My kids hardly drank anything until they were weaned..  Sometimes it's still a struggle to get them to drink enough!  Also, if you're using lids to protect cat related spills, you will most certainly want a sippy cup.  I toddler is 100x worse than a cat at spilling things.  Ha ha.

 

Originally Posted by LunaLady 

Oh, okay - that's good to hear. I'll just stick with BFing for thirst, then, until he's actually eating more. Yes, I do envision a sippy or water bottle of some sort for outings and such, I just would like to try cups at home at the table. We do use water bottles or glass jars with lids at home, too. More so that our crazy cats don't knock over open water containers. As they have done. And destroyed things. 

I agree with Jaimee here.  While a good diet is VERY important and I do believe will effect overall IQ, I highly doubt it's going to effect the age that a child talks.  If any child was going to talk early from getting perfect nutrition it would have been my DS.  I ate so well when I was pregnant and nursing him (better than I do now), but he didn't utter a word until 2yo.  He still has language comprehension issues.  There is a huge part of it all that is just simply genetic and who we are from the start.  Using point data in general is a poor way to conduct an argument.  It's like formula feeders saying that formula is fine because their child is really healthy and smart..

 

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

Interesting...

I don't mean to be that person that picks everything apart and assumes that you believe 100% of the article you posted, but I will say that this is a little out there for me.  While of course I agree that omega-3's are great and a necessary part of our diets, I hardly think that ample amounts will equal early communication.  My diet was definitely not as good with my first child and she talked fluently quite early.  My diet was improved with my second and at 26 months is still not talking nearly as well as dd did at 20 months.  Seriously.  Every child is different and what they are exposed to is different even within the same household.  First children tend to be earlier talkers than their siblings and boys tend to be on the later end of the talking spectrum than girls.  Just something to keep in mind as verbal ability is definitely an area of parenting that can cause a lot of anxiety if it appears that your child is "behind."  My SIL's boy is the exact same age as ds1 and he speaks in very complex sentences.  When the two were together the difference in their ability was astounding and hard to take sometimes.  But I have to just remember that every child puts energy into different areas of development at different times and second children tend to talk later anyway.  And let me say that my nephew's diet probably does not contain "ample amounts" of omega-3's. 

[Abraisme]

My opinion is that if a child can self feed, chew and swallow, then he/she is ready to eat.  I highly doubt that our ancestors waited for some magical age to introduce food, they would have just wanted until the baby wanted to eat.  So far both of my older kids have started tasting food around 5mo and were easily eating little meals by 7mo.  I fed Cyan one jar of baby food and thought, "this is dumb, either he can do it or he's not ready".  This was before I ever knew what BLW was.  On the other end of the spectrum I've had friends whose babies hardly ate anything until after 12mo+.  I think that when a baby is ready she will eat.  That might be 4-5mo or it might be 12-14mo. Here is a link to a pic of Olivine eating in her highchair at 5mo.  She started to sit independently at4mo, so she could easily sit and feed herself by 5mo.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrahartley/4296462160/in/set-72157621913530097/  Coralie isn't even 4mo yet, so we're not quite there.  I have one of the youngest babies in the group!

[LunaLady]

Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have linked that article. I was just using it as a guide to help me in choosing what foods to introduce when and found it interesting and wanted to share. I wasn't linking it because I believe everything stated in that article word for word. I really was just trying to talk about introducing solids in general here, not debate on people's food choices or whether or not food affects children's behavior.