How important is readiness for solids? (BLW)

[Zirconia]

My daughter is 5 months 1 week, and she shows some (but not all) of the signs of readiness for solid foods.  She is intensely curious and opens her mouth to try to get my fork, but she seems a little young yet - although, I really don't know how to tell for sure.  We already involve her in dinnertime by sitting her on the table and giving her spoons and cups to play with while we eat, and we let her see and smell our various foods.  We've offered her a sippy cup with a little breast milk, and she went for it like a determined little badger and is so proud of herself! She only gets a drop or two, but she really thinks she's hot stuff.

We plan to begin with Baby-Led Weaning, and from what I've read, it sounds like as long as you leave baby in control, she won't actually eat until she's developmentally ready to move the food to the back of her mouth and swallow it.  Therefore, it stands to reason that it really doesn't matter when you start offering solid foods - if she's not ready, she'll just explore and play and experience the food without actually eating it.  Is this right?  Or do I need to be more careful about her "readiness" level?

Bear in mind, I'm talking about true baby-led solids here (like, giving her a piece of banana to explore).  I'm not talking about spoon-feeding or any kind of pressure on her to actually eat anything.  She's EBF and will stay that way for some time to come.

I suppose I'm just eager to see what she does with solid food, but I want to do it right!

Edited by Zirconia - 6/18/12 at 4:43pm

[LadyScientist]

I'm curious to see what kinds of responses you get, since I have been thinking the same thing! Everyone says to wait until at least 6 months but if your baby is showing signs of readiness at 5.5 months, are you disqualified from BLW if you offer food earlier?

[katelove]

I am pretty firmly in the wait until after 6 months camp. This isnt to do with signs of readiness but being sure their gut is ready. I know not everyone agrees with this view but I just don't see any need to rush things.

Have you read Gil Rapely's book on BLW? Showing interest in food and eating is not a sign of readiness. Most babies are interested in everything their parents do. Signs of readiness are being able to sit well with minimal support and being able to reliably pick up an object and transfer it to their mouth (doesn't have to be pincer grip, that comes later).

[Zirconia]

I certainly don't want to introduce anything to her system before she (or it) is ready.  It just seems like if she's not developmentally ready to eat, then the food will really be more like a toy, and anything that actually goes in her mouth would fall back out.  I thought it was a self-regulating sort of thing?  So I've been wondering, "What's the harm if she's not actually eating?"  

But she's really so close to old enough, maybe I should just cool my jets.  She is *almost* sitting up unassisted and is pretty good at picking up objects and getting them to her mouth.  She's always been curious about what we're doing, but she's beginning to zero in on the food, more like, "I wanna eat that!"  I know not every baby is ready by the 6-month mark, but I think she'll be pretty close.  And, of course, I agree with BLW that she gets to decide when and how much she eats, that the first year is all about experience (not calories).

[JudiAU]

Most people who practice BLW are starting solids later than six months like 7-8 months. I wouldn't ever start solds of any types at 5 months and certainly not BLW.

[crystal_buffaloe]

We did BLW and started exactly 1 week prior to her 6-month mark ... and no food made it into her mouth until several weeks after that ... and no food in any appreciable quantity made it in her mouth and down to her stomach until really almost 8 months old

I'll be waiting *at the very, very least* that extra week with this bean. Solids seem fun (and they are, especially BLW) but EBF is just sooooo much easier.

I have the BLW book, and I believe it says 5m is okay as long as it's totally BLW (no "she can just taste this off my finger" or spoon-feeding at all) but the sitting unassisted is a deal-breaker, I think (in the book), though palmer grasp (pincher comes later) is OK.

[dejagerw]

Originally Posted by Zirconia 

I certainly don't want to introduce anything to her system before she (or it) is ready.  It just seems like if she's not developmentally ready to eat, then the food will really be more like a toy, and anything that actually goes in her mouth would fall back out.  I thought it was a self-regulating sort of thing?  So I've been wondering, "What's the harm if she's not actually eating?"  

But she's really so close to old enough, maybe I should just cool my jets.  She is *almost* sitting up unassisted and is pretty good at picking up objects and getting them to her mouth.  She's always been curious about what we're doing, but she's beginning to zero in on the food, more like, "I wanna eat that!"  I know not every baby is ready by the 6-month mark, but I think she'll be pretty close.  And, of course, I agree with BLW that she gets to decide when and how much she eats, that the first year is all about experience (not calories).

I don't believe this is true. If she's mouthing the food, some will likely get down, regardless of whether or not her gut is "ready" for solids. Plus, not sitting up unassisted? I'd say that's a big indicator to hold off on the solids. My LOs were sitting unassisted at 4 & 5 months, but I still waited until 6 months to start BLW.

Really, just enjoy the EBF time. While it's fun to explore solids, there's some much more mess, and work involved, why rush her? There will be plenty of time for solids. :)

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by dejagerw 

I don't believe this is true. If she's mouthing the food, some will likely get down, regardless of whether or not her gut is "ready" for solids. Plus, not sitting up unassisted? I'd say that's a big indicator to hold off on the solids. My LOs were sitting unassisted at 4 & 5 months, but I still waited until 6 months to start BLW.

Really, just enjoy the EBF time. While it's fun to explore solids, there's some much more mess, and work involved, why rush her? There will be plenty of time for solids. :)

That would be my concern as well.  If she doesn't have any teeth, you could offer her something like a carrot stick which will feel cool on her gums and very social but little to no chance of baby actually getting any.

[Zirconia]

Thanks for the great info - you've sold me on waiting for clear signs (like sitting up unassisted) anytime AFTER the six-month mark.  And the carrot stick is a great idea, would let her participate until she's ready for more!

[crystal_buffaloe]

A breast milk ice cube in one of those mesh feeder things is fun, too -- we did that some around 4-5 months for teething pain.

[Choose2Reuse]

I agree, I'd be worried if your baby can't sit up yet, because that's a big choking hazard. 

But then, I am somewhat worried about solids in general because my DD has such a hard time with them...she has only just started showing any interest in food (at 10 months), and I'm afraid that we often back off of the baby-led weaning thing and spoon-feed her stuff (or rather, load a spoon for her, then she laps it off as she likes--don't look at me like that, I'm not about to force my delicate-tummied little baby to eat anything!  EBF is sooooo much easier :)  ) because she coughs and gags SO MUCH with the baby-led weaning way and is fine if she just gets to lick a spoon.  I know the book says it's the other way around, but take it with a grain of salt...all babies are different.  My DD doesn't slurp off of spoons, but she does bite off big ol chunks of food from her hunks of veggies or fruits, and then she either gags on them or stuffs 'em in her cheek and refuses to open her mouth, and cries and cries because she doesn't know what to do.  It's godawful, except for the 30% of the time that she manages to gum the hunks down small enough, then maneuver them around correctly and swallow.  BLW sounds so much better than spoonfeeding...but I can only take it on a limited basis, because it is almost always so awful with DD. 
 

[mennofied]

I've been wondering about this too. My 4 month old is fascinated by our food. He grabs it and tries to bring it to his mouth and then I rush to go wash his hands before they end up in his mouth. I've been wondering if I should just let him lick his fingers and see what happens. I have a friend from Egypt where babies are sort of community raised and she has a lot of experience. When we were having a picnic she let him gum on some watermelon. I freaked out but she said it was fine for him to taste it and it probably helped his teething pain. I don't know! I want to do what's right for him. I don't want to accidentally scare him about food by being so protective but I don't want to hurt his gut or introduce allergies either.

[Kaydove]

At 4.5 months my DD is super interested in food and showing signs of readiness - sits up unassisted, brings stuff to her mouth easily, good at grabbing. Her Ped mentioned starting food early for her because that would be on par with her trend of developing early, rolls over both ways easily, sits up, crawls backwards and in a circle, etc. She does have 2 bottom teeth and is working on a third. I went ahead and put a super ripe avocado in one of those mesh things and she loves it. It helps keep her entertained while we eat - she was getting really fussy at dinner that I felt like the mom on A Christmas Story that never gets to eat a hot meal. :)

I think at 6 months we'll take the avocado out of the mesh thing. Any suggestions for other good first foods for baby with teeth?

[artekah]

These links should help you guys:

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/solids-when/

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/first-foods/

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/finger-foods/



Favorite first foods in our family are avocado, banana, mango, steamed yams, black beans, boiled zucchini, hard-boiled egg yolk. And once they're used to eating stuff, we just cut up whatever we're eating into tiny (non-chokable) pieces and let them try everything (of course, using caution with common allergens.)