How long to exclusively breastfeed without solid food?

[MommyofAngelBabies]

Hello everyone,

I have a question that I can't seem to find a good answer to. I am currently nursing my 3rd baby and she is doing great. Does anyone have any thoughts on how long you can nurse a baby for without giving them ANY other food?

I am a little more into alternative methods, etc. Have had my kids born at home and try to do things the natural way. This was never really an issue with the other 2, because I did the "standard" that I typically see with the first. She started on solids at 6 months and weaned herself at 11 months!

My second was huge at 10 lbs and ate like a pig. I didn't give him any solids until 8 months and man it was so much easier with him! He also weaned himself at 11 months though!!

Now my little one is amost 12 months and ONLY nursing. She is nice and healthy, happy and doing great. But I am wondering how long I can go without having to give her solids.

Iron is not an issue yet, as we let the umbilical cord stop pulsing before cutting it, so she has enough iron for at LEAST a year. Plus I eat good and she gets iron/nutrients from my milk.

Any thoughts or experiences?

[GirlBoyGirlBoy]

Originally Posted by MommyofAngelBabies

Iron is not an issue yet, as we let the umbilical cord stop pulsing before cutting it, so she has enough iron for at LEAST a year. Plus I eat good and she gets iron/nutrients from my milk.

Any thoughts or experiences?

Is that really true? I didn't know that. Cool!

I started solids at 6 months and nursed DD1 12 months, DD1 19 months, DD2 10 months--I still am not sure why we didn't go longer--I was willing, but we seemed to clash about it. DS2 started solids at 7 months and loves food! But he still loves nursing too so it's all good. I think the trick in his case and perhaps with my DD2 is that if I let him eat lots of solids, he isn't as interested in nursing. I need to try to nurse first before offering tastes of food so that he will get more milk before filling up on solids.

In regards to iron, with both DS1 and DD2, they were diagnosed with anemia at about a year and I had to supplement for 4 months or so with iron drops before the anemia disappeared. They are both very lean and were both not even on the growth charts presumably in part due to anemia. This despite the fact that DH and I are both tall.

I have read on MDC that you can certainly delay solids for over a year if your child is continuing to thrive. We started at 6 months with just little tastes of solids while the rest of the family was eating. A mushy carrot here, a cheerio there and maybe a little cereal later on.

[MommyofAngelBabies]

Originally Posted by GirlBoyGirlBoy

Is that really true? I didn't know that. Cool!

I started solids at 6 months and nursed DD1 12 months, DD1 19 months, DD2 10 months--I still am not sure why we didn't go longer--I was willing, but we seemed to clash about it. DS2 started solids at 7 months and loves food! But he still loves nursing too so it's all good. I think the trick in his case and perhaps with my DD2 is that if I let him eat lots of solids, he isn't as interested in nursing. I need to try to nurse first before offering tastes of food so that he will get more milk before filling up on solids.

In regards to iron, with both DS1 and DD2, they were diagnosed with anemia at about a year and I had to supplement for 4 months or so with iron drops before the anemia disappeared. They are both very lean and were both not even on the growth charts presumably in part due to anemia. This despite the fact that DH and I are both tall.

I have read on MDC that you can certainly delay solids for over a year if your child is continuing to thrive. We started at 6 months with just little tastes of solids while the rest of the family was eating. A mushy carrot here, a cheerio there and maybe a little cereal later on.

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I learned so much when I had my babies born at home. If you let the cord pulse until it stops, and then cut it, it will give the baby enough iron for a year minimum. The reason it is pulsing is because nutrients are still passing to the baby. Every birth is different, and sometimes it will only pulse for a couple of minutes, other times up to an hour! It usually depends on how much that baby needs, which is just another cool example of our bodies knowing what to do I guess.

You made a great point, and I think that was the reason my first 2 lost interest in nursing. I probably increased the solids TOO MUCH, rather than just supplementing with them. I started following the Super Baby Food book, which I love, but from now on, I will only start the solids on a slow basis, and not to fill them up 3-5 times a day on them. Thanks for that!

Ok, good. I'm glad you read until a year at least. I am still curious though.. I'd like to know how long a baby can actually go without eating solids, as long as their iron levels are ok, of course. I look at my daughter and it is such an awesome feeling that my body can feed her for these last 12 months with nothing else at all. I missed that with my first 2, and I have also noticed she is even closer to me than the others were. Funny. I always say she is attached to me at the hip. (or more like at the breast)

She is still thriving. She hasn't gained any weight for awhile because she lost a lot of her baby fat when she started crawling and now standing and "dancing" But she is nice and thick and keeps getting longer, and doesn't appear to thin. So I guess she is still doing great. I have been debating starting some solids, so maybe I'll do what you said, and just give her small amounts, rather than a complete faster switch over. I want to nurse for much longer this time, and didn't want a repeat of the other 2 suddenly weaning themselves.

[kcparker]

Baby's choice or mama's choice?

My understanding is that babies will let you know when they are ready/able to start solids by acting interested or trying to grab your food and stuff it in their mouths, and this can start as early as 5 or so months, or as late as around a year. I have read in a number of places (Dr. Sears, Canadian govt. kids' health site, to name two) that if you don't allow babies to start at least playing with solids by the time they are about 14 months of age, they can run into trouble with rejecting textured food (as opposed to breastmilk) or 'not knowing' how to chew and swallow. My understanding is that their jaw and tongue muscles need to start practicing the biting/chewing/swallowing (though it makes sense that they can't really chew until some molars come in). I don't know how true this is, but at a year, I think you can safely let your baby start playing with food and experimenting with self-feeding. It is nice for them to participate in the social aspect of sitting at the family table for meals, even if more of their portion goes in the hair than the mouth or they just eat a few bites from your fingertips.

Here's a good kellymom article with lots of links to more info.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...ay-solids.html

My son started showing an interest in food at about 6 months, but he didn't really start eating more than a tablespoon or two of food at one sitting until about a month ago (about 14 months of age). We still BF 5-8x/24 hours, and his appetite for solids varies from voracious to not interested from day to day. So, if your DD is an avid nurser, I wouldn't worry about solids leading to weaning - she'll probably stick with the booby for awhile yet.

If you are concerned about iron levels, you can get her blood tested easily too. Better to know than to worry. If you are concerned about her refusing solids, even if you are offering them, I might take her to see a ped. because it could indicate some other issue with her.
HTH.
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Now my little one is amost 12 months and ONLY nursing. She is nice and healthy, happy and doing great. But I am wondering how long I can go without having to give her solids.

Iron is not an issue yet, as we let the umbilical cord stop pulsing before cutting it, so she has enough iron for at LEAST a year. Plus I eat good and she gets iron/nutrients from my milk.

Any thoughts or experiences? [/QUOTE]

[MommyofAngelBabies]

Thank you. I'm really not worried about her at all. I have never offered her solids and did that purposely. I did at 6 months with my first, and 8 months with my 2nd. And both were avid nurses and both weaned themselves at 11 months. But I think I may have allowed them to wat too many solids a day. I wanted to strictly nurse my 3rd for as long as was healthy, before offering her solids.

I guess I am more curious than anything. I know she is thriving so I am not really worried. I know another mother who nursed with no food at all until a year, but I'm just wondering if their is any evidence or other mother's who have nursed longer than this with no solids/liquids besides breast milk. And how long this is typically possible. I don't think there will be an issue with her swallowing when older, I actually found it easier when I waited until 8 months with my DS, and I wished I had waited longer with my DD1. The ONLY reason I gave him solids at 8 months, is because he was 10 lbs when born and ate, and ate, and ate. I didn't want to keep getting up with him every few hours at night, and so taking the advice of some family.... gave him solids to "stick to his ribs" and help him sleep better. This of course coming from people who has always used formula and this is what they did.
However, now I have a different mentality and do not mind waking with my daughter once or twice a night for her to nurse. Not to mention, many mother's still nurse at night, even when their children are eating solids...

So I'm not sure if it is true or not, that they might have issues eating if you wait too long. I have my doubts about that though. It seems to me children can learn just fine in good time, and she is swallowing now when nursing, so she will just mature and it anything I would think it would be even easier, because you don't have to deal with liquidy foods, etc, like you would a younger baby.

[MommyofAngelBabies]

Thanks for the great link by the way! I love all the info about the positives until waiting until at least 6 months and even more benefits possibly when waiting until 12 months to introduce solids. So I guess the real question is how long is it POSSIBLE to delay and still be healthy. It's possible there is not enough research in this area, as it seems not many people wait that long.