Hi all. Well, my DD is 7 months old.. I started giving her solids off and on in small amounts at 6 months. Lately I havent really given her any solids just because she seems to be happy enough with breastfeeding, at least I think so. She does sometimes try to grab at my food if Im eating but I dont know if that means anything because she grabs at EVERYTHING in sight whether its food or not. lol Of course my family thinks I should be giving her solids now, but does she really need it? I guess what Im wondering also is, how will I know when she is really wanting to start solids on a more regular basis? Anyway just wanted to get some opinions and see what others are doing. Thanks everyone!
I did, and probably will be this time. From six months, I presented DD with some chunks of food and let her play with it. (Apples, bananas, that kind of thing). By eight months she was eating lots of solids, but still breast feeding a lot as well. Your child definitely doesn't *need* solids for nutrition yet. Are you delaying just because you think she's doing fine with BF, or do you have any additional reasons?
Well I guess I was thinking that she was fine with just BF... But today I gave her some sweet potatoes and she really seemed to want them. She was opening her mouth really wide and wanting more. She ate all of it.. So I guess maybe she is wanting solids more! She also has been waking up at night alot so Im wondering if she could be hungry,, or that could just be a developmental thing, who knows...
My dd is ten months, and at this point, she is eating whatever I put in front of her! She's been that way for less than a month, I would say. When she was younger, like 6-7 months-ish, I did offer her solids from time to time, but definitely went days without really putting any food in front of her. I don't think an increase in waking would be due to lack of solids during the day. I think what you're doing is fine!
I can't say I waited to six months I guess- because I gave her a few tsp of baby oatmeal at five and a half months- but she wasn't interested, so we're still waiting. (she'll be six months next week.)
I'm planning on letting her determine her "solids schedule". She's a big chunker and happily bf-only, and we'll keep it that way until she makes it clear she wants a change. That doesn't mean I won't offer her tastes of baby-safe foods now and then- but nothing big or consistant.
DS1 started at 7 months
DD started at 8 months, but not every day, and then started getting them almost daily at 10 months, and most regulary around a year.
DS2 started a little agter 6 months, about once a week. then it was more like every few days, then once a day but we missed days. now he is 8 months and pretty much the same thing but thinking of giving them a little more.
after eating one serving she vomited it for a week...
I stopped that really quick and waited another month and half before trying again..And then I did Organic Oatmeal which she did better with..But she didn't act like she was starving for it...But when I introduced some organic carrots for her first food food...WOW!!!! she loved it!!! I say just ease into it slowly and watch your child for any reactions....
I believe in waiting until the child is grabbing food from your plate (child should be on your lap whenever you eat) which it sounds like your dd is doing. My 1st was 10 mos old before she began eating really. I offered only pure foods, foods taht can be eaten raw even if you choose to cook them. avocado is a wonderful first food. cooked carrots, banana, zucchini, squash, peas, beans... anything that can be eaten raw. for meat, i would chew it up a bit first to make sure there was not any tendons or fatty pieces there, and to start the digestion process going (or now I have discovered hempseed which has a complete protein found nowhere else in nature, and more protein than meat, with omega 3 and omega 6... a perfect food). i chose not to buy into the thought that you have to buy special food for baby, i just fed her from what i was eating, but prepared it for her chewing and swallowing abilities. My new dd may be a different story, big at birth and growing a lot, she watches me with extreme interest as i eat. i have a feeling she will want solids earlier than the first. listen to the baby, they know what they need, but only offer what may be found in the wild, as our bodies are the same now as they were thousands of years ago, and therefore expect the same sort of foods.
here is info from kellymom.com on the subject, which is a great website to begin any search on breastfeeding and beginning natural parenting
My dd is almost 8 months and we have offered some foods, but not regularly. she gets something maybe every few days, but that has only been for the last week or so. Today she seemed more interested, so we will see. I see no rush.
Originally Posted by caro113
I'm planning on waiting at least a year to start solids, but DD loves to lick apples, so I let her do that once in a while.
Can I ask why you would wait until a year to even begin solid foods?
I can se if the baby is closer to a year and showing no interest, following their lead, but what do you plan on doing if you DC wants to eat food and they are 8,9 or 10 months old?
We started around 7.5 months old because she was hungry. Nursing ran into nursing and she stopped sleeping as well. She now eats baby food for two meals. We are still trying to figure it all out. I do Gerber oatmeal mixed with breast mild and a fruit on the side for brunch, this is after two morning nursings. Then several more nursings during the day, then Gerber or Earth’s Best (from Trader Joes) vegetables and meats for dinner. Then two more nursings. We are probably going to add another solid meal soon. I will tell you that all of my family and friends think she should eat whatever they want to give her and it has been hard. I had to really intervene with an Uncle at a party trying to feed her cake when she had never had anything other than breast milk! I often wonder if we were in the wild and had no outside influence, when a human child would wean and what their breastfeeding and food intake would be. I don’t trust the food companies to tell me how much and when to feed my baby. All the other literature is vague, just telling you to only do one food at a time so you will know if they react to it. I am glad you posted this, so maybe I will get some advice from your responses.
Originally Posted by 2xshy
Can I ask why you would wait until a year to even begin solid foods?
I can se if the baby is closer to a year and showing no interest, following their lead, but what do you plan on doing if you DC wants to eat food and they are 8,9 or 10 months old?
If she is asking for it and showing interest, then sure, I'll give her solids at 8 or 9 months, or anytime beyond 6 months. I suppose I should have clarified that
I am planning to child lead solids, I just would like to hold off until a year or so. But I'm not certainly not going to force that, which I think is obvious bc I let her lick apples .. since she grabs whomever's hand and pulls it her mouth in order to lick it .. and then doesn't let you pull away
she's funny like that. Anyhow, I'm also going to make my own baby food, so I will probably start with apples, as I'm sure that will be a success
I am so glad I read all your responses. My son just turned 4 months old and everyone is on my case about giving him rice cereal and starting him on solids. He reacts to eggs in my diet. Hence I don't plan on starting solids until he is 6 or 7 months old. Really, I don't see a reason to rush into it, when he grabs something off my plate I take it as a hint he is ready for this adventure. Till then we go for the "tap". Naturally, when I voiced my plans about the subject I was met with disbelief like I don't feed my child... Well, I guess I don't till time comes.
I am glad for the question and all your opinions offered here.
There are one or two things that haven't been mentioned yet, your baby should reach the END of the 6 months and not the day s/he turns 6 months, some countries such as Switzerland recommend starting solids at 9 months, but most importantly if you baby can sit unassisted and support her/himself then you can feed solids, if not choking is more likely to happen because of muscle development or not enough development. Also we don't need to feed our babes purees of this that and the next thing - ever been bitten by a gummy baby - their gums are really hard and can chew up almost anything, so introduce things that can help also with hand/eye co-ordination, pieces of avocado, banana, par-boiled carrots that they can gnaw on - or at least that's what we did.
There are four things that I insist that my DS has mastered before he gets food:
A pincer grasp
Sitting independently
No tongue thrust reflex
A clear want for it
Whether he reaches this at 5 and a half months or at 13 months I don't care. I know a lot of moms are adamant about 6 months, but I know one mother who has done child-led solids with all her kids, and the youngest was about five and a half months when he grabbed a whole fruit (I think an apricot) that she was eating, and ate it all. He was not playing with it, he gobbled it down, so I think he was ready.
I can understand how some parents think their kids are ready too early though - DS was about 7 weeks when he started watching intently whenever I eat, and licking his hand or playing with his tongue whenever I take a bite. Hopefully he'll wait until 6 months to eat anything, I certainly don't intend to give him anything sooner (barring a situation like described above).
Charlie is 3 months old, he was 5 weeks early. We've been seeing a feeding specialist for choking episodes (he turns blue and stops breathing). We talked about solids at our last visit, and she really recommended waiting until he is at least 6 months adjusted. His posture is 6 weeks behind his actual age.
We are planning on waiting until those milestones Wild Fire Child mentioned. It isn't about an age, but a readiness.
Thanks everyone. Im not quite sure what to do.. DD was especially fussy last night and I dont know if she was just tired or if the sweet potatoes may have made her stomach hurt. Also a couple times when I was nursing her she would just stop and start crying and acting uncomfortable... So Im not sure what to think... I also give her rice cereal sometimes and she has never seemed to have a problem with that.. More with the veggies which is weird..
My DD’s tummy didn’t take the rice cereal well so we switched to oatmeal (Gerber, single grain) mixed with breast milk. Also, anytime they pull off breastfeeding and seem uncomfortable, try burping.
Originally Posted by lilith1
I am so glad I read all your responses. My son just turned 4 months old and everyone is on my case about giving him rice cereal and starting him on solids. He reacts to eggs in my diet. Hence I don't plan on starting solids until he is 6 or 7 months old. Really, I don't see a reason to rush into it, when he grabs something off my plate I take it as a hint he is ready for this adventure. Till then we go for the "tap". Naturally, when I voiced my plans about the subject I was met with disbelief like I don't feed my child... Well, I guess I don't till time comes.
I am glad for the question and all your opinions offered here.
La Leche League and American Academy of Pediatrics says no solid food till at least 6 months. A lot of people still think you should at 3-6 months, because it used to be the recommendation from AAP. But now mainstream is catching up to the natural parents somewhat. So for anyone pushing you, show them the info on the AAP website.
I was lucky in that the general wisdom in my family was "6 months of breastmilk then straight to table food." So nothing I did seemed weird. I started some solids at 6 months, then after a horrible outbreak on his skin and a nightmarish constipation episode, I totally backed off. Now that he's almost 11 months, I could see clearly that he was not really ready for solids until about a month ago. He rarely gags now, he can self feed most foods and even accepts spoon-feedings as well, he cries for food off of our plates, and smiles and gets excited when he's eating. He eats more even more when I'm eating what he's eating. I think one of the "readiness" signs should be that the baby takes obvious pleasure in eating. His poop is normal, every time, and he is pretty regular. I'm not presented with some ridiculous surprise every time I change his diaper.
My dd is 7.5 mos and not eating solids yet. She seems to be getting enough nutritionally from ebf. But she has all the indicators of being ready, except for the pincer grasp. During the first 10 minutes of family meal times, she sits in her highchair with a cup of water (she never drinks from it, just chews on the spout), a teething biscuit, and maybe a chunk of apple or pear to lick and gnaw on or maybe small pieces of bananas to play with and taste. I figure she's just getting used to the texture and taste of food right now. I'll keep making food available to her and when she's ready, she'll start eating and I'll offer more.
As an aside: she's been grabbing food off my plate for many months now, but I don't think it was because she wanted to eat it -- she also grabs papers, my cell phone, etc. whatever is on the table in front of us at the time and puts it in her mouth.
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