delaying solids and lying...

I did lie a bit. I just wanted to avoid all the questions like you said. They asked what baby was eating, I would casually say ummm well a little bit of jarred baby food twice a day blah blah which wasn't the case at all. The ped I was seeing at the time would just nod and say dd was growing "beautifully" and to keep doing what I was doing. (he he I knew that )
If you don't want to deal with it, just avoid the questions and if thats not good enough do what u feel is best.

I'm non-confrontational too, so I used Dr. Sears as my scapegoat for delaying solids. When pressed with the question, I'd reply "well I really respect Dr. Sears, and he suggests XYZ...". Believe me, it didn't always work. People were acting like I was depriving my poor child (even though he was in the 95th percentile for weight and never got sick). Bide your time, mama...you know you're doing the right thing!

I can appreciate you wanting to avoid problems but I think that lying is actually a bad idea for a few reasons.
First, if you lie and then someone visits and happens to feed your child something they assume is fine since you've said you feed them solids then this could cause obvious problems. I'm always amazed at what people try to feed small babies! If you've told them "No, she is not eating solids" then that at least may give them some caution.
Of course, sometimes that makes them think THEY should start them on solids which blows my mind but you can watch for that.

Second, people need education! Avoiding the truth is just encouraging the old habits to live on. If more of us share that we are delaying solids to reduce allergies, digestive problems, etc then we may educate a few to do the same.
And yes-some will say "I gave my kids solids at 3 mos and they turned out fine" But you can answer "That may be, but there are a lot of people with allergies and digestive problems that just might have been prevented by delayed solids" "Prove me wrong and we can talk more" (ok, last part may be a bit baiting for confrontation LOL)

I don't think it has to be confrontational at all, but more informative.
And if they nag you can say "thanks for the information but this is best for baby"
Good luck
Ann

If you are just talking with non-medical folks, you don't need to lie. Just don't tell the whole truth

Yes she's eating very well. Doesn't she look healthy? Such a pretty boy, yes I think so too.

She eats a lot of things (indirectly, through your breast milk )

He has a very well-balanced diet

And so on

Quote:
:

I don't have time to explain myself these days. It depends on how I'm feeling. If I feel like it I'll try to be informative and other times I'm lazy and just nod me head. and pretend I am just like every other brainwashed person out there.

If you really don't want to explain yourself...it gets old after awhile...a little white lie won't hurt anyone.

namaste

All excellent advice and support. Thank you so much, I really needed it! I plan on doing a little bit of everything you all said, when each situtation seems to fit it. Thanks again

I always told the truth. Partially because I don't like to lie, but mostly because I wanted people to maybe see the light. I figure if one person learns something.... so cliched, but so true.

I could see when I was talking to a wall and when someone thought I was nuts, etc. I just hoped, then, that a bystander or silent listener would learn something. I figured to that an impartial observer, I looked calm, well-educated and spoke intelligently, while generally the other person seemed rude or confused, didn't have any facts/info, and just generally didn't come across as well.
Maybe I'm just way too self-confident.

I wanted to offer support here. My dd is 17 months old which is almost a year and a half if you don't want to do the math Anyway, she flat out refuses to eat food of any kind aside from me. She eats every 2 hours and wakes up once at night to eat usually. She is a very large baby- definitely bigger than most babies her age. Her big sis in almost 3 and little sis is Less than a head shorter than her sis. So I know she is growing great Now on to the whether you should lie. I would not. I make it a point to let people understand my parenting. If they disagree that is okay. I have to say though that if you are not absolutely sure about delaying solids and are comfortable with your decision then the people you are telling will be able to see it. I personally am not delaying solids on purpose- my dd just will have nothing to do with it yet but as long as she is growing good and looks healthy- I am not worried at all! I hope things go well

I never fibbed about it. I just told the truth: Denali was not interested in ANY solids until she was a little over a year old.

Most people were very surprised but didn't push the issue. But one woman kept saying things like, "Look how big and chubby your daughter is! It means she's hungry! She needs food. You should give her solid food."
Um...Koo-koo!

I just tell anyone who asks (I waited til she was 9 months btw) that because of the severe food allergies DH and his family have I would rather wait than risk it. People seem to be able to handle that. Now when I was just thinking about delaying and people found out they weren't so happy about it.

ETA: I had planned on delaying until a year. DD suddenly wanted food one night and grabbed some off my plate. At 10 months, she get's maybe 2 or 3 servings a week (sometimes less). Another reason I waited was she was unable to sit by herself until 9 months. She just couldn't stay up. She was mobile and everything else but that one area was lacking. I know they say that's a good sign as to when to introduce solids. Maybe, if the allergy thing doesn't work for you, you can say something like that.

Quote:
so true here

when my 3rd ds was born (new marriage new ils) they were so stressed out and argumentative all the time about the solid food. I don't do solids until the baby demands it. I think solids are a pita.

But then dh's family had their first babies (both sisters had baby's 2 months before my dd) they were feeding solids at 4 months, the one who formula fed was giving rice cereal in a bottle at 2 weeks

My daughter didn't eat till 10 months, and if you look at the families youngest grandchildren (dd 10mos, then 2 babies who are a year) she is the only one who eats real food and can feed herself.