[MamaRabbit]

I was chatting with a (mainstream) mom who is pro-bfing (and pro BabyWise

: ) and telling her about how well DS is doing on *only* breastmilk at almost 1yr old. While she is supportive of me and my differing parenting styles, she did make a comment that stumped me.

"I hope he's not past that window of opportunity when they're interested in solids."

What does that mean? I did start DD on solids at 7mo even with her showing few signs of being interested. But at 1yr old, how do most know if there really is a window? My DS loves to play with food. In and out of his mouth too, but to use it as food? No. Is she meaning about the textures of food? To me, if by nature, babies were designed to not need solids for a long time, then why not develop the solids interest later on?

OK, now I'm rambling... will wait for other posts to help me clarify...

 

[Dido]

I have heard this about a "window" also. I think there's a grain of truth to it, but it's deceptive. If you feed pureed solids to a baby who's four months old, there's a good chance they will be accepted. The baby cannot sit up and she is not very strong or coordinated with arm movements that might enable her to push the spoon away - she would have a hard time refusing. The baby is more passive and receptive at this stage. But taking in a mouthful of rice cereal is not the same thing as being actually INTERESTED in solids.

At seven months, a baby can sit up and is a tough little critter with a mind of her own. She is far more capable of refusing - pushing spoons away, pursing mouth, turning away, etc. She can express whether or not she is TRULY interested.

The result is that a baby who is fed early solids will get into a routine of accepting solids, enabling a lot of solids to be fed routinely as she gets older. A baby who has solids delayed will be afforded the opportunity to decide when he or she really wants them.

The result for many mamas who delay solids or let their child decide once the baby reaches 6 months or later, is that the baby may well have her own timeline and wants to wait longer. This can be a bit of a pain and lead to fears of "OMG! She will NEVER eat solids!" Yes, we may have missed a "window" where we, the mamas, would decide when and how much solids our babies will eat. On the other hand, we OPEN the window for the BABY to decide. I think and hope that if we just accept that we will let the baby set the pace, we'll end up with children who are more adventurous and healthy eaters in the long run.

This is just based on my own experiences and hearing from others. My own DD is almost nine months and still almost EBF.

 

[moms3kids]

A child will not always refuse solids... i mean they will just start eating them at thier own time... my dd was almost 14 months before she started solids, and she started them all on her own...

 

[rachelmarie]

I really think that statement is ridiculous. If there truly is a "window", then there would then be a time, after the window, when there is no way to get your child to eat solid food. BUT your child will solid food when s/he is ready!

Ds is now 19 months. Just in the last 4-6 months he has shown a real interest in eating solid food, and even that ebbs and flows. Some days he'll eat a lot of solids and less breastmilk, other days he eats no solids and all breastmilk. We never forced solid food on him and some days before 12 months we didn't even offer (he has an skin allergy to cow milk so I think his constant refusal of solid foods before 12 months was a way to keep himself free of other allergies - possibly). We do offer solids to him now - meals and snacks - everyday and HE chooses whether or not he wants to eat them.

Solid food intake is one of those things I refuse to worry about - and the main reasons for *not* worrying is that he is still getting plenty of breastmilk everday! I know ds eats when he's hungry and he is getting enough. He is a healthy boy!

 

[Cate]

My son has a lot of food allergies/sensitivities, and our pediatrician sent him to a nutritionist (well, actually she meant to send me, since he was EBF at the time, and it was my diet that mattered, and I had to elliminate almost everything (at least it felt that way), but wires got crossed, and the nutritionist was convinced it was Callum who was there to see her <grumble>). Anyway, he was 9 months old at the time, and hadn't started solids yet, I'd offered a couple times, but he wasn't interested, and honestly, with all the allergies/sensitivities, I was really scared of introducing solids... Well, she went on, and on, and on, about missing the 'window of opportunity' for solids, and about how she'd had to help so many parents with kids who refused all solids to learn to eat at all... man, it really got to me, scared me a lot, even though inside I kept thinking 'this doesn't sound right'. Well, it all worked out fine. Callum took solids in his own time, when he was ready. Now he eats and eats and eats... He went from beeing EBF to nursing only for comfort and thirst in less than a week... man that *hurt*. So I wouldn't really worry about the 'window of opportunity'. Trust your baby. They tend to know what's best.

 

[Jennifer-Juniper]

From my understanding, it's more an issue of getting accustomed to texture than anything else. One of my friends has a 3 1/2 year old daughter who has texture aversion and will still only eat the smoothest, most pureed foods. She will not eat anything if she doesn't like the texture, so they've been struggling with nutrition and weight gain issues, too. They work with an O.T. now. However, this is very rare. But that's what I think they mean when they mention a "window."

For most babies, I'd go with their level of interest.

 

[alegna]

I think it's BS. I think it's more of an issue that babies get used to purees, which are NOT part of the natural progression and then resist texture.

-Angela

 

[Mama Poot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alegna I think it's BS. I think it's more of an issue that babies get used to purees, which are NOT part of the natural progression and then resist texture. -Angela

UGH if only someone would have told me this with my first child

: We started with purees at 6 months and DS is now 12 months and we still have texture issues

I've forgiven myself because he was our first and we honestly did not know any better. I'm NOT making this mistake again with Henri. Grrr.....its such a pain in the butt dealing with a baby who crinkles his nose at things just because he doesn't like the way they feel. He used to make faces at squishy fruits like peaches because he didn't like getting his hands sticky.

 

[alegna]

I know- it's so frustrating isn't it?

-Angela

 

[Jennifer-Juniper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alegna I think it's BS. I think it's more of an issue that babies get used to purees, which are NOT part of the natural progression and then resist texture. -Angela

Yeah, you're probably right about this. If you wait to introduce solids until babies are a little older (like you should) then you can move much faster with texture and it shouldn't be an issue. If babies are started on solids when purees are all they can handle, and then because of that fact eat no solids but purees for months, then it makes sense that they might develop a preference for that, thinking that's how solids are supposed to be. That's one of the problems with commercial baby foods and people that think that's the only kind of solids babies can eat.

 

[sparklefairy]

No she's right! I missed that window with my kids and at 6 and 8 years, they are still 100% breastfed.

:

I understand that some children have texture "issues" but does it really have anything to do with what they've been fed? I know that I have "issues" with soggy bread, for example, even as an adult and bread that is too soft is icky to me too.

 

[jee'smom]

I just mashed up/prechewed my baby's food, rarely pureed it. I always thought, "way back when, there were no blenders, how can pureed food be natural?" When they're ready to eat, they'll eat.

 

[AtomicOcean]

Oh for heaven's sake! I had a doctor tell me that if I didn't give my dd cereal at 4 months she would "never learn to swallow solids". Dd was offered solids just past 6 months, but she didn't eat anything of note other than breastmilk until her first birthday cake. Now that I'm pregnant and she's 23 months and not getting much in the way of milk from me, she eats just fine.

I'm sure your child will be fine

 

[Shaunam]

I've heard that more times than I can count. It's absolutely ridiculus. My sister said if I didn't force him to eat (when he was 11 months) he'd never learn. Really?! Never!? You mean I'll have to nurse him until one of us dies!?

Some kids are picky eaters. I don't think it has much to do with when they start solids. My sister started solids at 4 months like she was instructed to and now she has to bribe her 6 and 7 year olds to eat. Obviously she didn't catch the "window" either.

My other sister thought I'd "missed the window" because I started "late" at 6 months (another

here) and THAT is why my DS didn't eat until after a year. WRONG! My DS didn't eat because he wasn't ready to. He literally could not swallow the food. Why? I have no idea, but he'd gag and vomit everything back up. He eats fine now at 19 months. I think he started getting interested in food at about 14 months.

I'd rather see my child start solids "late" than spoon feed gerber crap into an unwilling baby's mouth (like my sister did...it was horrible to watch). I don't know what this "window" is that people speak of. I don't know any adults that actually refuse food. Where are all these kids who missed the window and have to be tube-fed for the rest of their lives?

Bah. It's just this weird society that thinks babies have to be independent by a certain age and that includes eating fom a spoon rather than a breast or bottle.

And I agree with everything BrklynMama said.