[kate~mom]

had a dr. appt. today - ds is 6 1/2 months - overall it went very well. i like ds's ped - she is thoughtful, great with the kids, understands/respects our vax decisions (even laughed at my "well, he's not having sex or using iv drugs" refusal of hep b), is very wary of antibiotics, etc.

anyway - i wanted to get some feedback here about three things ....

1) she recommended a vitamin for him. when i questioned this as "even though i'm still taking a prenatal?", she said yes, because some vitamins - A, D, and E, i think - don't go through the milk well. i don't really have a problem giving him a vitamin, but is it really *necessary?

2) re solids - ds has been pulling at our plates and utensils for about a month and a half - and has been having some basic foods for about a month - sweet potatoes, bananas, apples - and tastes of our food that i've mushed up. he likes to taste things, but when i put him in the high chair for more than just a taste, he is bored or wants to get up within a few bites (5-6 approx.). the ped said that he's at a fine amount of food - but to keep trying to give solids at least twice a day because babies who start food later tend to have texture issues. is there *any truth to that? dd was never into *baby food, but took off eating once she had the ability to eat finely chopped food.

3) she didn't notice this, but i did when we got home and looked at my records from last visit - ds lost weight. not a lot - just two oz. reasons not to worry - he is still a rolly baby (18 lbs., 1 oz. at 6 1/2 months); he shows no signs of being underfed (yes, i love the look at the baby not the scale article); he is exceeding developmental milestones; he grew an inch in height; he was sick for about a week and a half, and wasn't eating quite as much as he usually does - only got back to normal on sunday. reasons to worry - he actually lost weight - i think i would be *ok if he didn't *gain, but *losing?; did my supply bottom out when he wasn't eating as much?

 

[RoadWorkAhead]

As for the vitamins, our ped recommended them only for vit. d at the first appt. I refused to give and just purposefully exposed him to the sun on a daily basis (10-15 mins. 3 + times a week should do it)...Never heard of the A or E being a problem. Also, check the internet...I found an article on vit. D being present in a different form than was originally tested for in BM so who knows?!?! We try not to add chemicals at our house...particularly ones made by formula companies b/c BM isn't "good enough" without a formula companies help, right?! I know plenty of kids on target with your DC who eat just fine now with no pressure to eat more solids...when they're ready, they tell you. As for losing weight, I don't know but considering my 8 lber weighed in under 18 lbs. at his 6.5 mo. check up, I don't think you have to worry...some times they store up a lot to stretch out an inch or two, and I know that was about the time DS got a lot more active. Just my two cents.

 

[earthmama369]

I don't know what's "normal," persay, but I can share our experience. Our FP didn't offer vitamins to the baby and made a point of saying that as long as I was eating well (and preferably, but not necessarily, taking my prenatals), my breastmilk would provide everything dd needs. As far as vitamin D goes, living in New England, a little time outside in natural sunlight every week for dd would take care of that as well (15 minutes or so every other day was her general recommendation).

At the one visit where dd's "numbers" seemed really off, I started to get worried and the FP noted that it looked like she had just finished a growth spurt -- pretty common since 3 and 6 months are both common checkup dates and common growth spurt ages. That can really throw the ratios of height and weight off, and make it seem like baby should have gained more weight than she did. At 6 months, babies are also getting more mobile and active, which can cause some weight loss.

As far as solids go . . . I think every baby's different. Q started solids at 5.5 months; I know babies who didn't start them until nearly a year. The older babies just started on more textured/chunked food. I haven't noticed any difference in their eating habits. Some babies might have a texture problem, but I wouldn't say that starting food late is, across the board, the problem. And I'm not sure why offering food x number of times a day would make any difference in that. We did start with once every day or two and move up to 2, then 3 times a day, but that's just because we wanted her to get used to eating meals with us as a family.

 

[alegna]

I say skip the vitamins. Do a search here, there's been a lot of discussion of them lately.

Bah on the solids. My dd was NOT interested in solids until well after 11 months (and we stopped trying in there...) and has no problems with textures.

-angela

 

[hubris]

Another vote for skipping the vitamins and making sure baby gets some sun for vit D production. Vit E was recently found to increase all causes of mortality in a big meta-analysis type of study - meaning that when people took vit E supplements, it increased every type of cause of mortality studied. Never heard of vit A issues with breastmilk.

My general feeling is that our bodies produce appropriate food for our children within the context of a healthy maternal diet and healthy physical activities.

Griff pretty much just dabbled in solids until 10+ mos. No texture problems. I don't think most babies eat a large quantity of solids until they're closer to 1 year old. We just offered mashed up foods from our plates and did very little jarred baby food.

Trust your instincts!!

 

[wannabe]

The only vitamin you might want to consider is D.

I'm going to supplement myself rather than her, since it it transmitted in milk - I would NEVER intentionally expose my child to the sun!!

 

[bluets]

sun isn't all bad... and it doesn't require that much - 15 min per day. i don't think it even has to be direct sunlight. sunscreen will prevent vit D uptake though.

 

[alegna]

Sunlight is good stuff. Plants need it, animals need it, we need it. Moderation in all things.

-Angela