Starting Solids?

577 Views 10 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Bokonon, Feb 6, 2010

MyZoeJane

Discussion Starter · Feb 5, 2010

I'm sure this question has been posed a million times, and I did a search to see if I could find a post that touches upon my situation, but I could not, so here goes the 1,000,001st time it will be asked:

My son is 4.5 months old. He was 9lbs, 13ozs at birth and weighs 21 pounds now. He is 28 1/2 inches long. Needless to say, NOT a little boy!

I have always nursed him on demand and feeding him has been a breeze. We co-sleep, and he has started to wake more during the night to feed, which is okay with me. It's not a big deal to roll over and pop the boob in his mouth.

However, he is EXTREMELY interested in what we are eating at mealtime. He looks longingly at eat bite and reaches for it with a hopefuly look on his face, then a sullen look when he does not reach it and it disappears into our mouths. At first, it was cute... but now it's sad, really!

I know he is getting everything he needs from me now, even though he is nursing a lot more frequently in the past few weeks. But I am thinking that this is just his time to start solids. I suppose I am struggling with taking the plunge because I know that breastmilk is the superior food and should not be replaced with anything else...

I am looking for some feedback here. What were your experiences? Did you have a child who was very interested in solids and start them this young? I can't help but think, he is nursing A LOT and he is getting at least 30-40 ounces of breastmilk per day... (I sometimes weigh him before and after his feedings out of curiosity.)

What would be the harm in giving him a bit of rice cereal or oatmeal when we are enjoying our dinner? I don't want him to feel deprived. If he wants to explore food, why should I keep him from it? Maybe a few tablespoons of cereal is all he needs to satisfy his curiosity.. There is nothing that says I needs to follow "the plan" and give him fruits and veggies and add meals one by one, etc.

Is there evidence to suggest I would be better off keeping cereal from him for a few more months? I didn't start my DD til she was 7 months, because she didn't show an interest until then.

Comments?

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tzs

· #2 · Feb 5, 2010

i've heard anecdotally that bigger babies can benefit from solids like cereal earlier.

my friend has a babe a few weeks younger than mine. he's just 4 months and started rice. we're waiting. but he's a big boy and in just a few days it's helped him immensely. he had been very fussy past the fussy point and they're thinking maybe he was just hungrier. he's so so happy now. a new kid.

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Bokonon

· #3 · Feb 5, 2010

Yes, there is evidence that starting early can be harmful:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/so...ay-solids.html

You can include baby in mealtime by giving him spoons and cups to play with, or freeze some breastmilk and give him a breastmilk "slushie". Him looking sad is not a good reason to start solids so early - my son looks sad when I don't let him try my glass of wine, but I'm still not going to let him.

FWIW, showing interest does not necessarily mean that he's ready. My 9mo grabs spoons from my hand, but when I do try to give her solids, she pushes them out of her mouth and/or gags. She's interested in the colors and textures, but isn't really into eating yet.

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red and lulu

· #4 · Feb 5, 2010

(nak) why cereal? is there a reason you don't want to start with fruits and veggies. imo, they're more nutritious than cereal. dd's doc says fruits and veggies first, then grains once they've got a solid base of those down w/o incident (around 9 mo, if you're starting at 6), because they're more difficult to digest. especially if you're starting early since his curiosity may be more eager than his digestive system is ready. idk, you could always just try and see how it goes...

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sunflwrmoonbeam

· #5 · Feb 5, 2010

DD was showing a lot of interest in solids at that age. I held off for 2 more weeks because I just wasn't comfortable with a 4.5 month old eating solids. She had a bit of applesauce and LOVED it. However, since I started her early (at 5 months) I went rather slow and didn't make an effort to give her a lot of food. So, she'd wind up eating maybe once a day 4 or so times a week. Sometimes she'd scarf down her applesauce or carrots or whatever, but a lot of times she was barely interested.

She's now 7 months and I've stopped with the purees. A slice of apple will take her 20 minutes or so to eat and is a great distraction

Just listen to your baby, and go with the flow. The fact that he's showing interest suggests he's at least ready to play with solids.

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dislocator3972

· #6 · Feb 5, 2010

My DD was big at birth too, and I think that maybe breastmilk isn't enough to sustain 20 lb babies. (Just a guess) Because when my DD hit 4.5 months, she got HUNGRY. Giving her a spoon did not help her. And while my supply wasn't a problem, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she wasn't getting what she needed to sustain herself and to grow. And if she's hungry, I'm feeding her.

So I talked it over with the ped and LC and we all agreed it was time for food. There are some recent studies suggesting a link between starting cereals before 6 months and type 2 diabetes (though starting solids after a certain point has risks as well), so we were instructed to start with orange and then green veggies. I didn't want DD to get food instead of breastmilk, so she eats solids about an hour after she nurses. Usually, she naps for about 10 minutes after a certain noontime feeding, and I just put her in her high chair after that and get her food around. I also mix expressed breast milk into the sweet potatoes that I spoon feed her, so I know she's getting more that way.

Any doubts I had about starting solids so early were erased when I saw the way she ate. She grabs handfuls of sweet potatoes and stuffs them into her mouth, lunges to eat what's on the spoon, and isn't as hungry as she was.

And, no, interest is not the only gauge, but if the baby has no tongue thrust, sits up well, and seems to need more than the breastmilk he or she is getting, then solids might be a good decision for you. They were for us.

HTH!

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Abraisme

· #7 · Feb 5, 2010

I started feeding both of my kids at 5mo because they showed a strong interest. There's a few things to look for besides just looking longingly at the food..

Be able to sit up.
Be able to chew and swallow soft chunks of food.
Lost tongue thrust.
Be able to hold a piece of food and bring it to the mouth.

My 6mo DD was able to do all of these things at 5mo, that, coupled with a strong interest led me to feed her. She still doesn't really eat very much, but I do give her little tastes of what I'm eating (age appropriate) during meals. Yesterday she had some banana with breakfast and some beans, rice and carrots with dinner. I would say she eats a couple of tablespoons per day at this point. Also, it hasn't helped with her sleeping at all (even if she eats food right before bed), so I wouldn't hope for that.

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Anastasiya

· #8 · Feb 5, 2010

I wouldn't start with rice cereal, that's for certain. That's pretty much just empty calories and does nothing good for the system.

How do you know he's actually wanting to EAT and not just starting to reach out because he's curious? Mine all went through that reaching out phase and to me it wasn't because they were hungry, but because they were observing so much more, wanted to touch everything, see what things were, put things in their mouths, etc....but not to EAT.

What about a sippy of water? A mesh teething pouch with ice or frozen breastmilk? I'd try those first before I'd feed a 4.5 month old. That way you know if it's really hunger or just curiousity.

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1stBabyAt39

· #9 · Feb 5, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abraisme

DD was very interested in what we were eating at around 5 months. I started giving her organic oatmeal baby cereal at around 5.5 months. At that point, it's mostly just tasting & getting a feel for foods. She likes getting her hands into it. Now (at 7 months) she gets purees a few times a day. Looking forward to giving her some finger foods!

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Alisse

· #10 · Feb 5, 2010

My ds is 4.5months and over 20lbs. We've started solids in the sense that we're "practicing" for eating rather than making solids a serious part of his meal times. So we prepare about a tablespoon of rice cereal but he eats probably only about 1/2 a teaspoon; the rest gets smeared everywhere because we give him the spoon. And we do this only once a day.

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Bokonon

· #11 · Feb 6, 2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by dislocator3972

My DD was big at birth too, and I think that maybe breastmilk isn't enough to sustain 20 lb babies. (Just a guess)

Weight doesn't really have anything to do with it. Their stomach is the size of their fist, and the stomach of a chubby breastfed baby isn't all that different from the stomach of a skinny breastfed baby.

My baby is over 20 pounds and breastmilk sustains her just fine! And she's gone from 3 lbs. 11 oz. to over 20 pounds on JUST breastmilk.

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