[Rainbow Brite]

How long did you delay for and why? Dd is almost 10 months and excl bf. I was thinking on waiting till 12 months- it just seemed healthier imo- I have enviro allergies and some food intolerances, and well it just seems healthier. But I've been wondering about starting soon. Just looking for other perspectives

 

[moondiapers]

We started around 10 months letting him taste things. He'd chew on a green bean from my plate while I ate dinner. He didn't usually swallow anything though, and he'd be at the same green bean until I was done eating and tossed it down the garbage disposal. At about 12 months, when he got his first tooth, he started eating 1 meal a day, by 18 months it was 2 meals, by 2 years it was 3 meals and a snack. He nursed frequently until he was 3 when I started gently weaning him, he was completely weaned by 3 1/2

I miss nursing him now that i'm not doing it. But at the time I was really struggling with it so I weaned him. He never ate baby food except baby cereal while we were trying to get his reflux under control. It took about 2 months total to get it cleared up, with the help of a homeopath.

-Heather

 

[AngelBee]

 

[moondiapers]

I wanted to add: Yes he was petite, and yes the ped harrassed me about it. But he was meeting his mile stones early, and was happy and energetic. Now he's only a little small for his age (mom and dad are pretty short too) but he's 5 years old and reading at a second grade level (mostly self taught) and doing 1st grade math....yet he won't be old enough for kindergarten till fall 2005.

 

[3for3hb]

I planned on exclusive bfing for the first year but that is just not what happened. As soon as he was able to crawl well (about 6 months) anytime I ate, he'd be right there watching. And soon he'd crawl crawl across the room towards me (with the food) with his mouth open and drooling. And soon after that he started getting really mad because I wasn't giving him a tast so I started putting fruits in the blender and putting a little on my plate so I'd have something to give him. I really watched his bowel cycles once he aws getting solids and he went down from bming 2-3 times a day to once a day. If he ever went for more than a day without passing a bm I would just encourage the bfing until he did and hold off on whatever food I had given him.
Now that he is almost 16 months his bm's are back to normal. He ate exclusively fruits and veggies that I cooked and pureed for him until he was a year. sometimes I would thicken it up with a little organic rice cereal or millet cereal for babies if it was too watery. He still doesn't get dairy or meat unless he happens to grab it off my plate.

I'm proud to say that I have a very good eating toddler. I think that if I had tried to start solids earlier or held off longer like i wanted, that would have sent him the wrong messege about food. Definitely follow your baby.
Just my opinion...

 

[ZeldasMom]

nak

there are people who will tell u there is a narrow dev window in which babies can learn to eat & u better not miss it. not true. no research to support this. something about this on kellymom i think.

we tried solids at 6 months. no interest tho til close to 12 months. he never ate baby cereal or pureed food--so my handy dandy baby food grinder never got used--oh well! kid is now 19 months & eats fine. he still nurses about 3x per day.

i think with the allergy issue it is especially good to delay like you've done.

 

[treehugginmama]

We delayed until 10 months. Our reason for delaying was to lessen the chance of allergies and I felt my milk was enough. He's 15 mths now and eats when he wants. Some days he eats 3 meals other days he just snacks.

 

[kindred_spirit]

My ds really didn't start eating solids until 1 1/2 & was pretty concerned both my chiro & peditrician said he knows what is good for him.

 

[Rainbow Brite]

Thanks! We haven't offered solids and I'm not concerned about her, really just curious why others waited

 

[AngelBee]

I guess I am following his lead. If he wants solids.....he can have them.

I am not going to go by a preset time frame for something that each child is different in.

 

[MamaMonica]

With my first, we started solids at 12 months and she didn't eat much until 18 months. Now she's a great eater. We skipped the baby food stage- much easier that way. My second began tasting at about 11 mos (?) he has a lot of allergies.

 

[nadine]

my son is almost 8 months and still exclusively breastfed. he has shown no interest in food and is thriving as is.

 

[ssolberg99]

Thank you all for the info. I was just going to ask this question myself. Actually, I was concerned about the "lack of iron preserves at 6 months" that peds. say is the reason to start cereal. My DS is 7 mo and has no interest in eating any foods. I was hoping to be able to hold him off until 10-12 months. It just seems natural that when they are able to eat raw foods, that they will. They didn't have food processors back in the day.

 

[mollyeilis]

I was going to wait at least a year.

I was fed something from a bowl at about 2 months, according to the pictures. I have suffered from environmental allergies, low-level food allergies (that change symptomatically from time to time), and have problems with my weight.

My husband was fed food, including meat, at 3 weeks. Yes, weeks. There was a misunderstanding between the ped and my MIL, but as soon as MIL talked to her mom at home in Korea, her mom told her that Americans were crazy, and to stop feeding him the foods. He does have sensitivities to some foods, which he always put down to his Asian side. He has also been very overweight most of his life.

With our early food intro and the problems we have had, we decided that breastfeeding exclusively at least a year would be a good idea. We developed signs to watch for. Grabbing at food wasn't enough; what's the point of giving a baby a *different* food than what they are grabbing for? For example, a big white glob of mayonnaise always seemed to attract him, but there was no way I was giving him that! So he had to express interest in a food I would actually give him. That turned out to be the most important, so it's the only guideline I'm remembering right now.

Just after 11 months, he nearly tackled me (I'm short and he's almost half my height already, and strong, so this was an almost scary experience!) for an organic apple. It was something I'd give him, it was organic, so he won.

He's now 12 months and a couple weeks, and has tried some fruits and a veggie or two, but just tastes them, mainly.

As for the iron, I have heard that an *exclusively* breastfed baby won't have problems with iron, because their gut can still extract it easily. But once solids are introduced, things change irreversibly, and a problem could arise. Hmm, perhaps I should give some thought to that...I'm still a bit in denial that he has anything but breastmilk.

 

[luvmy3boys]

With my youngest we introduced solids around a year, but he really wasn't interested until 18months or so. He did have many food allergies and sensitivities, though, and it is my theory that he instintively knew that sticking to my milk only was best. He is now almost 2 1/2yrs and is down to 1 remaining known allergy and 1 sensitivity, still nursing, but also loving solid food (not a picky eater).

 

[Momtwice]

http://www.drjaygordon.com/faqs/cerjuic.htm
http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/bf4.asp

 

[stafl]

Quote:

How long did you delay for and why?

I started offering solids when my children started showing signs they were ready for them. I never pushed the issue, just followed their leads and went real slow. Both girls started actually eating solid foods (as opposed to just playing with them and spitting them out) at around 9 months when they learned to crawl and had upper and lower opposing teeth, and both of my girls started eating solids on a regular basis at around 14 months, when they learned to walk.

I basically followed Dr. Sears' advice, except we skipped the rice cereal (too constipating and tastes gross) and went straight to table food off my plate mushed up with a fork. http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032000.asp

 

[pixiexto]

I wouldn't say that I delay solids, but rather wait for readiness. To me, there is a distinction. (kind of like "breastfeeding beyond infancy" rather than "extended bf'ing" ~ it sends a message of doing something responsive, rather than out of the ordinary) anyway....

With our first, she did not show readiness or any significant interest in solids until almost 10 months. We were really selective in what & when we introduced foods ~ i.e. no wheat/dairy/soy until after 12 months, restricting things like corn until much later. Nuts weren't introduced at all until she was 2, and then we began with almonds... then a month or two later with walnuts.... then later on with pecans. She'll be 3 in a month and will only be introduced to peanuts after then.

Now, to say that DD #2 is rather *more* interested in foods would be an understatement!

She watches EVERYTHING that goes into our mouths, is very grabby and seems to get rather irked when we don't share! She's 5 months today, and we're certainly waiting until 6 months. Interest, IMO, isn't all that comes into play when I consider "readiness". I imagine we'll skip cereal and go to selected, mushy table foods ~ sweet potatoes to begin, then peas & maybe some applesauce. If she still has her tongue thrust, we'll wait a while and then give it a go again. Honestly, I don't get the zip and enthusiasm that people get out of early feeding of children, like it's a side show or something!

 

[Julesy]

I'm so glad I found this thread!

I came here because I've been in a panic as my first-born, extremely strong-willed 11-month-old daughter has refused baby foods since 6 months, and only now is beginning to show a vague interest in sharing scraps of our table food. I'm sitting her down for meals with us now, but to say she eats "meals" is a bit of an exaggeration - she basically takes about 4-5 baby bites of whatever we're eating, then spits everything else out!

My pediatrician says that I need to cut back breast milk to encourage solid eating, and also supplement with a multi-vitamin (and fluoride when she gets teeth - she's still toothless). I don't want to give her vitamins, but he scared the life out of me by implying that she's malnourished!

 

[becca011906]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julesy I'm so glad I found this thread! My pediatrician says that I need to cut back breast milk to encourage solid eating, and also supplement with a multi-vitamin (and fluoride when she gets teeth - she's still toothless). I don't want to give her vitamins, but he scared the life out of me by implying that she's malnourished!

well as you can see lots of moms here dont' start solids at all, i know some that wait till 12-15-18 months and the baby's aren't malnourished, no need for supplementla vitamens unless baby is underweight by a lot not meeting mile stones, ect. don't let an unknowing dr tell ya about bf b/c trust me most don't know much about it at alL!