[farmerjess]

There are at least a few of us on here with babes about 6 months old, I would love to get some thoughts from you extremely knowledgeable mamas.

What worked for you?

What would you change if you could do it again?

What foods would you start with?

How long to wait between foods?

What reactions would make you fail a food?

Do you think it's important to hit the "window of opportunity"?

 

[WuWei]

Water (or milk) kefir.
Bone broth.
Green juice.
Sauerkraut juice.

Mineral water.
Baby Calm.
Grass-fed liver.
Local, pastured egg yolk.
Celtic sea salt.

CLO-fermented.
Coconut oil.

http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/recipes.html
http://westonaprice.org/children/formula-faqs.html

With infant allergies, I'd recommend waiting until closer to 1 yr before introducing solids; and no jar foods as they are nutrient neutral, at best and are basically empty filler calories.

NO GRAINS.

Your mama's milk is exactly what your baby was meant to have.

Pat

 

[mtn.mama]

Nice recs Pat.

I completely agree with your recommendations, and
want to reiterate that grains and raw fruits are a
poor first choice. Leave grains out until at least age 2
and if you MUST start with fruits, please make sure
they are cooked.

We have had much better success introing foods
on a rotation basis, than with ODing on a food for
a few days. Also, rxns may not show up until after
a few intros. Rxns can be ANYTHING. Keep a journal
and pay close attention.

I don't believe in the window of opportunity.

 

[waluso]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WuWei Water (or milk) kefir. Bone broth. Green juice. Sauerkraut juice. Mineral water. Baby Calm. Grass-fed liver. Local, pastured egg yolk. Celtic sea salt. CLO-fermented. Coconut oil. http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html http://www.westonaprice.org/children/recipes.html http://westonaprice.org/children/formula-faqs.html With infant allergies, I'd recommend waiting until closer to 1 yr before introducing solids; and no jar foods as they are nutrient neutral, at best and are basically empty filler calories. NO GRAINS. Your mama's milk is exactly what your baby was meant to have. Pat

Pat - How much water kefir would you recommend feeding an infant each day?

 

[WuWei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by waluso Pat - How much water kefir would you recommend feeding an infant each day?

I would feel comfortable giving 'my baby' up to a tablespoon a day. So, maybe 1 tsp, 3x per day.

Pat

 

[farmerjess]

Just to clarify, Pat, is your list things that you would also wait on till closer to a year or things that you think may be beneficial to a 6 month old?

 

[WuWei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmerjess Just to clarify, Pat, is your list things that you would also wait on till closer to a year or things that you think may be beneficial to a 6 month old?

Depends on the weight of baby, how much milk mama produces, the degree of distress/reflux, allergens in mama's diet, ability to remove allergens effectively, symptoms of allergies, antibiotic history, etc.

I believe, your mama's milk is exactly what your baby was meant to have. But, I'd consider adding those listed beyond 6 months if baby needed more nutrients. (ie. was a risk of antacids or formula supplementation)

Pat

 

[farmerjess]

"Depends on the weight of baby, how much milk mama produces, the degree of distress/reflux, allergens in mama's diet, ability to remove allergens effectively, symptoms of allergies, antibiotic history, etc."

We seem to be holding steady at 20th percentile for weight so I don't think that we have any major issues yet. We haven't gotten to a baseline yet, but we have gotten to a livable baseline a few times (basically watery orange poop, no mucous, no other apparent rxn). I do worry about minerals for him, esp zinc, iron, magnesium. We are currently off of dairy, eggs, soy, gluten, corn, sulfites, and sugar.

The child knows how to eat. He picks up and chews and eats and smiles. Never makes that ewww what's this face that babies make. I guess I don't feel right denying him food. He had no reaction to tasting pear, banana, and a huge reaction to chicken bone broth a/o carrot.

Are there any studies that support delaying solids till one year?

 

[hae703]

I've been getting anxious about this topic as well. My DS is 8 months and only BF at this point. I've been on a TED for over a month, but had to make some changes here and there and still haven't reached baseline.

We did try solids at 6 months old for 8 days. We did rice cereal (which seemed to pass right through him) and then Gerber bananas to which he reacted with blood in his stool. So we stopped and I started eliminating. He did extremely well with the actual process of eating, but I keep hearing stories of moms who wait too long and they have to take their LO to an Occupational Therapist to teach them to eat. I don't know how often that really happens though.

I have read a lot about not introducing grains that they are the hardest to digest as PP mentioned.

DS really wants to eat real food so I feel horrible having to deny him even though I know he's healthy and growing well on BM alone. But I don't want to do more harm than good either.

 

[farmerjess]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hae703 He did extremely well with the actual process of eating, but I keep hearing stories of moms who wait too long and they have to take their LO to an Occupational Therapist to teach them to eat. I don't know how often that really happens though. .

I have read those stories too, and that is my main worry with delaying too long. He seems primed to eat now, you know?

 

[WuWei]

Ds was exclusively breastfed until almost 15 months, he had limited interest and we had a ton of intolerances. The boy can eat some corn on the cob, nuts, salad, pizza, brownies, whatever.

I'll try to hunt for some research about introducing solids closer to a year, especially as it relates to allergies. I believe I recall seeing something. But, if your diet/milk is causing the intolerances, and you are unable to remove the allergens, then I'd see if baby could tolerate the nutrient dense liquid alternatives.

We ate in shifts for the couple of minutes it took to actually eat a meal. And we chatted and visited without sitting in front of food. Ds was offered the breast or engagement while daddy ate. Then same while I ate. Well, daddy just engaged, he didn't nurse.

Pat

 

[RachK]

My middle daughter sees an OT, a PT and a speech therapist for low muscle tone and I was talking to the speech therapist about my baby (10 1/2 months). Since I did not start solids until 9 months, she was concerned about her learning tongue movements. She told me to put breat milk in a cup and use a baby spoon to spoon feed her a little so she learns the proper tongue movement (since feeding with a spoon requires different movement than nursing) and that would encourage more of the up/down and back/forth movement. I have to say we did not do it that often and she was still totally fine when we started solids.

 

[Chloe'sMama]

We tried solids at 7 and 8 months, she was not ready either time (showed allergy type symptoms). When we started at 9 months, she has been able to handle everything (we don't do any wheat based on her allergy symptoms to my bm). I am so glad we waited and she is so great with food now!

 

[farmerjess]

Well, I went to a naturopath/homeopath appt today and explained our situation (babe REALLY wants food, wakes wanting to nurse every 1-2 hours, nurses every hour in the day....but also has food sensetivities) to her and she is pretty well convinced that my baby is super hungry. She suggested feeding him solids a 4 or 5 times a day over the next few days to see if he will nurse less in the day and night and sleep a little better. This is such the classic thing to say, that it's a little bothersome, but I am willing to try it. (I am willing to try almost anything to get more sleep right now). I have also felt like I don't have the greatest milk supply and he is at 75% for height and 20% for weight (and dropping very slowly), so maybe she is right? I mean, milk for a year is probably good for some babies, but for some don't you think it might not be enough, especially when they are sending you clear signals that it's not?? His wisdom has to count for something right?

So, I am going to try feeding him sweet potato with coconut oil as often as he wants some over the next few days. And call her on Monday to see how things are. I figure he will either be up and crying day and night with crazy reactions or he'll sleep or some combination. She also suggested pulsatilla 30c for him, so hopefully that will help with some of his reactions.

 

[farmerjess]

Update: We have tried sweet potato, banana, and coconut oil so far and it's going pretty great. He loves eating and is generally more content. He is napping more soundly and not needing to nurse during his whole naps. He is sleeping more soundly at night, he even slept for 6 hours the other night, which is a first! I really believe the poor baby needed more calories. I have also started eating oats (with no reaction from him or me to the gluten!) and mama milk tea to try to boost my milk some. If anything his allergy symptoms are better than when we started trialing...no diaper rash, no cheek rash, ok poops, etc.

Next up is avocado and egg yolk.