Why give solids? Am I being selfish?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

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LuckyMum

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 7:28 am

My baby is 6 months old - exclusively breast fed and is bh growing and thriving normally. ppl, doctors... keep telling me that its time to give her solids but I really dont feel like it yet, firstly I dont want my cycles to return yet, secondly its messy and time consuming to start trying to aim some mashed bananas into her little mouth. does she really need it at this point already? what benefits does she get from that 1/4 teaspoon of mashed whatever that actually gets down her throat?
Am I being selfish?

mommalah

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 9:42 am

No,you aren't being selfish. If your child needed solids at this point and you refrained in order to keep niddah free status then that would be selfish, but your child technically doesn't need any food at this point. Not until one. The baby should be getting vitamin D though and possibly have hemoglobin levels checked b/c your stores of it can potentially be depleted by now. I wait with solids too. Why bother with mashing food down and all the annoying mess it entails. When my kids are ready, I just give them small pieces of whatever we are eating.

AlwaysGrateful

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 10:55 am

Not being selfish. I know people who have waited and been fine - and yes, your baby will be fine too. The main point of feeding kids solids now is so that they'll learn how to eat them for later. Because I do know people who waited and their kids absolutely refused solids later - at nine months or so. Tough situation.

Again, not selfish, but a judgement call.

cubbie

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 1:54 pm

The reason that it is important for a baby to be getting solids has nothing to do with nutrition, it is so that the oesophegus (spelling?) develops, which only happens by eating. By one year a baby should be able to (even without teeth) eat a variety of different textures. You dont have to do this at 6 months, but the earlier you start the easier it will be for you and your baby. Giving your baby 1 small spoon of food a day at a time when you don't usually nurse will not in any way affect your nursing.

Shalshelet

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 3:04 pm

I did give my dd tiny nibbles every once in a great while from when she was 6.5 months, but didn't really start feeding her food until she was about a year old.

here is a list of possible benefits from delaying solids:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrit......html

Also, http://www.kellymom.com/nutrit......html provides signs to look for to see when baby is developmentally ready for solids.

also, I don't recall having had any problems feeding my dd even though I delayed solids.

amother

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 3:08 pm

The delaying trend is causing many allergies, intolerances... and difficult eaters, according to many professionals.

c.c.cookie

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 3:09 pm

amother wrote:

The delaying trend is causing many allergies, intolerances... and difficult eaters, according to many professionals.

We have all of the above, and I started solids at five months.

LuckyMum

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 3:26 pm

So one will tell you that introducing solids too early causes allergies and stuff, while the other says its caused by introducing too late..... oh well I guess we will never know the real truth about these stuff.

sky

Mon, Aug 16 2010, 7:13 pm

I was told that by 9 months I have to start giving my child different types of food just to develop her swallowing. I started her on food at about 8.5 months and she eats a few different things about twice a day.

ykn21

Wed, Aug 18 2010, 9:11 pm

It's ok to wait a bit, but I wouldn't wait until your baby is one. I waited till 7 months to introduce solids once a day and this was because I also didn't want it to affect the nursing. What I've learned is that a few teaspoons of food does not interfere with nursing. I continued nursing round the clock (I nurse on demand).

Based on what I've learned in my early childhood development classes, a baby may not need solid food for nutrition purposes but the child DOES need solids for oral motor development. This does not mean that the day your baby turns six months old that it's time. What it does mean is that you should consider the oral motor skills of your child, how it not only affects eating but also speaking. Oral motor weakness can be treated in speech therapy, but it can be avoided many times if a child is introduced to solids and foods of different textures and is able to manipulate them in the mouth.

(btw it does not mean that all children who do not eat solids suffer from oral motor weakness, just that there is a hight correlation between the two.)

amother

Thu, Aug 19 2010, 9:07 am

Solids do not interfere with nursing. I give food and then nurse as a dessert or drink, or sometimes I nurse and then give food if s/he is not full yet. Giving solids and weaning off do not necessarily go together.

I started solids with #1 at 7 months, but my #2 has been desperate for solids since she was 5 m.o. She has been stealing cookies from #1 and grabbing whatever I am aiming into my own mouth. I won't be surprised if she self-weans in favour of regular food. YOu can't go against nature.

Tehilla

Thu, Aug 19 2010, 9:19 am

amother wrote:

The delaying trend is causing many allergies, intolerances... and difficult eaters, according to many professionals.

Not true! Introducing them early can also cause problems.

If your child is thriving with breastfeeding there is no need to introduce solids until the child is truly ready. I had one formula fed baby who couldn't handle anything more than puree until after she was 1 year old. I had a breastfed baby that was begging for solids by 8.5 months and handled everything I gave her beautifully. Then I had a breastfed baby who was highly sensitive to many foods. I tried from about 6 months to give him things, and he had such reactions to everything that I had to stop. He was almost exclusively breastfed until 14-15 months (and was a thriving BIG baby too!). Periodically, I would try some solids to make sure if he wanted, he could have. He didn't want them...because his body couldn't handle them. And by the way, he's my best eater now. The one who I tried solids from 4 months on (the formula fed baby) is the pickiest eater.

Really really, as long as your child is a good weight and you are happy and the baby is happy, no need to push solids. Pureed applesauce isn't exactly the be-all end-all of nutrition here...

Tehilla

Thu, Aug 19 2010, 9:23 am

mommalah wrote:

If the mother has adequate Vitamin D, her baby will get adequate Vitamin D. This is what I was told by several experts. The problem here is that from December until May or so, most women are deficient in Vitamin D, hence their babies' defiencies.

I take a great Vitamin D supplement (5000 IU a day) along with a Calcium & Magnesium & Beta Carotene with Mixed Carotenoid mixture every day. They each help the other to be absorbed properly and wow, do I feel the difference!

Calcium intake in the dairy form can actually prevent proper Vitamin D AND calcium absorption, because many people are inhibited by the dairy...even those who aren't officially lactose intolerant.

As far as iron goes, many breastfed babies become naturally slightly deficient around 10-12 months or so, and then when their meat, fish, and iron rich food intake increases they have no issues.

Tehilla

Thu, Aug 19 2010, 9:28 am

amother wrote:

Solids do not interfere with nursing.

This is not always true. It can interfere with nursing: with supply, with return of menstruation, with baby's desire to nurse, etc.

amother

Thu, Aug 19 2010, 9:48 am

I didn't start solids until 8 months old. I started with only avocado for a few weeks. It did not interfere with nursing, we continued nursing until 22 months old. No allergies and a great eater B'H.

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