hi! just wondering.....when did you start your bub on solids? my bubba is cxoming up to 6 mths and dp and i have discussed the options, i am really interested in hearing from people who maybe held off for awhile, and your reasons..... eg, my little brother, was fully bf for 18mths, had no interest whatsoever in "real food" until mum fully weaned him.
I have recently read an interesting article on a whole foods website that advocates fully bfing for as long as possible and only feeding friuts and veges until two years or once they have all their teeth, I do actually like the reasoning behind it, but yeah, I would love to hear of anyone elses experiences.
thanks xx
Last edited by STARRYSKY; April 12th, 2009 at 09:10 AM.
starry - ok don't take this the wrong way but I suppose I feel pretty stongly about this as there was a family in my community who did a similiar thing. Their baby died from malnutrition as he was fully breastfed for about 15months with no other food. The parents were charged for neglect. I just think there are too many risks with this. What are the benefits of doing this? Sorry if I freaked you out but the situation was very sad for the whole community. Whatever decision you make i'm sure it will be throroughly reseached but definatly weigh up the pros and cons carefully. Obviousy you have a positive experience in your brothers case so it's important to weigh that up too. Good luck with your decision, as with anything child related the info is so confusing.
Hope I haven't offended you.
Last edited by Crystalwings; April 12th, 2009 at 03:18 PM.
no,no om, not at all! im just interested in hearing what others have done, like I said, we havent made a decision.....
I suppose im worried about the increase in allergies that children seem to be suffering these days...is it because their immune systems are too immature to cope?
i dont know..??
i guess this could be as controversial as the vaccination thing,I hope not to start a big thing, just want some opinions.
I offered DD solids at 6 mths, but she wasn't really interested, but we'd just keep offering. We could have held her off, but that's what we were advised by the MCHN to offer at 6 mths, so we did. We started on rice cereal & vegies, then introduced fruit. Just to note that DD is a small eater, but eats a good variety of foods.
Just an observation from a little boy at DD creche who was exclusively bf (no food) for the first 12 mths of his life, he is very little and still looks like a 'baby' not a toddler. He would be about 18 mths old now or maybe a bit older and he is tiny. I think his development in terms of crawling, walking etc... is 'normal'. He eats food now after creche introduced solids and spoke to his mum & dad about it.
SS, it certainly is controversial. The recommendation of the WHO and the NHMRC and the AMA are to wait until 6 months to introduce solids. There are a number of reasons for this of which allergies is just one.
There is no easy answer to preventing allergies, but the latest information is that introducing anything other than bm prior to 4 months is a huge risk factor, and that delaying the introduction of things like dairy, peanuts and egg too much beyond 6 months in children who are not at very high risk of severe reaction can be a risk factor also. So ideally solids should be introduced from 6 months, using a Baby Led Solids philosophy - ie starting with finger foods and letting baby set the pace. You shouldn't delay too long with introducing new foods, even those that until now we've been told to delay. When introducing peanuts, don't start with peanut butter as this uses dried roasted peanuts which the most likely to cause a problem. I do need to mention though that the current guidelines are not to give egg white before 12 months, egg yolk before 9 months, dairy before 12 months and peanuts before 2yos. So there is a contradiction between current guidelines and latest research - you need to follow your own instinct on this.
thanks rhichichi, thats something to think about.
just for a bit of background, my bubba is almost 10kg now, he has been in the 98th percentile for weight pretty much since birth, has had some huge weight gains some weeks. all on breast milk.
its amazing the looks and comments I get and have been getting since he was 2 1/2 months old, "ooh, he will need real food soon, give him a chicken leg to chew on etc."
people just cant seem to believe that he is not on solids already!
dp and I have serious reservations about leaving him with my parents, due to their lack of discretion with the food thing, my father gave him a finger full of melted chocolate to suck on at 4 months, and I busted him giving him a taste of vanilla icing at my sis inlaws bday last week. grrrrrr, not a happy mummy!!
no one can say im starving him, he is the biggest bouncingest baby, but what is the deal with trying to put food in his mouth! and crap at that!
sorry, bit of a vent there...!
We started DS on solids at 5 and 1/2 months. He was 3.45 kg born so very average but he soon was in the 98th percentiles too and fully breastfed as well. We did some reading about BLS, watched some Utube videos and decided that was the way for us. We could have proberly waited another couple of weeks but being first time parents were really excited to start our solids journey.
For me the most important thing is following bubs lead so we started slowly and he wasn't having 3 meals a day until about 8 or 9 months. We just built it up over time. I do think there are some bubs that are naturally small eaters and others who aren't. At least until they are 1 food is about tasting and feeling the textures and having fun, most of the nutrients come from milk. There are some bubs that will eat heaps from a young age and others who won't. I think if they are putting on weight (which keeping in mind they due plateau at different stages), are happy and active then no matter how much or little you are feeding them doesn't really matter.
when did you start?
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