Does she want solids already?

[Heaven]

Mel- The thing is that this is not normal for her though. She will usually feed only once or twice a night. This is such a dramatic difference that it is making me question whether she wants solids too.

Sammie- Thanks for all your help, I have been checking out the BLS thread!

Well after good more frequent feeds yesterday there was no change overnight, she fed every 2 hrs for 30mins or more. I am very tired now! I was just looking at the signs of readiness for solids-

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

• Baby can sit up well without support. Nope, can't do this yet but won't be long. Can sit very well with support and yesterday when I sat her up she was sitting for 5-10 seconds on her own so she's getting there.
• Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue. Yes, has lost this reflex already.
• Baby is ready and willing to chew. LOL, very willing!
• Baby is developing a ?pincer? grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development. Yes, she is developing this, she likes to play with the tags on things and is always practicing grabbing them with thumb and forefinger.
• Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth. Very eager, will try to snatch food and glasses out of our hands.

We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby?s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing ? sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby?s readiness. This is the biggest one that is causing me to wonder about it because this frequent feeding has now been going for 11 days. That's a long time. She is also teething though. Her 2 bottom teeth came through almost 2 wks ago but she no longer seems grizzly and in pain anymore like she did??

I am confused, this is so hard! Even harder when you have ppl constantly asking 'when are you going to give her solids?' 'poor kid is probably starving!' And I usually just ignore them but now that I'm feeling a bit unsure about it their comments just add to it iykwim?

[Nai]

I felt a bit uncomfortable introducing solids before 6 months but then I had to remember that babies develop at different rates and there isn't something that magically happens at 6 months and 1 day where they suddenly become ready for food. Some babies won't be ready until 7 months or later and others are ready earlier. Only you know your baby the best and you will recognise her signs so go with your gut instinct.

[Heaven]

Thankyou Nai! I was thinking the same, is 6 months an average and some are ready earlier and some later? And I'm not very confident I know best lol. I don't want to do the wrong thing either way iykwim.

[Jellyfish]

I'll just start by saying that my bub is 10 days from 5 months and has not started solids yet.

I have always intended to wait till 6 months, as though this is some magic age but I agree -- some babies roll early, teeth early, crawl early etc so why couldn't there be those that are ready for solids early? I think the best approach is to follow your baby's lead, as hard as that is!! Like you, I am starting to wonder. My DD got her two bottom teeth a week or so ago and that came with increased night wakings that have not stopped!! She has also lost the tongue reflex (and she has a mighty big tongue haha) and seems annoyed watching me eat, as if she wants some... BUT she cannot sit unaided for longer then 2-3 seconds and has not developed a pincer grip, so we are waiting. Anyway, this isn't all that helpful but just letting you know I understand how conflicted you are feeling. I don't want too start her too early and risk her not being ready but I don't want to starve her just to reach the magic 6 month mark either! So, for now, we are waiting although my bub is 15 days (half a month?) younger than yours. I think it is important to be comfortable with your choice and if you don't feel confident then I would wait and just watch her weight gains etc.



As a side note, look forward to meeting you on Sat

[Heaven]

Thanks Jitterbug! Can't wait til Saturday either!

[Shanti]

Sara... it sounds to me like she's ready. If you want to start her, then go for it!! They say 6mths approx so that means give or take a few days/weeks... there is nothing exact about 6mths iykwim. As you know, we started DD at 5mths, 9 days we felt she was ready and she loved it! Opened her mouth and swallowed the mash banana and just seemed to know what to do! It was easy. I think you'll find that too.
And DD could sit up really well on her own (a bit supported), had lost the tongue thrust reflex or whatever you call it, could hold a spoon, was watching us eating all the time very curious, etc.... they are good signs they are ready.
It's more work but ALOT of fun!!!!
We are doing spoon feeding because I tried a bit of BLS and she just threw it over her shoulder and the spoon feeding is going great for us so we are sticking with it but soon might try a bit of BLS also.... (steamed carrot pieces etc)

[Visitor8]

Firstly let me say that 2 hourly feeding wasn't normal for Ashton until it was normal... He didn't do it from day one, but here we are 11 months later and he's only JUST started sleeping through. He had 3 months of solids and he was still waking 2 hourly at night. What I would have done to go back to the early days of sleeping 4 or 5 hourly at night.

Why people think that their child is ready when they aren't 6 months old? (this is not aimed at anyone in particular, so don't take it personally hun it's just my opinion as a general answer to a question a lot of people seem to ask)

Common answers

They grab at my food.
Don't they grab at anything you put in front of them? To them it's not the food they want, it's what you have.

They feed more frequently.
Babies often go through a growth spurt close to 6 months, and feed more frequently. This does NOT mean they are ready for solids. Solids are NOT meant to fill them up at 4, 5 or 6 months old, they are a learning experience.

They seem interested when I eat.All babies seem interested at everything you do. They seem interested when you shave your legs (I know Ash does) but it doesn't mean I am about to go shaving him does it?

They started waking in the night.It's known that babies start waking and often feeding more often than normal before big developmental milestones (walking, crawling, rolling etc) and a few of these happen on or before 6 months. Ashton has gone through many wakeful periods and I have linked them all to what he was learning and doing at the time. The first time he started crawling (5 months) was when he also started feeding every 1-2 hours, 24/7. All that brain power and concentration, not to mention the physical excersise of actually crawling was making him a hungry boy. Hungry for booby NOT solids.

Seriously, if your thinking about starting BEFORE 6 months because they are 'ready' just wait. It's only a couple/few more weeks. Those few weeks really do make a HUGE difference to how ready they are INSIDE. Their digestive tracks aren't ready for food so early...

FWIW I started Ash early, at 5 months. He had very little solids before I realised what a big mistake I was making and I stopped them. He didn't start eating solids again until he was 7 months old. He wasn't ready at 5 months, I read all the signs wrong and listened to the wrong people. Sure enough, a few weeks later he was not only crawling but saying his first word and pulling up on the furniture. All a lot for a little bubba and he went on to feed 1-2 hourly for a week or so and then cut back to 3-4 hourly. Growth spurt is probably also the reason he did this.

[Shanti]

Seriously, if your thinking about starting BEFORE 6 months because they are 'ready' just wait. It's only a couple/few more weeks. Those few weeks really do make a HUGE difference to how ready they are INSIDE. Their digestive tracks aren't ready for food so early...

I don't necessarily agree with that statement but each to their own of course.... we started DD at nearly 5.5mths and she took to the food really, really well... she didnt get constipated like some babies do when they're digestive system isn't ready and really loved it from the start. So it depends on each baby..... some babies are ready a bit earlier than others. It's trial and error as to when to start. If DD wasn't taking the food well and had become constipated or diarrhoea etc for example, then I would have considered stopping and starting again 2 weeks later but this was not the case for us.
I don't think 2 weeks would make a huge difference to many babies. JMO.