Solids

As some of you know, I did beat myself up a bit about starting solids a little early (almost 5m) but the alternatives were to starve DS and neither of us sleep or to use formula. I now do a few solids, just fruit and veg with a bit of baby rice and porridge, and one formula bottle a day.

As for allergies, DH has so many then I doubt solid introducion would bother any allergies already there! He has already suffered hay fever and was fully BFed at that point.

My mum started my sister on solids at 12w and she now still has heartburn after eating. I was started at 4m and while I would disagree with giving a 4mo chocolate, I am allergy free. But one person is not a statistic.

Anyway, thanks Jac for posting that you can't find evidence. DS was more than ready for solids when I introduced them and is sat on my lap eating an apple (not pureed, it was my lunch as he was napping!) as I type.

I'm not sure why the studies are so hard to find, maybe because they are older? I haven't really looked for them, so I'm not sure if they are on the internet somewhere or not. The ABA's LRC (Lactation Resource Centre) has a library of articles and publications, so I am sure they would know where to look, maybe even provide you with a copy, I'm not sure. But if you are really interested in this, I would contact them.

Studies of course don't "prove" anything. All they can do is to show a likelihood of a link. It is impossible to categorically state that early introduction of solids causes allergies. All the WHO and medical bodies are saying is that, based on research, there appears to be a link, and therefore there is a risk involved in introducing solids before 6 months. Whether you find this an acceptable risk or not is of course up to you as an individual.

WRT whether there are more or less allergies now, there are two things to consider. Firstly, there are more chemicals (pesticides, preservatives etc) in our food now than in the past, so comparisons are not really between apples and apples so to speak. Secondly, 100 years ago, the recommendation was to introduce solids at 12 months. Somewhere along the way this was reduced to 6 weeks. This was shown to cause major problems, so it was increased to 3 months. Over time, it was noticed that there was a higher incidence of allergies, and studies showed that this appeared to be the result of starting solids earlier. Over time, this led to the recommedation changing to 6 months (although as you have pointed out, not all countries have adopted this recommendation. So that is the history behind the 6 month recommendation. I suspect (and this is JMO), that if starting solids before 6 months was not causing problems, it would not have been changed. But again, each person has to decide what to do for themselves, and as always, there is no right answer for everybody. HTH.

I am going to dedicate today to tyring to find out on the net.:) This is something I'm really interested in. I'll let you all know how I go.

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Erin
Me 25 DH 27 :heartbeat:
:babyboy: http://www.totsites.com/tot/dutchyfamily (Charlie's Pics)

[QUOTE=Erin_25;868023]I am going to dedicate today to tyring to find out on the net.:) This is something I'm really interested in. I'll let you all know how I go.

Ok, so not much luck finding what I wanted, but I did find something that caught my interest - which I had actually thought about when my SIL started my niece on solids early..........on the DrGreene website i quote "Babies that are ready for solids can lift and support their own heads"

This got me thinking what a good point. In all the do's & dont's & going backwards & forwards as to if we should start early & so on I don't think anyone has mentioned this (?) as a sign of being ready. I associate feeding my child with him sitting in his very cute highchair I bought LOL (I love it) and me sitting in front of him feeding him. Seems a little pointless to me if his head is bobbing about all over the place - he holds it up well now but still doesn't have full control. So that got me thinking, babies probably do show some signs though we may often not know exactly what for, often we just put them all together & come to our own conclusion as they can't speak for themselve's & we are doing the best we can to understand what they want. Therefore it makes sense to me to prob wait until we can see they are fully ready as opposed to some hard to read signs (so to speak). Sorry, I hope that made sense?

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Erin
Me 25 DH 27 :heartbeat:
:babyboy: http://www.totsites.com/tot/dutchyfamily (Charlie's Pics)

That makes perfect sense and is what I have been doing.
When Jemima was 5 months or a teeny bit before maybe cant remember (and she is only 5 1/2 months now) I sat her up in the highchair and started playing with the baby cereal. She just has breakfast and not a lot of it as I had been told the intestines cant handle it so they are not getting any nutritions from the food anyway.......

DS has been able to hold his head up and still from birth, so I don't go by that.

I have been able to do some searching, and it appears the gut matures between 4-6 months. This makes sense to say start solids at 6 months - at this point, baby's gut WILL be mature. At four months it probably won't. However, starting when baby tells you it's time to start between 4-6 months is the best idea.

I've always hated the idea of "on this day, set the day you were born, six months ago, you are going to have a solid meal." Why not let baby tell you? After all, we let baby tell us when it's sleep time, nappy change time and the rest, why put baby on a timetable for food?

I have a good leaflet from La Leche League, saying when baby is ready to start solids. Here are the two first babies telling you their needs:

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I am still exclusively breastfed. Now I am starting to sit up unsupported. I can grab things and bring them to my mouth. I no longer push things straight out of my mouth with my tongue and my digestive system is maturing.

I can sit up well. I am being offered tastes of single foods. I like to pick up suitable finger foods. I like to explore them with my mouth and hands. Almost all of my calories come from breastmilk.

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DS has been able to put a spoon full of food in his mouth before we started solids; he loves his rusks when he has them and is able to feed himself (a real bonus when I'm hungry!). Just because he isn't six months doesn't mean he isn't ready for solids - he would let me know if he wasn't.

Like Ryn's DS, both my boys could hold their heads up from birth so that's probably not a good sign, not on it's own anyway. When Jack was a baby, a paediatric dietician told me the signs that a baby is ready for solids are losing the tongue thrust reflex, getting teeth and showing an interest in food. The 3rd one on its own isn't enough as they will usually be interested in it before being ready for it. This makes more sense to me than a set day based on age, same as Ryn said. But I think the guidelines say 6 months as at that age most bubs are ready and that way people are less likely to misread the signs and start early. I will also say that the teething one is interesting - Jack got his first tooth at 6 months but was not interested in eating for months after that. Tom got his first 2 teeth together at 5 months and when I started him on solids at 6 months, he really loved them and was a good eater.

I think if we still lived in a society that trusted our maternal instincts, there would be no need for an age guideline at all.

Erin, good on you for taking the time to reasearch. How interesting that you couldn't find anything. I checked out the LRC and you have to subscribe or pay a one off fee for articles so maybe these studies have to be paid for?

Jemima was never a floppy baby, and had headcontrol from early on, but I think there is a difference between holding head up and having confident headcontrol, I think baby should be thinking about food rather than staying upright in chair?

I have the book that my Mum had when I was a baby and it is so interesting as it says that 5kg is the time you should start baby on solids..... that would have been when Jemima was less than 3 months and I'm pretty sure some babies are born 5kg??

Times change, babies dont really, but the things around them do, different cultures treat babies differently and they all survive.

Get some help from a doctor or nurse that can see your baby in real life as there is no "wrong" there is just what is RIGHT for YOUR baby.

For those that were asking for studies - I will post a couple of Abstracts I have found on the MEDLINE database...

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Primary Dietary Prevention of Food Allergy
Fiocchi A; Martelli A; De Chiara A; Moro G; Warm A; Terracciano L
Annals Of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: Official Publication Of The American College Of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology [Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol] 2003 Jul; Vol. 91 (1), pp. 3-12; quiz 12-5, 91.

OBJECTIVE: To present research and clinical evidence on the use of primary dietary prevention in food allergy management. DATA SOURCES: We conducted MEDLINE searches for pertinent articles published between January 1986 and October 2001 with use of the following keywords or phrases: prevention and diet and allergy, food allergy and prevention, and dietary prevention and food allergy or allergens. Also included are information and commentary reflecting the authors' cumulative clinical experience in an allergy unit of a city hospital. RESULTS: We define as "proactive" those strategies centered on "success factors," such as the early postnatal environment, prolonged breast-feeding, and use of formula and probiotic supplementation, in contrast to earlier "prohibitionist" approaches to prevention of food allergy. These two approaches are not antagonistic and may even be synergistic. We introduce this distinction in light of epidemiologic evidence and out of concern about compliance and the quality of life for patients. CONCLUSIONS: Inasmuch as nutritional and immune maturation are implicated, the prohibitionist measures that are most effective in primary prevention of food allergy are exclusive breast-feeding for at least 6 months (for lifelong immunity and other benefits), delayed (after the sixth month) introduction of solid foods, and on-indication use of "hypoallergenic" formulas. Whether proactive strategies can be contemplated remains a debatable issue. Evidence for and against the scientific use of probiotics as well as microbiologic, epidemiologic, and clinical data are discussed. Review of published epidemiologic studies and randomized clinical trials is essential before planning dietary intervention or prevention.

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Food allergy and the introduction of solid foods to infants: a consensus document. Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Fiocchi A; Assa'ad A; Bahna S
Annals Of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: Official Publication Of The American College Of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology [Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol] 2006 Jul; Vol. 97 (1), pp. 10-20; quiz 21, 77

OBJECTIVE: To make recommendations based on a critical review of the evidence for the timing of the introduction of solid foods and its possible role in the development of food allergy. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE searches using the following search algorithm: [weaning AND infant AND allergy]/[food allergy AND sensitization]/[dietary prevention AND food allergy OR allergens]/[Jan 1980-Feb 2006]. STUDY SELECTION: Using the authors' clinical experience and research expertise, 52 studies were retrieved that satisfied the following conditions: English language, journal impact factor above 1 or scientific society, expert, or institutional publication, and appraisable using the World Health Organization categories of evidence. RESULTS: Available information suggests that early introduction can increase the risk of food allergy, that avoidance of solids can prevent the development of specific food allergies, that some foods are more allergenic than others, and that some food allergies are more persistent than others. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians and allergists should cautiously individualize the introduction of solids into the infants' diet. With assessed risk of allergy, the optimal age for the introduction of selected supplemental foods should be 6 months, dairy products 12 months, hen's egg 24 months, and peanut, tree nuts, fish, and seafood at least 36 months. For all infants, complementary feeding can be introduced from the sixth month, and egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish, and seafood introduction require caution. Foods should be introduced one at a time in small amounts. Mixed foods containing various food allergens should not be given unless tolerance to every ingredient has been assessed.

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These are just a couple of articles of many.... and many articles have differing opinions, but I have chosen the articles which have based their findings on a wide range of research articles and studies that have been conducted.

An interesting point to note... I did find a few articles which talk about the early introduction of wheat being the best way to avoid a wheat allergy - I think this would be important for people with a history of gluten intolerance or coeliac disease to consider.

ETA - moving this thread to the breastfeeding/bottlefeeding/solids forum.

ETA2 - I have access to hundreds of databases through uni, so if anyone wants me to look up anything specific WRT this topic, with certain keywords etc, just let me know and I will get to it when I have the time :)

Thanks Ambah. Great work in finding the elusive articles. I think that will answer the questions we have had in this thread.