Solids have got me baffled

[Evie76]

OK. So I thought we were doing alright. DS eats pureed apples, pears and steamed chicken with steamed vegetables (pureed). He also eats mashed banana and mashed strawberries and is gobbling everything down.

He is also drinking water out of a cup and having the odd soldier of wholemeal toast.

He has the odd rusk which inevitably ends up over the side of the high chair, smashing into several peices.

I am just confuzzled now. He is six months old. Should I be giving him snacks? Or can I hold off on this until he's a couple more months old.

I've been reading all of the other threads and I think I must need this spelled out to me in "der language" or something.

I don't want to give him anything that is unsafe and can see me sitting there while he's eating snacks hanging off every "gag".

I guess what I'm asking is - where do I start with these snacks??

[~Raven~]

I wouldn't bother with snacks at that age because milk is still their primary source of nutrition.

If he's just sucking on the rusk and chucking it away then he's not interested as he's either not hungry or can't eat it (rusks are pretty hard).
If they snack you are offering him is making him gag then wait for a while before offering it again.

[MrsFabuloso]

I would say that if he's gagging then he's probably not ready to have it. At 6mths he's probably still just trying to get the hang of eating and feeling the texture of different things.
Can I just add to that strawberries aren't actually reccommended for bubs until after 12 mths because it's a highly allergenic food. Though if he's happily eating it now, then he's obviously not allergic!!

[MantaRay]

Lestypuss, there is no right answer to this really. I know with Jack I was so concerned with introducing the right food at the right time. But truly, it's not as scientific as that. Every baby is different, and so is every family. It will depend on the baby's readiness for solids and different types of solids, no of teeth, and other things. I would go with your instinct. Despite the myriad of books and advice out there, I don't think you are going to do too much to a child by starting some foods later than other people or in a different order.

The important things at this age are to ensure that milk is still the main part of the diet, and that you introduce foods slowly to check for reactions. There are also some foods that you shouldn't introduce yet - I would wait until at least 8 months for dairy, longer for cows milk, beware of eggs until at least 10 months, nuts they now recommend age 3, and as Kellie said strawberries and honey should not be introduced before 12 months. Unfortunately allergies don't always show up immediately, instead they build up as the exposure to the allergen increases, so it's not true that he has no allergy just because he hasn't had a reaction yet. I'm not saying this to make you feel bad, I'm sure it is ok that you introduced strawberries early, I'm just pointing it out in case you see a reaction later and don't realise that it could be from a food he's already been eating (I know this one from experience, Jack took 3 months to show allergy to soy yoghurt with fruit in it, but had an immediate reaction the first time he had dairy yoghurt).

You sound like you are doing a great job. Just keep up the good work and introduce things as you feel ready for it, and as you see your DS reacting to things - ie does still seem hungry, does she reach out for finger foods etc. Good luck, it will get easier!

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

You are doing a fabulous job! That sounds like a great variety of food - no need to add more at this stage. I wondered if I had confused you with another post about finger food. All I was saying was that babies can quickly move to a stage where they can eat chunks of food. This is "food" ie you can substitue it for the mashed stuff if baby prefers. It's not in addition to the mashed stuff. They are all such little individuals. If she's loving what you are giving her, great. Other babies, especially older ones don't like the pureed and bland food we tend to give babies and are happier with chunks of food they can feed themselves with. ABA's "Starting solids" booklet is great and cheap ($5) and the Babyled weaning book is very good, too

Barb

[MrsFabuloso]

Caro,
Can I just ask, how come nuts/nut products are to be avoided until at least 3yrs, but it is advised to give bubs almond/hazelnut meal? Isn't almond meal just really finely crushed nuts?
Also aren't strawberries not reccommended until after 1yr too?
Don't want to offend or be nit-picking, but I don't want anyone to think it's ok to give things that aren't reccommended or are thought to be unsafe.

[Evie76]

Well, I had no idea about the strawberry - who'd a thunk it??? He's had a total of one strawberry, so I think he'll be fine.

The formula is his main diet, so I shall continue to do what I am doing. Strangely enough the CYH nurse told me the toast is fine - she even suggested it, I hadn't even thought of toast. I felt weird about doing it, but she said Daniel would be fine. No more toast.

I knew about the nuts, eggs, honey etc....... but the strawberries is very interesting. The humble strawberry.

I shall continue with his mashed banana, pureed apple and pear and pureed steamed vegies with steamed chicken - which he seems to love. I'll also stick with the pureed vegies. They're all pretty benign. I'll forget about snack altogther.

I'll tell you why I was worried about the snacks. I was told that if you don't get your baby learning how to chew they end up with speech impediments. This is mine field of truth and bull!!!!

[Rouge]

I have never heard of almond or hazelnut meal being advised to give to bubs? The reason these foods are not recommended is due to allergies. And after having one child that had everything (and ended up with severe asthma and eczema) and one that weaned late and followed the allergy restriction diet and had no allergies I would rather follow these guidelines. Its not really that big an inconvenience.

Sounds like you are doing fab lesty

*hugs*
Cailin

[Evie76]

THank you Caro. It helped me.

[Ambah]

Just to clarify, I think its recommended not to give babies ANY nut products - including tree nuts, before 3 years old. This is because tree nut allergies are becoming nearly as common as peanut allergies.
FWIW I didn't realise this either, and I'm sure Aidyn has had other tree nut products, but in doing some research I came across info (research, journal articles etc) that recommended all nut products be avoided in the first 3 years, as things like walnuts, and cashews allergies are on the increase.

HTH

[Ambah]

If you do not have a history of allergy in the family, you can give your baby ground nuts and nut spreads, including peanut butter, from six months.

Not to be argumentative, just pointing out that the info on that website is very inaccurate. Peanut butter should never be recommended from six month - whether there is a history of allergy or not. Nearly all info I have read (from scientific & medical sources) states to not offer peanut products before 2 or 3 years of age.
Sorry, this is an important topic to me, as you may or may not know, my son has a peanut allergy - and this comes with NO history of food allergies, eczema, or asthma from either sides of the family.
I definitely agree that it is wise to do your own research on these topics, but its a bit worrying when there are baby sites that put out inaccurate information such as that!

Anyway, sorry for straying off the original topic...

[christy]

I don't know.... I wouldn't play with nuts truely. I am intolerant to nuts, so if I have certain nuts I'm okay, pistachios and walnuts, but hazelnuts, almonds and peanuts are a no go zone for me. I just got Matilda's allergy test results & peanuts, and walnuts are fine, but almonds are a no go for her.

Almonds are a fantastic source of calcium but we just can't do it now. And for those reasons I will not be trying Jovie on nut products until she is over 2. The allergy specialist told us that even if they don't have a reaction the first few times, they will develop a higher level of intolerance or allergy if it is introduced too early.

ETA: Ambah snap, I thought of Aidyn when I read that article as well.

[Evie76]

You can see why I was confused.

There's so many do's, don'ts and maybe you cans........... the nuts are a definite no no.

[MrsFabuloso]

WHO recommends that infants start receiving complementary foods at 6 months of age in addition to breastmilk, initially 2-3 times a day between 6-8 months, increasing to 3-4 times daily between 9-11 months and 12-24 months with additional nutritious snacks offered 1-2 times per day, as desired.

This is on the WHO website. There is also a booklet you can download with recommendations of what to give, how much and when. As everyone has said it is a personal decision. Noone knows your child like you do.
Good luck!! I have this confounding, conflicting and confusing advice and information to look forward to in the coming weeks!! Maybe I should start reading now, hehe!

[Evie76]

Yes Kellieem. You know, I was a bit blaze about this to start with - "We'll have no problems" but it just seems to get more confusing.

Like I said, I'm just gunna stick with what I'm doing. He's happy and so am I.

[visitor1]

My CHN nurse actually said to sart giving Chelsea strawberries now.. and that was at 8 months. Also toast at the same age... but not sandwiches til 10 months.

She said pretty much what we eat for dinner... Chels can have too, and thats working for us... no reaction to anything as yet.

[Gigi]

lestypuss - your bub is eating more and greater variety of foods, that my bub is at nine months old! So i think what you have achieved with solids is - well - legendary!

all i can get down my bilby, is pureed apple, pureed peach and banana custard! ocassionally, for good behaviour, she might take one tiny spoon of chicken puree. Argh!

I have learnt lots from this thread, avoid nuts and strawberries for a start. No honey before one.

[christy]

Kim I didn't know she said that, thank goodness Chelsea can handle the strawberries. I have heard of some pretty strong reactions to them.