Starting solids early

[krisp]

I've just come from an appointment with my Child Health Nurse and we were talking about starting solids. I was concerned that I had started Paisley too early (5 months 1 week) as after 4 weeks she is still no closer to "getting it" than when we first started. She just mixes the food with saliva and pushes it back out of her mouth. To my surprise the nurse said she had just been at a conference and the latest research is saying that we should be starting sooner rather than later in fact closer to 4 months! And she said let the baby feed herself - gave me examples of chunks of watermelon, the drumstick from a chicken. What!!! Has anyone else heard of this? I thought you started on purees moved to mashes, then chunkier, then small soft pieces, have I got it all wrong? I'm very confused now....

[JordieC]

It sounds to me like there are sooo many theories out there but I def hadn't heard starting at 4 months. I have heard about chunky finger food cause that's what we are doing with our 8 month old who is still no where near intersted in food. I have no idea whether starting her earlier would have made a difference or not though. Good luck getting some answers - I'll be interested to see what people say!

[QueenMab]

Sounds a bit like baby led weaning (google it for a tonne of sites & info) to me, except for the starting at 4 months part, basically blw (I am getting organised early for when DD starts wanting some munchies!!) is recognising when bubs starts to get interested in actually eating food, as well as whether or not they are able to hold food (pincer grip) to eat it & sit up enough to eat it. The theory is that if they tick all those boxes then they are ready to start tasting things (because according to the ABA it is all about tasting & textures until a fair bit later) on their own. Oohparently, they are less likely to choke on a steamed piece of brocolli they can control eating on their own, than pureed brocolli one is shoving down their throats with a spoon....

As for your DD not yet 'getting it' I have heard of bubs just on this site alone that don't really start to want to eat on their own anywhere from 6 to 12 months, I'm sure those Mums with that experience will be able to set your mind at ease there.

[MantaRay]

Krisp, I don't want to be cynical, but the MCHN conferences are often sponsored by formula and baby food manufacturers. I am not a health professional, but I think you find that many people who are will tell you that the latest research does not suggest that solids be introduced at 4 months. The recommended age is always going to be contentious.

As QM says, BLW is being talked about a lot atm, although not a new concept and it makes a lot of sense. When babies are ready for solids, they are able to feed themselves finger food. The idea of starting with mush was only introduced relatively recently, when the age that we started feeding babies dropped (to 3 or 4 months at various times). By 6 months, many babies are ready for food and can eat finger food. There is great information out there about BLW and in fact, most of us with more than one child find that after the first we pretty much do BLW by instinct and necessity anyway.

As for your DD not being interested, my first DD was 8 or 9 months before he really wanted to eat anything, and about 1 before he ate any quantity of food. There are always going to be babies who aren't ready until well after 6 months. Which personally makes me wonder why so many people are keen to recommend starting solids at as early as 3 or 4 months. There is no harm done by not starting solids as soon as they are ready.

[fionas]

Studies schmudies. Conferences may have dodgy sponsors but I've worked in academia with academics who desperately try to find something new to study so they will get a grant and carry on being an academic. So there will always be lots of conflicting advice because academics are motivated to challenge the existing advice. And yes, I've also heard that they are thinking of reviewing the starting solids at 6 months advice.

But, if we accept the principle of baby-led sleep routines and baby-led weaning, then I say why not accept the principle of baby-led solids? That means some are ready at 4 months, others not till 9 months. Who cares? Just go on your instinct. If your baby still has the tongue-out reflex (sorry, forgotten the correct terminology) then I'd say she's not ready.

[sangie]

Kris if she is pushing the food out with her tongue then she is probably not ready and I would probably stop and try again in a few weeks. My DD had 'mashed' food for only a few weeks and then we moved onto chunkier finger foods and never looked back. We started a few days before she was 6 months and never looked back but like others have said every baby is different. Good luck!

[BhoysGirl]

Krisp,

I'm a long way from being an expert, but from what you've described about the food being pushed back out, well, it sounds to me as though she hasn't lost her tongue thrust reflex thing, which means she doesn't yet have the skills/maturity to know how to swallow. There's a pretty big school of thought that says that there's really no need to rush the whole solids thing, and that they still get the majority of their nutrition from milk for quite a few months more. I know that my DS has only just started to be consistently interested in solids, but even then we're talking tablespoons at a time, not cups, but as far as I can tell he's pretty normal in his development. THe finger food thing I think is a good way for them to explore texture and tastes, but at 6 months I'd expect it to be just a game, not a way of getting that much into them. Broccoli is good though - I used to cook it with some slices of apple, so that the apple juice flavoured through the broccoli bits, which DS then quite enjoyed sucking on, but there was never much that actually got eaten.

If I had my time again and I had a bub that kept pushing the food out, then I'd just give it a break for another month before trying again. But, that's just me, and not necessarily the right approach for other people. But I definitely wouldn't stress about it...