Reply With QuoteOn the question of when babies are ready. I reckon that if your baby can sit up, grab some food, put in their mouth and eat it, then they're probably ready.
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Exactly right, every child is different. But how do you honestly know if the digestive system is ready? I would rather wait a little longer and make sure that its is fully developed.
The other signs need to also be in place as well thou - decreased gag reflex, lost tongue thrust, good head and neck control etc
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On the question of when babies are ready. I reckon that if your baby can sit up, grab some food, put in their mouth and eat it, then they're probably ready.
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Found my good old Robin Barker's Baby Love (2005), page 356;
She didn't have to wait for ten years now that experts' recommendation has changed again to 4-6 months... Very interesting, as she said, isn't it?The optimum time to start solids changes every decade or so. In the 1920's it was nine months, in the 1970's it was six weeks, in the 1980's it was three to four months, in the 1990's it was four to six months and now it is six months.
Previous recommendations were mostly based on whim, fashion and whatever foods was around at the time; now they are mostly based on reliable research and greater scientific knowledge of nutrition, physiology and baby development (we hope). However, cynic that I am, it will be interesting to see what the story is in ten years' time.
SJ & Marcellus,
My 4.5 month old baby has shown all the signs mentioned. He loves to chew anything in that regards!
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Lady Noor, in fact the recommendations have not changed to 4 - 6 months at all, as per the previous posts in this thread. The quote from the allergists website is a recommendation only made by allergists - the official guidelines have not changed. The World Health Organisation and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and many other organisations, still recommend solids not be introduced before 6 months. And I have heard some leading international allergists speak and who agree with this!
There was one study done which suggested that delaying solids beyond 4 months "might" increase the risk of allergies, and that is the basis of the allergists association suggesting 4 - 6 months. However, many in the scientific community have concerns about the way the study was conducted and there are certainly some questions marks about it's validity. There are many other studies which show that there are several risks, not just an increased risk of allergies, to introducing solids before 6 months.
Another argument used to support lowering the age that solids be introduced (funnily enough the baby food companies are all in favour of this and very vocal about it), is that the incidence of allergies is still increasing despite the guideline age being raised to 6 months. Which would be logical if mums actually were delaying the introduction of solids until 6 months. The latest studies suggest that the vast majority of babies are still being given solids before 6 months. So this argument is fundamentally flawed.
The research is very clear that solids should not be introduced before 4 months. Whether or not a mum decides to introduce solids between 4 and 6 months is an individual decision and I am sure most mums make the best decision they can based on the information they have. This is why I believe it is important to get the right information out there - because there are many with a vested interest in putting misleading information out there. A friend of mine has a DD with severe food allergies (to several foods) and is devasted that she didn't know not to introduce formula or solids before 6 months. When the allergist told her that was a likely factor she was so upset that she hadn't known before, because she wouldn't have done it.
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it's so confusing knowing what to do. My MCHN told me last month that i need to introduce solids before 6 months and certainly no later than 6 months claiming the allergy thing that it's made no difference (the previous guideline of starting at 6 months).
In the last 4 years, i've been given different advice for each child. That being said, my babies responses have been different too. DD1 refused all solids of any kind until she was 11 months old. I offered, she wasn't interested at all, until she was ready. DD2 was a keen eater from 5.5 months when she first tried some food. DD3 keeps putting everything in her mouth and i'm wondering about waiting another 2 weeks or to let her suck on a piece of pear.
BellyBelly Member
starting solids - new evidence?
It was recommended to me (by a pediatrician) that babies need to be started on solids at four months as 'new research' had found that starting earlier than six months actually reduces the likelihood of developing allergies.
My bub was actually 3 months and 3 weeks old and the pediatrician wanted me to get him started... I didn't feel comfortable with this, I couldn't find any info about this 'new research' and my baby really wasn't interested in anything except his boobies til just recently, at around 7.5 months. I wasn't about to force feed him, so we have taken it easy and I think he really has shown me when HE was ready to start. My daughter was the same.
Goodluck, it's really hard to make the 'right' decision in regards to lots of topics when it comes to parenting, especially with all the conflicting information out there
Oh and Lady Noor.. Neither my son or daughter slept better after starting solids.. Unfortunately!!
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Stoked, if something doesn't feel right then that is a good sign that it might not be. Even the allergists who are going against the guidelines and suggesting starting solids earlier than 6 months, are adamant that solids should not be started before 4 months. That is universally accepted and borne out by research. The grey area is the time between 4 and 6 months. However, there are very good reasons why all the official guidelines still say 6 months. One study (with some questions over some of the methods) should not be a basis on its own for changing what we do.
If babies seem to be showing the signs earlier than 6 months and a mum really wants to go ahead with it, one idea might be to try Baby Led Solids so that it's up to the baby whether they eat any or not. Gil Rapley who is the Baby Led Solids expert doesn't recommend this because she finds that once food is in front of a baby, an adult will often help the food into the baby's mouth at some stage, whether the baby wants it or not. If you are aware of this risk and want to go ahead, it is probably a better idea than putting a spoonful of food in the baby's mouth and not knowing whether they really wanted it or not.
Last edited by MantaRay; July 31st, 2010 at 07:13 AM.
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I'm all for holding off until at least 6 mths (I intend to wait until DS is showing all the signs of being ready as I did with DD) but I have been told by a couple of GPs and CHNs that babies need extra iron for brain development from 6mths. Any thoughts on that?
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Are you BF Jandals?
If you are, it is rubbish - your baby will take all it needs from the BM and you - and you will get what is left - your body will automatically nourish its young as required at the detriment to itself itms. So they will always get the nutrition they need. (You need to eat a balanced diet and make sure you are taking a multi or something if you are feeling you aen't, and look after yourself, because it will take what it wants and leave you wanting, not the baby - same as during pregnancy)
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Thanks LimeSlice. Yes, I'm B'feeding and intend to continue for a while yet. I really should be better at taking my vitamins and iron tablets but I just get busy and forget. I think one of the reasons I'm so tired is that I stay up far too late cruising BB
I'm really not too worried about when to start solids but the 'iron issue' is in the back of my mind. I'll know the right time for DS to start eating - he's pretty clever so I'm sure he'll let me know
Honestly I dont believe developing allergies has anything to do with the age that you start solids. My DD started solids at 8 weeks old because she wouldn't drink milk. She refused the breast and when offered a bottle would only drink a total of 300ml in a 24 hour period, no one ever knew why but she devoured solids and quite nicely put on weight, and has absolutely no allergies. My DS was breastfed for only 8 weeks (long story) but he refused all solids until he was near 8 months old, and he has no allergies. Yet my friends little boy was breastfed until the age of 12 months, and she started solids at the magical age (at the time) of 6 months and he is allergic to just about everything.
I do wonder why there is such an increase in the amount of allergies we have these days, I cant remember a single child at school that had a food allergy 30 years ago, now it seems children are allergic to just about everything.
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Jandals, the information your MCHN gave you about iron at 6 months is basically true. At some point between 6 months and 12 months, a baby's iron stores will start to deplete, and they need some solids, especially meat, to start replacing them. But there are two key points here. The first is that it doesn't just magically happen at 6 months. There are a few factors which determine how much iron babies have stored (one of which includes how much cord blood babies get - early cord clamping is not how nature intended things!). This is where watching for signs of readiness and Baby Led Solids are helpful, because a baby will know by instinct when they are ready for the food, and will eat at the right time. The other issue is that solids replace breastmilk. Breastmilk is not high in iron, but the iron in the breastmilk is nearly all absorbed. Commonly babies are started on rice cereal and purees as first foods. Purees have next to no iron, and while rice cereals are iron fortified, the iron is not in the right form, so very little of it gets absorbed by the baby. So when these foods replace breastmilk, iron levels can actually drop rather than increase. This is particularly of concern when solids are stared early, but at any time, meat is highly recommended as one of the first foods for a baby. As well as being high in iron, the iron is well absorbed, and it's also high in zinc which is also critical for brain development.
Clare, the allergy issue is really complicated. There is no "one cause", and it is still not well understood, even by the allergy researchers, exactly why the incidence of allergies are so high and increasing. What is known, from numerous studies, is that there are a number of things which do increase the risk of a child developing an allergy. Genetics (family history) is the biggest one of these. The next biggest is the introduction of formula or solids before 4 - 6 months. Other factors include a c-section delivery, antibiotics during pg and having a cat at home with your baby. Of course some babies will be exposed to all these factors and never develop an allergy, while others will have none of the key risk factors and still be allergic. This is a complex area. There is also the very plausible theory that it is related to how clean we are now and our immune systems becoming sensitive to the wrong triggers. However, it would naive to say that we should ignore the known and proven risk factors because of the exceptions. In a large number of babies allergies can be avoided because of what we know, and I know that as a mum, I would rather know about the risks and do my best to avoid them then to not be told about them and find out the hard way.
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