Conflicting information!!

I've just got my head around DD not eating solids and been quite happy with letting her go and just trying bits and pieces whenever. I had stopped stressing completely after some wonderful advice from here and my doc.

BUT!!!! I have just read in a baby magazine a letter with a reply from a dietician who says that if your baby isn't eating solids they will be lacking in iron and may have speech issues so will have to see a speech pathologist!

So while I was happy now I'm starting to wonder....Who's right or is it just a mtter of going with the flow?

my son started solids before 6 months and we have just started speech therapy!
so i say the dietition has it wrong. also look at who owns the magazine so there for who pays the dietition........big companys control lots of peoples opinions...

YOU need to be happy with your decision.

I haven't ever heard anything like that before, so I wouldn't think that was a concern at all, unless they are meaning that being low in iron contributes to brain function? She would have to be severely iron deficient for that to be an issue or not. I can't remember if Mackenzie is still BF or is FF now? If she is Bf then she is still getting plenty of iron from that, and even if she is FF then there is still iron in it, although it isn't as easily absorbed as it is from BM though. Many, many babies don't really eat until a lot closer to 12 months - and this is normal, hence why milk is still the most important part of their diet until that age.

FWIW my girls didn't really take to solids properly until about this age and even then they were only really small eaters. My youngest DD is going to speech therapy, but it has nothing to do with the solids she ate as a baby - it is just one of those things. My eldest DD was talking sentences at 18mths old.

If you are happy with what your Dr has told you and from what you have learnt from other mums on here, then I would completely ignore what you read in the mag - it was advice given to that particular person and their situation may have been a bit different to yours.

Hi,

What studies has the dietician referred to to support her claims?
Write to the magazine in question and ask that they only use reputable "experts"

Regards
Barb

Good idea!! I read it in a hospital waiting room so can't remember name - the situation sounded quite simlar to ours but I'm not worrying (now!). Hmmm will keep that in mind for future reference - don't believe everything you read in print!!

Anaemia (low iron) can cause a decrease in appetite but I would not expect this to be a problem in your 8 month old. My niece was over 1 (about 18 months) when she was found to have low iron and a supplement helped with her eating (she was underweight and being seen by a paediatrician though). At 8 months I would not be worried about her eating. Offer different foods regularly but keep reminding yourself that milk is still her most important food.

As far as I know these things have some truth behind them, but are a possibility. My 3 year old started solids at about 5 months, & needs to go to a speech therapist. I think it's just the chewing that develops their jaw, but they don't really chew on things til they are 9 - 12 months anyway.
I think the low iron levels are after they are on cows milk. Formula has what they need in it. Once they are on cows milk though they need other foods to give them what they need.

Sounds like garbage to me.

I stopped reading those garby magazines as soon as I discovered BB. Now I know why.

im not saying this is necessarily a reputable show, but i've seen on 'the house of tiny tearaways' (which is a show on foxtel where families stay at a house with a pyschologist etc to help them with issues affecting the parents and kids), anyways i've seen 3 and 4 year olds with speech issues because they have purely been eating mashed foods, and things like yoghurts, no actual solids... the psychologist says kids need solid food to chew on to help develop their muscles in their face, which helps with pronounication and talking etc...

it kinda makes sense to me that it might be valid, but im talking about CHILDREN (2-3+) not eating real foods, not lil babies...