Does she want solids already?

I am planning on waiting until 6 months to introduce solids and then doing baby-led solids. But, I'm a bit worried at the moment that DD might be ready and I don't want to make her wait too long if she's hungry!

I told my MCHN about my plans and she was really pleased with what I want to do (i.e. BLS at 6 months). She said that they say 6 months because there's a big growth spurt around then and that shows they're ready. She said to watch out in the next couple of weeks in case it happens sooner and that she will feed more for a few days like she usually does when she has a growth spurt and wake up more at night etc, but it won't stop after a couple of days and that is my cue to start introducing some solids.

Over the last 10 days now DD has been waking HEAPS over night, like every 1-2hrs. Then every time we get her back to sleep and try put her down she's awake screaming again. I keep thinking she can't possibly be hungry but eventually give up and feed her bc I know that will put her to sleep. And then when she feeds she will gulp it down and have a big feed even if she just fed an hr ago!! Sometimes I fall asleep and wake up an hr later and she's still feeding!! WTF!! I'm pretty sure she's lost the tongue thrust reflex already too. She can sit well supported but only for a few seconds at a time on her own and she has 2 teeth. So she's got a few of the signs going on. She is VERY interested when we eat now. She grabs at our food (but she grabs at everything) and watches us intently and does chewing movements (so cute, like she's learning what to do, lol).

During the day I'm still feeding her every 3 hrs though and she's fine with that, she doesn't have really big feeds or anything, only 5 mins and she empties 1 side and then just has a min or 2 on the other side. If she was hungrier I'd think she'd be taking both sides now.

So I'm confused, there's some signs that she's ready, but also some that maybe she's not and she's only 5 months 1 wk. I'm in no rush to start and want to do what's best for her but I don't want to be starving the poor chook! LOL.

Any advice??

ETA- forgot to say I got her weighed yesterday and her weight gains are fine, she's 7.5kgs and has put on 1kg in the last 7wks.

SJ we gave Blue some farex for the first time a week or so ago (haven't given it since) and the scoffed it down....he didn't spit it back out or anything...

I think he's ready but I am just a bit scared to keep going because of the WHO recommendations....
He tries to grab our forks now (we sit him in his high chair at the table when we eat dinner) and laughs everytime we put something in our mouths and chew - then he copies :)

Maybe try her .... if she doesn't like it or want it I'm sure she'll let you know ....

I would wait.
We did BLS with MJ and although your DD has many of the signs they need that extra bit of development to handle the food.
Increased feeding could well be a growth spurt, but doesnt mean that you should start soilds - the intake at this age should not be giving you DD a huge amount anyway, milk feeds are the most important and should remain so until 12mths - although she will start to drop one or two feeds over the next 6 months, food should not be offered in its place.
When doing BLS, especially to begin with, you should make sure your DD has a FULL milk feed and half an hour later offer solid food.
TBH MJ's intake for the first month was literially zero as most of it went in her crutch and over her face - it was fun and it was all about the learing stage.

before i started BLS i watched a DVD (shown by the council) and attended a talk. they suggested that from about 5 1/2 mths to have your baby sit on your lap and if they activly grab at food from you plate let them... often it wont even go close to the mouth and is just the grabbing stage that they are in. (obvioulsy make sure that the food in reach is 'safe' food for her to try)

MJ started BLS 1 week before she was 6mths and that was purely based on the fact that we want DSS to be part of her first eating experience (he was so excited - 10yrs old)and he would be away for a few weeks... she had sticks of veggies that had been boiled to that she could grasp them, but not mush in her fingers, she spat most of it out and played with the rest. honestly it wsant until about 8 mths that she really consumed much at all... so obvioulsy any growth spurt increased nutritional need will have been met by my BM, not food.

The saying that is thrown around the most, especially if you are practicing BLS is Food is fun until their one This really should be your motto when it comes to the feeding approach and dont be concerned with how much she is or isnt eating - the beauty of BLS is that she KNOWS and she will take only what she NEEDS.

Have you been reading the BLS thread?

Dont know if this has help at all....
Goodluck, what ever you decide :)

hey hun :) Ash was the same age when I thought he was ready, I slowly introduced solids but it turns out he was just wanting more booby and wasn't ready for BLS. He ended up not going back onto BLS until he was 7.5 months.

They go through a growth spurt at that age, doesn't mean they are ready for solids. They also go through growth spurts at 6 weeks but we don't shove food down their throats. I don't understand why your MCHN has linked the 6 month growth spurt to needing solids?

I would wait. If she wants more food feed her more. I would leave the solids until AFTER 6 months (and you might find she doesn't need them for a couple more months.

That's exactly what I was thinking guys, thanks! I'm just a bit unsure bc this increased feeding has been going on for 10 days now and growth spurts aren't supposed to last more than 48hrs apparently??

Hi Heaven, it sounds like she is getting the majority of her feeds at night at the moment (poor you) and it may be because it is too interesting in the day to be wasting play time with feeding (lol). So you could try feeding her in a quiet dark room i.e. replicate the night and see how you go. It won't happen overnight, but in a week or so you should see an improvement.

Seriously, a teaspoon or two of carrot just isn't going to cut it if she's hungry! She needs boobie!

Having said that, I started DD on BLS at 5.5 months because she was more than ready...so you could assess again in a couple of weeks and decide.

HTH

the ABA actually dont call them growth spurts anymore, rather 'fussy days' which are common around 6 weeks and 3 and 6 months! the thought was they want more milk when in fact babies drink the same whether their 1 month or 6 months! id continue with more feeds!!

It's hard making the decision when to try solids, i wasn't sure with our DD but she was ALWAYS watching us eat, trying to grab at things so the health nurse said we could start her on rice cereal just after 5mths, she started having that an hour after her first bottle every morning, we then slowly introduced a night meal (ie pumpkin, then pumpkin and potato etc).

I found once she started having the rice cereal her morning sleep was a longer as she was more satisfied.

She always slept generally well over night with maybe only 1 feed but as soon as we started solid meals and she got used to it the only time she woke was for her dummy and thats it.

She is now 10mths, having 3 meals a day, an afternoon snack and only 3 bottles and sleeps 7 til 7, with maybe 1 dummy grab at around 5am.
BF babies seem to want a night feed for longer than bottle fed, maybe even a small amount of formula before bed will top her up enough to sleep through?

I hope you have some luck, it's always so hard to decide if they are ready for particular things, every little bit of knowledge helps.

Can you try and offer her more feeds during the day, say when she wakes up and before sleeps, and try to get her more satisfied so you get longer sleeps at night?

I think you should do what you feel is right for you and your baby. I was really trying to wait until 6 months but Miss J was grabbing food from us and getting it in her mouth and I really didn't want her first food to be DP's Chilli chips!!

Miss J was waking lots during the night and feeding 3-4 times a night as well as every 3 hours during the day. She now has milk every 3 hours plus 3 lots of solids. She recognises the spoon, opens her mouth and launches her body at it - so she is enjoying it :D Also she has slept 10 and 11 hours straight in the last 2 nights and she is much happier during the day.

I'm comfortable that she was ready and I was following her lead. You need to feel happy with your choice and be comfortable with what you are doing.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!! I've tried offering her more in the day but she won't have it. But I think it might be the distraction thing like anna said. So today only 2 hrs after her last feed I gave her another one lying in bed in our dark room and she had a bigger feed than she usually does in the day. So I'll do this for a few days and see if it makes a difference!

Thanks Nai, DD sounds like Juliette, doing all the same things. When she's making it so clear she wants to try our food and is feeding so much it makes me doubt myself with making her wait a bit longer.

With BLS, if I try in a couple of weeks and she's not ready will she just not eat it? If I leave it up to her to feed herself will she not eat it until she's ready?

One suggestion for you hun, stop counting the night feeds.

Because until the last week Ash was still waking for BB every 2 hours, and it wasn't a growth spurt, he is on solids and still does it with formula. He just likes that feeding at night. Some babies just do :)

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With BLS, if I try in a couple of weeks and she's not ready will she just not eat it? If I leave it up to her to feed herself will she not eat it until she's ready?

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yep thats right.
as i said earlier she probably wont eat much at all anyway, dont take this necessairly as a sign thats he doesnt want it (unless she is not interested) she is just learning what to do. Make sure you have a good read of the BLS thread - particularly the first pages as it talk alot about the early days and gagging etc etc - this can be a bit full on to start with, but it is her learning. FWIW MJ is now fully independednt with a bowl, spoon and a fork and has been for several months. She is also not very fussy at all and this is apparently one of the benefits of BLS.

Stick with the feeds in a darkened room (great tip) especially as they are working :) and i agree with Missymoo - DONT count the feeds at night - or the times that you have to get up... its just part of life and the more distresed you are the harder it is.
Go with the flow and your DD will too
GL :)

Mel- The thing is that this is not normal for her though. She will usually feed only once or twice a night. This is such a dramatic difference that it is making me question whether she wants solids too.

Sammie- Thanks for all your help, I have been checking out the BLS thread!

Well after good more frequent feeds yesterday there was no change overnight, she fed every 2 hrs for 30mins or more. I am very tired now! I was just looking at the signs of readiness for solids-

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

• Baby can sit up well without support. Nope, can't do this yet but won't be long. Can sit very well with support and yesterday when I sat her up she was sitting for 5-10 seconds on her own so she's getting there.
• Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue. Yes, has lost this reflex already.
• Baby is ready and willing to chew. LOL, very willing!
• Baby is developing a ?pincer? grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development. Yes, she is developing this, she likes to play with the tags on things and is always practicing grabbing them with thumb and forefinger.
• Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth. Very eager, will try to snatch food and glasses out of our hands.

We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby?s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing ? sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby?s readiness. This is the biggest one that is causing me to wonder about it because this frequent feeding has now been going for 11 days. That's a long time. She is also teething though. Her 2 bottom teeth came through almost 2 wks ago but she no longer seems grizzly and in pain anymore like she did??

I am confused, this is so hard! Even harder when you have ppl constantly asking 'when are you going to give her solids?' 'poor kid is probably starving!' :rolleyes: And I usually just ignore them but now that I'm feeling a bit unsure about it their comments just add to it iykwim?

I felt a bit uncomfortable introducing solids before 6 months but then I had to remember that babies develop at different rates and there isn't something that magically happens at 6 months and 1 day where they suddenly become ready for food. Some babies won't be ready until 7 months or later and others are ready earlier. Only you know your baby the best and you will recognise her signs so go with your gut instinct.

Thankyou Nai! I was thinking the same, is 6 months an average and some are ready earlier and some later? And I'm not very confident I know best :redface: lol. I don't want to do the wrong thing either way iykwim.

I'll just start by saying that my bub is 10 days from 5 months and has not started solids yet.

I have always intended to wait till 6 months, as though this is some magic age but I agree -- some babies roll early, teeth early, crawl early etc so why couldn't there be those that are ready for solids early? I think the best approach is to follow your baby's lead, as hard as that is!! Like you, I am starting to wonder. My DD got her two bottom teeth a week or so ago and that came with increased night wakings that have not stopped!! She has also lost the tongue reflex (and she has a mighty big tongue haha) and seems annoyed watching me eat, as if she wants some... BUT she cannot sit unaided for longer then 2-3 seconds and has not developed a pincer grip, so we are waiting. Anyway, this isn't all that helpful but just letting you know I understand how conflicted you are feeling. I don't want too start her too early and risk her not being ready but I don't want to starve her just to reach the magic 6 month mark either! So, for now, we are waiting although my bub is 15 days (half a month?) younger than yours. I think it is important to be comfortable with your choice and if you don't feel confident then I would wait and just watch her weight gains etc.

:hug:

As a side note, look forward to meeting you on Sat :)

Thanks Jitterbug! Can't wait til Saturday either!