"Has he started solids yet?"
Short answer: No.
Long answer: I am a very lazy mother. I'm really digging this period of perpetually carrying around Baby MRE's.
Meal planning is not my strong suit, and I'm not looking forward to actually coming up with nutritious dishes for the little guy! Also, I have better things to do than sit there and shove stuff in his mouth. I saw enough of my baby being force-fed at the NICU, thankyouverymuch.
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| Perhaps Le Petit Monsieur would like to try the Milk this evening? Prepared fresh from the finest ingredients, and served by the chef herself! Ooh la la! |
So ideally, I don't want to start him on solids until he's ready to feed himself.
This will require
-Sitting up independently
-Having some teeth already!!!
-Using the finger-thumb pincer grasp
There are few other factors to the delay, as well. The diaper sprayer fell apart last week, so I'm not adequately prepared to deal with the solid poop. (The great thing about breast-fed poop [not that there's ever anything great about poop, lol] is that it's water-soluble, so you can just throw those cloth diapers straight into the washing machine-- talk about easy! Once you start solids, however, you have to use flushable liners or spray the diapers down before washing. Sad face!) We're also moving across the country sometime next month, so the less complicated feeding Baby D is, the better! He is still growing at a ridiculous rate on milk alone, so I'm not worried about nutrition. I will not buy commercial baby food, and I hate cleaning blenders, so Baby D will need a set of chompers to puree his own food!
But when I DO start feeding him solids, I don't want to wean him completely yet. The goal is to breastfeed Baby D until at least his first birthday. However much further beyond one year is something we'll play by ear! I used to be that person that was so grossed out by the idea of toddler breastfeeding, but the more I find out about the wonderful properties of breastmilk, the more I'm in favor of keeping it in his diet as long as possible.
So that is [hopefully] my plan. I'm curious to hear other experiences or plans on introducing solids! When did/do you plan to start? It is easier with teeth? For you CDing moms: did it instantly get harder to wash those diapers?
But when I DO start feeding him solids, I don't want to wean him completely yet. The goal is to breastfeed Baby D until at least his first birthday. However much further beyond one year is something we'll play by ear! I used to be that person that was so grossed out by the idea of toddler breastfeeding, but the more I find out about the wonderful properties of breastmilk, the more I'm in favor of keeping it in his diet as long as possible.
So that is [hopefully] my plan. I'm curious to hear other experiences or plans on introducing solids! When did/do you plan to start? It is easier with teeth? For you CDing moms: did it instantly get harder to wash those diapers?
I waited until my daughter was about 7-7 1/2 mo before introducing solids. She got teeth at 5mo, was sitting up at 5 1/2, could pick stuff up at 6mo, but had major allergy issues. Once we started, she really didn't care for textured food. She'd gag on it and then vomit. :( So we started with pureed (organic, homemade) food and slowly worked up to more texture.
ReplyDeleteLike your little guy, she did great on milk alone. She's now a 32lb 36" almost 2 year old.
My son (will be 4 in June) went on solids at 4mo at the instruction of his pediatrician because of reflux. Looking back, he could have easily waited, too, and I wish I would have. He didn't struggle (didn't like solids much til about a year) and mostly drank milk. But he was (and still is) a peanut - 32lbs himself.
My only one I waited to start solids with was my last. And that's because I was more educated about the reasons to wait. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's very easy to do solids and breastfeed. Most little ones after a year are nursing a couple times a day (of course every little one is different in how often they want to nurse), morning and evening. If you want them to have more breastmilk you can always express/pump and give it to them in a cup with lunch or snacks.
Babies gums are VERY strong so you can start solids if they don't have molars. Just choose foods that will easily mash. Avacado, banana, sweet potato are great first foods that don't require a blender. Cheerios can be given to babies who don't have molars.
As far as cloth goes, the transition poos are icky!! I never had a sprayer. I just took some toilet paper and would wipe the diaper as best as I could.
If I remember it correctly, Kayla had something like 8 teeth by the time she was 7 months, so I was actually glad that I started her on some solids around 6 months. She already had about 4-5 teeth at that point and she was good with solids from the get-go. She didn't actually wean herself completely until just before her first birthday, but we went down to like 2-3 breastmilk feedings a day by the time she was about 8 months or so. Call me a wimp, but it hurts to be bit by a kid with half a set of teeth, and she wanted what we were having anyway. You'd be surprised at how much they can eat just fine if you mash it up or cut it up in small enough pieces.
ReplyDeletedefinitely think about starting him using a cup of some kind (water or way watered down juice) pretty soon too, so that when you decide to start him on solids he can wash it down with something if you don't want to puree it all. that might help too.
ReplyDeleteYou crack me up :)
ReplyDeleteAnd at this point, my plans are exactly the same as yours. Like, exactly. Down to *hopefully* moving across the country around 7-8 months!
I'm looking forward to learning from your experiences!
I started Susannah on cereal at 4 mo. 1 week because she was waking up in the middle of the night hungry. Once I started her on cereal she went back to sleeping through the nights again :) The only thing I would caution about would be to DO start with mashed up foods. Cheerios and crackers are the only thing Susannah will really chew and she has 8 teeth. Other stuff, even if it's soft, she moves it around her mouth a bit and then swallows it whole. Too much of a choke risk for me, so I still puree/mash most of her foods. It's really easy... esp. if you rinse out the blender as soon as you're done :) I know you're going to do great however and whenever you start solids with Baby D! (Oh, and his diapers will STINK!!! too :P )
ReplyDeleteyou've probably seen this already, but wholesomebabyfood.com has been a lifesaver! avocados and bananas are the least work. this time around I got a baby food grinder, which is not electric and they can eat right out of it. i heat up some frozen organic peas and smash them up in that. i really really miss the days before solids though. and no teeth yet, thankfully!
ReplyDeleteoh yeah, and we want to hear more about this move!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't start the baby on solids until 6 months and then it was very slow, introducing one new thing a week (or two or three), starting with mashed up egg yolks. I apologized for the first meal in her baby book. :) I agree that bananas and avocados are great to start with!
ReplyDeleteI hate cleaning the blender too, but I found a little food processor that's easy to use and clean. I think it's just a little Black & Decker. I used that for her baby food.
I didn't think the transition was all that bad. Eventually the excrement will be solid and will come right out of the cloth diapers. (I haven't used my sprayer in 6 months.) Actually I remember why the transition wasn't so bad - EC!
Good for keeping up the nursing longer. I did it for 13 months and should have done it longer. My OBGYN was worried about my weight and lack of cycles. Hello! It was because I was nursing!
Anyway, best of luck with the solid foods. I was lazy too and my baby turned out just fine.
And good luck with the move. Hope you're heading closer to my way. :)
More of a problem than deciding when to introduce solids was the issue of well meaning relatives always wanting to feed my babies when they were content on breast milk alone.
ReplyDeleteAs long as they thrived (and they were all over the top on percentile) I paid no mind to the nervous relatives. Usually, what they wanted to introduce was a poor substitute anyway.)
All the babies went to at least 8 months, a few at 10 months, before we started to very slowly introduce simple and nutritious foods. Ripe bananas were my favorite to start with.
We had a remarkably low incidents of ear infections and almost no allergies.
Some babies weaned themselves, and some went a little more slowly; all of them just a bit over a year and we never had any transition issues at all.
It's a wonderful time.
Ha. I started Clara on solids at about 3 months and 3 weeks. She needed the calories, and she LOVED them right from the start. With the exception of this week while she's been sick, she has pretty much loved everything I've given to her. Personally, I was really excited to do start giving her little meals, and it really helped her to sleep good.
ReplyDeleteI think waiting for teeth is fine, but if you don't, you'll find that babies are awesome at gnashing with their gums and hands. Though I waited until E was 6 months, she's still predominately MM, and will be until one year. I've heard the phrase, "Food before one is just for fun!" Don't let anyone tell you that MM is not adequate---if they're saying that, they likely have an agenda. I love that---MRE. It's so true!
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