Yesterday I was asked to a question about starting solids on our Fb page. As my response would have been too long to write in the comment box I have decided to write a short post about it.
Question:
To being this is a tough one as it’s a very important decision to make but everyone has to do what's best for them and their little one. At one point I even started a detailed post about this on my Blog and then decided not to finish it. I am just a first time mom and not a professional by any means. I can suggest some websites to look at (which is how I made the decision) and tell you what we did. But in the end you have to trust your own instincts and make the decision based on what is best for you little one.*
When Curious George was around 4.5mnths old we were really struggling with night-wakings. He was exclusively breast fed. We had ruled out any other causes and it was definitely hunger. He was thriving and healthy and was a sizable baby of around 7kgs.
What made me decide to start solids earlier than the recommended age of 6mnths was that he was fussing at the breast, almost like he was no longer happy with what he was getting and he was waking more frequently at night. We had managed to decrease the number of feeds at night before this but all of a sudden then number of night-wakings to be fed was on the rise. He was able to hold his own head and grasp a spoon.
To be honest I think it was out of pure desperation and sleeplessness (sleep deprivation has made a lot of my parenting decisions for me) that I decided to start some solids around the end of his 4th month. I started very slowly with just a tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with breast milk in the late afternoon.
I kept him on Ollie (it has no other additives) rice cereal with breast milk and later boiled water until he was 6mnths old. I have heard of mom's who start with pure homemade veggie purees but I was very worried about causing any kind of allergy (CG is now 15mnths, eating everything and no food allergies so far) because I know that a babies intestine cells are not closed until 6mnths old. Any food protein that gets through can be seen as an enemy by the body which then creates antibodies to get rid of the stuff. This can cause an allergy. This is a very simple explanation so please read the websites below for more info on allergies.
From 6mnths I began introducing the other foods slowly. I made all my own foods and stuck closely to the list of what to introduce when based on Partick Holdford's advice. You can read all about this in my Making homemade food for your baby post.
Before you start on solids I suggest you chat to the nurse at your local clinic. I am a great believer in books and the net. You can find a list of books that helped me in my Making homemade food for your baby. I also recommend the following websites:
Dr Sears
WHO
Kellymom.com
Mayo Clinic
*Please also remeber that Curious George was exclusively breastfed until around 13mnths and is still not comepletly weaned although he now drinks 99% S26 Gold (no 3) formula. So it is impossible to me to give an opnion on how being a formula fed baby might make a difference as to when to start solids.
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