Introducing solids @ 4 months

[jjbeck]

Ok, Ava is just o/ 4 months now. I keep getting asked when am I going to start feeding her solids. SHe meets the usual criteria for being able to eat solids, and she is very curious when she sees us eating. But I am not sure how I feel about his yet. One thought I had was to freeze some breastmilk and give that to her at the dinner table while DH and I are having our meals.
Has anyone else given frozen breastmilk?
How did it go?

[aaronsmommy]

Aaron has always loved anything frozen. "Ice" was one of his first words.
I've been told however that ice is one of the most common things for babies, kids and adults to choke on. I guess you could do like a milk slushy and spoon feed it.
We waited until 6 months, Aaron was very interested in food, but he cried when we finally tried to feed him, so don't feel like you are depriving her or anything, she is just curious for now.

[carriedodson]

Hey there,

Is she still hungry after breast feeding or bottle. I would offer her something if she acts like she isn't satisfied. Some babies don't start solids til 6 months cause they don't want it or parents choice.
My daughter could have cared less about solids, but I would still offer her a taste of easily digested food. By the time she really wanted it, she knew to open her mouth and use the spoon.

I would start with a little rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. Most likely it will just be a tasting and she is likely to push the food out with her tongue. Good luck
Carrie

[jjbeck]

I guess I was thinking slushie...not really an ice cube. Myabe I will give it a try at 5 months. Did you feed him anything else at 6 months?

[BlueEeyore]

I believe the AAP suggests exclusive breastfeeding (no solids) for the first 6 months. The reasoning behind waiting, IIRC, is that it gives the baby's intestines time to fully mature and reduces the chances of food allergies. Another thing to keep in mind - if you end up feeding her other foods, you MAY find your supply decrease, you may notice her being constipated, and you might notice that her poop stinks MUCH more than it did on breastmilk alone. Of course, if you stick with breastmilk slushies, this isn't a concern. I know that isn't the question you asked, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

However, if you decide to give solids, I have no personal experience with giving frozen breastmilk, but it sounds like a better idea to me than other foods. I can't imagine a breastmilk slushie would do much harm, but she may not like it cold.

[Laurie]

Eeyore is right...AAP recommends waiting until 6 mos for the reasons she stated.

Another idea with the frozen breastmilk would be to get one of those babysafe feeders
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... y&n=507846
You can make breastmilk icecubes and give them to baby in this, ensuring no choking. Now this will be messy, so beware.

At 6 months, most moms start with cereal mixed with breastmilk. My DS did NOT like cereal so we went to jarred baby food pretty quickly. With my DD, she did like cereal more so we started with that and then moved to table food, just well mooshed up with a fork or baby food grinder. A GREAT article on introducing solid foods can be found at Dr Sears website...
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp

[aaronsmommy]

We tried all the recommended first foods, cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, (others?) prepared all sorts of different ways. He would sort of pretend to eat but never really ate anything til we tried cheerios!
Another wrinkle is the question about whether you should adjust the start time based on our babies being a bit early.
We did start a few weeks after 6 months, mostly because we went on a cruise and I didn't want to deal with stinkier poops. Of course, we really didn't have to worry, since those didn't come until he actually ate his solids.

[jjbeck]

Stinky poops. I have not thought about those. You know it is funny. So many people that hold her will say to me oh I think she pooped, including docs that we see. Her poop actually is not stinky much but her gas is sooo stinky. This is usually how I can tell the difference. So normally if she is stinky it just means she tooted.

[Natalie]

Hi

Over here in the UK, they also recommend exclusively bf until 6 months. My dd is a big girl, and she just wasn't satisfied with breast milk. We started her off on baby rice w/ breast milk for the first few times. Then we moved on to pureed apples or pears. Apparently, this is exactly what you're not supposed to do (start them off on something sweet) but she got on well with it and she is not a faddy eater at the moment.

One thing I do make sure of is that EVERYTHING is Organic! I am an Organic nut. No pesticides, hormones or GM food for Beth! She eats better than we do - by a looooong way

Nat

[jjbeck]

I am an organic nut too. I thought I read it is ok to start off with something sweet like mashed bananas for BFers. NO?

[Laurie]

It's pretty much whatever you believe. Some people believe that by introducing sweets first, you're teaching baby to have a preference for sweets later in life...and some moms will say that after they introduced sweet items, baby didn't want any veggies.

However, breastmilk is very sweet...many people say it tastes like cantaloupe or watermelon. Breastfed babies typically like sweeter first foods like bananas,peaches, sweet potatoes, etc. Formula babies typically like blander foods like rice cereal.

I introduced sweeter foods to both of my kids and they still like their veggies and are under the 30th percentile. I personally think (again, an opinion...lol) that it's more genetics or preference rather than which food you start them on but who's to say?

Good luck!

[JennyK]

Kellymom, my favorite BF web site, has useful information about when to start solids. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html. We waited until 6 months with Annie.

Here are some of Kellymom's tips:

Four- to five-month-old babies are sometimes very eager to participate at mealtime, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are ready to eat solids - more often it's just the normal developmental urge to do what everyone else is doing. Research studies tell us that there are many health advantages to delaying solids for about 6 months for all babies, not just the babies who are not yet interested in mealtime.

There are a number of things you can do to let baby participate in mealtimes without starting solids:

-Let baby sit with the family at mealtime - in a lap, booster seat or high chair.

-Give baby a cup of water or expressed milk. Your baby can entertain himself at mealtime while learning to use a cup. 1-3 ounces of water in the cup should be plenty (often for the entire day). Many moms choose to use only water or a small amount of breastmilk to avoid wasting the "liquid gold" while baby learns to use the cup.

-Offer baby sips of water from your cup or straw. Even if baby hasn't figured out how to use a straw yet, you can put your straw in water, block the top end of the straw with your finger to trap a little water in the straw, then let baby drink the water from the lower end of the straw (unblock the top end once it's in baby's mouth).

-Offer baby spoons, cups, bowls and other baby-safe eating utensils to play with during mealtime.

-Give baby an ice cube (if it's a baby-safe size & shape) or ice chips to play with.

-Offer baby a momsicle (popsicle made from breastmilk) or slushy frozen breastmilk to eat with a spoon.

[Natalie]

Hi Jen

What I read in my books was basically what Laurie just wrote - that giving sweet foods first introduces babies to a sweet tooth and that can lead onto fussy eaters. I haven't had that problem (so far) with Beth though, and she has bananas for breakfast every day now. A real labour of love because I practically break out in hives just from the smell of them - bleuurgh!

If genetics come into it, she will be a chocoholic like her mummy and eat a LOT of Maltesers! Oh dear...

Nat. x