What do you think of this? (Starting Solids Advice from a Dr.)

Minnie - posted on 10/30/2009

What I love about baby-led solids is the absolute lack of concern I have over adelaide's appetite. Lol- sounds lazy, but that's the way it is.

Brenda - posted on 10/29/2009

http://www.tribalbaby.org/babyLedEating....

Found this interesting.

Minnie - posted on 10/29/2009

"I kept thinking about the great advice I got from my WTE friends on previous posts about letting Ella go at her ow pace."

For sure.

Brenda - posted on 10/28/2009

Here is the blog post:



"Infant Solid Food, Finally!

Ella's six-month doctor visit today finally convinced me to start infant solid food. She is FINALLY over her cold, sinus infection, stomach flu, and both her bottom teeth have worked their way through. No more excuses, mama.





What finally tipped the scales was the doctor telling me that starting infant solid food between 4 and 6 months is not so much about the nutrition--breast milk or formula really has everything a baby needs until they are about a year old. It's more about the skill of learning to eat. Infant solid food makes the baby learn to coordinate lips, tongue, and swallowing, to prepare them for chewing grown-up food. He said that there's a window of opportunity when it comes to learning these skills, and if you miss it, they have a hard time picking them up. Wow, I'd never thought of it like that. I'd only been thinking of the nutritional side of it, and not feeling too much of a rush to do anything. Thank goodness for baby well-visits!





After Ella's afternoon nap, when I knew she'd be hungry, I bit the bullet. We went with the traditional first infant solid food: rice cereal. It probably has the mildest flavor and smoothest texture, so I figured she might tolerate it okay. I'm just crossing my fingers it doesn't make her any more constipated than she always is anyway.





Meanwhile, Joshua was flitting around like a little bee, curious and excited about this strange new experience, and calling out "mama!" every few seconds to remind me that Ella can't have all the attention. We sat her in the high chair , got her bib on, and I took a deep breath and dove in. I wish I had an extra hand to take a picture of that first moment, the look on Ella's face.





Putting myself in her place, I can totally understand. Here's this little girl in a big chair, not sure what's going on, and suddenly mama's coming at her with a long plastic doohickey, poking it in her mouth, and all this weird squishy stuff is suddenly rolling around on her tongue. No wonder her nose wrinkled up, her mouth puckered, and a large blob of cereal was suddenly sliding down her chin.





It took us about 30 minutes, but Ella was such a good sport. She even opened her mouth for me a few times. Each bite took about 16 tries of putting it in her mouth, then scooping up the stuff that she pushed back out with her tongue and putting in in her mouth again. Each time it got a little looser with added spit, so it was a bit messy. We got through about 1 ounce of cereal. The highlight was definitely a sneeze that sent cereal all over her, me, and a little on Joshua. We all laughed hilariously.





All the while this was going on, I kept thinking about the great advice I got from my WTE friends on previous posts about letting Ella go at her own pace, and letting me know what she would tolerate. We took our time, and I watched her for signs of frustration and disinterest. She was a trooper and made it all the way through, including the post-meal face wipe."



If the baby wasn't even interested in eating, and pushing everything out, I don't think that child was ready. Not at all.

Minnie - posted on 10/28/2009

Well, it just defies logic. How can one say that babies need to learn to eat properly, and at four months? Is this doctor that close minded that he truly thinks every baby on the face of this planet is shoveled goo at that age? Because wouldn't there be a lot of spoon or tube fed adults on this planet if people waited longer for solids?



Learning to eat comes naturally just like everything else does...weaning, potty independence, talking, walking.



I always laugh at the questions where a mother thinks her baby will never learn to walk if he doesn't have scheduled 'tummy time.' Same concept. Or, how about, if I don't force my baby to 'self soothe' he'll never be able to put himself to sleep. LOL. Wow- I bet it's gonna be a crowded honey moon suite.

Aideen - posted on 10/28/2009

WHO recommend 6 months but as far as I know nutrient wise they get very little from food for the next few months it is more about the tasting and chewing etc. Babies know when they're ready and we feed our 8month old some of whatever we're having ourselves. We have had to make a huge effort to eat very healthily though -all homemade and organic when we can! We do get strange looks from extended family. I think they've just written us off as odd at this stage!



I do believe in baby led everything, and if the baby doesn't seem interested I wouldn't push it or worry but continue to offer. A lot of baby lead weaners don't start til much later than 6months but they don't start on mushed up food. I have heard of problems moving on from mush to propper food (a 'normal' four year old (if there is such a thing) refusing to eat unblended food and mum getting stresed about lunch at school!). I think mushed up food for too long might be a problem...and its important to get them started on chewing and used to breaking up food in the mouth at some stage. Maybe the doc was concerned about that...and was presuming you'd have to start with mush later than usual and might not move on to solid food before the baby would get very used to blended food and develop a habit of almost drinking the food. You'd have to almost try to develop this problem though...it's very counter intuitive to blend food for your child for so long and not offer fingerfood or a taste of things you're eating.



A strange thing for the medical profession to be worrying about!

Brenda - posted on 10/27/2009

Yeah, well I thought that that stunk to high heaven. This doctor literally scared this woman into starting solids according to her blog. What is it with doctors and the scare tactics? Like cosleeping, do it and your baby will DIE! Don't feed your baby solids and they'll NEVER eat! As if all of these things are written in stone. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt that they've always had baby food a couple hundred years ago...just like I doubt they had cribs.



LOL, Lisa you crack me up.

Minnie - posted on 10/27/2009

Wow...gee...Adelaide, who didn't have a crumb of solids until ten months and started out on crispy shrimp, lobster, fillet o fish, chicken drumsticks, cucumber slices, whole peeled apples, spaghetti...she must've not read that doctor's advice!



I imagine if we weren't blessed from above she could've been doomed to tube feeding for the rest of her life since babies have to learn to eat properly at four months!

Anna - posted on 10/27/2009

Yeah, that's nonsense. I've heard of plenty of people who exclusively breastfeed for 8 or 10 months and of course those babies learn how to eat. I've also heard of people who skip the mushy baby food and start straight on finger foods when the kid is old enough.

Marcy - posted on 10/27/2009

Just oner more thing for people to listen to and "believe". Honestly, I can't even remember when we started J.R. on solids. I think I tried baby food and he wasn't interested. I think (gosh, my memory stinks) I took him to the doctor and told him he wasn't interested in baby food. my doctor (who I adore) said "have you tried that stuff? it tastes terrible" That night we went out for Mexican and he ate a whole plate of rice and beans. He just got it.....



Everytime someone comes up with some new "crap" for the public its one more step away from doing what should come naturally and following our Motherly Instincts about what is right...



Brenda, my gut tells me that this guy is full of POOOOOOO.......