Author Topic: Starting solids this Saturday  (Read 4220 times)

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Offline didiosa1980

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Starting solids this Saturday
« on: January 24, 2014, 01:43:20 am »
LO is 6 mo this 1/21. Everyone is pushing us to introduce solids saying that he'll do 'so much better' with them. I've talked to the pediatrician, read some forums, looked in baby books, checked online....all the typical first time mom stuff.  ;D  We were suggested avocado and avocado it shall be for the first few weeks. Pediatrician suggested 1/5 a day.

My long-winded question is: after his morning milk, when is a good time to introduce solids? I plan on going by the once in the morning as a test run to watch for constipation. Do we want to use solids as an extra E+A? Is it a good idea to wait a little so he digests some of the milk before doing the solid? Other thoughts?

Offline Violet's mom

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2014, 01:52:56 am »
Don't feel pressured - trust your instincts!

When introducing solids, I would do morning definitely - then if there is a reaction/discomfort it won't affect nighttime sleep as much.  I think the general rule of thumb here is an hour after morning milk.  And since he will probably be playing more than eating - at this age it's considered part of the A time!  Have fun, don't stress if he doesn't eat much, and good luck!  Food is for fun until one!


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Offline didiosa1980

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2014, 17:00:44 pm »
Actually I'd prefer not to do solids at all, but everyone else is doing the pressuring.   :P  Everyone is worried about LO's calories and iron levels. I conferred with my pediatrician and she said as long as he takes my milk he'll be fine and I don't even need to take any supplements. T_T; My ped. did say that if I needed to get him iron, I could feed him spinach. Anyone have any luck or recipes with that? ...Aside from pureeing it with something that is.

I did read about the solids info 'articles' where it's still a good idea to start them 'sooner' than later because otherwise LO might not want to take solids at all. I didn't think E = A because they're separated in the EASY.

Offline creations

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2014, 17:26:51 pm »
You may find that you don't get much choice when your LO decides he wants solids. He may not be super interested just now and that's fine but some are at this age (and younger) and are pretty vocal and clear that they want food.
have you looked at BLW?  Many don't take in a lot in the early days with BLW but just learn about the food their parents eat through touch, smell, texture, weight, and exploring it as an 'object', tasting too yes but it's a little different to puree feeding as parents wait until baby chooses to eat the foods and self feeds rather than putting a spoon to baby's mouth.  It also means they discover early on the foods in their natural cooked state, finger foods, rather than purees and learn from the start about the family meals as they eat the same as the rest as the family (within certain guides such as no whole nuts, no honey, sugar, low salt) and are allowed to self regulate choosing which foods they want and how much.  Worth a look if you haven't considered it.


Offline Violet's mom

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2014, 15:06:31 pm »
Agree with pp - we didn't have too much of a choice - my LO wouldn't eat purées and I was so stressed because everyone was saying "she needs to eat... She needs to eat" but she is eating now at 1 year - better than most LOs I know because we skipped purées and started BLW when she was ready - at about 9 months.  And she was ready and interested at that point - not when she was "supposed" to eat at 6 months.  Good luck and follow your LO - he'll let you know if he is interested or not!


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Offline didiosa1980

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2014, 14:07:49 pm »
I like the concept!  :-*  Theoretical scenario/question: if I choose this option (which it would be so much damn simpler than making sure the avocado is properly pureed beforehand) and LO gets thinly sliced small pieces to pick up and play with (IF he manages to get one in his mouth and break off a piece), what are the odds of the inability to chew and thus swallow large chunks due to this inability? Is 1/8 in. or so sufficient to keep this from happening?

He has no teeth right now. Should we wait till a few come up?

This first weekend he did fairly well with the spoon. I held it near his face and if he leaned forward and/or used his hand to guide the spoon to his mouth then he would eat. I only gave him a pinky nail size portion each time and made sure it was on the edge of the spoon. He ate most of it fairly well, although there were a few coughing times where I think he didn't swallow ok due to first timer status.

Offline Violet's mom

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2014, 14:29:08 pm »
Well with BLW the key is to not get babies used to eating purées because then they don't learn to chew - only to swallow whatever is in their mouth.  And you want to start with things they can hold and knaw on - creations is a way better source than me - or you can google it.  I did my own version based on my dd's preferences and the need to get her to eat anything at all!  And yes, there will be some gagging but choking is rare.  That being said, I started with bananas which are too mushy to start with so my dd choked a tiny bit - I made an uninformed choice...
Here's support for it :  Baby Led Weaning support thread #12



So in short, u choose between purées or BLW - they don't go well together...  Either way is fine and totally up to you!  Happy eating!


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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2014, 17:33:30 pm »
For BLW the size is more preferable to be bigger rather than smaller, the size of an adult finger as a guide. It needs to be big enough so when they hold it (pick it up on their own or if LO finds this too frustrating in the early days you can hold it up and let them grab it) half the finger is in their palm, grabbed, the other half or so is sticking up out of their grasp and this is what they eat.  Generally larger pieces are hard to choke on, the idea is that if they can manage to get a bit in their mouth they are fully aware of what went in and can manoeuvre it more successfully. An example, I gave mine a half apple or whole apple never slices, he found slices broke off in chunks and harder to work with where as once his front teeth were in a whole apple was 'grated' by the front teeth.

If baby doesn't manage to chew they will more likely spit the food out and possibly have another go at it or at another piece.
No need for teeth, gums are super hard and can manage just about anything, even strips of meat which they gum and suck at until there's only strands of connective tissue left.

Gagging is quite common but different from choking, the gag reflex is further forward in a baby which protects the airway, don't panic or if you do don't show it. LO will likely gag, bring the food forward and continue eating or spit it out.  Couple of times mine swallowed a piece too big (he was a hungry boy!) which brought on a vomit, pretty clever their bodies to do this, and pretty gross but he'd just pick up the vommed lump and eat it again.
During a choke they stop breathing and look panicked immediately, where as a gag they tend to look ok and are still breathing, maybe a bit watery in the eyes.
Look into a paediatric first aid course if you are concerned as they can show you the correct way to respond to a choke. Hitting on the back is not the best idea as it can cause a choke or move the piece into a worse position. The only choke experience I had during BLW was a grain of rice slize slither of kiwi I licked off my finger after popping the rest of the kiwi (in quarters) onto DS's tray. it caught in my airway and I spent several minutes desperately trying to breathing in enough air to cough the thing out.

With avocado I suggest halving to remove the stone then cut (thickly) across the pear to produce a crescent moon shape (well sort of), avocado is very slippy to pick up but the notch shape where the stone used to be is a good place to help grip.  You can do this with other foods too, cut crescent shapes to help the grip.
I avoided sultanas, grapes, cherry toms, peas, all small round things, until I felt he had sufficient control, again once the pincer grip is in to pick these up then in theory they should manage. Green beans, asparagus are naturally a good size.

Sorry Tracy, don't want to shoot you down but WRT your last sentence, just want to mention that in the UK traditional puree weaning starts at 6 months and it is advised the time table goes very rapidly from puree to mashed to lumps to regular family meals AND that finger foods are offered along side all of these different weaning stages, from 6 months.  So whilst I agree that in general you choose one method or the other finger foods are an integral part of the traditional weaning routine these days.  It seems that people often stay on purees too long and that's where there might be some difficulty with moving on, or baby liked the puree but doesn't like lumps so offering finger foods alongside helps them learn the 'real' texture of food and to join in with family meals. Many areas here now the health visitors advise BLW rather than tradition puree weaning.

Certainly the BLW process is about learning about foods, especially foods which are normal for your family, rather than how much you can get them to eat so don't worry at all if not much goes in or if LO prefers to mush it in their hands and draw on their tray with it, it's all learning.

For sloppy foods you can pre-load a spoon and let LO pick it up, or take it from your hand, or let them pick up fist fulls of it. Mine had a monster feeding session with humus one day, couldn't get enough of the stuff, just grabbed it and shoved it in his face :) Of course you can make it slightly cleaner by spreading on pitta bread instead, although maybe not quite as hilarious for mummy :)


Offline Violet's mom

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2014, 00:13:30 am »
That's really interesting creations - hence why I said you were a better person to ask!
Here in the states we are told to not even offer any food until 6 months - my pediatrician wanted me to EBF until then and then start with oatmeal mush. 


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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2014, 11:38:10 am »
Oh yes, we are told not to offer food until 6 months old here too, to allow the gut to develop. In previous generations puree weaning started much earlier but it isn't advised now.  I should say too that although the puree way is advised to go rapidly from puree to mashed to lumps etc, it isn't with the aim to get off milk earlier, the milk needs to be maintained until 12 months and beyond.


Offline didiosa1980

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2014, 15:29:01 pm »
Thanks for the information from both sides.  :)  General pediatric information still says minimum 6 months before solids, although the Academy of Pediatrics says if possible 8 months to a year minimum...more if mommy can go longer.

I think I'll talk to papa on offering chunks of food instead of the mashed. It would be so much quicker and easier on us right now...especially since LO is STILL getting the hang of going to sleep for naps and bedtime and night waking... @_@;  It's nice to know that there may be gagging due to total different constitution, but choking seems to be the lesser of two evils. I suppose he could choke on anything food-related when it comes down to it. Maybe this next weekend, when there is more day time with LO, we can try again and see how he takes to the self-feed option. He definitely did well with the pureed option, despite getting the look of   \:-|     lol

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2014, 21:29:13 pm »
Thanks for the information from both sides.  :)  General pediatric information still says minimum 6 months before solids, although the Academy of Pediatrics says if possible 8 months to a year minimum...more if mommy can go longer.
Do you mean before solids are introduced or before stopping breast feeding? It sounds like you mean to start solids but I'm sure this cannot be correct ???

There is some great info here on BLW and the theory behind it including why LO is no more likely (and probably less likely) to choke.
Baby-Led Weaning
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011


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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2014, 21:45:48 pm »
I think there is a confusion between 'weaning' as a gradual process of introducing solids (from 6 months advised by Academy of Paediatrics) and 'weaning off breast feeding' which is different. I don't see anything that recommends holding off from solids until 8 or 12 months or beyond.
Whether traditional or BLW you don't stop breast feeding (unless by personal choice or medical issues etc you choose to move to infant formula), baby still needs that milk even though solids are introduced.


Offline didiosa1980

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2014, 15:17:11 pm »
If it were up to me, I'd let LO eat off me until I dry up!  ;D  However, papa is STILL concerned LO is not getting enough to eat overnight because LO has his midnight and 4 AM wake-ups that take almost 1 hour to get him to go back to sleep. I think we might try the avocado chunks this weekend and see how LO likes the concept...he is getting very good at hands-in-mouth.  :)  Now that we're going to start using a reliable care provider (don't use family...regrettable lesson learned  :P ), I think I might be more open to the solids option...although I don't know if they'd use the purees or chunks... Something to check on.

The AP I believe says that if you do solids, to still BF during that time for developmental help.

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Re: Starting solids this Saturday
« Reply #14 on: January 31, 2014, 16:36:38 pm »
Oh yes solids should definitely be given addition to breastfeeding not to replace the BFing.
Cadan Dec 2009 and Colby Aug 2011