Author Topic: Can I start solids later than 6 months?  (Read 1688 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline centrestage88

  • BW Devotee
  • ****
  • Showing Appreciation 3
  • Posts: 254
  • Location:
Can I start solids later than 6 months?
« on: August 08, 2015, 03:39:27 am »
Advice is to start solids 4-6 months. However, my lo at almost 5.5months isn't sitting up yet nor is he reaching for things.
Can I hold off solids till he sits up and starts reaching for food? He is fully breastfed and does not take the bottle.
How long can I just solely breastfeed him for?

I did read that their iron stores get depleted at ard 6 mths though. Will me taking iron supplements help prevent anaemia in him?

Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Can I start solids later than 6 months?
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2015, 07:58:53 am »
I don't have as much information about BF as some others but my understanding is that (based on more recent studies) the iron in your breast milk is readily absorbed by LO.  This means that although the iron stores which are there from birth are depleting, baby will still gain iron from your milk.
There some are guidelines for babies to have vitamin supplements, for example in the UK the guidance is for babies to have a vitamin drop each day (this is just a few liquid drops and easily given even if LO is not taking solids), off the top of my head I think it's vitamins A, C and D but this is the UK.  Guides in your own country may be different.

WRT starting solids, a lot can happen in just a few weeks. Mine only sat up at 5.5 months, he did not put all sorts of things in his mouth which is supposed to be a sign for solids readiness, he had no interest in putting toys in his mouth, however he had been screaming at me since 4.5 months that he wanted my food.  I held off for that month because he was not sitting and I had it in mind I wanted to wait until the advised 6 months. In the end I gave solids at 5.5 months which he put straight to his mouth proving that not all babies put toys in their mouth but do know what food is!
There is research showing that solids introduction should not be too late so whilst I wouldn't actively hold off (for long) from introducing solids neither would I be worried if your baby is not yet ready.  In the early stages of introducing solids babies generally take very little anyway.
If you choose the purée route this would be just a teaspoon or two of purée once per day.
If you choose the BLW (baby led weaning) route you can offer a finger sized piece of your own meal for baby to self feed, he may just hold it, smell it, lick it, suck and gum it, or he may may eat it.  This sort of introduction is not about getting him to eat lots, but to let him begin to learn about alternate sources of nutrition, to learn of the tastes and textures of different foods which your family eat.

I've known babies who show very little interest in food until more like 9 months but the offer, little tastes and learning is still taking place to some degree each day so that at 9 months when they got an appetite for solids it was no a totally new experience for them, rather it was a move towards taking larger portions of what they were already being offered.

If it was me, I would wait another couple of weeks and see where you are at then.


Offline Lindsay27

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 78
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 4031
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Re: Can I start solids later than 6 months?
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2015, 13:15:07 pm »
Agree with pp, and just to further the point on the research on not starting too late, there is a threshold in which they need to learn how to swallow solids otherwise they do not retain how to do it.  I'm not entirely sure the age range, but if they don't do it by a certain point it is not an acquired skill. Obviously you have time and this is not a concern for you right now at 5.5 months, just something to think about.

I have a colleague at work whose daughter had some pretty severe medical issues and as a result never learned to eat solid food as a baby and is now permanently tube fed because now that she is older her body's natural reaction is to choke on food.  Again, not an issue for you right now, your LO is still young so absolutely no rush this moment.



Offline Katet

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 608
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 14364
  • Sydney Australia
  • Location: Sydney
Re: Can I start solids later than 6 months?
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2015, 21:27:01 pm »
I wouldn't hold off too long because you risk late maturity of the taste buds & also the way the mouth muscles are used you will actually slow down the development of speech etc too.

Up until 1yo solids aren't really about food they are more about the developmental needs of a baby, learning to move their hand to their mouth etc.

They don't have to be sitting up, I had DS1 taking solids (right on 6months) in a leaning position because we didn't have a high chair

dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline becj86

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 346
  • Posts: 10859
  • Location: Brisbane, Australia
Re: Can I start solids later than 6 months?
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2015, 22:10:45 pm »
WRT breast milk and iron - the iron in breast milk is already bound to the protein which carries it, meaning it is very readily absorbed.

I do echo the advice of these other ladies, it is not so much a nutritional requirement as a developmental one at this age.

Best wishes for your decision xx

Offline centrestage88

  • BW Devotee
  • ****
  • Showing Appreciation 3
  • Posts: 254
  • Location:
Re: Can I start solids later than 6 months?
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2015, 03:07:03 am »
Thks ladies. I will assess and probably try at 6 months or 6.5 months. Hopefully he will be more skilled at sitting up and grasping things by then.