solids or not?

solidstars

solidstars

Registered User
sorry to bring this up again, i did read everyone else's threads but not quite the same situation...

my mom's in town and she keeps saying because we have a big baby, he doesn't get enough milk or he should be starting solids soon. I am trying to wait till he is 6 months old so I can bring him to get his vaccination and get the nurse's opinion...

Background of the story is, at his last vaccination in early Aug (he just turned 4 months then) - his weight / height all went above and beyond the average range. The nurses were like 'oh you don't have to force him to eat if he doesn't want to, let him decide, and don't introduce anything else yet!'

So I keep telling my mom I don't plan on giving him solids yet but she keeps persisting (the other day she tried to get him interested and used a finger to 'wipe' some cherry juice onto his lips!!!! I wiped them off immediately).

My question being (actually I want to hear your thoughts more)... is he ready for solids? He doesn't grab at my food yet (though he always stares). He does put everything in his mouth (but I think it's teething and not hunger). He gets enough diapers a day (one huge poo at least-daily).

As he's in the curious-about-everything stage sometimes he'll BF for a really SHORT time (i'd be lucky to get 5 minutes), but sometimes he'll BF for longer (like at night maybe 20 mins or longer). My MIL takes care of him whilst I'm at work (5 hours / day) and she says he can hardly finish 3-4 oz of EBM nowadays within that time as he keeps wanting to look around/play/etc. She claims that around 5 pm - 6 pm he knows i'm coming home so he bluntly refuses to drink EBM then so he can have 'me' fresh.... I'm not sure about that as sometimes even when I offer BM to him immediately on reaching her house he might drink 1 minute and stop. But I digress...

So, is my mom right and I should start him on solids? Or not?
 
I think you have answered your own question. Go with your instincts and introduce solids when you are ready. Not when someone tells you.

Remember that your mum likely started introducing solids to you when you were just a few weeks old. My DH was given orange juice as his first intro to food at just a few weeks! That was the recommendation back then.

Good luck with it.

Both of mine were about 5 and a half months when I introduced them to food.
 
I introduced solids to my son at 4 months and 3 weeks. It was because he was constantly at my breast, couldn`t get enough. I couldn`t `up` his formula intake bc he was only breastfed. He was average size but I feel it looked like he started not gaining any weight.
I don`t think every baby needs to wait til 6 months like the doctors and nurses blindly say. But I wouldn`t only listen to my mother or other people. Listen to yourself, but most of all your baby.
 
I think it's no harm to try. I would still give him milk first as that's supposed to be his main source of nutrients now. Since he only takes 3-4 oz (btw, how can he get so big with so little milk? your milk must be really nutritious =) he can prob still take a bit solid after a milk feed. Just try with a spoon or two and see if he likes it.
 
Trust your instincts. I waited until 6 months. Some of my friends started earlier because the babies were beginning to wake earlier.
 
Hi

I had a bigger the average baby too who was over the 97% percentile in all his checkups. I still didn't give him solids until 6 months. I would not just do it because your baby is bigger - you need to feel it is the right time. If he does not seem to be grizzling for food and is sleeping well then no need to force him. I used the Gina Ford Weaning book and loved it. She has a section on starting solids early (at 5 months) and another section for starting at 6 months. Very step by step which I loved.

SB2
 
where's the salvation army? I am leaning towards sending my daughter for two days out of the week instead of daily classes, which I think is too much and quite unnecessary at this age. My mother is willing to take care of her, but I don't want to use up too much of her time so that is why I think a couple mornings away will be good for both hopefully...lots of great suggestions! thanks everyone!
 
thanks everyone - i guess i'll wait at least another half month (when he's 5.5 mths?) and reevaluate again then. oze_kid, you're probably right, my mom's generation probably start us on solids much earlier... shenzhennifer i'm not sure if he's gaining any weight but he's almost 9 kg now...

baffelly, i have no idea haha but i hear that quite often now 'your milk must be super nutritious/absorbent'. Even today at my MIL's he only had 2 out of the 3 oz EBM she defrosted for him.

starbucks2/sazzy, he doesn't really grizzle for food... and not sure if gina ford will work with us as he sleeps with us. he doesn't usually get up during the night (knock on wood) so far, he might nuzzle me 3-4 times during the night so i just flip over and feed him and he goes right back to sleep.

lesliefu i believe you might have posted in the wrong thread!
 
I think, like others have said, in the past everyone gave solids much earlier so it is what your mom feels comfortable.

The obvious thing to me is that your baby is growing, bigger in height and weight at last appointment, so ovbiously he IS growing on milk alone and does not need solid food. Let him eat the amount of milk he wants, he knows what he needs. Assuming he is a normal healthy child, he is not going to starve himself at all. And lets say he was not thriving and did need more food, starting solids is not what would be recommended anyways. I would wait until he is showing the signs of being ready to eat solids, this is a good resource, it is up to dte and has all teh new information ie, starting at 6 months, starting with iron containing foods, etc.

http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/Infant-feeding-guide.pdf
 
At 5 m/o or so, my first (daughter) took about 8oz a feed of formula or EBM and my second (boy) took about 5-6oz. She was about 6kg and he was nearly 9kg too so maybe my BM was more 'efficient' second time round!

As the other posters say, it really depends on the baby and yours sounds like he's dong fine! if you can wait til 6 mths then by all means wait.

I started both mine on solids at 5.5mths more to stop them waking in the night hungry (as we dropped the night feed late)!
 
Hi solidstars

Just to clarify it is the Gina Ford Weaning book that I'd recommend for when you are ready to introduce solids. It has step by step on what foods to introduce and how much etc. I was never much of a fan of the Gina Ford Contented Baby book until baby is much older. It is certainly very strict!

Good luck.

SB2
 
thanks babymommy2, your link is really useful!

slamdunk, good to know my baby's not the only one with variations on drinking EBM... though i worry that 3 oz in 5 hours does seem a bit low...

thanks SB2, i will check out that book when i am next in the bookstore!
 
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