The first six months of Clara’s life went by in a blur and before I knew it she was almost 6 months old and I found myself researching everything I could about solid foods.
Correction, I didn’t really research that much originally, but when friends told me that I should probably be feeding Clara solid foods, I looked up some facts about baby-led weaning and determined that was definitely the path we were going to take.
According to what I read (and who knows if I read it correctly), Clara was ready to eat solid foods if she was able to:
- Sit up unassisted
- Showed an interest in food (watching people eat food)
Well, according to these two factors, Clara was ready to eat solid foods at about 5 months old, because she was a pretty early sitter and around that time she started reaching for everything and putting everything she could in her mouth.
So, believing she was ready to start eating solid foods, we began giving Clara some slices of avocado to play with and also some steamed carrots and a banana, and she enjoyed playing with all of it and got the food into her mouth, but I don’t think she ended up swallowing anything, which was fine with us!
Then we went to Clara’s 6 month appointment and her breastfeeding-friendly pediatrician gave us a different perspective.
First, he asked why we were giving Clara solid food at all, to which I really had no response.
I mean, we were giving her food because she was ‘ready’! However, when I told the doctor this, he just kind of shook his head. He explained that these ‘signs’ of readiness are really just developmental milestones and have nothing to do with solid foods.
He told us that Clara has no need for solid foods until she starts acting hungrier than normal. That could look like her not sleeping as well, crying/fussing after she’s done eating, not showing as much interest in breastfeeding, etc.
His reasoning was this: to preserve the breastfeeding relationship, my body needs to know how much milk to make for Clara. If we start feeding her solid foods before she demands it (before my body simply can’t make enough milk for her), then we’re depriving my body of the chance to keep up with her needs and I’ll never make enough milk for her.
Well, in our case, those changes had started occurring the week of the appointment, so the doctor told us to go ahead and try solid foods. To make sure Clara was actually getting food in her stomach instead of all over her face, we ditched baby led weaning (for now) and started making our own purees.
To summarize, we felt confident starting to introduce solid foods to Clara because:
- She was over 6 months old.
- She could sit (unassisted) by herself.
- She could easily grab items and put them into her mouth.
- She showed a great interest in food and the process of eating (watching us eat, that is).
- She seemed to be increasingly disinterested in breastfeeding for long periods of time.
- She was fussier than normal.
- She was waking up very frequently during the night, compared to the weeks prior.
After ‘researching’ a bit more (I put it in quotes because my research involves Google and that’s about it), I came across all sorts of articles about the virgin gut, and I feel even more thankful that we waited until Clara was 6 months old to really start feeding her solid foods, and I actually wish we hadn’t ever given her even a morsel of food before then.
Now I don’t mean to get all opinionated here, but I have noticed that some parents (and at times I fall into this category!) seem to be in a rush to get to ‘milestone’ baby moments. Parents can’t wait to help their babies rollover, sit, stand, sleep through the night, and even eat solid foods – I mean, who can resist the adorable image of a baby covered in pureed carrots?!
I have absolutely no doubt that all parents want to do what’s best for their child(ren), because I know I do! (I also know that I fail sometimes.) However, I think that other parents may, like me, also be confused or at least unsure about when their babies should be starting to eat solid foods.
This is the thing – giving a baby any food (including formula and rice cereal) other than breastmilk in the first 6 months of their life disrupts the virgin gut and this can lead a greater likelihood of allergies and other problems like that. (Don’t shoot the messenger, people!)
The reason I’m writing about this is because I feel like baby-led weaning articles that say a baby is ‘ready’ for solid foods when they can sit unassisted and when they show an interest in food should also include “and is at least six months old”. I see so many moms post pictures on social media of their little ones at less than 5 months old, covered in purees, with a caption exclaiming “I know she’s ready for solid foods because she keeps watching us eat, so we’re starting them!” and I have to believe that these well-intentioned parents simply don’t understand the risks of starting food ‘early’. I can’t seem to find a single benefit of starting solid foods before six months old, but there are documented risks.
It doesn’t help that some pediatricians say rice cereal can be introduced at 4 months, a recommendation that is now considered out-of-date and not conducive to breastfeeding.
So I’m hoping my very-basic-‘research’ and the advice from my pediatrician can help other moms out there, who are as confused as I was going into this solid foods thing. I know that every parent might go about feeding their baby differently, but I have found that even the medical community gives conflicting advice about how best to feed babies ‘real’ food, which is unfortunate for parents who are trying to do the best thing for their baby!
In summary, I urge you moms (and dads!) out there to continue making informed decisions for your little ones! Also, I would urge you not to rush these first few months of life by attempting to jump from one milestone to the next. Trust me, they will come soon enough on their own!
If you’re reading this post and feel like I’m attacking your parenting choices, trust me, that is not my intention. I simply want to inform other moms about a subject that I was semi-clueless about until recently. I hope you find this at least a bit helpful.
