Thread: Solid foods for baby...

We are waiting till 6 months as per pedi recommendation. They say it significantly reduces the risk of food allergies and since we already have to deal with the dairy/soy nightmare we don't need to increase Ryan's risk for any other issues. We will also wait for all signs of readiness (eyeing our food - check, sitting unsupported - nope, loss of tongue pushing reflex - don't know). He does not appear to be starving on breastmilk so I'm happy to wait.

Originally Posted by science_gal

We are waiting till 6 months as per pedi recommendation. They say it significantly reduces the risk of food allergies and since we already have to deal with the dairy/soy nightmare we don't need to increase Ryan's risk for any other issues. We will also wait for all signs of readiness (eyeing our food - check, sitting unsupported - nope, loss of tongue pushing reflex - don't know). He does not appear to be starving on breastmilk so I'm happy to wait.

This is one of the big reasons I want to wait with Finn. I'm hoping he will outgrow his dairy protein allergy around one year of age but I don't want to gamble with introducing other foods too soon and create more allergies that could last through adulthood. This info from Dr. Sear's website also makes me feel I would be better off waiting:
Baby's intestines need to mature. The intestines are the body's filtering system, screening out potentially harmful substances and letting in healthy nutrients. In the early months, this filtering system is immature. Between four and seven months a baby's intestinal lining goes through a developmental growth spurt called closure,meaning the intestinal lining becomes more selective about what to let through. To prevent potentially-allergenic foods from entering the bloodstream, the maturing intestines secrete IgA , a protein immunoglobulin that acts like a protective paint, coating the intestines and preventing the passage of harmful allergens. In the early months, infant IgA production is low (although there is lots of IgA in human milk), and it is easier for potentially-allergenic food molecules to enter the baby's system. Once food molecules are in the blood, the immune system may produce antibodies to that food, creating a food allergy . By six to seven months of age the intestines are more mature and able to filter out more of the offending allergens. This is why it's particularly important to delay solids if there is a family history of food allergy, and especially to delay the introduction of foods to which other family members are allergic.

So milk for him until he is closer to six months. He watches me eat but my pedi said babies' eyes track you doing a lot of things at this point so it's not always sign of interest in food.

Thanks Christina for sharing - that's exactly the reason we are waiting. We might even wait till our next pedi appointment at almost 7 months since Ryan was almost a month early and we are away on vacation till he's 6.5 months old.

One thing that has me confused is the conflicting information on exclusively breastfeeding and anemia. Some sources say to give iron-fortified rice cereal before 6 months to avoid anemia and allergies and other sources say the opposite. This recent study indicates that breastfeeding to 6 months has no bearing on infant anemia (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22043773). Our plan here is straight elbows on the belly or 6 months, whichever comes first, for my son. (I'm sure my son will be trying solids well before his sister because he's bigger, developmentally ahead and has never had digestive issues.) And we'll get the pedi's opinion again for my daughter at her 6 month appointment.

Originally Posted by triplespiral

One thing that has me confused is the conflicting information on exclusively breastfeeding and anemia. Some sources say to give iron-fortified rice cereal before 6 months to avoid anemia and allergies and other sources say the opposite. This recent study indicates that breastfeeding to 6 months has no bearing on infant anemia (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22043773). Our plan here is straight elbows on the belly or 6 months, whichever comes first, for my son. (I'm sure my son will be trying solids well before his sister because he's bigger, developmentally ahead and has never had digestive issues.) And we'll get the pedi's opinion again for my daughter at her 6 month appointment.

Yes there is conflicting info on when iron is needed. Thanks for sharing the article (though I only read the abstract ) since I can only find studies from the early 2000's. I don't know if you go on KellyMom at all but there was an interesting posting about iron supplementation and breastfeeding there http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/
My son's main ped said that Finn should be on supplemental iron drops since he was born early and she was concerned that he may not have received enough iron from me that last trimester. I'm not really good about giving him the drops now because he doesn't like the taste and when he spits up it stains clothing, etc. Hopefully he is getting enough from breastmilk though I worry that my iron levels may not be great because I'm vegetarian and not good about taking extra iron supplement beyond my multi (I've read that the calcium in multivitamin/mineral pills essentially blocks absorption of the iron in them). Need to go munch on some pumpkin seeds....

Originally Posted by triplespiral

One thing that has me confused is the conflicting information on exclusively breastfeeding and anemia. Some sources say to give iron-fortified rice cereal before 6 months to avoid anemia and allergies and other sources say the opposite. This recent study indicates that breastfeeding to 6 months has no bearing on infant anemia (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22043773). Our plan here is straight elbows on the belly or 6 months, whichever comes first, for my son. (I'm sure my son will be trying solids well before his sister because he's bigger, developmentally ahead and has never had digestive issues.) And we'll get the pedi's opinion again for my daughter at her 6 month appointment.

Thanks for posting that article. It is reassuring, although I have a few concerns for myself. I am worried because I was slightly anemic towards the end of pregnancy, severely anemic after delivery, and only back to slightly anemic at 7 weeks PP. I didn't take iron pills because they are hard on my stomach and I was (am) battling terrible hemmhorids and I'm not about to make them worse!! I get my iron checked tomorrow and that will be 20 weeks PP so we will see how I've done with just diet, I guess. but it has made me question whether I need to supplement with cereal at times. Ultimately I have decided the risk of cereal outweighs the potential/possible benefit of iron and she may not even need it anyway. But I second guess myself sometimes!!

What does straight elbows on the belly mean in terms of solid food?

Originally Posted by .hilary.

Thanks for posting that article. It is reassuring, although I have a few concerns for myself. I am worried because I was slightly anemic towards the end of pregnancy, severely anemic after delivery, and only back to slightly anemic at 7 weeks PP. I didn't take iron pills because they are hard on my stomach and I was (am) battling terrible hemmhorids and I'm not about to make them worse!! I get my iron checked tomorrow and that will be 20 weeks PP so we will see how I've done with just diet, I guess. but it has made me question whether I need to supplement with cereal at times. Ultimately I have decided the risk of cereal outweighs the potential/possible benefit of iron and she may not even need it anyway. But I second guess myself sometimes!!

What does straight elbows on the belly mean in terms of solid food?

Hemorrhoids are worse with iron supplements? I had gross butt issues after birth and took prenatals. Oh hi, I'm dumb ... prune juice and/or colace!

Oh the straight arms has nothing to do with solids really, it's just like a developmental step that we randomly decided would be our solids time if it comes before 6 months. Gerber lists it as one of the steps babies should meet before starting on step 1 foods.

Hilary I can't stomach the iron pills either (make me nauseous) and bought liquid iron supplement instead. It is called Fer-in-Sol and I bought it at Walmart. It doesn't taste good but I usually mix it into a glass of juice and that way you can hardly taste it. It never makes me nauseous and I never get constipated from it.

Oh thanks!! That sounds perfect, I will try it

Just updating on Trystan's solids regimin (sp?)... he's now eating oatmeal for breakfast, and then a fruit for lunch and a veggie for dinner. So Far he's had sweet potatos, carrots, peas, green beans (which he hated, so I won't be buying those anymore lol), pears, peaches, apples, bananas... he pretty much will eat anything!