Delaying Solids Q? XP

xoexpat · February 2013

I also posted on Multiples board:

If you delayed solids, how long did you wait, and why? When you did start them, what were the signs you were looking for?

My twins will be 5 months on Monday, and we are still EBF. I'd like to go as long as possible (definitely past six months), and just curious other moms handle it. I know DH is anxious for them to start eating food so that we are not wholly reliant on my breasts, but I've read that the sooner you start them on solids, the sooner they start to wean.

tokenhoser · February 2013

We waited until he could feed himself.

Which meant I started offering food at 6 month, but he didn't really eat enough to replace nursing until 18 months. Yes, a year later.

Signs of being ready for solids include sitting well, losing the tongue-thrust reflex, and (IMO) being able to pick up food and eat it.

Temp123197812503460 · February 2013

my 18 month olds eat anything and everything in sight and they still both demand to nurse like 8+ times a day.

we started solids around 6 months, a mix of purees and BLW.

ETA - i like the self feeding thing, but i was never super convinced by the arguments that they arent ready for food until they can feed themselves which is why we also did some purees or us feeding them slightly chunky things on a spoon. babies cant do much of anything by themselves for a long time so the idea that we have to help them didnt seem strange to me, plus historically people have been doing things like chewing meat and other foods and then spitting it out and feeding it to their kids for 1000s of years (not saying thats what i did, just that the idea of purees in some form is not really new).

we followed the "rules" for spoon feeding, never forcing the food, always stopping as soon as they turned their heads, etc, and it worked for us.

KrisM86 · February 2013

We started solids just after 6 months with my DD. We did baby-led weaning. I'd say her breastmilk intake didn't start to go down at all until at least 9-10 months. We actually still BF first thing in the morning and she is 16 months old.

pepomntpat · February 2013

We started BLW at 5 and a half months. I hadn't really planned it, but she just stole my muffin and ate some. So then I just gave her bits here and there. I didn't really do any planned meals until 7 months, but she always got some of my food after that first bite of bran muffin.

And she is still nursing at almost 2 and a half even though I am pregnant. I think the weaning thing has to do more with the parent's emphasis on solids over breastmilk than on the child.

Wally3 · February 2013

I started solids with DS1 at almost 6 months - he didn't fully wean to about 22 months.

tjkdlhb · February 2013

We started at 5.5 months, when she started grabbing food from my plate.I remember thinking at 5 months that she probably wouldn't be ready until closer to 7 months... It really seemed to go so quick between seeming that she would be a long time before she was ready for solids to the point where it was obvious that she wanted them. They change so fast!

blushingbride_08 · February 2013

I started at 6 months. I too thought my LO would wean early so I delayed it as long as I did. He is nowhere near weaning. In fact now I want to wean him since he's 10 months and I was to bf for 1 year. He's like his boobies.

twocents6708 · February 2013

We started solids at 6 months. We knew she was ready because she would try to grab food and was very interested in food. She had also lost her tongue thrust reflex. She didn't slow down on nursing until about 10 months. She just weaned completely last week.

blu-eyedwife · February 2013

We started BLW at 6 months and starting solid did nothing to affect his weaning/milk intake. He was nursing just as often at 6 months as he was at 12 months. He did start dropping some nursing sessions around 13 months, but even now (16.5 months) he still nurses twice a day.

BriDaily · February 2013

I started supplementing with water at 6 months with my DS. I had gotten my first PP period at 5 months and my supply dropped a little bit after that... I couldn't seem to keep up with how thirsty he was, especially since he started army crawling around then! So he started getting about 4-8 oz. of water each day. He didn't start solids until about 9 months though. I tried getting him to try baby purees or mushed up foods like bananas, but he just wasn't into it. When he finally started solids, we got him the baby puffs for the first month. He had some issues with his gag reflex and couldn't handle a lot of things. Now that he is 18 months and has lots more teeth, he eats a lot of fruits, some meat, beans, and unfortunately is a bit of a carb fan. He still likes breastfeeding though! It is more of a snuggle with mommy thing/pacifier. I never used a pacifier with him, so if he falls or is having a grumpy moment "Umma" helps a lot

nosoup4u · February 2013

Both of my kids started around six months. DS1 wasn't really into solids until past 12 months, DS2 about 9-10 months. They both nursed to 2+, I wouldn't worry about it causing them to wean early.

neverblushed · February 2013

I kind of followed my kids' leads on this, and they were very different when it came to eating and self-feeding.

DD was really interested in foods; she would keenly watch us as we ate, even when she was tiny, and she started grabbing for foods as soon as she was able. I started offering her regular food at around 5 months, not so much to feed her, but to keep her busy and to give her practice. Her primary food source was still breastmilk. I would say that for a good 3 or 4 months after that, she would munch, slurp and nibble when DH and I ate dinner. She was always enthusiastic about mealtimes at this age, and had a great time playing with food, and sometimes even ingesting it. Around 9 months or so was when she seemed to switch from mostly milk to mostly food. It seemed very natural. My pediatrician encouraged me to follow my instincts about it.

DS was a different story. He really could not have cared less about table foods until after 6 months old. He has always had a really sensitive gag reflex, and this made every new taste and texture a real struggle. He also started to eat "real food" at around 9 months. The difference was that he didn't go through the whole "munch/slurp/nibble" phase. He just seemed to wake up one day at around 9 months ready to eat real food, and from that day on he pretty much ate like a toddler instead of a baby.

Both of my kids self-weaned at around 11 to 12 months.

Ironically, now that my kids are older, my daughter is pretty picky while my son likes all kinds of weird stuff that's often on kids' "yuck" list. He

xoexpat · February 2013

Thank you for the insight, ladies! I'm going to do some reading and let the babies lead the way! I can't believe how fast it's going...

stever · February 2013

I waited until 6 months with both of my boys. DS1 showed no interest in food but took to solids easily. DS2 was fascinated by food for months but so far solids haven't gone too well for him.

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