catherine,
oh wow, 5 years old!
i like what you are saying about his instinct.
definitely i will no longer put food on his lips...letting him handle
food will be my new motto!
i go back to work full time soon, so i guess just giving him lots of
opportunities to handle food on his own will be the best thing...cross
our fingers!
he likes the look of flowers, but isn' t really attracted to smells
yet. is there a special reason you asked?
tami

Catherine Woodgold wrote:
Some babies live on just breast milk longer than others.
Not to scare you, but I read a story in a newspaper about
a girl 5 years old who had to live on just breastmilk.
Her parents fed her with breastmilk donated from others --
it didn't say why the mother couldn't supply enough, but
just seemed to imply that mothers stop producing milk
when their baby gets a little older. She was allergic
to other foods. Anyway, I think going that long is
extremely rare, but I read about a 15 month old who was
just breastfed.

I wouldn't worry.

I wouldn't put food on his lips. I would let him
handle food, and eventually when he's ready he'll probably
start eating.

Maybe he instinctively senses that he tends to be allergic
and if he waits and has just breastmilk for now, he'll avoid
developing food allergies that can happen if you're
exposed to food to young (so I've heard anyway).

Does he enjoy smells, e.g. flowers, spices?

"tami" ) writes:
Hello, i am a concerned mother...i have been breastfeeding my baby
exclusively and he is about to turn a year old in about two weeks. the
thing is he still refuses solids. just putting a bit of applesauce or
avocado or rice on his lips makes him dry heave like he is so grossed
out that he wants to vomit. i am worried as his growth is quite slow.
he is about 69 cm (i admit we are short people in the family though).
has anyone had any similar situation?