Starting solids early?

Hello -

My 2nd baby will be 5 months old on 11/11. She was 9lbs at birth and
now weighs about 17 pounds and is 26 inches. At her 4 month checkup my
ped. said I could "try to wait until 6 months to start solids but she'd
probably need to start earlier because physiologically she's like a 6
month old." I hadn't heard this before as my first was a smaller baby
and wasn't really interested in solids until closer to 8 or 9 months.

She never really fusses to eat much, but clearly she's gaining
extremely well. :-) Anyway, over the last 2 days or so she's seemed
hungrier than usual - yesterday it seemed like it was closer to every
2.5 hours and she was really eating all those times. (I have a very
forceful letdown & a lot of milk so if she's not actually hungry she'll
pop off and never comfort sucks.)

Is there any real reason to start solids this early just because she's
a bigger baby? Won't she just nurse more if she gets hungrier & my
supply will adjust? Currently she feeds about 5 times a day, but I
don't really know how many ounces she is taking.

Opinions?

Becky

Hi --

Your instincts are right. Being big and hungry are NOT signs of
readiness for solids. They're signs that your baby is thriving on
breastmilk and has probably hit another growth spurt.

I don't, actually, remember the other signs of readiness for solids.
There's a gag reflex that needs to go away, and your baby needs to be
able to sit -- I think sitting supported is fine -- and finally, you
need to look at your family history of allergy. (A family history of
any kind of allergy, food or not, suggests delaying solids past six
months, and then proceeding with caution.)

Once your baby is ready for solids, enjoy! There's no need to stick
with the bland purees. Just be sure to introduce one item at a time for
three days in a row to make sure that your baby doesn't develop a bad
reaction to whatever it is. (THe new solid can be mixed with old stuff,
of course. So add cinnamon to the oatmeal once she's had oatmeal for at
least 3 days, for example.)

My two cents,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

wrote:

My 2nd baby will be 5 months old on 11/11. She was 9lbs at birth and
now weighs about 17 pounds and is 26 inches. At her 4 month checkup my
ped. said I could "try to wait until 6 months to start solids but she'd
probably need to start earlier because physiologically she's like a 6
month old." I hadn't heard this before as my first was a smaller baby
and wasn't really interested in solids until closer to 8 or 9 months.

The part about "physiologically" makes no
sense. If that were true, then all babies
would walk when they reached 25 lbs., or
whatever magic number we could pull out of
a hat. Weight does not determine
developmental maturity!

Rocky turned 5 months old on Monday and he
was already 22 lbs. at his *4*-month checkup.
I'm not starting solids until 6 months.

-- Anita --

I had one baby who was 12 lbs. at birth and around 30 at six months and
he did not eat solids regularly until 8 months.

You just can't win, it seems to me--if baby is tiny they will want you
to add solids early so he can grow. If he is big, he must need solids
because he will be hungry! LOL.

Follow your instincts and wait until 6 months or so. :-)

Leslie

Leslie wrote:
I had one baby who was 12 lbs. at birth and around 30 at six months and
he did not eat solids regularly until 8 months.

Wow...my 2.5 year old doesn't even weigh 30 pounds. You must have
incredibly strong arms!!
becky

wrote in message
ups.com...

Leslie wrote:
I had one baby who was 12 lbs. at birth and around 30 at six months and
he did not eat solids regularly until 8 months.

Wow...my 2.5 year old doesn't even weigh 30 pounds. You must have
incredibly strong arms!!
becky


LOL .. My 3.5 year old doesn't even weigh 30 lb ) (scrawny pipsqueak that
she is)


--
Pip

My girls :
Abby - 8 weeks early now 8 1/2 months old and crawling backwards only
Jasmine - 5 weeks early now 3 1/2 Favourite saying "I don't think so!"

"Inside me is a skinny women screaming to get out........but I can normally
keep the b*tch quiet with cookies"

--

Wow...my 2.5 year old doesn't even weigh 30 pounds. You must have
incredibly strong arms!!
becky


LOL .. My 3.5 year old doesn't even weigh 30 lb ) (scrawny pipsqueak
that she is)

starts calculating.....even if weight gain continues at the same rate, N
would have to be 4.5 to hit that weight, I understand weight gain slows not
speeds up in the toddler/preschool years.

He's starting to look lanky! Didn't think that was possible for a 2.5 year
old, but there is no other description!

Anne

wrote:
Leslie wrote:
I had one baby who was 12 lbs. at birth and around 30 at six months and
he did not eat solids regularly until 8 months.

Wow...my 2.5 year old doesn't even weigh 30 pounds. You must have
incredibly strong arms!!

Actually, funny story . . .

When I joined the YMCA when Teddy was four (and weighed 75 lbs. and
was still be carried quite a bit because he was the baby still at that
time) I had to take a fitness test. I did dismally except for the
biceps test (lying flat on my back and lifting weights up and down) in
which I scored an Excellent!

Leslie

wrote:


Is there any real reason to start solids this early just because she's
a bigger baby?

Not in my opinion or experience.

Won't she just nurse more if she gets hungrier & my
supply will adjust?

Yes, and if she is hungry for solids she'll take to them at 6mos. My first
son was at or over the 100% in both length and weight and he wanted
absolutely nothing to do with solids until he was 10mos old. He was
perfectly content with breastmilk. He also grew and developed perfectly
fine on breastmilk alone.

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
EDD 4/06

wrote:
Hello -

My 2nd baby will be 5 months old on 11/11. She was 9lbs at birth and
now weighs about 17 pounds and is 26 inches. At her 4 month checkup my
ped. said I could "try to wait until 6 months to start solids but she'd
probably need to start earlier because physiologically she's like a 6
month old." I hadn't heard this before as my first was a smaller baby
and wasn't really interested in solids until closer to 8 or 9 months.

I'd be worried about taking my baby to a doctor who doesn't know what
"physiologically" means!!! There's no reason at all that a baby who
happened to weigh 9 pounds at birth has a different rate of development
on the inside. In any case, I think taking to solids early or late is
often a matter of personality as well. My son was 9 lbs. 5 oz., born at
41 weeks, and thought solids were pretty much of a parlor game until he
was 8-10 months old. He didn't hate them, he just didn't dive into
them. My daughters, both of whom weighed less and were born just before
their due date, glommed onto all they could get at 6.5 months, and by 8
months were darned near ordering their own pizza. (Okay, I'm
exaggerating a *little* ... ;-) )

I agree with others, it's the old "your baby is so little s/he needs
solids" and "your baby is so big s/he needs solids" game. I don't know
what they tell the parents of Absolutely Average babies, but probably
there aren't any anyway!

--Helen