How to wean your baby from a mothers point of view

Stephanie wrote:
"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..

Still, when you look at it all together and ask yourself
what's the *benefit* in introducing solids at 4 months versus
6 months, and for the most part, there just plain old *isn't*
much of a benefit for most babies.

My sister believed, though I don't know the basis, that waiting can cause a
missed window of opportunity in which the child would be willing to try
foods. I state this only as one possible reason. It never felt like a very
compelling one to me.

Oh, I do think this is true, and IIRC there is some evidence
for it. That said, I don't think that window closes before 6 months ;-)
It may also be a bit of a chicken/egg thing. Infants who have sensory
issues with food may be more likely to resist solids for longer,
creating an association between delayed introduction of solids and
longer term issues getting infants to accept solids.

Is this known, though - is there research on this?

I do know that I ate everything through my childhood and was very open (except
for shellfish and organ meats, although I loved bone marrow), and my mother was
very proud of it, thinking that her having introduced me to any and all kinds of
food was responsible for it. I don't think it's necessarily the case (see
below), but she does deserve some credit as the thinking at the time was that
children should be introduced slowly to new foods. My father deserves some
credit also, as Mom's only reservation was about introducing spicy foods, and he
gave me Mexican food from the get go, one of my great food loves.

I did the same thing with my son, and he ate everything when he was little.
But, at about 2 1/2, bam, his tastes went to the 'typical' kid foods, chicken
nuggets, what have you, and he avoided vegetables. He's only slowly increased
his repetoire of foods, now he's 15. Also, his favorite foods by far is bread
and fish, which were two things he took to with gusto in infancy (those were
even two of his first few words - "bwe" and "voish". Cinnamon, too, oh my gosh
his first taste of cinnamon was like a rocket ship to heaven. He wasn't good at
saying it for some time, though ;-) But I must have been feeding him
everything through that 'window', even after 2 1/2 I surely tried. But he's a
fairly picky eater still.

So I think there is some kind of strong inborn taste preferences that can
over-ride what a parent does.

Banty

Banty wrote:
Stephanie wrote:
"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..
Still, when you look at it all together and ask yourself
what's the *benefit* in introducing solids at 4 months versus
6 months, and for the most part, there just plain old *isn't*
much of a benefit for most babies.
My sister believed, though I don't know the basis, that waiting can cause a
missed window of opportunity in which the child would be willing to try
foods. I state this only as one possible reason. It never felt like a very
compelling one to me.
Oh, I do think this is true, and IIRC there is some evidence
for it. That said, I don't think that window closes before 6 months ;-)
It may also be a bit of a chicken/egg thing. Infants who have sensory
issues with food may be more likely to resist solids for longer,
creating an association between delayed introduction of solids and
longer term issues getting infants to accept solids.

Is this known, though - is there research on this?

I recall looking into it several years ago and I remember
finding studies that suggested late introduction of solids or
lumpier foods was associated with more feeding difficulties down
the line. (By late, they were generally talking about 8-12 months,
not 6-7 months.)

snip
I did the same thing with my son, and he ate everything when he was little.
But, at about 2 1/2, bam, his tastes went to the 'typical' kid foods, chicken
nuggets, what have you, and he avoided vegetables. He's only slowly increased
his repetoire of foods, now he's 15. Also, his favorite foods by far is bread
and fish, which were two things he took to with gusto in infancy (those were
even two of his first few words - "bwe" and "voish". Cinnamon, too, oh my gosh
his first taste of cinnamon was like a rocket ship to heaven. He wasn't good at
saying it for some time, though ;-) But I must have been feeding him
everything through that 'window', even after 2 1/2 I surely tried. But he's a
fairly picky eater still.

Same happened with my first. He was a very adventurous
eater until around 2.5 years. I think that's not uncommon. On
the other hand, it's also the case that my first probably had more
babyfood and had it for longer than any of my other kids, so that
might be relevant as well. Some of the studies I saw related things
more to texture (e.g., when lumpy foods were introduced) rather than
taste (i.e., when purees or any foods other than breastmilk/formula
were introduced). I don't remember when DS1 started having foods
with more texture relative to when he started with solids. He
does still have issues with texture, which seems more of an issue
for him than taste.

So I think there is some kind of strong inborn taste preferences that can
over-ride what a parent does.

That could certainly be as well. I doubt there's any
single factor that determines all in this ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
[...]
I recall looking into it several years ago and I remember
finding studies that suggested late introduction of solids or
lumpier foods was associated with more feeding difficulties down
the line. (By late, they were generally talking about 8-12 months,
not 6-7 months.)

I haven't looked at the studies for myself, but recall being told by our
health visitor that these studies were on children who had some kind of
developmental delay anyway, and it's therefore now considered dubious
whether they're generally applicable.


All the best,

Sarah
--
http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

Sarah Vaughan wrote:
Ericka Kammerer wrote:
[...]
I recall looking into it several years ago and I remember
finding studies that suggested late introduction of solids or
lumpier foods was associated with more feeding difficulties down
the line. (By late, they were generally talking about 8-12 months,
not 6-7 months.)

I haven't looked at the studies for myself, but recall being told by our
health visitor that these studies were on children who had some kind of
developmental delay anyway, and it's therefore now considered dubious
whether they're generally applicable.

I found at least one that was not done on kids with
developmental delays. Let me see if I can dig it up again...

Here you go:

J Hum Nutr Diet. 2001 Feb;14(1):43-54.Click here to read Links
The effect of age of introduction to lumpy solids on foods eaten
and reported feeding difficulties at 6 and 15 months.
Northstone K, Emmett P, Nethersole F; ALSPAC Study Team. Avon
Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood.



AIM: The study aimed to document the dietary patterns of infants
and determine the development of feeding difficulties as perceived by
the mother according to the age at which lumpy solids were introduced
into the diet. STUDY DESIGN: Information was collected from a
geographically representative population of 9360 mothers of infants born
in 1991/92, part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and
Childhood (ALSPAC). Self-completion questionnaires enquiring about the
foods and drinks consumed by the infant and any difficulties experienced
by the mothers in feeding her child at both 6 months and 15 months of
age were collected. METHODS: Infants were divided into three groups
based on the age at which they were first introduced to 'lumpy' solids:
10.7% were introduced before 6 months of age, 71.7% were introduced
between 6 and 9 months and 17.6% were introduced after 10 months of age.
The foods eaten by those introduced before 6 months and after 10 months
were compared to those introduced between 6 and 9 months. Behaviours and
problems as reported by the mother were also assessed. RESULTS: Those
infants who were introduced to lumpy solids at the earliest ages
consumed a greater variety of family foods at the age of 6 months, while
those introduced at 10 months or later had been given fewer solids of
all types by 6 months of age and at 15 months were significantly less
likely to be having family foods when compared to those introduced
between 6 and 9 months. At each age, those introduced late (10 months or
older) to lumps were more difficult to feed and had more definite likes
and dislikes. CONCLUSIONS: A significant difference was observed in the
variety of foods given to infants at both 6 and 15 months according to
the age at which they began to have lumps in their food, and feeding
difficulties were more likely to occur when lumps were introduced at or
after 10 months of age.