when to introduce solids?

[cantthinkofagoodname]

I have a 17lb 16wk old ebf baby. I know that the official advice is to wait until 6mo to introduce solids but my dp is suggesting we do it a bit earlier. She read a baby book (baby milestones) that basically said these guidelines were written by the WHO for babies in less developed countries with impure water supplies and where babies are smaller.

The book also said that babies develop their sense of taste and smell from 4mo and dp is worried our baby will miss out. Baby food labelled "from 4 months" doesn't help matters either.

My gut reaction is to wait but I don't want to be making all the decisions about our baby and want dp to have an equal say (I don't want to claim birth mother privilege IYSWIM!)

As our baby is 98th centile (although also cows milk protein intolerant) should we wait until bang on 26wks to introduce solids? How do we know when our baby is ready?

Are there any studies etc I can show dp regarding optimal age for introducing solids?

"these guidelines were written by the WHO for babies in less developed countries with impure water supplies and where babies are smaller."

It's nothing to do with water, it's about the maturity of the gut. See:

www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html

It is gut maturity. Around 6 months is the time babies are ready for more than just milk. Nothing to do with geography. Nothing to do with a window of opportunity. Having a big/small/average baby on the top/bottom/middle centile is irrelevant.

Signs of readiness are sitting up unaided, loss of tongue thrust reflex, pincer grasp, ability to pick up food, put in the mouth, chew and swallow.

Waking in the night, watching you eat and taking more milk are not signs of readiness.

The guidelines are UK guidelines. They happen to be the same as the WHO ones, more or less. It has zero to do with water and everything to do with good nutrition - and babies normally do not need anything else until about 6 mths. Taste and smell are in place long before 4 mths - these develop in utero and they are important senses from birth, as the baby recognises the smell, and the taste, of his own mother and his own mother's milk.

Clearly, a baby on the 98th centile at 16 weeks is not in need of anything more to grow well, and a baby who has been diagnosed with cows milk protein intolerance should remain on milk alone rather than introduce anything too soon.

A good health visitor should be able to reassure your partner that 6 mths is the best age for most babies.

well done you! You have a healthy happy baby who is clearly thriving on what they are getting!

I'd really recommend the book Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley. I've just read it in preparation for weaning ds, five months and also a stonker. It has lots of stuff about why it's best to wait till six months, and how blw will help them have a good relationship with food.

Blw means they learn to feed themselves from the start, rather than being spoon fed puree's. As such they have a trusting relationship with food, and so are open to new things...this might help your dp realise that early weaning might not be best for a life long openness to foods, which could see them missing out in the long run.

Or at least that's the theory...I haven't done it yet but have heard good things from people that have. Apologies if you already know all this,or are not considering blw.

The longer you can delay weaning the better -not for any particularly scientific reason, just because it's such a pain in the backside especially when they're younger.

They won't starve if you leave it until 6 months.

Which baby book is it Can'tthink?

17 weeks is the absolute earliest to consider weaning. Rather than worry about the number of weeks too much though, I'd consider whether your baby is ready - loss of the tongue thrust etc. If you let her feed herself, then you don't have to worry so much about whether you're starting too soon.

What do you do if your baby is showing the signs of readiness for weaning at 16 weeks though?!

how can you check for loss of tongue thrust? (sorry...hijack)

Pomme - wean them if you want, it's your baby. Advice is not to, then again I disagree with a lot of official advice I'm willing to go with the delaying weaning advice, given whata pain I found weaning to be.

pommedeterre "What do you do if your baby is showing the signs of readiness for weaning at 16 weeks though?!"

You leave a buffer of time to ensure that their tummies are up to it.

It isn't going to make any difference in the long term if you continue feeding them milk for a bit longer and extra milk if necessary if their gut is mature enough. But it is going to make a difference if you give them food too early and they are one of the babies whose guts are not mature enough.

As I understand it, some babies will be ready at 4 months but all babies can handle it at 6. So it is safer to let the 4 monthers wait then it is to risk giving food to a baby who isn't ready.

What's the lastest you could introduce soilds??? Was going to do BLW at around 6 months but I don't see the rush.....What do you think?

I asked this on another thread.. was advised not to delay much beyond 6 months. In an ideal world, I'd leave it until at least 9

DS didn't really eat anything until around 8 months.

He just wasn't that interested.

Don't think mine really ate properly until significantly later than 6m, despite my best efforts. She has suffered no ill effects.

DD attempted baby led weaning today with a chocolate cupcake. Luckily I am definitely not a domestic goddess and it was a baker boys cupcake encased in plastic.

so you aren't of the "no chocolate until they're 25" school of thought then?

pommedeterre

pommedeterre did she buy it herself, 'cos I'd say that was definitely showing signs of being ready to wean.

tryingtobemarypoppins from what i've read the idea of blw is to offer varied healthy foods, what ever you are eating . They really just play with it for the first couple of months building the skills needed to actually chomp it. So with blw even if you offer solids at six months they may not really consume any till mine months say.

lolaknickers
hope you re negative experience of introducing your child to the exciting world of taste sensations doesn't influence too many weaners!
Most of us find it exciting and challenging not a 'pain'. If infant nutrition isn't your thing it might be more responsible to ignore the associated threads.

Sorry that gut maturity thing is out of date.

from ESPGHAN position paper

The available data suggest that both renal
function and gastrointestinal function are sufficiently
mature to metabolise nutrients from complementary
foods by the age of 4 months (12). With respect to
gastrointestinal function, it is known that exposure
to solids and the transition from a high-fat to a
high-carbohydrate diet is associated with hormonal
responses (eg, insulin, adrenal hormones) that result
in adaptation of digestive functions to the nature of the
ingested foods, by increasing the maturation rate of
some enzymatic functions and/or activities (13,14).
Thus, to a large degree gastrointestinal maturation is
driven by the foods ingested."
Also the European Food Standards Agency advice

whonickedmycoffee - the ESPGHAN paper actually states that exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is a desirable goal. It doesn't disagree with UK/WHO guidance at all.

I agree with LolaKnickers about weaning being a PITA though. Messy business.

jemjalla I was referring to the fact that the "gut maturation* theory that several posters have referred to is out of date. Posters can read the paper for themselves and make their own decisions.

whonickedmycoffee - Intersting paper, but it's a review paper off other research and although you hope they have inculded all data when reviewing

The available data suggest that both renal
function and gastrointestinal function are sufficiently
mature to metabolise nutrients from complementary
foods by the age of 4 months (12)

This secion is acutaly based on a paper pubilished in 1974 which is hardly upto date. The WHO it's self has sais there hasn't been enough research on infant weaning as a lot of it is observational and not proper trials. They also don't seem to have reviewed the data on gute maturation themselfs as they used another reivew paper for there sources of information.

They also conculled that.
Exclusive or full breast-feeding for about 6 months is a desirable goal. Complementary feeding should not be introduced in any infant before 17 weeks, and all infants should start complementary feeding
by 26 weeks.

It's why it's quit important for parents to follow guidlines issued by bodies like the who and not change practacies on indivdual reaearch.