This discussion on starting solids and growth has been very interesting to
me.
My first son started solids at five months, when he crawled over (yes, he
was an early crawler), nudged our two dogs out of the way, and sampled the
dog food. He then joined us at the table.
But my second child and only daughter had no interest in food at six months,
seven months, eight months, nine months. Not only did she not try to eat it
when sitting on my lap, if I offered it to her (on my finger or a spoon) she
would clamp her lips shut and turn away. Anything that went into her mouth
was promptly spat out again. She also would not have anything to do with a
cup. Finally, just before she turned ten months old, she ate some sweet
potato, and that was the very gradual beginning. At a year, she was eating
maybe two or three teaspoons of food a day.
But in line with Kathy's comments on growth - this was a slow-gaining baby.
She weighed 8 pounds at birth, and only 17 pounds at a year. She was not
thin-looking, but was certainly small. Yet developmentally she was doing
well and was walking at nine months and beginning to speak at ten months.
As she grew older, we discovered that she had a number of food allergies
(inherited from both sides of her family tree). It was clear to me that she
somehow knew this and this was her reason for refusing foods.
She has always been on the small side; however, at age 21 she is an inch
taller than me.
My concerns about the 4 to 6 month "rule" are that it may encourage parents
to force-feed their babies who don't want food. I remember people telling me
I should hold my daughter's nose so she'd have to open her mouth to breathe
and then I could spoon some food in. Others said I should refuse to nurse
her until she'd eaten something. (As if you could explain this to a
seven-month-old.) I was told that she'd never learn to use a spoon if she
didn't start by seven months (she has impeccable table manners today).
But when I look at her growth charts, compared to her brothers who did start
solids closer to the 6 month mark, certainly her rate of growth was slow
during the second six months of her first year. Perhaps, though, that was a
reasonable trade-off for avoiding allergic reactions? And is it significant
in the long run?
Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario
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