Dear Ann, My name is Donna Kimick - I am an intern LC -(hopefully taking the
board exam in July) - I have three children, Keivn 13, Bryan 8 and Meagan
almost 4.
With my first - I was young (27- not that young - but no experience) and I
only nursed him for 3 weeks - told to stop due to my illness (just needed
antibiotics) wished I would have know more back then. He was introduced to solids
at 3 mths - at that time that was the recommened age. With my second son Bryan
- I did wait a little longer maybe 5 -6 mths and he was nursed much much
longer - almost 3 years. I then educated myself and knew what I was doing was
right.
Then came my princess Meagan - there was no doubt in my mind that this one
too would be exclusively breastfed. At a family vacation - I gave in to my
husband and sil and one time at 3mths gave her a soy formula bottle "so I didnt
have to hide in the restuarant and feed her" - That was the worst and the best
thing I could have done!! A few hours later she vomited for what seemed like
hours to me. That one day cemented my decision to nurse her for as long as she
needed. I learned how to discreetly nurse from that day on. She also had a
major problem with my eating dairy - so I eliminated dairy from my diet - and
exclusively breastfed her for at least 10 mths if not a whole year. My decision
to do this besides that fact of her dairy intolerance was mainly due to
"listening" to Dr Jay Gordon, I joined a chat group with him and learned so much
about infant nutrition and that nursing exclusively for at least a year was the
way to go. She gained the weight "SHE" needed to and was thriving
developmentally, emotionally and physically. I had confidence in knowing that my milk
was the best choice for her. I started her off very slowly, I never did the
spoon thing with her - I gave her cut up small pieces of veggies and fruit and
let her feed herself. - She played and ate and that was fine with me, because I
knew that breastmilk was still the main source of her nutrition.
I now know that the first two were given solids too soon. My daughter is
still nursing and has not had any cows milk. I also learned from Dr. Jay about
"open gut" and how food proteins can absorbed into the blood stream and cause
allergies and sickness in babies under 6 mths. ( I hope I got that one right).
Unfortunately there are many doctors that are not educated in lactation and
child nutrition or believe in old standards. My daughter still does not have
cows milk and I see no reason to introduce it now. She does occasionally have ice
cream (small amounts) and she does at times have stomach problems still with
it. My health care providers are fine with all my decisions because they know
that they are educated decisions.I also have confidence in what I decide to do
for all my children, and they respect me for that. My daughter has been very
healthy, has never been on antibiotics and just this last month had her worse
virus. Because I was still nursing I know that I helped her fight this virus
faster. I truly believe that it is a good idea not to introduce solids til
close to a year "when" exclusively nursing. Formula fed babies may of course need
that extra nutrition. Breast fed babies do not.
I hope this was helpful to you -- good luck,
Donna Kimick
Intern LC
Long Island NY USA
"It's the lucky baby, I feel, who continues to nurse until he's two."
Antonia Novello, MD, MPH, DrPH
Surgeon General 1990-1993
<<I have been asked to write an article about children who exclusively =
breastfeed past the AAP recommended age of beginning solids. I have =
heard many mothers say that they waited for eight, ten, twelve months =
before beginning solids.
If you have a child who was breastfed only for this length of time or =
longer, I would appreciate hearing from you about
why you waited (or the child waited), if there were any problems with =
growth or anemia, and if the child was later sensitive to other foods or =
subsequently developed any type of allergies. What was the reaction of =
your health care provider?>>
"It's the lucky baby, I feel, who continues to nurse until he's two."
Antonia Novello, MD, MPH, DrPH
Surgeon General 1990-1993
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