Hello, Nikki.
You wrote:
If a reason to delay starting solids is the baby's lack of interest, why
not start solids if a baby is begging for them? Wouldn't that be a sign of
developmental readiness and interest?
I am sure that many babies could handle the foods well when they show
an interest. But remember that babies at that age are very oral and want to
put *anything* they see into their mouths, even more so if they see other
people doing it. It doesn't necessarily have anything at all to do with
gastrointestinal tract readiness to handle the foods.
As I wrote to Ann privately, my daughter, my second child, breastfed
(almost--which I will explain) exclusively until she was 9 months old. She was
born allergic to dairy, although I didn't figure it out until she was 3
months old. But at 5 months, she seemed to go through a longer-than-usual growth
spurt, so I gave her one baby spoonful of a baby food one day, then waited to
see what would happen. She got very ill, throwing up for hours. We went back
to exclusive breastfeeding. At 6 months, and 7 months, and 8 months, I also
tried one spoonful of food. I no longer remember what order or which food
caused which problem (she's 21 years old now!), but each month I tried a different
food: cereal, meat, fruit, veggie. Each food gave her a severe problem,
though each food did something different. That first month, she was vomiting.
Another month, she screamed in pain for hours. Another month, she broke out in
a rash. I don't remember what happened on the fourth month. My pediatrician
said not to worry. He said that the enzymes to digest solid foods just
hadn't "kicked in" in her body yet, and to keep offering something once a month.
Eventually, she would do just fine. He was right. At 9 months, the food I
gave her had no effect. We were quickly able to introduce a wide variety of
foods (except the dairy that we already knew was a problem). She had no further
bad reactions.
During those months that my daughter's body couldn't handle the solid
foods, she was definitely interested in them, and would try to grab them off
my plate if I was holding her on my lap. I found that I had to protect her
from green beans the way other mothers had to protect their babies from crayons.
She was perfectly capable of swallowing the food, but the rest of her body
was not ready to deal with it once swallowed. Of course, the only way to know
this is to try the food and watch what happens with the baby. But I frequently
share this story with moms who want to give solid food because their baby is
reaching for food from the other family members or because their baby has
teeth. (I always remind parents that babies can be born with teeth, but they
certainly aren't ready for solids at birth. And some babies don't get that first
tooth until 14 months, but can handle solids long before that. Teeth have
nothing to do with readiness for solids.) I tell parents that if they really
have their heart set on trying solids early, they should watch the baby carefully
for reactions.
Dee
Dee Kassing, BS, MLS, IBCLC
Collinsville, Illinois, in central USA
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