Nikki Lee wrote: " At some point, they have to start solids. They will  start, just like 
everything else (teething, walking) when they are mature  enough. "

Last year I listened to Gill Rapley give a talk about when to start solids - it was a real eye opener, and I believe that there were many HCP's who maybe (actually probably!) were fixed on the mashed veggie with the spoon type of feeding. Nikki pointed out in her mail about being mature engough to feed oneself. Well, Gill Rapley showed a young baby (4 months I think) given some chunks of food. The baby put the food to her mouth, but didn't eat much (if any), she was merely playing with the food. Gill showed the same baby a few months later and you could see that she was "mature enough" to start really munching at the chunks of food. There were many clips of babies self-feeding in this talk and I particulary remember another baby (I think aroung 9 months?) with a bowl of salad - he was clearly chosing what he was going to eat out of that bowl (cucumber I think). 
Important to note was that these babies were eating with their hands, chunks of food that were big enough for them to grasp (like a quarter of a banana, or a brocoli stalk with flower) so that they had to 'bite' pieces off and not put the whole piece straight into their mouths. Another interesting comment was the fact that many people think that "babies should learn to eat with utensils (i.e. spoons)" otherwise they will not have the skills when they are older. Gill put this misnomer to rest by showing examples of older todlers previously introduced to solids following the "Rapley Method" who were very adept at feeding themselves with utensils.

On a personal note, a friend has a girl of 9 months (breastfed). We were eating chicken legs a few days ago and her daughter was clearly ready to give them a go! After peeling the skin off I gave her one (with moms permission!) - that baby purred like a newborn at the breast as she mouthed the chicken leg! 

Anyway, I hope that I have been able to spread accurately some of the info from Gill Rapley's talk - if there are others (Gonneke or Heleen) that also listened to Gill, maybe they can add comments?

groetjes

Sara Bernard BSc (mother to three - one of which would still rather eat everything with his hands; fine if he would just refrain from wiping his hands everywhere after!).

The Netherlands








             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html