I am wondering what this mom will do when baby shows a readiness or even eagerness to begin eating solids ( or has this happened already?)  We have had discussions in the past about the wisdom of allowing exclusive breastfeeding to go on for very long periods of time, but in most of those cases, it was the baby who was refusing to eat anything but breastmilk.  At some point in time, differing from child to child, breastmilk needs to be supplemented with other foods in order for the child to receive optimum nutrition.  Also, what would be the effect on a child who is giving mom cues that he is wanting solids, but those cues are ignored?  This may not be the case for this child, but am wondering what happens if this should occur?  BTW, I also had a very allergic child who was almost exclusively breastfed until about 14 months of age (earlier attempts with rice cereal/fruits were not enthusiastically receivied, so I did not push it - at that point he was not cuing for foods, I just thought it was time to start.)  What I did was to slowly add foods generally thought to be non-allergenic for most folks, mixing them with breastmilk.  I got some recipes and baked simple breads/crackers using rice flour and breastmilk.  He also had his hematocrit tested, which was OK - a little low, but not changed really from when he was a younger baby.

Just some musings at 3am - not an unusual time to be up if you work night shifts and have your sleep schedule all screwed up.




Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
mailto:[log in to unmask]

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