Hi, Karleen: When I teach my Beyond Breastfeeding Class, I tell the moms that the introduction of solid foods is practice, just like learning to breastfeed in those early days was. But unlike learning to breastfeed, which really must happen in the first few days, the baby has a little more leeway when learning solid foods. He can continue to rely on mom's milk for his nutritional needs while he learns solid foods. I present solid foods as a gradual increase in intake over the 2nd 6 months of life with a gradual decrease in BM intake over the same time frame. I think this helps mom realize that she doesn't have to "stuff" baby from the outset with solid foods in order to meet his nutritional needs. I have worked with several moms over the years who elected to nurse exclusively with no solid foods thru the 1st year. One mom told me her pediatrician told her to do it. With baby #2, she started solids at 6 months and changed pediatricians - her 1st baby started waking up again at night after 6 months because he needed the extra calories! As to whether there is any formal study somewhere in the literature, I'm not sure. I've always looked at the place solid food has in the 1st year and it makes sense to me. Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC Clinical Lead, Lactation Services Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Barrington, IL USA *********************************************** 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