28 years ago, when my first child was 6 wks old, I was "ordered" to begin
iron-fortified rice cereal.  To not do so would assure a risk of brain damage!
I messed with it for a few days, while she wisely rejected it, until I
attended my first LLL meeting.  I looked at all of those healthy babies and
toddlers and asked about their use of rice cereal.  The box went out in the
trash.

I was also told that I HAD to begin solid foods because my milk would begin
to diminish at 4 months and would be completely gone by 7 months.  SURPRIZE!

My second child(now 24) was exclusively breastfed for a year.  At her
10-month check-up the doctor asked what she was eating.  I said that she
wasn't interested in solid foods yet when they were offered at our table.
He checked here hemo. and said, "It is still very high.  She doesn't need
other foods for quite a while." Somewhere around a year she began some
self-feeding of carrots and sweet potatoes (modest iron composition), while
doing a lot of body painting with it.

She had NO teeth at 12 months and my confidence was a bit shaky.  I said to
Dr. "She doesn't have any teeth.  Isn't it unusual for a baby to have no
teeth at one year?"  He replied with a grin, "No more unusual than walking
at 7 months."  He was a great guy!

BTW, her early walking was preceded by two months of miles of crawling, all
accompanied by a lot of carrying on my back in a soft baby carrier (S---g),
which several people warned would delay her motor development.

She also didn't wear hard-soled baby shoes with high ankle supports!!

With all of these STRANGE parenting practices it is surprizing that she grew
up at all.


Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee