My second child (25 now)wasn't interested in solid foods until she was about
11 months old, and even then just a bit.  We offered her foods for self
feeding from 7 months or so.  The ped wanted to do a heme. check and found
it still quite high. By the time she was 13-14 months old she was eating
more--self feeding, foods with concentrations of iron (not rice cereal!).
She has always been a very good eater--appropriate amount, varied,
adventursome tastes, choosing nutritiously.

The baby who is grabbing foods from people's plates is sending another
message. We can offer foods for self feeding sometime in the second half of
the first year and trust that the baby will eat when she needs to--unless
there is some forcing or pressure to conform to average standards.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee

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