Starting Solids

[Mandala]

Hi, I'm new and wanted to say "hello." I was also wandering when you all started your children on solids. My baby is 6 months now and not interested. What is a good first vegan food? How long should I wait (she's breastfed and I'm concerned about her iron levels after 6 mo. old).

[pixiemammy]

Hi Mandala,

We started DD on solids at 6 months (exclusively breastfed till then) and she was having none of it... We stopped pureeing her food and just mashed it and she much preferred it, they say a 6 month old is often too old for purees, they like texture.

It took her a few weeks to get used to it, even now at almost 10 months, she's still mostly breastfed. I used to mix expressed milk with her food so the taste wouldn't be too new. First foods we used were babyrice, pear, courgette, banana and apple. I'm not introducing soy or gluten till she's a year old, but that's just me...

Kellymom.com (http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html) has excellent information on iron needs in breastfed babies, we're not supplementing her. I got my iron checked to be on the safe side and I take an occasional sup of floradix liquid. Make sure your b12 intake is good too!

A friend once told me "Until they're one, it's just for fun!", so don't worry about it, offer food when you eat, put a little on the side of your plate and finger-feed it to her, keep it fun, I used to nibble on the top of my banana to make it squishy then let her eat it off the banana, she thought that was great!

Hope that helps...

[Mandala]

Hi Pixiemammy,
thank you so much, you put my mind at ease. It's nice to know that I'm not an isolated case :) And I'm definitely getting Floradix.
Thanks again!!!

[kjmckenzie]

My breastfed son was not interested in food until he was a year old so I just went with it and he is absolutely fine and extremely healthy! He first became interested one night when my husband and I were having felafels so that became his first food! LOL He loved them!

[Mandala]

Thanks, now I'm a lot more comfortable with not starting solids before my daughter's ready, but how do you deal with the looks and comments people make as if she were to get sick if I don't give her "real food?":(

[vegma]

LOL! What can be more "real" than breastmilk? People have forgotten that babies and young children are supposed to nurse! That's their problem, not yours! ;) We breastfed exclusively for a little more than 6 months. Then I mixed rice cereal with "fresh-squeezed" milk. :p Then I went to purees. I wish I hadn't! If I were to do it over, I would do like the pp's suggested and wait until baby was ready to eat soft foods from my plate. We never used iron supplements either. In fact I never worried about ds's nutrition throughout his infant and toddler years because he was such an avid breastfeeder!

[pixiemammy]

Our doc told us she's happy to see an ongoing breastfeeding relationship with less solids, she said her main problem is people weaning babies onto too much solids too fast like it's a competition!

Whenever we get comments about her food I say flippantly "well she's already getting the best milk in the world, why would she want to give that up", in the following split second when the person realises that to continue the conversation they're going to have to discuss your breastmilk, they usually give up quite fast!

seriously though.. the proof is in the pudding as they say and if your DD is happy & healthy then just point that out to any naysayers!

I must say it's refreshing to talk to people who don't have their LO's on 3 solid meals a day with snacks in between, thanks guys:)

[Mandala]

Indeed, it is refreshing and comforting for that matter. It's not always easy to find supportive people around you where you live. I really appreciate the help and advise I got from here. Thanks!!! :o

[Mandala]

Now that I'm ok with putting the solids on the back burner for a while, I have another concern, DD doesn't have any teeth yet. She started teething at 3mo and now at 6.5mo she still has not teeth. How long does it take? I hope they're in there :(

[pixiemammy]

9 3/4 months - teething forever but none yet! i have heard that this can be why they are slow to start solids too!

[Mandala]

Oh my goodness, that makes sense!! Is this common in babies who are BF exclusively? :confused:

[pixiemammy]

late teeth? I don't think so. it's common in my family though, early walkers, late teethers..

we should count our blessings.. less chance of getting bitten while feeding:eek:

[veganloraine]

i can't remember when the baby got his teeth as i'm suffering from "baby brain", but i do remember that he seemed to be teething FOREVER before they finally came in.

also, i would initially avoid baby cereals. i've heard that as adults we're so carbs-addicted because for many of us it was the first food item we were introduced to.

[kjmckenzie]

I think a dentist once told us that the later teeth come in, the stronger they are and less prone to cavities.

Also, we used the homeopathic remedy called Chamomilla for ds when he was a baby and we never had any teething issues. The teeth would just pop in unbeknownst to us!

Good luck!

[Mandala]

Thanks!! I've used Gripe Water in the beginnig when DD was 3mo, it worked like a charm. Now she doesn't fuss as much, but she makes so much saliva that she often chokes on it :( and her hand hardly ever leaves her mouth :p