Delaying Solids

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I feel the need to write this post. I know that all of you were told to start your baby's on solid foods at four months old (or even younger) but research has been done that shows that especially in breastfed babies, it is actually beneficial to delay starting solid foods until they are at least 6 months old. You don't even have to introduce them then. Some people wait until 9 months or later, and some babies aren't even interested in solid foods until closer until one year old. Some doctors will recommend not introducing solids until one year if your family has a history of food allergies.

There are a lot of myths about starting solid foods. One being that big babies need solid foods sooner because they just aren't getting "satisfied" from breastmilk or formula. The truth is that breastmilk and formula (especially breastmilk) contain more calories and fat than ANY other food you could give to your baby. Therefore they would end up less satisfied from solids than from exclusively nursing and could even lose weight if they end up filling up on solids and don't take in enough breastmilk or formula. Another is that solid food will help baby sleep through the night. This holds no relevance to me anyway, because I don't really care if he sleeps all night or not, but there is also no medical evidence that this is true. Many moms find more sleep disturbances after starting solids, especially if done too soon, because of tummy upsets and constipation. Did you know that solid foods in the first year are really only for play and learning and are not supposed to account for calorie intake or nutritional value?

It is our plan to delay starting Trevor on solid foods until he is at least 6 months old. We have done our research and Josh and I feel this is the right thing to do for him. That is why we will not be allowing anyone to give him a taste of their food this Thanksgiving. Yes, one little taste could hurt and its not up for discussion. Besides that, Josh and I want to be the ones to give him his first taste of solid foods, when we are all ready.

Here is a link that explains in detail why we will be delaying solids. I encourage you to read through it, it has some really interesting information! :)

Why Delay Solids?

*Trevor is 3 months and 5 days old*