Where do they get it from??

[braydensmum]

Hi how is everyone? Just wanted to ask a silly question!

My baby is 4 months next Monday and I was thinking of starting him on solids in the next week or two. I know that the CHN's say not to start them until bubs is 6 months old. But everyone I have spoken to started earlier with no probs. Even I was started on solids at 6 weeks and I have no allergies and very rarely get sick!? I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who started there baby on solids earlier and actually had problems?? :confused: And where they get there research from?!?

Cheers

Braydensmum :)

[Chickadee]

It's partly that most (all?) young bubs have a tongue reflex to spit things out of their mouth. This reflex disappears at various times but usually by 6 months I think. I could be completely wrong on that though! I tried solids first when my daughter was just under 6 months. Her reflex to spit everything out of her mouth was still there and it was a complete waste poking food in. I kept trying every week or two and by 6.5 months she was keeping it in and actually interested.

There may also be some considerations about young bub's ability to digest more complex foods, and maybe links to health issues later in life (allergies?) though I"m not sure how strong the research is on either of those.

[Kamaikia]

Instead of listening to what others had to say i listened to my baby. I started him on solids at 4 months because his milk wasn't keeping him going for more than 2 hours. I started with a very small amount of farex once a day after a milk feed. At first he pushed it out with his tongue but within a few days he was eating small amounts, and lasting a lot longer between feeds. I think what age to start a baby on solids is something that a mother can't read about, its something you have to decide on your own. If baby's stomach can't handle it just yet i'm sure she will let you know with a bit of crying.

[kailensmum]

I agree. Bub will know when he/she is ready. I too started when he was 16 weeks because he wanted to feed every 2hrs again. Just a little bit of farex after a feed. I only gave it to him once a day to start with, then after a fortnight he had it twice a day. I didn't give him anything else until he'd had farex for a month, because i didn't want to upset him. He now has 3 solid feeds a day and he loves it. But i had no problem with him pushing it out because he was ready for it. I say if he's hungry and shows an interest in your food, then feed bubby.

[LouLou]

With my first child the clinic told me to start @ 4 mths and with my most recent they told me to wait to 6mths (they are only 3 years apart!!).
Instinct and doing what feels right is the best approach, if your child is willing and able to eat solids then go for it , if not wait a few weeks and try again. What the others said is true. There will always be someone telling you to do or not do something. As long as you are aware of the options and keep an open mind, then you are doing the best you can and that's all any of us can do.
Best of luck, and enjoy.... Mealtimes are just beginning... :eek:

[draught]

Hi Brayden's Mum
Although I am a great believer in trusting your instincts on babies needs etc, I am also very strongly in favour of waiting until 6 months to start your baby on solids. This is the current recommendation of the World Health Organisation - it is not just a figure that CHN's come up with on their own. While you are lucky and have suffered no adverse consequences for having started solids early yourself, our diets have changed a lot over the last 20 years so children today have more allergies than their parents did. And friends who say they have no problems may not be talking about health problems which don't become apparent utnil your children are teenagers, which have been strongly linked to early introduction of solids.

Also think about why you want to start early. Although it is a new and exciting experience for your baby, if he is thriving on the breastmilk or bottle, why start something he doesn't need yet? In fact babies are still reliant on milk (formula or BM) for most of the first 12 months of their life for nutritional value - the introduction of solids is more about them getting used to tastes and textures.

As for research - I have read reports of international longitudinal studies conducted on hundreds of children and babies which are the basis of the recommendation for 6 months. The reasons include that the babies digestive tract is too immature to properly digest solids, which can cause allergies to develop, and lead to disease's such as coeliac. There is also a strong link with obesity. There are other findings but those are the highlights if you like!

At the end of the day, of course it is up to you and judging your own child's needs. But those are some of the reasons for the 6 month recommendation.

[mimi]

Although I am a great believer in trusting your instincts on babies needs etc, I am also very strongly in favour of waiting until 6 months to start your baby on solids. This is the current recommendation of the World Health Organisation - it is not just a figure that CHN's come up with on their own.

Although it is a new and exciting experience for your baby, if he is thriving on the breastmilk or bottle, why start something he doesn't need yet? In fact babies are still reliant on milk (formula or BM) for most of the first 12 months of their life for nutritional value - the introduction of solids is more about them getting used to tastes and textures.

As for research - ... babies digestive tract is too immature to properly digest solids, which can cause allergies to develop, and lead to disease's such as coeliac. There is also a strong link with obesity. There are other findings but those are the highlights if you like!... But those are some of the reasons for the 6 month recommendation.

I agree absolutely, Theresa! Thanks for the 'highlights' ... but sad for Braydensmum, is the fact that this is one of my favourite subjests ... so here is the long version!!:)

The recommendations have certainly jumped around over the years - though there has never really been a real consensus [until the last 15-20 yrs] - depending, earlier, on 'the fashion' rather than the science of infant nutrition!!

Australian 'recommendations' have been from
Early 1900's - 12 months of age,
1927 - 6-7 months,
1972 - 3 months [though many were started as early as 3 WEEKS at that time],
1985 - 4-6 months ... [1990 WHO says 6 months]
to today's 6 months.

World Health Organisation, the NHMRC of Australia and the Royal Australian College of GPs recommendations all say that SIX months is the time to start. You will still find food labled 'from 4 months' because Foods Standards Australian & NZ c has not yet come into line with the recommendations [there is pressure from baby food companies to keep the '4 months' there]. Under 6 months, if baby is hungry then he/she should be offered more milk feeds.

There are MANY health risks associated with, giving ‘solid food’ (i.e. anything other than breastmilk - or in the case of artificially fed babies, other than infant formula) too early.

Breastfeeding and the late introduction of solids both seem to have a beneficial effect on childhood health AND subsequent ADULT disease.

An infant’s digestive system and kidneys are too immature to cope with other foods, and early introduction of solids can also cause iron deficiency and nutritional imbalance.

Pancreatic amylases, necessary for digestion, are inadequate up to 6 months. As a result, the ability to digest solids is limited, if not absent, until 6 months - so bub's tums can be filled with food that is 'useless' to them.

It is understood that breastmilk iron is utilised extremely well ... until other food or fluid interferes with it’s bioavailability. This makes babies with early solid introduction more prone to iron-deficiency anaemia.

Early solids introduced has been shown to increase incidence of eczema, respiratory symptoms and colic.

There are no advantages with growth. In fact, research involving low-birth-weight babies showed that those who were exclusively breastfed for 6 months, at age five, had thrived just as well in terms of growth as those who received solids.

Solids introduced too early may contribute to allergies. Maturing intestines secrete a protective cover [IgA], which prevents allergens passing through the intestines into the blood stream- setting up the allergy. This protection is very weak in the early months and only peaks at around 7 months.

A baby given solids will NOT necessarily sleep better and sleep may even become more disturbed, because of the increased exposure to allergens.

Research has found that children, who had received solid too early, had abnormal increased amount of body fat - a risk for later obesity.

Even natural salts in foods can cause stress to a baby’s kidneys.

Giving your baby gluten containing cereals ( wheat, oats, rye and barley) before 6 months of age increases the risk of coeliacs disease.

Early introduction of cow’s milk may be associated with increased rates of subsequent adult disease such as type 2 diabetes [small amts in yoghurts, custards etc can be introduced at 9 months - and CM as a drink at 12 months]

Wheatgerm (as in wholemeal foods) may irritate a baby’s bowel lining if tried before 9 months. Adult bran-based cereals should be avoided until 2 years of age.

Some vegetables have nitrates in a concentration level too high for young babies.

You should aim to start your baby on solid food sometime after he is 6 months of age.

#Start slowly and offer foods only after milk feeds - 1 or 2 tiny spoonfuls of food on the first few attempts.

#Offer only one type of food at a time and only introduce a different food ideally every 5-10 days. This is to enable you to assess for any allergic or adverse reaction to new food, and also it is good for your baby to learn to distinguish different tastes.

**REMEMBER! Many traditional first foods like custards, biscuits, some commercial baby foods and even rusks are NOT a single food, but a combination of foods.

In the RARE instance that a baby requires solid food between 4 & 6 months, these indicators must be present

- baby can sit up and has good head control
- and has lost the extrusion reflex (that's when the tongue just automatically pushes out the food /spoon etc.)
- baby showing GREAT interest in what you’re eating - continually shouting and reaching for your food [remember that babies do put EVERYTHING in their mouths and this is not always an indication of hunger]
- baby is not gaining ANY weight (small weight gains are acceptable!).
- baby appears hungry after breastfeeding (only if baby is being
breastfed/formula fed on demand - i.e. without limits).

Aren't you glad you asked?????!!! :o

[Chickadee]

I spotted the following article on the BBC Health news site, about a study done to investigate whether giving wheat based (gluten) products before 4-6 months had any measurable/statistical effect. As usual, results are a bit mixed, especially since the study focused on families where the risk of coleaic disease was already higher than average, so the study conclusions may not apply to everyone!


Gut problem link to baby weaning
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4554661.stm