Starting Solids

[Vivian]

My baby is six months old now and I would like to start solids, but am unsure as to how I combine it with breastfeeds. I still feed him every 2-2.5 hours, but of course, I can't do that once he starts solids as the solids take more time to digest. When should I be giving a breastfeed after a solid meal? I gave him a solid feed once followed by a b/f 2 hours later and he made the most horrific puke. Sounds stupid but I don't know how to combine the two.

[Eleni's Mum]

HI

For my dd and I didn't start solids until she was a little over 6 months as well. I did the slow intro thing, one new food a week to check for allergies. It is generally suggested you start with the cereal and slowly increase the amount, there is a guide on the box. It is also generally recommended that you b/f first then give solids initially and you swap that around at about 8 or 9 months I think. Having said that I stopped the cereal pretty early because I found it constipated my dd terribly. She was still having plenty of fluids, water in a sipper cup, b/f 4 or 5 times a day but to no avail so we moved to the mushy food pretty quickly.

Heinz have a great brochure on solid introduction (no adds for baby food at all in the brochure!) which helped me a lot. She is now 9 months, drinks water with each meal, has a huge b/f still for breakfast, her cereal is either before or after that b/f depending on what time she wakes up and she is b/f generally between meals. Unless shes over tired or not well and then refuses food but loves a b/f. My dd has become my guide and each baby is different. I hope I haven't confused you but I am happy to clarify if needed.

Good luck

[mamafelix]

Yep I agree with Eleni's mum, offer the breast first and then if he's interested try the solids. At this age when they're just starting out it's more about them exploring the wonderful world of food then getting much nutrition out of it- your breastmilk is still the best for that.
Yes also to trying one food at a time- that way if your bubs reacts to anything you know what it was!

Some babys take to solids like nothing else and will be eating 3-4 solid meals a day straight away, others will be less keen- don't worry about it too much, as long as your bub is still getting breastmilk he will be fine until about 9-12months with nothing else.

You can start with something bland like rice cereal or overcooked rice, or mash some banana or avocado, maybe stew some apple?

good luck