Solid Food for Babies & Misconceptions - Don't Get Caught Out!
Today is dedicated to the facts and myths surrounding introducing solid foods to your baby. I am not an expert on this topic, but over the last few weeks, I have done a lot of (google led) information digging on the latest health and breastfeeding experts guidance.
We also started solids today! I have taken pictures and will be sharing about that in upcoming posts, if you're interested in following our journey on solids.
Right, so lets get started.
Your baby is ready for solids when he/she:
- shows interest in solid foods
- puts things in her mouth and drools
- is less satisfied with milk alone
- is waking in the night where they slept longer before
- makes early chewing movements, when putting things in their mouth
WRONG!
The above list of five came from a doctor, but it appears outdated compared to the latest guidance. Lets explore each of the five points:
1. shows interest in solid foods - POSSIBLY TRUE
According to this post on Kellymom (KM), 'four- to five-month-old babies are sometimes very eager to participate at mealtime, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are ready to eat solids – more often it’s just the normal developmental urge to do what everyone else is doing.' What they mean is that, it could be one of the signs, but is not to be looked as a sign in isolation.
2. puts things in her mouth and drools - MYTH
This appears to be more a phase that babies go through - putting things into their mouth. Drooling could also be the same, or related to teething.
3. is less satisfied with milk alone - MYTH
Not so according to KM: 'I really don’t see the sense in this. Ounce for ounce, breastmilk has more calories than most baby-safe solid foods and significantly more nutrients than any type of solid food that you can feed your baby. Studies have shown that for babies under six months, solids tend to replace breastmilk in a baby’s diet – they do not add to baby’s total.'
4. is waking in the night where they slept longer before - MYTH
Again KM says, 'the popular belief that feeding solids at night will help baby sleep through the night has no basis in fact.' From what I have read online (since we have had waking, where before Coco slept much longer at night), baby could be waking up more often at night for any number of reasons. It could be teething, or the three/four month sleep regression. It does not necessarily mean the baby is hungry and thus ready for solids.
5. makes early chewing movements - POSSIBLY TRUE
This one is relevant, although again should not be looked at in isolation as a sign baby is ready.
What signs should you look for as indicators that your baby is ready for solids. See below suggested by KM (and they caveat this as occuring between 6 and 8 months and that you should look at all the signs together as a whole):
- Baby can sit up well without support.
- Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
- Baby is ready and willing to chew.
- Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
- Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.
UNICEF seem to mirror this list of signs above, although they break it down into just three:
- Stay in sitting position and hold head steady
- Co-ordinate their eyes, hand and mouth so that they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth all by themselves
- Swallow food. Babies who are not ready will push their food back out, so they get more round their face than they do in their mouths!
As with KM, UNICEF add that it is rare for all three signs to exhibit in a baby before six months.
My last thought on this post is - why six months? What is the big deal about the six months mark and why is the guidance so heavily insistence on Mums waiting six months to introduce solids? I have covered this in the next post. The full series of posts on weaning is shown below.
Happy Hump day
x
The BFB Introducing Solid Foods Series:
Part I - Signs baby is ready for solids
Part II - Why wait till 6 months
Part III - Best utensils to buy
Part IV - Our messy weaning story/experience
Solid Food for Babies & Misconceptions - Don't Get Caught Out!
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