Article: Encouragement for "Late-Eating Breastfed Babies"

Note: altho this article is targeted at vegetarians, I think the suggestions are good for everyone.

Late-Eating Breastfed Babies
By Dawn Friedman
http://vegetarianbaby.com/articles/lateeating.shtml

Your baby turns six months old and suddenly the whole world is wondering when you're going to start feeding her solids. That's if the pressure didn't already start at four months or even earlier. So you may get out the rice cereal, the applesauce, the green beans and dutifully try to get your baby to eat-only she won't have any of it.
If you're like me, blessed with a small, thin child who is completely uninterested in anything but breastmilk, all that noise about solid food can start getting to you. Especially if you find yourself giving birthday cake to a one year old not interested in eating it (let alone a nice mushed up turnip) with lots of disapproving relatives looking on with ready advice about getting something besides breastmilk in said child. How do you handle it?

Trust Your Baby
You already know that exersaucers, bouncers and walkers are unnecessary in teaching baby to walk; likewise time in a highchair gumming rice cereal is unnecessary in teaching baby to eat. She will choose to get up and walk in a time appropriate for her within a wide span of normal. She will also choose to eat in a time appropriate for her within a wide span of normal. A baby who is prone to allergies may instinctively stay away from solid foods or from certain kinds of food. If she is left to make her own choices about when and how to start solids, then she is likely to make the most healthful choice for herself.

You may hear that you need to begin your baby on solids before she's a year old or she will miss a crucial developmental window, leading to a future picky eater or causing her to suffer poor jaw development. This may be true for formula-fed children who don't enjoy the variety of tastes available in breastmilk and who don't get the right work-out for their jaw and facial muscles by sucking on a bottle, but it's not a concern for breastfed babies.

There are some babies that are just too active to eat. An extremely physical infant (one that begins crawling, standing, walking sooner) may be so busy mastering tasks she has set for herself that she doesn't have time for chores that others set for her, like eating. Of course, all of this activity will mean that she "drops off her curve" as decreed by the doctor's manufactured growth charts (based on formula-fed babies) but as long as she is happy and allowed unlimited time at the breast day and night, there's no reason to worry.

Trust Breastmilk
Misguided relatives, uninformed friends and ignorant health care providers may tell you to take away a nursing and replace it with a solid feeding before your baby is one year old. This might work in making your child hungry enough to eat something she doesn't want, but it's not nurturing, and it means replacing a perfect food (breastmilk) for one that is nutritionally incomplete.

Although our culture expects very young children to be reliant on solids to meet their nutritional needs, this isn't rational thinking. Breastmilk is the only perfect food that babies need for the first year.

It's hard enough eating balanced meals ourselves and we don't have the same restrictions -- small stomachs, trouble chewing, limited interest -- that young children do. Breastmilk is the perfect food. If you are eating healthfully and not restricting the time your baby spends at your breast, then baby is eating healthfully, too. The only challenge in feeding an older baby primarily on breastmilk is in keeping your own energy level up since her caloric needs increase as her size and activity level increases. Taking care of yourself, drinking lots of water and not limiting nursing sessions will keep up your stamina and your milk supply.

Trust Yourself
Your job as a parent is to offer your child opportunities for growth and the freedom to choose which opportunities will work best for her. In other words, you should have fresh, nutritious, baby-safe food choices ready at family meals after your baby is one year old, but it's not your job to make her eat any of them. Sitting her in a chair and dancing a spoon in front of her when she would rather be off trying her new-found crawling skills will probably just frustrate you both. She may want to be part of meals as a social participant or may she want to be busy with other things; what's important is that she have the choice.

When you're feeling overwhelmed with unwanted advice or instructions, retreat to all of the sound research done about the benefits of breastmilk beyond the first year. Talk to other breastfeeding mothers on-line or through your local La Leche League meeting. It can be very reassuring to hear other mothers' experiences introducing solid food.

By listening to your child and allowing her to choose the time to begin eating solids, you are demonstrating your love for her, your respect for her needs and your belief in the wisdom of her instincts. How could any baby ask for more?

This article first appeared at Nurturing Online (http://www.nurturing.ca/)

Send feedback about this article

A thousand thank you's for that article! My daughter is six months old, and I had been giving her baby food per the direction of others. Once I realized it was going straight through her and I was throwing it away in a diaper, I stopped. I felt she was better off just nursing but was feeling unsure until I read this. It helped put my mind at ease!
--Wendie

I just read this article and found it very reassuring! My daughter is almost 14 months and shows no interest in eating. I always offer small bite- sized chunks of avocado, banana or other fresh fruit or veggies that she can eat. She usually takes only one or two bites. She is healthy and growing and nurses when she is hungry. I am not concerned about her at all, but I do get dissaproving looks and remarks from some family memebers who think I am not letting her eat when she of course must be hungry. Thanks for the support in this article!
--Tasha Seyer

Wow, did I need to read this...perfect timing as my child just turned one year old. I am still breastfeeding but recently started giving him more table foods, too. Thinking I was depriving him of learning how to eat with a fork & spoon, I started doubting my day and night breastfeeding - but, no more. I just need the support of like-minded others. Thanks for this eye-opening article.
--Joan

I just wanted to thank you for writing this article. My daughter is four months old, and her doctor wanted to know when I was going to start feeding her solid foods., I didn't know how to respond to her question, so I tried organic rice cereal mixed with my breastmilk, and she didn't like it one bit. I tried a few more times and decided she is completely happy with my breastmilk. Your article just reassured me. Thank you!
--Casady Jones

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