Can any of you BF mom's help me out with starting baby food? I have been making my own and got this super babyfood book and the timeline is so advanced from what I've been doing. DK is 7mo and I've just been giving him baby food here and there, but the book has 7mo old eating two meals a day. I really want to BF at least a year, and I'm afraid if I give him all of these meals that he won't want to. Also, how do I cope with full boobies? I'm kinda stressing cause I don't want to stop BF and loose that bond before I absolutely have to. If he starts eating "real" food, will he still nurse in the mornings, or at night before he goes to bed or am I going to have to quit totally? What about starting a cup? Should I put breastmilk in a cup to drink instead of a bottle when I'm not BF? HELP!!! Thanks bunches ;)

The National Childbirth Trust, who are the UKs BIG breastfeeding advocates the following...
http://www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/article.asp?article=79
... and they have a fairly good reputation in the UK.

For a 7mo I think it is just fine with nothing more then a few spoonfulls once per day of solids to try. Especially if breastfeeding is working with no problems. As long as he's not dropping much in weight, I believe there is no need to be concerned.

I ... got this super babyfood book and the timeline is so advanced from what I've been doing. DK is 7mo and I've just been giving him baby food here and there, but the book has 7mo old eating two meals a day. I really want to BF at least a year, and I'm afraid if I give him all of these meals that he won't want to. Also, how do I cope with full boobies? ...If he starts eating "real" food, will he still nurse in the mornings, or at night before he goes to bed or am I going to have to quit totally? What about starting a cup? Should I put breastmilk in a cup to drink instead of a bottle when I'm not BF? HELP!!! Thanks bunches ;)

Not to be cynical, but if I were selling a baby food book, I'd want to make sure the reader walked away with the impression that pureed foods were critical to human development. I wouldn't want anyone thinking too hard about how humankind got by before food mills and blenders were invented.

I know folks who have bf exclusively for a year or more, using foods only as a little amusement every couple of days. These are some of the most robust children I know.

If your baby seems to want food, go ahead and give it, but don't feel like you have to force X meals per day. If a baby feels ill, or just needs you more than usual, he may refuse all solids and nurse all day, even at 18 mo or so. And then be back to eating normally the next day. My DD ate a lot some days and nothing others, with no particular pattern. You just never know with kids, so it's best not to have too many "shoulds" in your head.

If your baby isn't very interested in food right now, don't bother. Many babies skip the "babyfood" stage entirely, and go right from the breast to whole foods requiring a little chewing action (I mean like bananas and avocado, not steak). Unless your baby has developmental delays, you probably don't need to worry that you'll miss some window of teaching him how to swallow soft solids. What he doesn't do now, he'll do later.

If you follow his cues about how often to feed him, odds are good that you won't get engorged. If, by some chance, he immediately becomes a solid food man and drops off nursing drastically, post here or contact your local LLL leader. But no sense in worrying about engorgement if his interest in other meals is limited. Most babies add foods at a time when they would otherwise have to increase milk demands from mom (by nursing round the clock for a day or two to increase production), so it's not that they cut back on nursing, they just add foods.

When babies do drop a regular nursing (mine didn't do that until after a year, and she started solids at about 6 mo), you might feel a little "full" until the next nursing section, but in general this isn't painful or likely to cause infection. You don't have to give up nursing to add foods, and your baby isn't very likely to refuse you until he's much older. My DD is 2.5 years and would still gladly nurse several times a day. I keep it to one nursing--in the morning--and some days we skip it and I'm still comfortable all day and night, and I still have milk the next day. We got to this point very gradually.

As for the cup, here's my opinion. I don't see any need to introduce a bottle at all, if you don't need it. May as well use the boob to deliver all the milk and when you need to give another liquid (introducing cow's milk or juices, or just adding water) use a soft-spouted sippy cup. If you have to be away from your baby at a time when he's going to need breastmilk, then, sure use a bottle or a cup--whatever works best. But using a cup for the sake of using a cup when you are physically available to your baby will only interfer with the supply and demand balance. It's when your supply and his demand are off that you might get engorged or dry up. If as many breastmilk feedings as possible take place at the breast, you will be less likely to have these problems, as your supply will drop or increase after just a day or two of changed nursing patterns, and babies usually change patterns fairly gradually.

I loved the Super Baby Food book. I didn't do the "super" cereal, but I did use the guidelines to introduce foods and the section in the back is wonderful for how to make different fruits and veggies. My first DD wasn't a big eater and ate 2 cubes of food for a meal for quite a long time, once she even took to eating. My 10-month-old doesn't eat solid food at all yet :bigeyes:

Food should not replace breastmilk at this age. Think of food more like an appetizer instead of a meal. If your baby backs off on nursing, then give him less food. Breast milk is the most important thing for him right now.

Don't worry. He'll eat when he is ready :)

Even if you start a baby on foods, it will not in most cases cause the baby to not want breast milk. Because breast milk in addition to nutrients also provides the baby with comfort and bonding, which they seek out.

I was a working and pumping mom. DD breastfed until she was almost 2.

She had solid food at daycare around mid-morning and then she'd have food with us at dinnertime ('cuz she really wanted what we had). It didn't diminish her milk intake at all.

I guess I made her food, although that wasn't planned. I would take our food and just keep it salt/butter/oil free. Then I'd throw it throw a meat grinder until it was squishy. As DD grew, the food got less squishy.

Don't stress. Do what feels right.

If you want to start solids, your babe will probably just start to bf a little less often, but will still feed! Solids don't necessarily = weaning. I do know of people who don't start solids until much older, especially if you're breastfeeding!! With my youngest, he didn't start having actual "meals" until well after his first birthday, and he's always grown just fine, no problems.

I like www.kellymom.com for bf information.

I also agree with the don't stress, and do what's right for your baby. You're def. not hurting your babe by not having him eat two meals a day at 7 mo. I think you're doing just fine by giving some here and there. Good luck, mama, and good for you for wanting to keep giving your babe breastmilk!

I didnt breastfeed that long, but when they get to that age They need the food. The breast milk is losing a lot of vit. and so forth so more or less the milk is like a drink not a meal anymore. So I dont see any problem with feeding during the day and the breast 3 times a day AM& PM and maybe at nap time around 2:00 would be good. as for breast fullness you can pump to ease it off. Your body will soon get the idea that you don't need to produce as much.

I didnt breastfeed that long, but when they get to that age They need the food. The breast milk is losing a lot of vit. and so forth so more or less the milk is like a drink not a meal anymore.

Your information is completely incorrect. The caloric intake of a baby at that age should be primarily breastmilk (or formula for the non-breastfeeding mother). They do NOT "need" the food. The American Academy of Pediatrics policy is that infants are to be exclusive breastfed for 6 months and that breastmilk is the primary source of nutrition for at least 12 months.

Furthermore, here is some great information on the benefits of delaying solids:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html

Additionally, breastmilk does not lose vitamins over the life span of the child. Iron is the only mineral that decreases in breastmilk as time goes on and recent studies show that the iron in breastmilk is more bioavailable than other sources.
A link on iron supplementation in the breastfed baby:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html

I didnt want to come across as stopping breastfeeding. Just add solids, We were taught from the national academy of sciences to start around 4 months for formula feed babies and 6 months for breastfeed babies. and yes in the second 6 months you lose some protein, vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, folate, riboflavin, magnesium,zinc. Often you can find these in baby cereal that you can add breast milk to when mixing. We were taught lengthy breastfeeding may lead to nutritional deficincies if the child is taking in large quantiy of milk at the expense of other food. That is quote from Maternal & child health nursing book for RN school.

I didnt want to come across as stopping breastfeeding. Just add solids, We were taught from the national academy of sciences to start around 4 months for formula feed babies and 6 months for breastfeed babies. and yes in the second 6 months you lose some protein, vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, folate, riboflavin, magnesium,zinc. Often you can find these in baby cereal that you can add breast milk to when mixing. We were taught lengthy breastfeeding may lead to nutritional deficincies if the child is taking in large quantiy of milk at the expense of other food. That is quote from Maternal & child health nursing book for RN school.We aren't taught that anymore. There has been a lot of study done on breastfeeding, and it's been shown that breastmilk is still superior, even to solids, well into the second year, and beyond. My boy's pediatrician told me the same thing, and I asked him to do some research on the new findings, and he came back and told me that I was right. It's just not something most people learn about. Even L&D nurses don't understand this, and hold tight to what used to be the way of thinking, even though knowledge in the medical field is constantly evolving. If you talk to a lactation consultant, or a LLL leader, women who have devoted a much larger amount of their time to studying and understanding the importance of breastfeeding, they'll tell you the same I have.

I didn't breastfeed but from my own experiences w/ 3 babies baby food never interfered with their desire for the bottle. Since you both are used to nursing I would think that he would still want to just because that's what he's used to. Just my opinion but if your baby wants food give it to him. I began feeding mine cereal at around 6 weeks old and they have always been healthy, strong children. Not to mention intelligent and gorgeous!:)

Good luck!:flower:

Thanks everyone. I think the main thing is that BF is really important to me and I just get kinda anxious at thinking of having to quit. I know that he will still want the breast, but I'm just worrying about the future when he won't. It's actually quite silly. I really am not a high stress kind of mom, and can normally sift through the "junk" of literature, it's just that bf is important to ME, not just for babies health, but for my emotional wellbeing. So, what I've been doing is just giving food in the morning and evening or when DK seems to be continually popping on and off the breast like he wants more food. He loves to eat "real" food and play with his spoon and is constantly reaching for everything to put in his mouth.

"As for the cup, here's my opinion. I don't see any need to introduce a bottle at all, if you don't need it. May as well use the boob to deliver all the milk and when you need to give another liquid (introducing cow's milk or juices, or just adding water) use a soft-spouted sippy cup"
I would NEVER pump to introduce a cup! Miss out on that bonding and snuggling?!!! No way! I meant just giving him a cup with some water in it after meals or whatever. I've actually done this a couple of times and he like to naw on the tip, but usually, the water ends up all down the front of him. Thanks for all the good advice and the websites. I've been to a couple of them before, but it's been a while. I know that it can't be that hard, complete idiots have gone through this and their kids came out ok. And God does protect the ignorant. :)

Sounds to me like you're an excellent mommy.:) Follow your instincts and enjoy this precious first year. It's amazing how fast time flies, they grow up too quick!

I know, SHella13! Already he's 7mo and I'm like "where's my baby?!!" It's exciting, and sad as well.

There is a pretty good chart here (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm) regarding what foods are best to start when. The rest of the site is pretty good for info on making your own baby food if you don't want to buy a book :wink:.

As far as nursing is concered, I wouldn't be too worried. We started my DS on solids (intermittently, he would go days between at first) at 8 months. In the beginning, solids are more of a 'learning' experience than nutritionally necessary- milk needs to be the primary nutrition source for at least the first year. Just offer to nurse before giving any solids.

Regarding a cup, my DS would always get a sippy with water after a 'meal' of solids. However, this was the only time I offered the cup, and it never containing BM. The best way to preserve the nursing relationship is to give him BM 'off the tap' as much as possible.

Honestly, my DS is a little piggy nowadays (he even eats stuff I don't like!) but he still shows *no* sign of slowing down on nursing at 16 months.

I introduced solids to my last two babies at 9 months, steamed yams both times. It was just to play with though, and get them used to eating something that wasn't breast milk. I never made food for them 'special' just didn't spice their chicken when I made it for the rest of us. They went straight to table food, gradually, one thing at a time. I would nurse them before dinner, to get them tanked up first, and we coslept, so they nursed at night.

I only offered food at the table, and nursed them at the drop of a hat. They nursed until they were 28 months.