Why do we wait until at least 6 months of age to introduce solids?
The baby's digestive system is very immature for the first 6-12 months of their life. Waiting to intoduce solids give the digestive system a chance to mature. Early intoduction of solids may result in the food being poorly digested and other unpleasant reactions such as gas, stomach upset and constipation. Delaying solids also gives them a greater protection from illness, with the greatest immunity being while the baby is exclusively breastfed. To this day, Cooper has not had a single illness or fever. He has had a runny nose on a few occasions, but never enough to say that he was actually sick. Delaying solids also decreases the risk of food allergies, protects baby from iron deficiency anemia and helps mom maintain her milk supply. Babies go through several growth spurts in the first 6 months of life. Typically these growth spurts occur during the first fews days at home, 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months and 6 months. Since my supply is based off of supply and demand, it only makes sense that I let Cooper nurse as much as he would like to establish and maintain a healthy supply of milk. The last reason is that by delaying solids until he is ready, he is able to feed himself. Which leads me to baby led weaning.
What is baby led weaning?
Simply put, baby led weaning means letting your child feed themself. By the age of 6 months most babies are reaching for food and are developmentally capable of feeding themselves. You basically give your child food in a size and shape that they can handle. They will decide exactly how much they want and need to eat at each meal. Yes it is messy! I will not deny that it can be messier than feeding a child purees, but messes can be cleaned up. :)
Now that you know why we follow baby led weaning, we wait for Cooper to be ready. He is currently 5 1/2 months old. We are waiting for him to go through that ever important 6 month growth spurt before we begin the introduction of solids. In the meantime, we will start having him sit in his high chair and join us for meal times. We will be starting him off on one meal each day until he starts showing cues that he is ready for more. His first foods are going to be banana, avacado and sweet potato. The banana and avacado, will not require any prep and will be given to him in their natural state. I will be either steaming or roasting the sweet potato and giving it to him in fry shaped pieces.
