Introducing Solids to Breastfed Baby

Breastmilk is a perfect complete food for your baby. There is no rush to start solids. Most babies start solids at about 6 months. I suggest you hold off on solids until the baby seems to want more food to be satisfied. Nature says wait until the child can pick up food and feed himself and wait until the child has some teeth for solids. AF

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Is your baby spitting up a medical problem or a laundry problem? Here is some info on the spitting up side of the issue (toward the bottom they specifically address adding rice cereal to thicken breastmilk):

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html

Here's some info on why to delay giving solids until 6 months:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html

Best to you and your baby!

The latest guidelines from all of the medical organizations say to wait until at least 6 months before offering anything besides breastmilk or formula. Cereals can be highly allergenic and are not really digested well. They also are pretty much empty calories, which decreases the total amount of caloric intake because they have no room in their tiny stomachs for the good stuff. Congrats on making it this far with pumping and breastfeeding. I don't envy the pumping moms because it is a lot of work. I can understand the temptation to add solids early to help cut back on the demand for breastmilk because the pump is exhausting sometimes. If you are not having any reduction in supply at the pump, I would not recommend trying any substitutes until your babe is a little older. There could be several reasons that your son is spitting up. You don't say if he's spitting up at the bottle or the breast. I'd have to have more details to offer any advise in that department. My 13 month old eats when she wants to, but is still primarily breastfed. She self feeds a wide variety of foods and drinks from a cup, but not enough to thrive on solids alone even though we offer her foods at every meal and snacks too. Ultimately, pay attention to your son's cues. Make sure he has met the milestones needed to be able to eat safely like sitting unassisted, pincer grasp and loosing the tongue thrust reflex. When he is ready and interested, then start with something like mashed ripe avocado because of the high amount of fats and nutrients. A good book to read is Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. It sounds like you're doing a great job! Keep up the good work!

I would check with your pediatrician, but ours recommended waiting until 5 1/2 or 6 months. We started our son on rice cereal pretty close to 6 months. And definitely in a bowl, not in a bottle. Good luck!

K.,
From the responses so far it looks like everyone is against giving your little boy solids just yet. I say go for it. My son had the same problem as yours and I told my ped about it. She said to sart putting rice cereal in his bottle because it thickens up what he is drinking and therefore it helps it stay down.
It worked for us. Once he stopped throwing up we continued to feed him like that for a little while and then the dr. told us to stop. She did not want hom to get hooked on taking solids from a bottle. My son was about the same age as yyours at the time as well.
You have to do what you think will best help your child.
I hope you find something soon.

Feed with a spoon and use breast milk to mix it up. Now is a good time to start.

Hi K.,
I am a first time mom, and have breastfeed my son exclusively too, good for you!! My son spit up too when he was younger (about 3 months on) and when I talked to his doc about it, we determined it was acid reflux. He put him on Zantac and he was a different child. Of course there are other signs of problems besides spitting up, but I would talk to your doc. If you have more questions about it just send me a message, I'm not a dr but I can tell you about my experience.

My son didn't show interest in foods until he was 6 months. After talking to his doc he said "I would know" when he was ready. I thought he was crazy, but when your son is NOT content with what you're able to feed him and he wants more then I would try solids. Feeding him solids won't necessarily stop the spitting up, my guy actually spit up more until he was used to the cereal. Also, they strongly encouraged me not to put cereal in his bottle because then he may eat more than he needs and he won't feel full until it's in his belly and then he'll feel sick because he ate too much causing more spitting up. Again if you have any questions just send me a message, best of luck!
BTW, I'm sorry to call someone on this, but you shouldn't give babies yogurt until they're at least 8 months old and it shouldn't be mixed with anything (ie cereal) so when you do feed it to him you'll know whether an allergic reaction occurs because of the yogurt and not another added ingredient. Also, the yogurt should be plain and made with whole milk rather than reduced fat and only give fruit yogurt if the baby has already tried that fruit separately and on it's own. NEVER give strawberries or citrus before 1 year.

I too exclusively breast feed and we started our little guy on cereal at 4.5 months (by spoon). I stopped the rice cereal immediately as it gave him an upset tummy; I spoke to the doctor at his 6 month check up and she recommended oatmeal instead of the rice cereal. You can also try avocado (does not have to be rice cereal which can cause constipation especially in breast fed babies). I think 4.5 month to 6 months is the range in which solids are started, give you Ped. a call.

i waited until 6 months, which is within in range that the American Medical Assoc. recommends - 4 - 6 months. http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_Solids.htm.

i gave him oatmeal cereal because he is chronically backed up and rice binds up your insides.

your guy may not be ready to eat yet, but you can try by offering him some watered down cereal with a spoon. you can use expressed breastmilk, or formula if you don't feel like hand expressing or pumping. after he gets the hang of eating, you can make it thicker by using yogurt or babyfood fruit or vegetables, if your ped. oks it. you can also buy premade cereal mixes at the grocery store (oatmeal/apples/raisins, museli/yogurt/raisins, etc).

the only reason to start feeding cereal and baby foods is so they can earn to swallow and eventually chew. if he's spitting up it cold be that he is eating too much. and some babies just spit up. sometimes cereal helps but not always. but he needs the milk and if you add cereal that takes from the nutrients he was getting before. cereal and baby foods dont have all the stuff breastmilk has. try to wait til 6 months or until you notice that he drools over your food.

also just to add, your baby doesnt have to have pain to have reflux.

Your little guy might not be ready for solids yet. Most MDs recommend waiting until babies are 6 months old before starting them on cereal/solids. There really is no rush. The research shows that cereal doesn't help babies sleep better. In fact, if you start too soon, it can upset their tummy and give them gas pain.

Personally, I didn't introduce any solids to my daughter until she was 8 1/2 months old. When I did introduce cereal, I mixed it with breast milk and fed her from a bowl. She hated it. It took me two weeks of trying to figure out that rice cereal just wasn't her thing. She loved oatmeal though. It wasn't long after she started eating oatmeal that I introduced other food to her. She loved fruit (especially peaches).

It was exciting trying out new foods with her; however, figuring out what and when to feed her was a lot of work (at least for me as a new mom) and felt like a chore at times. It made me miss the days when all I had to do was offer her breast milk.

I'm sure everyones experience is different. I have friends that started solids sooner and it worked out fine for them. I was glad I waited. Today, my daughter is 15 months old and is a great eater.

I think solids to start with are for fun...not much gets into the baby. I do not even try with my kids until they are 6 or 7 months old. Breastmilk is the best stuff. you don't have to start with rice cereal you can start with mashed fruits and vegetables. A lot of people are allergic to grains which does not make it an ideal first food. Doctors like it because it is enriched with iron. Breastmilk does not have as much iron as formula but what it has is much more easily absorbed by baby so there is no need to worry about not enough iron for a mostly breastfed baby. Whatever you feed I would not put it in a bottle. I like to wait to intro. solids when baby can pick up pieces of food and feed themselves. They get to experience the different tastes and textures of food. I really look at it as a learning experience. My boys loved food right away and the girls were very picky. My oldest daughter would not eat solids until she was more than 12mo. and she was still very picky. It turns out she has lots of allergies. She was protecting herself. Initially I was worried by her behavior but I had friends at La Leche League that pointed out her nice fat thighs and that her behavior was within the range for normal so I just relaxed and went with it. She is now a happy 8yr who eats just about anything I serve her. Don't worry too much about solids. Relax and have fun and listen to your baby they are each so very unique.

We were given the go ahead for solids when my son was 4 months old. There are certain "signs" to look for...there are physical characteristics (good head control; able to sit assisted such as in a high chair); interest in food that someone else is eating (my son stared down EVERY bite we took). The other think is that they have outgrown the tongue thrust reflex, which can be determined only by attempting to spoon feed.

I do not recommend putting cereal in the bottle unless it was recommended by your pediatrician for medical reasons. The only way to introduce solids is by the spoon.

Also, I recommend using oatmeal instead of rice cereal. The rice cereal is binding and an cause consitpation issues, whereas the oatmeal is good for aiding in regulating digestion (although most BF babies don't have issues with that).

I recommend asking your pediatrician and getting their opinion. They, of course, have certain protocol of what they instruct, but may be able to tell you whether they think your baby is ready for solids or not.

I personally would not, the earlier you feed a baby, the larger the chance of them getting allergies.
I do not know the right age but I wouldn't a 4 month old mommy's milk is superior!!
Found this article for you:
http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bnutrition/0,,3vp7,00....
God Bless

Definitely do with a spoon. With a bottle there's a choking hazard. But why start so early? There's really no need and in fact, research shows that there's a higher risk of allergies if you start before 6 months. Of course, if he still seems hungry after nursing or wants to nurse more often then it's a good time to start and for future reference, it's always a good idea to talk to your pediatrician first about such things. He might get constipated after starting cereal, so make sure to also introduce baby prunes (a little every day) so that he doesn't get constipated. My son is 25 months old and still gets prunes every day.

My pediatrician recommended that I wait to introduce solids until 6 months. So I did. She didn't need anything until then AND the thrust reflex of her tongue was not interfering with her eating. So it was a pleasant experience for both of us. I recommend waiting AND not ever putting cereal into a bottle, only spoon feed.
Good luck.

I'm in exactly the same position as you, except my son is 6 and a half months old. I introduced rice cereal mixed with breastmilk at 6 months. The doctor suggested putting rice milk into a bottle a few months ago, but since my son has no problem putting on weight I decided we didn't need to do that. He's also had some congestion that the doctor attributed to reflux, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain. The rice cereal in the bottle supposedly would stop him from spitting up, but what about when he's at home and you breatfeed? That won't be affected. I've also hear that there is a risk of choking and at my son's daycare you have to sign something for them to be able to give him a bottle with rice cereal. However, I think you should go with your gut. Have you talked to your doctor?

My breastfed baby spit up a lot too. Turns out this is NORMAL (though disconcerting to parents) and is not a reason to change anything, including starting solids.