Re: milk supply and when to start solids

[Guest guest]

Leann,

so are there signs to watch for, to know when your infant is ready for

some food?

i thought the biggest sign was when they don't seem satisfied with milk

and are hungry all the time, nursing all the time without being

satisfied.

this happened to me and my son when he was around that age, 9 mo. or so.

i wanted to keep only nursing him, but he was a very big boy (9 lbs at

birth and just keep GROWING) and i thought it was time for food, and he

DID seem happier and more satisfied with a little food.

having said that, there would be STILL lots of days for the next year or

so when he would have only breastmilk and would be very happy. if he

wasn't feeling well, if i wasn't feeling well, it was nice to just nurse

for one whole day, or most of a day, and we were both very happy.

he nursed til he was four, and then, only in the morning and at night.

he wanted to continue but by that time i was getting a little freaked out

nursing a completely cognizant little human by then, and he was fine with

it. (to this day i don't know if my mom knows he nursed til he was four.

she would have completely freaked out, like i was some kind of weirdo.

so as much as i didn't want to be, i was probably influenced by her

somewhat. As it was, she couldn't understand why i wouldn't let her give

him a bottle!!!!!!!!!!!!)

he borders on the gifted and talented (qualified to take algebra and his

SAT's in 7th grade; it wasn't my idea) and la lecher will tell you this

is not unusual.

he had a surprising vocabulary by the time he was 3 or 4, using a lot of

big words like his father and i use.

we like to 'joke', affectionately, in our family that 4 was a very big

year for . at four he was weaned, potty trained, and learned to ride

a bicycle, all in one year. the potty training was very frustrating; he

just DIDN'T CARE. he would sit in his business and get diaper rash and

had not the least amount of interest in the toilet.

I'm just glad he was out of diapers before he learned to ride a two

wheeler! THAT would have been funny, had there been overlap!!

he is now, for the most part, a very happy, healthy, pleasant to be

around 13 year old.

however, since i just started eating WAPF, my son and husband won't even

touch the raw milk, kefir and yogurt. they'll eat the butter and raw

cheese, tho. and for breakfast almost every morning i make my son a

shake with raw yogurt (with the cream), some kefir, a raw egg yolk, a

banana and frozen strawberries.

so i am very concerned for both the health of my dh and son as the SAD is

very much ingrained in them and i don't know how to change that. they're

just not open to all my 'new weird foods'.

i started off talking about nursing and when to feed solids, and have

gone into this long soliloquy about our son. sorry this is so long!

laura

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 06:07:19 -0000 " ebaypeeps " <happygardeners@...>

writes:

and i might be wrong here, at 9 mo. a baby probably needs food.

I want to throw out that some babes have no interest in solids, even

right up to 1 year of age. I'm not saying all babies, but in our

culture there is such a *push* to get solids into babies at 3 months

that our gauge for when they are ready is probably a little damaged.

And then you will also find 6 month olds who will grab pieces of

cooked meat out of your hands and gnaw contendedly!

Leann

[Guest guest]

> so are there signs to watch for, to know when your infant is ready for

> some food?

When they grab it out of your hands. Seriously, mine always made it

very plain; they'd follow the forks with their eyes and their hands.

> i thought the biggest sign was when they don't seem satisfied with milk

> and are hungry all the time, nursing all the time without being

> satisfied.

Oh no, that's a sign they're trying to increase your supply for a

growth spurt. Josie would nurse literally all day every 3 months or so.

I mean, I would nurse for very nearly 8 hours straight. The next week

something amazing would always happen--she'd turn over, or sit up, or

start crawling or something. Louisa I don't think ever did this, but

then, she was the one I had the ridiculous supply with.

Lynn S.

------

Lynn Siprelle * web developer, writer, mama, fiber junky

http://www.siprelle.com/

http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/

http://www.democracyfororegon.com/

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message-----

From: Lynn Siprelle [mailto:lynn@...]

> so are there signs to watch for, to know when your infant is ready for

> some food?

When they grab it out of your hands. Seriously, mine always made it

very plain; they'd follow the forks with their eyes and their hands.

>>>>>>>>>>I'm not sure that's a true sign of being ready for solids.

Babies will reach for most things and pop them into their mouths. One

of my 5 children had trouble with solids when started at about 6 months.

I tried every few weeks and it wasn't until he was close to 9 months

that he was able to eat solids.

With my last one I was *told* to start solids at 6 months because she

was starting to go longer and longer between BM's. She was using

everything in the breast milk and going longer than 2 weeks without one.

There was no constipation or other problems. I still waited a few weeks

more to start solids and even then she still preferred nursing to

eating.

I do (humbly) agree with the poster about getting rid of the bottles and

nursing as often as possible. I did like the Mother's Milk tea but also

bought herbs bulk. I'm not sure if they helped increase my milk or not

because I was never able to pump anyway so could never measure that

weigh.

Perhaps you will notice more and heavier diapers that will give you an

indication that your baby is getting more.

[Guest guest]

>>>so are there signs to watch for, to know when your infant is ready for

some food?<<<

I learnt (from Nursing Mothers Assoc. of Australia which is now Australian

Breastfeeding Assoc.) that from about 6 months the baby's need for iron

increases and you should start some solids then - but any earlier than that and

you're risking food allergies.

>>>i thought the biggest sign was when they don't seem satisfied with milk

and are hungry all the time, nursing all the time without being

satisfied.<<<

That can be a sign that the baby is having a growth spurt and the frequent

feeding boosts your supply. I suppose it depends how long it goes on for.

Though, by 9 months he probably does need more food.

>>>i am very concerned for both the health of my dh and son as the SAD is

very much ingrained in them and i don't know how to change that. they're

just not open to all my 'new weird foods'.<<<

The older they are, the harder it is to switch them. As someone else said

earlier, it's probably better not to say anything and make small changes where

you can. It'll be more difficult in your case because you don't do a lot of

cooking, otherwise you could just slowly switch to healthier ingredients here

and there without them noticing. Let them know how good you feel when you eat

right and maybe, someday, they'll start to cotton on.

Cheers,

Tas'.

[Guest guest]

the biggest sign is when they stare at you, practically salivating,

as you chew your steak;)

babies constantly change their nursing habits so there's no real way

to tell if they want solids by how often they go to the breast.

erica z

> Leann,

>

> so are there signs to watch for, to know when your infant is ready

for

> some food?

>

> i thought the biggest sign was when they don't seem satisfied with

milk

> and are hungry all the time, nursing all the time without being

> satisfied.

>

> this happened to me and my son when he was around that age, 9 mo.

or so.

> i wanted to keep only nursing him, but he was a very big boy (9

lbs at

> birth and just keep GROWING) and i thought it was time for food,

and he

> DID seem happier and more satisfied with a little food.

>

> having said that, there would be STILL lots of days for the next

year or

> so when he would have only breastmilk and would be very happy. if

he

> wasn't feeling well, if i wasn't feeling well, it was nice to just

nurse

> for one whole day, or most of a day, and we were both very happy.

>

> he nursed til he was four, and then, only in the morning and at

night.

> he wanted to continue but by that time i was getting a little

freaked out

> nursing a completely cognizant little human by then, and he was

fine with

> it. (to this day i don't know if my mom knows he nursed til he

was four.

> she would have completely freaked out, like i was some kind of

weirdo.

> so as much as i didn't want to be, i was probably influenced by her

> somewhat. As it was, she couldn't understand why i wouldn't let

her give

> him a bottle!!!!!!!!!!!!)

>

> he borders on the gifted and talented (qualified to take algebra

and his

> SAT's in 7th grade; it wasn't my idea) and la lecher will tell you

this

> is not unusual.

>

> he had a surprising vocabulary by the time he was 3 or 4, using a

lot of

> big words like his father and i use.

>

> we like to 'joke', affectionately, in our family that 4 was a very

big

> year for . at four he was weaned, potty trained, and learned

to ride

> a bicycle, all in one year. the potty training was very

frustrating; he

> just DIDN'T CARE. he would sit in his business and get diaper

rash and

> had not the least amount of interest in the toilet.

>

> I'm just glad he was out of diapers before he learned to ride a two

> wheeler! THAT would have been funny, had there been overlap!!

>

> he is now, for the most part, a very happy, healthy, pleasant to be

> around 13 year old.

>

> however, since i just started eating WAPF, my son and husband

won't even

> touch the raw milk, kefir and yogurt. they'll eat the butter and

raw

> cheese, tho. and for breakfast almost every morning i make my son

a

> shake with raw yogurt (with the cream), some kefir, a raw egg

yolk, a

> banana and frozen strawberries.

>

> so i am very concerned for both the health of my dh and son as the

SAD is

> very much ingrained in them and i don't know how to change that.

they're

> just not open to all my 'new weird foods'.

>

> i started off talking about nursing and when to feed solids, and

have

> gone into this long soliloquy about our son. sorry this is so

long!

>

> laura

>

>

> On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 06:07:19 -0000 " ebaypeeps "

<happygardeners@m...>

> writes:

> and i might be wrong here, at 9 mo. a baby probably needs food.

>

>

> I want to throw out that some babes have no interest in solids,

even

> right up to 1 year of age. I'm not saying all babies, but in our

> culture there is such a *push* to get solids into babies at 3

months

> that our gauge for when they are ready is probably a little

damaged.

>

> And then you will also find 6 month olds who will grab pieces of

> cooked meat out of your hands and gnaw contendedly!

>

> Leann

>

>