Your breastmilk alone is perfectly able and was designed by nature to feed this child exclusively for the first 6 months.

And by saying this I’m not “trying to scare you”, I’m trying to encourage you to maximize your breastfeeding experience, trust your body, and avoid falling into a common “booby trap” of not trusting that your breastmilk is sufficient for this 4 month old.

(see http://www.bestforbabes.org for the origin of the term “booby traps”)

Like a previous poster said, the US is a formula-fed country against which BF babies are compared, when it should be the other way around. Many US docs are very skeptical of breastfeeding because it can’t be measured, quantified, bought or prescribed.

That advice about starting solids so that the baby learns how to use a spoon is strange to me. My twins are 15 months old and are just now learning to use forks and spoons. Does the pedi mean eating off the spoon?? I’ve known plenty of mothers who started solids between 4-6 months and still had babies that wouldn’t eat off a spoon.

Trust your gut! You’re the mom and you know your baby best.
Two Makes Four´s last blog ..Something Beyond Pepto

Some of these comments to me seem to want to scare you, like you would harm your baby somehow to give solids. I don’t think that’s true, and you shouldn’t feel pressure to do it one way or the other. Do what’s best for you and your son, and either way, if you start solids now or in a few weeks, he will be just fine. Good luck!

We were fine with our decision to start at 4 months, but as the parent, YOU have to be comfortable. If your pediatrician is telling you one thing, and you don’t agree, you get the final choice in the matter.

I agree that (most) babies don’t nutritionally need solids until 6 months… unless you happen to birth a toddler, like I did!

The jist of it is this:

“Breastfed babies do not need to have complementary food introduced until about the middle of the first year. Before that time, you will notice some signs that your baby is changing developmentally, in preparation for beginning solids in a few months. You will notice that:

•he becomes more sociable, playing and holding “conversations” with you during a nursing session
•he has a growth spurt and nurses more frequently for a while
•he imitates the chewing motions you make whilst eating — he is practicing!

You will know that he is really ready to start solids when:

•he is about six months old
•he can sit up without any support
•he continues to be hungry despite more frequent nursing which is unrelated to illness or teething
•he has lost the tongue-thrusting reflex and does not push solids out of his mouth
•he can pick up things with his finger and thumb (pincer grasp)

Babies who are ready for solids can usually feed themselves. Mothers often report that they knew their babies were ready when they picked up food from a plate, chewed it, swallowed it, and wanted more.”

All of my (three) kids started grabbing food off my plate at six or seven months… but it was just fun to feel in their mouth and taste. They certainly didn’t eat any noticable amount until about a year, and I would estimate that they didn’t pass the 50/50 mark for calories from food vs. nursing until about age two.

I don’t “do” baby food, and I absolutely will not sit there and shovel glop into their mouths. They ate modified and appropriate table foods from the get-go. MUCH easier!
Tiffany (As For My House)´s last blog ..M&M Stewardship