Why Delay Solid Food?

Another great breastfeeding article!

http://www.got-breastmilk.org/Whydelay.shtml

Why Delay Solid Food?
By Jennifer VanLaanen-Smit

Reasons for delaying solids:
Recently the American Academy of Pediatrics advised that the healthy, full-term breastfed baby needs nothing other than mother's milk, including supplemental formula, water, juice, cereal, or other solid food, until he is at least six months old. Breastfeeding experts have long been advocating that solids be delayed until *at least* the middle of the baby's first year. What are the benefits of waiting this long?

Dr. Mendelsohn says, “Breastfed babies do not require solid foods during the first year of life and should not be given any during at least the first six months of life. Until then much of the solid foods he eats passes through his body undigested.”

The younger the baby, the more likely it is that any foods other than human milk will cause food allergies. While solely breastfed, the baby is protected by components in mother's milk that prevent foreign proteins from entering the baby's system and causing an allergic reaction. Between 6 months and 12 months of age, the baby begins producing enough antibodies to prevent such allergic reactions. This benefit is especially important for a baby whose family has a history of allergies. Some doctors may recommend delaying solids for the first year if there is a family history of allergies.

Because a young baby's digestive system is immature, he may not be able to digest other foods as well, perhaps making spitting up, constipation, and diarrhea more common. Waiting until the baby is older lessens the probability that these unpleasant reactions will occur. Recent studies have shown that hydrochloric acid - used to digest most protein - doesn't even appear in the stomach until the end of the seventh month and doesn't reach a peak until the eighteenth month. In addition, ptyalin, the digestive juice for carbohydrates, doesn't appear until the end of the baby's first year.

Although babies continue to receive many immunities from breast milk for as long as they nurse, the greatest immunity occurs while a baby is exclusively breastfed. Breast milk contains 37 known immune mechanisms, and probably many more that are still unknown. However, as soon as the baby is exposed to solid foods or anything other than breast milk - even one bottle of sugar water - 17 of these immune mechanisms are destroyed (by the E. coli bacteria that are introduced) and can never be restored. One study has shown that babies who were exclusively breastfed for 4+ months had 40% fewer ear infections than breastfed babies whose diets were supplemented with other foods.

Solids displace breast milk in the baby's diet. The more solid food a baby consumes the less breast milk he consumes, solids do not add to baby's total intake. Early introduction of solids puts the baby at risk for premature weaning. An inferior food has been substituted for a superior one, and partial weaning has begun.

Breastfed babies are rarely obese, but when they are it is most often related to the early addition of solid foods. This may be because a younger baby is less able to communicate when he has had enough, perhaps resulting in overfeeding.

Breastfeeding provides some degree of birth control. It is most effective, however, when the baby is exclusively breastfeeding - no formula or water supplements and no solid foods. The addition of these cuts down on the amount of time the baby spends at the breast, therefore reducing the amount of stimulation necessary to inhibit ovulation in the mother.

A young baby still possesses the tongue-thrust reflex, which causes the food to be pushed out of the mouth rather than swallowed. This coupled with the fact that most young babies are unable to sit up alone results in feeding that is messier and more difficult. There is also a higher incidence of choking because the art of swallowing is still being mastered. Once the tongue-thrust reflex has faded (between 6-12 months) baby can take a more active part in feeding time.

There is a reduction of respiratory illness. The probability of respiratory illness occurring at any time during childhood is significantly reduced if the child is fed exclusively breastmilk for at least 15 weeks and no solid foods are introduced during this time.

A baby who is ready for solids won't spit them back out, and their poop doesn't come out looking like what went in. And they will have some teeth. The coming in of the first teeth signals the ability to digest food; the eyeteeth and stomach teeth indicate that the baby now has gastric juices to handle foods, but some find their babies demand food some time before that.

The ease of feeding is a factor. Babies who start solids late can feed themselves. Why Delay Solids?

I can't figure out why people want to fuss over feeding their baby solids before she/he is ready. Babies only nurse for a short while even if they nurse for years instead of months, why not just follow their lead?

Breastmilk is easy and superior nutrition. Unlike the guessing game with solids, all the nutrients are right there in the perfect amount. Unlike solids, breastmilk offers your baby important immunities just when the immunities you passed on in utero are beginning to wear off. Breastmilk has irreplaceable ingredients for brain growth, which is at it's greatest during this age. Unlike solids, milk cleans up easy. Breastmilk poop smells a lot better than solid food poop, and is easier to clean up, and babies can poop it out much easier. Breastmilk is *free*, and prepackaged baby foods are not only expensive, but filled with preservatives and fillers. I could go on for hours about the advantages of delaying solids, but I can't think of one advantage to starting them early.

My first child was 12 months old before he started eating solid food, and then it was still just for tastes, not a meal. My daughter was 10 months old, and my third child has started 'tasting' solid food at 10 months old too. I do not spend my time grinding my own baby food nor do I buy jars of baby food. My babies taste what we are eating. For example, my 10 month old likes to taste, mash and spit out strawberries. Solid food makes up to 0-5% of his total food intake. He doesn't have 'food' everyday or even every other day. And all of my children have been healthy children, not overweight, but plump and strong. All have weighed around 25# by 12 months of age.

I suggest that parents wait until their infants start showing the obvious cues of readiness that I mentioned before starting solids. How many adults have you seen that still nurse? My point is, they *all* eat solids eventually...I promise!

I feed my babies on my lap or they just standing holding onto our low table (our table is low to the ground, as we eat Japanese style. We sit on the floor at our table. And my children start eating at an older age so I do not feed them myself. I just give them the food, like a whole strawberry, or small bites on their own dish for them to feed themselves. Yes, it does get messy. They have a great time!

I give my children to start with one new food at a time (only that new food that day, no other new foods in the same day), in case of allergic reaction or any adverse reaction. I give avocados, strawberries, tofu bits, natural organic cereal O's, pieces of cooked potato, bananas, mashed cooked yams, sprouted wheat bread in pieces, peaches, star fruit, pears, apples, papaya, poi, brown rice, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots in small pieces, grated soy or rice cheeses, sliced bananas rolled in wheat germ (to make them less slippery), and the like.

Your baby will fare best if you prepare his food yourself. Avoid commercially prepared baby foods, not only because they are more expensive, but also because they are less nutritious after being processed to death.

Please be aware that many children (12 months of age and younger) have adverse reactions to honey, eggs, cows milk and nuts. Observe your child closely to be sure that there is no allergic physical or behavioral reaction, such as excessive crying or fussiness. Also many children choke on grapes (unless you cut them in half, hot dog round slices (slice then the long way- thinly), and popcorn. And always keep an eye on them as they eat. Learn infant CPR. It can save your child's life.

The size of a child’s appetite will vary from day to day and year to year for a variety of reasons. It can be affected by his level of activity, by his fondness for the food he is served, and by the intake he requires if he is in the midst of a spurt in growth. The child, whether he is in a baby or in his teens, will eat what he needs.

MYTHS CONCERNING THE ADDITION OF OTHER FOODS
"Babies who live in very warm climates need extra water, especially during summertime, to quench their thirst and avoid dehydration." Breastmilk is about 80% water. As long as a baby is allowed unlimited and unrestricted access to his mother's breast, he does not need additional water. Giving a baby water may cause him to feel full, thereby resulting in him demanding to nurse less often and thus getting less of the milk that he requires for proper nutrition and growth. Furthermore, some recent studies have indicated that the kidneys of babies, especially very young ones, are not mature enough to handle large amounts of water and giving water may actually result in health risks for the baby. Additionally the mother receives less stimulation when the baby is given water supplements which may have an adverse effect on her milk supply. "Adding solid food to a baby's diet will help him go longer between breastfeedings and perhaps sleep through the night."

There is absolutely no correlation between the presence of solids in a baby's diet - or the lack of it - and the baby beginning to sleep through the night. If adding solid food to a young baby's diet results in him going longer between feedings, it is probably because his digestive system is having to work overtime due to the strain placed on it by foods he is not physically mature enough to digest.

"Introducing solids ensures that a baby is not deprived of necessary iron in his diet."
Anemia is uncommon in the breastfed baby due to the following reasons: 1) a healthy, full-term infant has ample iron stores at birth to last him at least for the first twelve months of life, 2) although the amount of iron in breastmilk is small, it is readily absorbed at a rate of 49% compared to 4% of the iron in formula. This is due to the high levels of lactose and vitamin C in human milk, which aid in the absorption of iron, and 3) breastfed babies do not lose iron through their bowels as do formula-fed infants, whose intestines develop fissures from damage caused by cow's milk.