Not too early..please! (Baby Food Hints/Tips)

Member Name: tracyhay

Product:	Baby Food Hints/Tips
Date:	16/01/03 (152 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: reducing risk of allergies, baby led, healthier

Disadvantages: odd one out!

Parents these days seem to be in such a rush to get solids into their babies. Normally they say "he was a big boy" , "she was waking at night" or "he watches my food" none of these situations indicate a baby's need for solids! My son is 5 months old and wearing 9-12 month outfits yet I've not rushed out to buy rusks (containing more sugar than a doughnut) and he looks at dp's beer but doesn't mean I'll give him a beer!.
In fact the World Health Organisation and NCT recommend solids should not be introduced until at least 6 months (check their websites if you don't believe me!) and until then babies should be exclusively breastfed. The required enzymes for digestion of solids are not present before this age and if you give a baby a food they cannot digest properly you can end up causing intolerances and allergies. You have to be especially careful if you have a history of allergies, things like dairy and wheat should be left until baby is over a year at least. I personally believe in letting my baby lead the way, their wants are their needs. The tongue pushing out reflex is there for a reason and being able to sit unaided should be reached before solids come along. I am going to occasionally sit my son in front of various soft vegetables after the age of 6-7 months and see what he does. This has been done in a study and babies played with the food aged 5 months +, at around 8-10 months they started eating, no need for mushing. There was a control group who did the traditional mush solids thing and by a year old the group that was left to choose whether to eat solids were better eaters than those who started earlier on mush! When i do introduce solids I will make food myself organic preferably.
I really don't understand this trend to give solids asap, what's the hurry?

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