Extended Breastfeeding

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Comment by Karen on July 25, 2009 at 12:11pm

Here is an interesting article about babies first foods. http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/best-first-food-for-baby.html It has valuable info about iron levels in breastfed babies. I breastfed exclusively until my son was 6 months old and introduced a tiny bit of food then. We started with mushed avocado. My pediatrician advised me against starting with cereals and when we did introduce them I ground the grains myself so they weren't iron fortified.

Comment by efrat on July 25, 2009 at 9:27am

ericka, the only thing i've heard (and also know from experience) about rice cereal is that it can be constipating. cereal that's from oatmeal or multigrain has the benefit of iron but is less binding.

Comment by Ericka Soileau on July 25, 2009 at 8:17am

Recently, a friend of mine with a 9 month old was told by her pediatrician to avoid rice cereal until 1 year, something about digestion...anyone heard this?

Comment by Bonnie P on June 19, 2009 at 11:20pm

My baby did not sleep any longer during the nights after we introduced solids either. I think you're right, if your baby did stop nursing during the night all of a sudden, you would get engorged! I remember when my son slept 7 hours through the night after usually waking every 2-3 hours to breastfeed, and I ended up getting a plugged milk duct from the engorgement! But if your baby begins to sleep longer periods gradually, your milk supply will adjust accordingly. Babies who sleep for longer periods during the night tend to drink lager quantities during the day, so the baby ends up getting the same amount of breast milk, just the timing is different. It should not effect your supply negatively at all.
Cherylyn, as for the Vitamin D, I agree! Sunlight is the best, easiest way to get your daily dose! I'm from Canada, and the intensity of light is such that it's very difficult to get enough Vitiman D from sunlight without exposing the skin so much that it becomes a health risk (increasing the risk of skin cancer). For that reason, I give my baby a Vitamin D supplement of 400 IU daily, which I'll be able to stop once he's drinking enough fortified cow's milk (at age 2 when I plan to wean). I know that in other parts of the world, this isn't necessarily needed.

Comment by Cherylyn on June 19, 2009 at 11:03pm

My babies don't seem to sleep any longer at night when I give them cereal. We sleep with our kids in our bed when they are infant to toddler age, and I've only had the occasional night that the baby slept long enough that I woke up engorged. Your milk supply will adjust to the baby's demands. The more solids he eats, the less breast milk he will require, and your body will compensate for the change in demand. If it's a gradual change in his eating habits then the milk supply change will be gradual as well. It's amazing how well our bodies are made for this!

Bonnie, thank you for pointing out the need for iron at 6 months. That's a really good thing to keep in mind. Also, the baby needs more vitamin D starting at about 6 months as the breast milk changes. Sunlight is the absolute best way to get vitamin D, so take your baby outside to soak up the sun as much as possible. It's healthy, and my babies always love being outside.

Comment by Rene' Dierking on June 19, 2009 at 10:10pm

Bonnie, thanks for the info! I have talked to some gals who have said that the rice cereal has allowed their baby to sleep through the night. I was thinking, though, how that would work since we do the co-sleeper just until John Paul wakes up and then I have him in bed to nurse overnight. If I didn't nurse him, I think I'd get way too engorged! How will that work with not feeding overnight? Will that affect my milk supply negatively?

Comment by Bonnie P on June 19, 2009 at 9:46pm

Hi René! No, from all my research I knew that my baby did not need ANY form of extra food other than breast milk until 6 months, so we waited until then to introduce solids. Then we started with whole grain rice cereal and moved along introducing one new food at a time until now, when we're just starting to introduce milk products at 9 months. I originally wanted to start with some pureed meat as his first food, but I couldn't seem to get it to a fine enough consistency so that he'd take it. I also (like Cherylyn) make all my own food for my baby, except the infant cereal, which he needs for the iron content. Iron stores in babies start to deplete at around 6 months and they would have to eat a whole pound of beef daily to get enough iron, so the cereal is really a must in my opinion. However, I found that the regular cereals (especially the rice) constipated my baby terribly, so I found cereals that are whole grain and ones that you add breast milk to instead of the ones that have added powdered formula. I mean if breast milk is so much better for babies that formula, why would I give my baby a "just add water" cereal that had powered formula in when I could pump or express and have him get the best nutrition? The cereal that we use also happens to be organic, which wasn't a high priority of mine, but it's a nice bonus. And it costs the exact same as the white flour/just add water/non-organic cereal. But I digress! Another side note: I love the book _The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding_ that the La Leche League has put out, such an amazing wealth of knowledge there!

Comment by Tammy Miller on June 19, 2009 at 8:23pm

Nothing except breastmilk until 6 months of age. Then we started with soupy avocado and banana, seperately.

Comment by Rene' Dierking on June 19, 2009 at 8:12pm

So did any of you introduce the rice cereal mixed with breastmilk at 4 mos or did you all wait until 6 months to just do a banana or some type of meat like the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book that La Leche League says? I'd be interested to know your thoughts. Thanks!

Comment by Cherylyn on June 19, 2009 at 11:24am

I agree with efrat and Tammy. I usually start giving my babies solids at about 6 months. Most of my kids by then are staring at my plate while I eat, or actually trying to grab the food off of my plate. That's a big indication to me that they're ready to try some. I don't buy baby food. I make what everyone else eats and cut it up smaller or grind it for the baby. It's much easier to cook for the whole family that way. When they're first starting solids, I cook a lot of squash, yams, mix some unsweetened applesauce with baby cereal, and simple things like that. I breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and slowly introduce solids at that point.

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