Bottle Strikes

For weeks your baby has been taking bottles every few days with no problems, but now suddenly  your baby wants nothing to do with the bottle and screams when it comes close. What happened?!

The first thing to do when this happens is to take a deep breath and remind yourself “my baby took a bottle before, they will again”.

Bottle strikes, just like nursing strikes, happen. There are a variety of reasons they can occur.

-          Your baby is having a growth spurt. During a growth spurt your baby may suddenly decide “why should I take this bottle from someone else if mom is right there?” They also may prefer to nurse.

-          Teething. This is one of the prime culprits for a bottle strike. When your baby teethes it causes pain and pressure in their mouth. Sucking on a bottle can be painful! This may cause them to refuse bottles all together.

-          An off day.  Remember your baby may just be having an off day. They decided hey, today I don’t want that bottle. Today I’d rather just wait for mom.

SSo what should you do if your baby suddenly refuses a bottle?

-First off look for a reason. If teething seems to be the problem try offering something to help with teething pain. An amber necklace, a frozen washcloth, teething toys, or a homeopathic teething remedy are all great options.

-Don’t force things. Just like with a nursing strike they tell you not to force nursing, don’t force the bottle.  Be patient.  The more upset and frustrated you get the more upset and frustrated the baby will get. If you don’t need to offer bottles at this time, take a break. Put them away for a week and nurse and then try again. If you are working and are worried about your baby not drinking milk in the day, look into alternative feeding methods. 

-If your baby has always been a reluctant bottle taker look at the big picture. Is your baby nursing well when you are together? Is the weight gain going well? Some babies do not love bottles and will not drink tons of milk from them.  They will take what they need (sometimes as little as 2 or 4oz) and will make up for things when mom is around.

-If your baby is older, 5 or 6 months, try offering the milk in a sippy or straw cup instead of a bottle.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/nb/nbseptoct94p152.html

All About Solids!

Usually when your baby is about 4 months old you will start getting the questions. “have you done cereal yet?” “you know, we did cereal at 4 months to help our baby sleep better” “It’s totally fine to offer food now! My parents did it!” Even your own pediatrician may start to encourage you to offer solid foods at 4 months.

Let’s start with the basics. It’s stated by many organizations (including the WHO and AAP) that in the first 6 months of life babies should only have breastmilk or formula.  Previously it had been thought by doctors and other organizations that 4 months was a good age, however more recent research into infant health has caused the organizations to change their recommendations to 6 months. Remember no matter when you start solids in the first year of life your baby’s primary source of nutrition should be breastmilk or formula! Solid food does NOT replace milk until after they are 1. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/

Why 6 months? The one big reason for delaying solids till 6 months is to give your babies gut and digestive system a change to mature. Starting solids too soon can cause an upset fussy baby. Another big reason is the “open” gut. Infants younger than 6 months contain an “open” gut which means that there are spaces in the cells of their small intestines that allow macromolecules to pass into the bloodstream. While this is a positive in terms of the antibodies provided by breastmilk it is a negative in terms of solid food. The proteins from these foods can pass through and this is thought to play a role into allergies.  There is no way to tell when your babies gut has closed, but it is generally agreed that its by 6 months. http://www.thealphaparent.com/2011/07/virgin-gut-note-for-parents.html

Many moms are told by their pediatricians to start cereal with iron because your baby needs iron. Ironically this is actually counterproductive. This addition of iron fortified food early actually can reduce how efficient your baby is at absorbing iron. Studies have shown that healthy full term infants do not need any extra iron supplementation. If you are concerned about iron levels in your baby the best course of action would be to get a bloodtest to confirm an issue before adding cereal with iron. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/

Another reason to delay starting solid foods is to protect your milk supply! Many people mistakenly think that frequent nursing and night waking between the ages of 4 – 6 months means that their baby is “hungry” and “not satisfied by milk alone”. This simply is not the case. Between the ages of 4 – 6 months babies sleep patterns and life changes immensely. This is the period of time when babies are growing and developing new skills such as rolling and trying to crawl. Babies are becoming more and more aware of the world around them and may be more distracted when nursing, preferring to “snack” instead of have long meals. Also remember that babies start to teeth between 4 and 6 months and this can cause pain which will lead to more night waking and nursing! If you compare the fat and calorie content of milk vs the fat and calorie content of most foods you can see your baby gets much more nutrition from milk.  http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/babyfoodcalories/  http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/solids-sleep/

So your baby is now 6 months old, are they really ready for solids?  Just because your baby has hit a magic age doesn’t mean they are ready for solid food. It’s a developmental milestone and all babies hit them at different times.  Some babies are more than ready for solid foods at 6 months while some don’t show an interest until closer to 8 or 9 months. What are the signs of being ready developmentally for solids? Kellymom explains it very well:

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

§  Baby can sit up well without support.

§  Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.

§  Baby is ready and willing to chew.

§  Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.

§  Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/solids-when/

So I should start with baby cereal right?

Wrong.  Cereal was originally suggested as a first food because it was considered to be a low allergen food. Nutritionally most cereals are stripped of nutrients. If you have waited until your baby is showing all the signs of readiness above and is over 6 months old their gut should be closed and there is no need to start with cereals at all. If you do feel like you want to start with a cereal go for a whole grain cereal, not a baby cereal.  

Ideally skip straight to soft whole foods such as avocado, banana, or sweet potato. All are nutritious and perfect first foods for your baby!

http://www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2011/12/nine-good-reasons-not-to-use-baby-rice.html

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/first-foods/

http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/lv/lvdec99jan00p130.html

How you offer solid foods is up to you. You can offer puree foods either made yourself or purchased from the store, or you can do large easy to grab soft foods known as baby led weaning. This is when you let your baby feed themselves from day 1 instead of spoon feeding purees. Just remember that food before 1 is for fun and always offer milk before food. Try not to stress out if your baby doesn’t seem interested in solid foods at first! Some babies don’t really become interested in eating until closer to 12 months.

http://www.babyledweaning.com/

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/babyledweaning.htm#.UkBwcNLigVghttp://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/delay-solids/

Remember: babies should be showing all of the signs of solid food readiness before introducing solids! Frequent nursing and night waking are NOT signs your baby needs solid food. Food before 1 is just for fun. Milk contains all the nutrition your baby needs in the first year!!