Ministry of Health - Breastfeeding/Solids

Someone i work with started her son on solids just before he was 3 months old. I couldn't believe it!!!
Crazy .! poor baby.
Good on you mum2 lucas for breastfeeding i am still breastfeeding too about 3 -4 times a days mostly at night!!
Which i have 2 stop as I work fulltime too.
Breastfeeding is hard but worth it. Luke is healthly and well apart from annoying ear infections but that's another story.!!
Luke didn't really take to soilds until 7.5 - 8 months and now loves food
and so exciting just got his first tooth. Well half of it is through!!

Im planning on feeding to 2 and then I'll see.... I always thought it was fo rhippies as well, but hehehe im so not a hippie.

the thing is, someone, NZpiper maybe? can't remember, said about people being uncomfortable feeding or seeing a bigger baby being fed, and thats true, thing here is if more people did it, it would be "the norm" and people wouldn't see it as different. I'm still feeding Charlotte, but she is small, so people don't tend to "look" as it were. Plus, the thing with extended BF is that toddlys don't feed like babies (I think Nikki already said that) they might come up for a drink a few times a day and just have a quick feed to slake the thirst, or they might only feed at bedtimes and inthe morning or maybe even just at night? Trust me, you aren't glued to the couch for an hour each time, lol.

I'm intending on breastfeeding up until 2 years at the least, I will continue breastfeeding until Lucas doesn't want it anymore (within reason of course). I flop them out wherever, whenever. I'm all for extended breastfeeding ...and on demand. It's an informed decision I made when I became a parent. I am so grateful we have been able to go for this long.

People do give me strange looks when I'm breastfeeding in public, but that is THEIR problem. Lucas is big for his age and I'm small for mine LOL ..does look a little ridiculous. But I do ask friends that I am with etc before I flop my boob out. Last thing I want to do is make them feel uncomfortable.

Scarecrowfarm you are onto something there, I had a friend who did the same thing (re: changing carseat to forward facing). They used the excuse that baby was sitting up early therefore could apparently sit forward facing in a carseat. I think i changed Lucas around at 9-10months.

Also I think thats why guidelines are good, when it was 4-6 months to start solids ...people would be more inclined to start baby at 4 months (because that's when 'everyone else' starts their kids) ...and you'd have the mothers who would go earlier than four months because 'it's close enough to the 4 month mark'. Now that it's 6 months hopefully mothers will hold off on solids for as long as possible (until their kids really are ready and showing signs).

As for the girl I know who started her boy on solids at 4 weeks, she claimed he NEEDED it because he wasn't sleeping through the night ..he needed to fill his tummy up and apparently Formula wasn't doing this(and supposedly bubs father was fed solids from an early age). She was also very anti-breastfeeding. Something about the concept of it being disgusting because baby is intruding on her personal space (whereas I think most of us would agree that it is the most natural and selfless thing any mother can do for their child?)

Hmm can't remember the other thing I was going to say...


Edited by Mum2Lucas

You got attacked for wanting to bf past 6 months? Seriously? You can't win now: 'breast is best' then 'ew thats gross they're too old'.

I have an issue with it when they're grown ups: 'bitty' from Little Britain anyone?

LOL Emz ....sometimes I call it 'bitty'.

Lucas is just as bad as that guy on Little Britain, he walks up to me and pulls my top down when he wants 'bitty' hehe

hehe i remember when C was about 8 months, she had been having a nap with me on my bed and i fell asleep and woke up to find that she'd pulled my top up and was having a feed, very strange thing to wake up to but so cute, and one of my favourite memories of her

Sorry my post wasnt suppose to seem so angry i just get so worked up about it because of how my plunket nurse treated me even the look she gave me when i said i formula feed and the way she said Why??

I thought plunket was suppose to support and advise not belittle and force their ideas on you

Edited by wrxchic

I don't think people need to justify their reasons why they formula feed or breastfeed, or even how long they breastfeed for.

I get a lot of surprised looks now because I'm breastfeeding a 16 month old while pregnant. My mum keeps on telling me I should wean. Really it's nobody's business but the parents.

I do think the closer to 6 months a child is before introducing solids, the better due to the reduction in allergies and food sensitivities, however there are often good reasons for introducing them earlier. I ended up introducing it at 5 months with Lucy. My friend introduced at 4 months, and boy was he a super hungry kid. He gobbled it all down and demanded more. At the end of the day the information needs to be available to parents, but the final choice needs to be left up to them, and they shouldn't be belittled for the choices they're making unless the child is clearly not benefiting from. Case in point, force feeding a 5 month old who is tongue thrusting and trying to refuse it indicates to me that child isn't ready for it yet.

Oh my goodness, curry at one month. The things our generation lived through, lol.