Breastfeeding and Solid foods

Hello - does anyone have any advice on the introduction of solids to a breastfed baby? My son is turning 8 months - I am still breastfeeding and am unsure of whether or not to start chicken or meat. I am reading differnet things about how iron fortified cereals may not be good as the iron could work against the natural iron absorption from breast milk - so is meat than recommended to start instead? I am sure i am thinking too much about this all, but I am so confused. I do not want his milk intake to decrease yet for at least another month. Should I continue to only give him veggies and fruit? He is loving eating by the way and we are having fun.. I am just confused as to when to start meats and finger foods...
Thank you!!!

Re: Breastfeeding and Solid foods

I think there is nothing wrrong with starting table foods. Actually, I think it's better than giving "baby" foods like purees. You get the baby accustomed to foods that the family eats at an early age. I also would not give cereal - there's not much nutritional value in it since it's highly processed.

Google "baby led weaning.". There is a lot of good information on the topic!

Breastfeeding and Solid foods

Our ped suggested finger foods and meat at 8 months. I think it's good to start since I think both take getting used to. Do you give puffs or cheerios? You want to give the chance for DC to develop fine motor skills by self feeding. You can also give fruit and veggies as finger foods. DD dropped a feeding around 8 months so I added a 3rd meal bc she was going so long between feedings in the middle of the day. I only give oatmeal in the morning (with fruit) and then give a fruit and veg for lunch and veggies, pastina, and sometimes meat for dinner. In the beginning she would gag or choke a bit on the solids but now will bite and chew anything I give her.

Sorry this post is kind of rambling! As far as dropping milk intake, I wouldn't worry. In the beginning they don't get a ton in by self feeding so I don't think it will make much difference. As for iron, DD gets a multivitamin with iron so hopefully that has her covered. I also only give cereal once a day at most.

Re: Breastfeeding and Solid foods

I didn't introduce meat until DS1 was able to eat table foods. I made a lot of his food and didn't want to give him pureed meats. Around 8-9 months, I started giving him small pieces of soft food like bananas and avocado. I also gave him things like puffs. At first, he gagged on them so I broke them up into even smaller pieces. I wouldn't worry too much about his milk intake to decrease. Just nurse him before giving him food.

Re: Breastfeeding and Solid foods

I didn't give meat to any of my kids until they were around 1, but they were all eating table foods before then - fruit, veggies, cheese, pasta, etc.

Breastfeeding and Solid foods

Thank you for your replies! I have not given Cheerios yet, but I bought the box and think I'll see what he does with them tomorrow. He is playing with the small pieces of food I put in his high chair for now so I was still feeding him puréed veggies and fruit with a little more texture to it.
I will start more table veggies n fruit to develop him. I like the idea of waiting for him to be older to give meat when it is not puréed.
Any advice on dairy? Ped recommended yogurt but it seemed weird to me to introduce dairy yet while breastfeeding.
Thank you!

Breastfeeding and Solid foods

I am still breastfeeding and we started yogurt at 6 months old and DS loves it. DS is a great eater, which reduces the amount of BM he takes in one day. He usually has BM in morning and bedtime and before naps, but rarely takes a lot. We also give him small bits of cheese, finely cut fruits and veggies, cherrios, etc. We waited on meat until 9 months, but since then we basically give him a little bit of everything we eat that's healthy except for fish, honey or peanuts. The ped said to keep away from those until after a year.