Solids & Breastfeeding

My goal was 6 months but I made it to 2 yrs. Then, it was a natural progression and hard at the same time but my daughter slowly weaned off. The World Health Organization recommends 2 yrs old but actually, you can breastfeed for as long as you and your child are comfortable. It is society that puts limits on it. I have friends who nursed their kids till 3-5 yrs old.

I also made all her food. What you're doing is great. I also made beans a lot for her protein intake. For whole grains, I made millet, barley, quinoa, steel cut or rolled oatmeal and brown rice. Sometimes, I chopped up steamed green veggies like spinach or broccoli and mixed it together with a combination of the above.

I puree what we eat. I puree it totally at first, then gradually make it chunky. I have found that this makes it easier for us when they are older. They can simply start eating with fingers, then utensils. Also, I am not having to make two separate meals. We do not use baby food. At first, they will eat the veggies only, then I will add the meat. I will add one new item at a time, so that I can watch for allergic reactions. I have a 4 mo old, I will be starting him on avocado and yogurt as well.

Nursing:

1st 12 months; 2nd 22 months; 3rd 12 mos; 4th 12 mos; 5th 14 mos; 6th nursing now. 1st - 4th weaned themselves. 5th - I weaned; I got sick. 6th - will nurse till he is ready to stop.

My daughter has five-breastfeeds about 17-20 months. Does not start solids until aout 11 months and makes her own food. Avacado and banana is one of the first foods.Yogurt if no dairy problems, then soy yogurt can be used. Brown rice is good, steamed apples, sweet potatoes, and just about anything you can steam and puree, then later cut into tiny bites for finger food. Unsweetened cherrios. Have fun and good luck.

You're doing fine with the solids - really that's a great foundation as long as he's still getting breastmilk. I breastfed my sons for well over 1 year (2 1/2 for my oldest and 3 1/2 for my younger son). That sounds insane, but as a working mnother that helped keep an extremely strong bond and allowed us to reconnect at the end of the day. I followed what they called infant/child led weaning. They gradually nurse less and less and usually by 15 mos., my boys were nursing only in the morning and before naptime/bedtime. Then over time, we dropped the morning nursing and then the naptime nursing was gone by 18 mos. and we were left with nighttime nursing until 2-2 1/2. That stopped once my sons were more interested in reading at bedtime than nursing and they no longer fell asleep nursing. After that the boys only nursed when they needed comfort, so as time goes by they nursed only once a week and gradually once a month. One thing to keep in mind if you nurse beyond a year is that after one year, generally the baby should get solids BEFORE nursing, whereas up to one year, they should nurse before getting the solids, since for the first year, the breastmilk is the primary source of nutrition.

As a working fulltime mother, I have zero regrets about investing this time in breastfeeding. Extended breastfeeding is one decision I made as a mother that I know for certain was absolutely right for my boys. We later learned that we all have an autoimmune disease (celiac) and a dairy allergy. So, I think both my sons really benefitted from the extra immunity provided by breastfeeding. Also, there is a big bonus for mom - the longer you breastfeed, the lower your chance of developing breast cancer. This may be why western countries have the highest of breast cancer, since extended breastfeeding is very uncommon. Another reason I think this worked so well for me as that the hormone released when the milk letsdown (oxytocin) is an incredible feel good and relaxing hormone. I'm a type A person and nursing really helped me relax.

Also, contrary to some of the popular viewpoints, breastfeeding for an extended time does not make the kids more dependent on mom - it makes them more independent in my experience because they have such a strong connection to mom and breastfeeding meets both their complete physical and emotional needs in the early years - they often feel far more secure. In my experience, these kids are often extremely independent. My sons are now teenagers and I honestly believe that they would be entirely different boys if I had not breastfed so long - that really changed my attitude about mothering - in particular that the most important thing is to invest time early on. I am now seeing the rewards. Also, research shows that breastfeeding increases IQs- both my sons are doing exceptionally well in school - in particular with regards to standardized tests for college. My older son will most likely be able to get a full scholarship to a good 4 year college when he graduates based on his standardized test scores and grades.

Overall, the benefits of breastfeeding continue to add up over time - i.e., even nursing at two years still increase the benefits - the breastmilk content and makeup changes as the frequency of nursing changes.

That all said, it is a personal decision and you have to do what feels right for you and your child - kids innately pickup on how Mom feels about things and if your ambivalent or resentful, your baby will know. If you do want to nurse until the baby weans, there's an excellent book: Mothering your Nursing toddler that deals with practical aspects - for example, letting your child know that they can only nurse at home as they get older. I had this discussion with my youngest when he was about two - he would usually nurse in church and then sleep (I will tell you that we got sooo many complements about how my sons behaved in church, on airplanes, etc. because of my being able to nurse them).

I breastfed all 4 of my kids , 3 of them 21/2 yrs and 1 5 yrs . You do not have to give them any solid foods till they are 1 or older . A babies digestive system is not ready for solid foods at such an early age . what you are giving your child is fine . I would hold off introducing any more solids . And please never give your child soda, candy , fast foods . Try to stay as close to nature as possible . Grow your own foods . If you cannot grow your food , buy local and organic . do not feed your child potatoes , they are full of chemicals buy the organic ones and apples too . You need to educate yourself on feeding yourself and your child . We live in a very toxic world now ! I have done a lot of research on the food we eat and where it comes from , so trust me I know what I am talking about . Give some thought to this , why do so many people have chronic diseases ? Asthma , cancer, diabetes , etc . Do you get where I am coming from ?

You can actually substitute breastmilk for any milk called for in recipes!

My daughter self-weaned at 3.7 years old. My 18 month old is still quite the Boob-man.

A study was once done of mammals and their age that their young weaned. It was found that humans should naturally wean between 4 and 6 YEARS of age.

I would say that let him wean himself - he will when he is confident and ready.

My 6.5 month old son eats the following (that I make myself too!!) Butternut and Acorn squash, Avocado, banana, apple, pear, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans. My pediatrician said that at this stage - he can eat any fruit or veggie that I can fit in my food processor! I have a great cookbook - Williams Sonoma Cooking for Baby (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cooking-for-baby-.... I have also used this website as a guide for foods - (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/) He has two bottom teeth and we are still nursing - I plan to nurse until he is a year (but if I can't - I have enough frozen breastmilk stored up)

Congrats to you on making the food! I love it!!!

You've gotten some wonderful answers so far, but I didn't read all of them so I'm sorry if I'm repeating! Avocado and banana mixed together were a hit for my little guy. Yogurt was (and still is) on his hit list also. We use Earth's Best jarred food also. I made all his food at first, but he wasn't too crazy about the meat dishes I was making for him. He's 15 months now and still all about the boobie! I'm letting him tell me when he's ready to wean.

Try avocados! My son was crazy about them, and it's so easy to mash an avocado with a fork. It's also easy if you're out for dinner with your baby, as most restaurants have avocado. They are super healthy, too.

I breastfed my son for 19 or 20 months. My goal was two years (as recommended by the World Health Organization) but I got pregnant when he was 16 months old, and we stopped when it got uncomfortable for me. I'm now nursing my five month-old daughter.

I second avocados. You can mix them with bananas too. That was my son's favorite. And don't worry when they tell you that you can't freeze it. It freezes fine, just turns brown, but the kids don't notice or care.

You can add some blueberries into some of the mixes, white potatoes, I think I got most of my ideas by going to the grocery store and seeing what the companies put in their mixes.

For breastfeeding, I was able to go 14.5 months before my husband said that he needed me back.

Go to wholesomebabyfoods.com (someone may have already suggested this...sorry!). They have a great age appropriate list you can use. I made my dd's food too. She nursed until 18 months.

Congrats on getting this far.

I made it 1 year with my son - he weaned himself about 2 weeks after his 1st birthday. I made it 12 weeks with my daughter (had planned on a year as well, but chemo made the decision for me).

You may want to check with your pediatrician to see what the American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends, but when we took our daughter to her 1 year well-baby visit last March, we were told there is NOTHING they can't have as long as there's not a known familial food allergy or it poses a choking risk.

At 7.5 months, we were feeding very thingly shaved lunch meats (ham, turkey), cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese slices (we prefer the ones from the deli to the individually wrapped ones), cooked frozen veggies, etc.

My goal for BF'ing intially was 6 months, but my only reasons to stop were selfish. I was a working mom, and that was really hard pumping in my car multiple times/day as a traveling sales rep. But, I made it, and my son has been thriving ever since.

Here's a link to a parenting site by the American Academy of Pediatrics that may help you:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

Well... my answer is going to be WAY more simplistic than others'... but here is a list of what we fed in addition to what you are already feeding...

Avacado (this was actually our daughters 1st solid after cereal, recommended by our pediatrician)
Peaches
YoBaby yogurt
Semolina Pasta (Earth's Best, organic)
Potato

BTW - we made her cereal with breastmilk

I also made all my own baby food. I used a few websites that I found to be super helpful:
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/index.html
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
This one has daily recipes: http://weelicious.com/about/

And I also used the book Super Baby Food. It gave great guidelines too. I pretty much introduced everything early on. Some people wait on a few things like strawberries and tomatoes and citrus (acidic on their tummies, and strawberries can aggravate eczema) so I just did those closer to a year. Making your own food it takes forever to work through all the veggies available. The jarred stuff doesn't have near the variety that you can do on your own. I started yogurt (plain whole milk with fresh fruit added- no sugar that way) at about 9 mos I think. Those websites give good age guidelines as well as good combinations to make it more interesting.

I am just now weaning my 27 month old. He cut down to one nursing a day at about 18 mos because I started working again, then just gradually stopped asking for the morning nursing on his own at about 20 mos. He still asks for it about once a week or so. I try to distract and redirect, but I'm not going to tell him no for a while yet. I think the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 2 yrs now. (I could be wrong though). But one thing to keep in mind, after about a year or 15 mos, breastfeeding wont be nearly the time consuming affair that it is now. Nursing will be quicker because they will be wanting to explore the world. You might find yourself wanting to nurse still because it will be a chance to cuddle your rambunctious toddler. I remember food and nursing being pretty much the only thing occupying my time when he was littler, now it is just a few minutes of my time. Nursing is what you make of it. I am glad I didn't wean at a year like I originally planned.