My baby boy is growing up so fast, he'll be 6 months by the end of the week. It's a sad day for me today, as it will be the last day he will be breastfed exclusively. We'll be starting on solids (again) this week - and this time, it's for real...

We had started solids three weeks ago, but stopped after a week because he didn't nurse much as a result, and thus was terribly constipated, despite the fact that he was drinking plenty of water. He then caught a virus and became very sick with very high temperatures and fever, which also included a trip to emergency. Thankfully it wasn't too serious, and he recovered fully after a week. During this time I thought it was best not to re-introduce solids, also knowing that it would be the very last time I would nurse my son exclusively.

I wasn't ready when he first started solids - DS was very keen, and would try and grab at anything I was eating. DH was also keen on DS starting on solids, so I kind of gave in, even though I wanted to wait a little longer. I was terribly sad when he didn't want to nurse, and also sad about the output situation (silly, I know). TBH, I'm still not ready for him to start eating, and dread the day will stop nursing altogether, though I know that is some time away...

Hi OP,

I completely understand how you feel. I wasn't ready for DS to start solids either. We started a week before he was 6 months.

One of the reasons I was concerned was that I didn't think DS was ready so a bit different from you but I was also not ready for him to start decreasing his milk feeds, I couldn't really express it to anyone as DH wouldn't understand and I thought others would just think I was crazy.

However it has worked out fine so far. We did BLW and DS bearly ate anything for months, just played with it, sucked it a bit and ingested a bit. I don't know what you did first time round but maybe this would work for you too? DS has never been constipated too which I put down to the very gradual, baby-led increase in solids intake.

It is the start and end of eras, the end of him being totally reliant on you for nourishment which is sad but the start of his discovering the wonderful world of food and flavours. This is what I kept reminding myself when I was feeling sad.

Good luck with it all.

I understand, I wasn't in a hurry to start my DS on solids either and waited until we passed the 6 month mark. He was thriving and happy on breastmilk so I didn't see the need to start any earlier.

I tried baby led weaning but it didn't seem to work well, then I put him on purees and he became very constipated. In retrospect I wish I had persisted with the BLW and not worried so much about him not actually eating anything.

I understand how you feel OP. In the end, I chose to look at the situation differently. I was proud. Look at this beautiful big bouncing healthy baby. This is what my body has done, my body grew him, sheltered him, kept him safe and nourished him with no input from me whatsoever (apart from perhaps eating a bit extra )

So while introducing solids can be a bit sad because your exclusive feeding days are done, look at your baby and be proud of what your body and breastmilk has provided for him. He will still be needing you and your milk for a long time yet.

I understand. DH asked me when I would be starting solids with our current baby. I said six months, he then asked, "so what age will she really be?"

I think this may stem from me stating the same with our last babe (who at the time really was going to be the last baby...until we changed our minds), who then started solids at seven months!

We are trying a combination of finger food and a bit of puree and it seems to be working reasonably well.

OP I know what you mean. It was very strange (in a bit of a sad way) when I first smelled something other than milk on my sweet baby's breath. You know, that milky, spitty smell that is just... lovely. It's the sleepy baby smell.

Now, at 11 months, although he loves his food, he still loves his milk. I never bothered with bringing food out for him when we went out -- a BF was a meal or a snack, and it's still a snack for him, although he likes having grapes and rock melon now, too.

It is fun to watch his face as he tries new things. FWIW I didn't notice a palpable difference in milk feeds (frequency or volume) until bub was about 9-10 months. DH always calls it "weaning", which drives me around the bend. It's not WEANING, he's just drinking less milk!!!

I think it's much like any aspect of parenthood -- you mourn the lovely stage that he is growing out of, but it's also exciting and fascinating to watch him do whatever he's doing next, and be part of it.

Well done on getting this far with exclusive BFing, it's a hard slog!

This has brought back memories of me being in a MBU when dd turned 6 months and a nurse gave her first solids and stole the experience from me, I only have the one child too!
I still feel sick about that and that was 7 years ago.
Sorry for digressing into my own stuff, still irks me.

One topic though, I remember approaching the beginning of solids with trepidation, I had mixed feelings, sad on one hand for ? the less reliance on me and happy to have her less reliant on me! It was quite a big deal for me and as you can imagine what happened (above) was the worst thing that possibly could have happened at that time.

lucky 2 that is just awful!

A friend of mine had her first baby 15 years ago and while she was sleeping, the midwives/nurses FFed her baby without consulting her first.

One would hope that these things wouldn't happen again!

I was sad about DD starting solids.
She's my last baby and i just want to enjoy her being a little baby.
She can take as long as she likes to wean, crawl, walk etc. The longer the better.

With my first baby I was the complete opposite, and was always itching to achieve the next milestone.

Lucky 2 a very similar thing happened to me, I was in an MBU when DS was 5 months and one of the midwives decided we needed a baby feeding demonstration and gave DS some Farex on a spoon. That was his first taste of solids. I had intended to BF exclusively for 6 months as per the WHO guidelines. Needless to say I waited a few more weeks until he was over 6 months before giving him solids again.
That was just one of many really inappropriate things they did while we were there.

Thanks runnybabbit and OMG bottle-rocket, what is it with MBU's? I can't believe it happened to you too, the lunatics are running the asylum! I hadn't even given consent and I wasn't present.

Thanks for all your responses ladies!

BlueDragon & bottle~rocket - I'm doing the pureed food rather than BLW with finger foods... I just feel more comfortable with purees at this point. I've decided to just start with one tiny meal during the middle of the day (around "lunch" time), rather than the two tiny meals he had when we had started previously. He happily opens his mouth up wide as soon as he sees the spoon come near, so I don't want to deprive him of an experience he enjoys.

deejie - thanks for view, I never really thought about how incredible it is that I've provided my son nourishment for this long on my own (mostly, except that one week). It was lovely when he pulled at my bra for a feed this evening and snuffled around greedily for my boob as if I hadn't fed him for days! (And I demand feed!)

Mamabug - wow, that's great that you held out until 7 months! My MIL was pushing us to feed DS Farex at 4 months, which I conveniently ignored, though she kept persisting every time she spoke to DH (I'm guessing - I don't speak their language) which is probably why DH was so keen for us to feed the LO solids so soon. My mum on the other hand was encouraging me to hold out until 8-9 months, which was what she did with me and my siblings.

runnybabbit - thanks for your encouragement! I always tell DS when he's feeding that I want him to keep nursing for as long as possible, and I hope he understands what I'm telling him!!! I just love breastfeeding, and I've never seen it as a chore. Waking up in the middle of the night when he was a newborn and I was sleep deprived was a chore, but feeding him never was.

lucky 2 - I'm so sorry to hear of your experience! That is truly terrible!!! I think if that had happened to me, someone would've gotten hurt...! I think first solids is a big deal, and to take that away from someone is so not right. I think it's on a par with disciplining someone else's child - not anyone's right but the parents'!

Angelina Ballerina - early on, when I was sleep deprived and had completely lost all sense of myself, I wanted DS to grow up quickly. That soon changed though, as I started to get the hang of things and realised he was growing up too quickly!!!