Another reason for pressure to start solids early

by Sharon
(Atlanta)

My baby girl is now 6 months but the pressure to start feeding her solids (or at least supplement breastmilk with formula and then solids) started when she was 3 months old. I'd done my homework and planned to keep her on exclusive breastmilk until 6 months, and I told family that. And they were negative about that choice! What I realized is, they knew they'd supplemented with formula with their babies and then started solids at about 3 months, so me coming along and saying my research said "that's not the way to go" was felt like a criticism of their choices to them. Even though that's not at all what I meant.

So my lesson learned is to say "I know there are many different ways to handle this, but for me and this baby I feel that breastfeeding until 6 months - since she's gaining weight just fine - and then introducing solids is the way to go. But I respect that mothers have many options." Saying that seems to help people feel a bit less defensive, although I also try to educate young/new mothers as to why I am making these choices.

My girl just started on rice cereal mixed with breast milk and had her first mashed potato mixed with breastmilk last week. So far so good!