My baby girl Tea is now four months old and sooner than I'd like to admit it will be time to introduce solids to her diet. As a second-time-mom and a registered dietitian I decided to share my experiences about feeding my baby. Graduating from breastfeeding or formula to "real people food" (breastmilk in my case) is an exciting time for both the parents and the baby, but it can also be a bit challenging and even scary if you are not sure what to do. So I hope that this blog will help some of you or at least entertain you if nothing else :)
I have been exclusively breastfeeding my girl and things have gone well until about two weeks ago when Tea started having a bit of blood in her stools every other day. Her pediatrician said it is most likely breast milk enteritis, which means Tea is adversely reacting to something in my diet - likely to dairy foods. So now for the fourth day I'm avoiding all dairy products even in the tiniest amounts for two weeks to see if that helps. But I also think she may not be tolerating the large amounts of chocolate (dark chocolate - it is healthy for you, right) I have craved lately, and today was my first chocolate-free day in weeks. I have my hormones to blame for the sweet tooth :) I have to say that it has been a learning experience for me to study all the labels carefully to see if the food contains dairy, and to my surprise I've found out that dairy sneaks in a lot of what we eat and don't necessarily consider dairy, like my Viactiv calcium supplements I have been taking (I'm lactose intolerant and don't consume enough dairy daily to feel confident I am getting enough calcium). I am planning on nursing until past Tea's first birthday just like I did with her big brother, so I may have many more months ahead of me paying more attention to my diet than I normally do. But it is all worth it for the well-being of my baby. And cutting out chocolate will definitely do me some good as it has become a bit too addictive for me lately...
So, I'm thinking I will probably start Tea with rice cereal sometime around 5 1/2 to 6 months. There's no need to start solids sooner, but 6 months is a good time to start the cereal especially for breastfed babies as mother's milk does not contain enough iron to support the baby's needs after that point. Only less than two months to go for that milestone in Tea's life - time really goes by fast! I will keep you posted on the dairy sensitivity thing before the actual feeding-the-solids experiences and tips begin.
-Karoliina
