How/When do you introduce solids to a demand BF baby?

A friend of mine, we'll call her Paula, is going through a really tough time with feeling awful as she is struggling to introduce solids to her 8.5 month old DS.
With our DS who is 7.5 months I do 4 hourly feeds and so I offer solids around an hour and a half after his feed.
Paula is feeding her son every hour or so as he requires, and he just refuses baby food. I have suggested maybe try BLW just to get him used to the texture and feel, but I honestly don't really know as this is just my first son.
I kind of think with the way we are doing it DS is maybe a little hungry by the time we offer solids, where as for Paula every time he sons bottom lip quivers it's on the boob.
Any suggestions welcome as she is really quite down about it, and also when she does manage to get any food into him it seems to completely block him up and will pooh a nugget every few days so she has pretty much given up for now.
Any ideas?

I just started purees with my dd and she loved it, especiallyally pear. Farex was a waste or time but she grabs the spoon off me and sticks it in her mouth and also gets pear all over her hands and eats it off. She is a lot younger though but I am demand feeding roughly every 2 hours. I found if I waited one hour after her feed she was tired and cranky and not interested. Sobi waited until there was a feed right before a nap, bf her before the nap and then gave her solids as soon as she woke up (still roughly 45min-1hr later as she catnaps). This worked great as she has just woken and in a great mood.
Maybe she needs to try that. Personally if bub is feeding that often she shouldn't be scared to drop a feed either, I'm sure he'll be fine.

I demand bf my wee man and he BLW'd at 6 months. My boy was a 2-4 hourly breastfeeder. I introduced solids to him more for textures and playing with, rather than to fill him up though and now at 9 months he eats 3 solid meals and 2 snacks a day + 4-5 breastfeeds in 24hrs. I do know though that if my boy has had a bf too close to meal time he will refuse to eat, so her little one is probably just not being allowed to get hungry enough to want solids. I would suggest that she find ways to distract him rather than pop him on the boob for every little comfort when he is upset and "seeming" to want to bf. She may be reading his signals wrong? My wee man comes to me and whinges or when I'm holding him he will nuzzle my boob or suck on my arm if he wants a feed. But if he's really upset, a cuddle, or distracted with toys usually works and then if he's still upset or inconsolable I will offer the boob for comfort. I hope she manages to get it sorted soon, Plunket says at 9 months they should be having solids before bf's as a babys needs increase or something.... (I generally dont go with what plunket says though so I shouldnt quote them)

From 6 to 12 months solids are not about nutrition. It is about the texture and just feeling what it's like to have something in the mouth. It's a learning experience... Tasting and chewing are what is being learned. It doesn't matter how much or how little they are eating.

Both my children did not establish eating solids properly til around the 12 month mark. My dd was breastfeeding similarly to your friend, every hour of so... She was a bf fanatic!! She point blank refused solids. Hated having anything in her mouth other than a boob. And she has turned out fine... My breast milk was still enough for her.. She was a very fat little baby even without solid food.

My son just mucked around with food, never really actually swallowed anything. He'd have a chew and spit it out. Which is actually fine! By 12 months he got a bit hungrier and started eating properly. Tell your friend to relax... And stop comparing her child to other people's children. What this baby is doing is NORMAL and breast milk is the best nutrition she can be giving this baby... So, the more breast milk the better!!

chalys 'n' J wrote:
From 6 to 12 months solids are not about nutrition. It is about the texture and just feeling what it's like to have something in the mouth. It's a learning experience... Tasting and chewing are what is being learned. It doesn't matter how much or how little they are eating.

Both my children did not establish eating solids properly til around the 12 month mark. My dd was breastfeeding similarly to your friend, every hour of so... She was a bf fanatic!! She point blank refused solids. Hated having anything in her mouth other than a boob. And she has turned out fine... My breast milk was still enough for her.. She was a very fat little baby even without solid food.

My son just mucked around with food, never really actually swallowed anything. He'd have a chew and spit it out. Which is actually fine! By 12 months he got a bit hungrier and started eating properly. Tell your friend to relax... And stop comparing her child to other people's children. What this baby is doing is NORMAL and breast milk is the best nutrition she can be giving this baby... So, the more breast milk the better!!

+1000!
I could not of put it better.

BellyDancingDanni wrote:
chalys 'n' J wrote:
From 6 to 12 months solids are not about nutrition. It is about the texture and just feeling what it's like to have something in the mouth. It's a learning experience... Tasting and chewing are what is being learned. It doesn't matter how much or how little they are eating.

Both my children did not establish eating solids properly til around the 12 month mark. My dd was breastfeeding similarly to your friend, every hour of so... She was a bf fanatic!! She point blank refused solids. Hated having anything in her mouth other than a boob. And she has turned out fine... My breast milk was still enough for her.. She was a very fat little baby even without solid food.

My son just mucked around with food, never really actually swallowed anything. He'd have a chew and spit it out. Which is actually fine! By 12 months he got a bit hungrier and started eating properly. Tell your friend to relax... And stop comparing her child to other people's children. What this baby is doing is NORMAL and breast milk is the best nutrition she can be giving this baby... So, the more breast milk the better!!

+1000!
I could not of put it better.

Thanks for the replies! smile
Did you still offer solids three times a day or after they were refused just give it a break for a few weeks and try again?

With my dd I would only try sporadically. I didn't try three times a day because the more I tried the more distressed she'd get and I figured that was only going to make the refusal worse. With ds because he would still put the food in his mouth and have a taste I'd give him something 3 times a day. Sometimes I'd sit him on my lap at dinner time and let him choose something off my plate to have a chew on. We did a mix of puréed food and baby led weaning with him, kinda just went with the flow. He did seem to prefer being able to hold his food and do it himself. Mostly he just made a big mess without actually swallowing anything but oh well!! smile

Tell her not to stress it, bubs will let her know when he's ready some babies aren't ready until much older then the norm. I know many who weren't interested until 8-10 months old. I would just keep offering and remember to start with purees preferably more plan flavored like baby rice and slowly introduce new textures and tastes as he becomes better at eating. This will help his palate adjust, will be easy on his tummy and help him learn how to eat and chew food correctly.

wageha wrote:
BellyDancingDanni wrote:
chalys 'n' J wrote:
From 6 to 12 months solids are not about nutrition. It is about the texture and just feeling what it's like to have something in the mouth. It's a learning experience... Tasting and chewing are what is being learned. It doesn't matter how much or how little they are eating.

Both my children did not establish eating solids properly til around the 12 month mark. My dd was breastfeeding similarly to your friend, every hour of so... She was a bf fanatic!! She point blank refused solids. Hated having anything in her mouth other than a boob. And she has turned out fine... My breast milk was still enough for her.. She was a very fat little baby even without solid food.

My son just mucked around with food, never really actually swallowed anything. He'd have a chew and spit it out. Which is actually fine! By 12 months he got a bit hungrier and started eating properly. Tell your friend to relax... And stop comparing her child to other people's children. What this baby is doing is NORMAL and breast milk is the best nutrition she can be giving this baby... So, the more breast milk the better!!

+1000!
I could not of put it better.

Thanks for the replies! smile
Did you still offer solids three times a day or after they were refused just give it a break for a few weeks and try again?

Totally agree with Chalys. I have done BLW and demand fed both my kids. Dd1 wasn't really interested in solids until around 12 months and dd2 was just after 6 months. It was offered whenever we ate at mealtimes and sporadically. They were free to play with it and also to eat it if they wanted. Most of dd1s solids were from the vegie garden where she would help herself to tomatoes and capsicums - yet she hated things like banana.

Kiwi_mum_of_1 wrote:
Tell her not to stress it, bubs will let her know when he's ready some babies aren't ready until much older then the norm. I know many who weren't interested until 8-10 months old. I would just keep offering and remember to start with purees preferably more plan flavored like baby rice and slowly introduce new textures and tastes as he becomes better at eating. This will help his palate adjust, will be easy on his tummy and help him learn how to eat and chew food correctly.

I don't want to derail the thread, but just wanted to say you don't need to start with purees especially if the kid is already 8 months old. I also disagree with using processed foods as a first food and purees don't teach a baby how to eat and chew food correctly. Just sayin. smile

OC1246 wrote:
Kiwi_mum_of_1 wrote:
Tell her not to stress it, bubs will let her know when he's ready some babies aren't ready until much older then the norm. I know many who weren't interested until 8-10 months old. I would just keep offering and remember to start with purees preferably more plan flavored like baby rice and slowly introduce new textures and tastes as he becomes better at eating. This will help his palate adjust, will be easy on his tummy and help him learn how to eat and chew food correctly. I don't want to derail the thread, but just wanted to say you don't need to start with purees especially if the kid is already 8 months old. I also disagree with using processed foods as a first food and purees don't teach a baby how to eat and chew food correctly. Just sayin. smile

Did I say give processed food? NO!!! You can easily make your own puree even though there is actually nothing wrong with the stuff in the jar (it's not like other jarred foods) and I only suggested baby rice as an example which is recommended by professionals there are also many brands to choose from and some are organic and not as processed. Maybe you should read before being a self righteous judgmental hippy!

Its also good to get them used to the textures slowly otherwise some children choke why not do it the safer easier way? My eldest I was talked into giving him normal food before he was ready and having to get your child too cough something up while choking is not a very nice experience for any mother. I know a child who died at 18 months old when given an apple at daycare when he wasn't used to that sort of texture, he choked to death no one could save him not even the ambulance staff. So excuse me for being on the safe side.