Starting Baby On Solid Foods

 
It has come to my attention that everyone is being told different things when it comes to starting babies on solid foods.  We're told not to give babies any milk until a year old, yet are told it's okay to give them ice cream and yogurt at 5 months old?!  I'm confused...are ice cream and yogurt not milk-based?!  Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that just doesn't seem logical to me.  Before a year old, babies don't NEED cow's milk.  (Honestly, I don't think the EVER need it, especially when there are naturally lactose-free options out there like goat's milk, which you can buy in 3% for the fats.)  Anyways, here's a rundown of what the major medical associations have to say about starting solids.

We started our twins on solid foods at 8 1/2 months, because they were born 2 1/2 months early, and developmentally, their bellies were only 6 months old at that time.  With our third child, we are doing BLW (Baby Led Weaning), and allowing her to eat what she can pick up and feed herself.  She HAS gotten some infant cereal, but only what she was able to scoop out of the bowl, and into her own mouth.  She got her first taste of solid foods at 6 1/2 months, and was able to pick up a piece of broccoli herself and put it in her own mouth.  (That's her with her broccoli at the top of the post.)  Since then she has mastered peas and carrots, watermelon, corn on the cob (okay, so she isn't a "master" at corn yet, but she sure is trying!), and loves cut up banana and blueberries.  I've found that if it's in a suction cup bowl, she can pretty much scoop anything into her mouth.  But, like I did with the twins, I'm not rushing "real" food (ie. the meals we're eating).  I prefer to give them a few months of nothing but fruits and veggies...my twins are three, and still choose fresh fruit and veggies over other snacks!  Peas, carrots, and corn were some of their first "treats", so they still ask for them today.
Our children will eat what we give them, and learn to love whatever it is.  So we've made sure that the foods they love are healthy, and give us the most "bang for our buck".  Nutrition is an important thing to teach them, and it's easiest if it's done from the first time they ever have solids.  I'm sure that everyone has great intentions when they feed their babies ice cream...at least I like to believe that.  But in the end it's not nutritional, it's full of sugar, and it's a dairy product that they shouldn't get until a minimum of a year old.  My twins didn't get anything like that at all until they turned two.  We wanted them to start out their lives learning to love what was good for them.  Even now, at three, the twins get ice cream MAYBE three or four times a year.  I'm happy to make them frozen yogurt, which is a much better alternative!

Anyways, enough chit chat.  Here is the information on starting solids:


"Breast milk is the best food you can offer your new baby. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. At 6 months, your baby will be ready for other foods (see Feeding your baby in the first year). You can continue to breastfeed until your child is 2 years of age and beyond."


Introducing solid foods
At 6 months, most babies cannot get everything they need from breast milk or formula alone. Though you can continue to breastfeed until your baby is 2 years and beyond, at 6 months you’ll start to introduce your baby to other foods. Your baby is ready to start other foods when he:

• Seems hungry earlier than usual.
• Can sit up without support, and has good control of his neck muscles.
• Holds food in his mouth without pushing it out on his tongue right away.
• Shows interest in food when others are eating, and opens his mouth when he sees food coming his way.
• Can let you know he doesn’t want food by leaning back or turning his head away.

From:Canadian Pediatric Society

When can you introduce solid foods to your baby?

Babies are ready for solid foods after six months. At that age, they can handle more textures and their digestive system is ready for new foods. They are usually physically able to sit up, eat from a spoon and show interest in solid food.

Is it okay to introduce solids to my baby before 6 months?

Before six months babies don’t need solid foods as breast milk (or formula) provides all the nutrients that babies need. Six months is a good time to start solid foods because that is when babies need more nutrients, like iron, that solid foods provide in addition to breast milk or formula.
From: Eat Right Ontario

Formula-fed babies who start eating solid foods before they are four months old may be more likely to become obese than those who start later, a new study suggests.
See the whole article HERE.

"Recently, there have been changes to the age 

of introduction of solids for infants.  It is 

now recommended that healthy, full term 

infants are exclusively breastfed for the first 

six months of life because breast milk is the 

best food for your baby.  Health 

professionals used to recommend that 

infants could start solids between four and 

six months of age."

This is from Public Health Nutritionists/Dietitians in Ontario.

"Pediatricians and parents should be aware that exclusive breastfeeding is sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months of life."

"Introduction of complementary feedings before 6 months of age generally does not increase total caloric intake or rate of growth and only substitutes foods that lack the protective components of human milk."

"During the first 6 months of age, even in hot climates, water and juice are unnecessary for breastfed infants and may introduce contaminants or allergens."

"There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer."

Taken from:  Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk, AAP policy

What does "complementary feeding" mean?

     Complementary feeding means giving other foods in addition to breast milk. The gradual shift from breast milk to solid foods is a transition period that begins after an infant reaches six months of age and continues until the age of two years or more.

When starting solids after six months, an infant’s:

• enzyme system and gastrointestinal wall have adequately matured to digest a variety of foods,
• head and neck muscles are strong enough for head control and the coordination of tongue, lip and swallow,
• oral reflexes have developed to swallow semi-solid and solid foods, immune system is ready to handle other foods and to protect against pathogens and allergies,
• kidney system will not be overloaded.
  "Exclusive breastfeeding is all a baby needs for the first six months of life. Breastmilk provides all the nutrition, growth factors, security and protection against illness that a baby needs for growth, development and health."
  "Complementary feeding can be started after six months. When starting solids, breastfeeding can be done as often as before – on cue – and as long as a baby wants. Breast milk remains the most important food."
  "Food interests are developed at an early age and exposing a baby to the taste, texture, appearance and smell of real food during the first years of life helps to establish important lifelong food preferences."
  (So don't add salts or sugars to their diet!)
  Taken from:  INFACT Canada

"Current recommendations indicate that breast milk or formula should be baby’s main source of nutrition until at least 6 months of age.  While many pediatricians recommend starting solid foods sometime between 4 and six months of age, the earlier introduction of solid foods may have certain risk factors; consult your pediatrician. For example, the "Introduction of complementary feedings [solid foods] before 6 months of age generally does not increase total caloric intake or rate of growth and only substitutes foods that lack needed nutrients and the protective components of human milk (and formula)."  AAP Policy Note-194
Taken from:  WholesomeBabyFood.com

"Health Canada and the Canadian Pediatric 

Association recommends starting solids at 6 months 

of age. Research has shown that feeding solids too 

early does not help your baby sleep through the 

night, and may lead to food allergies. By 6 months 

your baby’s immune system is ready to handle other 

foods."  Copied from HERE.

"It is well recognized that the period from birth to two years of age is the “critical window” for the promotion of good growth, health, and behavioral development. Therefore, optimal infant and young child feeding is crucial during this period. Optimal infant and young child feeding means that mothers are empowered to initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth, breastfeed exclusively for the first six months and continue to breastfeed for two years or more, together with nutritionally adequate, safe, age appropriate, responsive complementary feeding starting at six months."
According to UNICEF.

"Breast milk is the best and only food or drink your baby needs for the first six months of life. After six months, gradually introduce solid foods -- and continue to breastfeed for two years or more."

From:  Health Canada

You can find more links, and a great post about all of this at Kellymom.com.

So I think now it's clear that despite being told several different things, we see that in the end, a baby's belly is not ready to digest solid foods before 6 months, and introducing them sooner than that is a great way to cause allergies in the long run.  I honestly think all too often a tired mom gives her infant solid foods, or adds cereal to their bottle in the hopes of getting just a couple extra hours of sleep.  It's dangerous, and babies are designed to wake up every few hours to feed.  It ensures that they get the calories that they need for the rapid growth in the first few months, and it keeps them from going into too deep a sleep...which could prevent SIDS.

Your baby will spend it's entire life eating solid foods.  I know it's fun, and I know it's cute, but we only get ONE chance to do this right.  We only get ONE chance to give them the very best start in life, and that's not done by rushing solids.  Please, give your baby's digestive system the chance to grow and mature before you start giving them ANY types of solids.

The Reality of Vaccine Injuries

Taken from VRAN: The Reality of Vaccine Injuries

While there has been sporadic dialogue over the years amongst Canadian Health officials about the need for a vaccine injury compensation program, Canada still remains one of few western countries that denies the reality of vaccine injuries and provides no avenue whatsoever to compensate vaccine injury victims and their families.

In contrast the United States has had a vaccine injury compensation program since 1986 which has paid out approximately 2 billion dollars in compensation to vaccine injury victims — the majority being young children.

CBS reports that, “The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffer for the first year alone.”

Find the full story here.

Family to Receive $1.5M+ in First-Ever Vaccine-Autism Court Award
CBC News Investigates

The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffering for the first year alone.

In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah's care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child's lifetime.

Hannah was described as normal, happy and precocious in her first 18 months.

Then, in July 2000, she was vaccinated against nine diseases in one doctor's visit: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae.
Nine year old Hannah Polling is shown.
AP photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, John Spink.


Afterward, her health declined rapidly. She developed high fevers, stopped eating, didn't respond when spoken to, began showing signs of autism, and began having screaming fits. In 2002, Hannah's parents filed an autism claim in


federal vaccine court. Five years later, the government settled the case before trial and had it sealed. It's taken more than two years for both sides to agree on how much Hannah will be compensated for her injuries.

Read Sharyl Attkisson's 2008 report on Hannah Poling

In acknowledging Hannah's injuries, the government said vaccines aggravated an unknown mitochondrial disorder Hannah had which didn't "cause" her autism, but "resulted" in it. It's unknown how many other children have similar undiagnosed mitochondrial disorder. All other autism "test cases" have been defeated at trial. Approximately 4,800 are awaiting disposition in federal vaccine court.

Time Magazine summed up the relevance of the Poling case in 2008: ...(T)here's no denying that the court's decision to award damages to the Poling family puts a chink -- a question mark -- in what had been an unqualified defense of vaccine safety with regard to autism. If Hannah Poling had an underlying condition that made her vulnerable to being harmed by vaccines, it stands to reason that other children might also have such vulnerabilities."

Then-director of the Centers for Disease Control Julie Gerberding (who is now President of Merck Vaccines) stated: "The government has made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism. This does not represent anything other than a very specific situation and a very sad situation as far as the family of the affected child."

Read the newly-released decision on Hannah Poling's compensation.

Canadian Children Do NOT Need To Be Vaccinated To Attend School

There are a lot of straight up lies passed around regarding this subject, so let me set the record straight. It is against the charter of rights and freedoms. The truth is that all children have a right to an education, regardless of their vaccination status. The following information was found after searching for 20 mins. on the Ontario Ministry Of Health And Long-Term Care website. You can find the page HERE.  (It's been moved to HERE.)

I feel as though this information is hidden from the general public in an attempt to make parents feel as though they HAVE to have their children immunized. It's just not right. If you choose not to vaccinate your children, you shouldn't be afraid that they will be kicked out of school for it.

Ontario, NB, and Manitoba require an "Exemption Form", which is available at your local Health Unit. I'm not sure about NB or Manitoba, but in Ontario it needs to be notarized and then returned to the Health Unit where it will be kept on file. If your child's school has an outbreak of a disease--such as measles, your child will be asked to stay home until the outbreak is over. (Personally, I don't want my kids at school when everyone else has measles anyways...LOL.) I have yet to pick up our exemption forms since my kids are still 2 years from going to school, but what I was told is that the Health Unit has a nasty problem of "losing" the exemption forms, so keep a copy of one handy just in case the school requires it for some reason. It could be what keeps your child in school until you can have another one notarized.

Don't let your school tell you that your child cannot attend unless they are fully vaccinated. That is nothing more than a scare tactic to get you to join the herd. It is illegal for them to expel your child for not being vaccinated, so long as you have an exemption form filled out and turned in.

For the record, other than the three listed above, no other province and/or territory in Canada requires an exemption form. You simply tell the school that your child is not vaccinated, and they keep a record of it at the school, and if there is an outbreak, your child is asked to remain at home until it's over.

Is immunization required for attendance at school or day care in Ontario?
(Taken from http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/immun/immunization.html )

"For children attending school in Ontario, a written immunization record or proof of immunization is required, by law, for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps and rubella unless there is a valid written exemption. Parents/guardians are required to provide this information to their local public health unit, and to update the information as necessary.

Children attending licensed childcare centres should be immunized according to their age and as recommended in the Publicly Funded Immunization Schedules for Ontario - 2009 or as current. You may contact your local public health unit for more information.

You may decide because of medical, religious or philosophical reasons not to immunize your child. In this case, you will need to provide a valid written exemption to your local public health unit. If the disease appears in your child's school or childcare centre, your child may have to stay out of school/childcare until the disease is no longer present."


I sent an email to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and asked why this information is not readily available to the public. I asked why it's so hard to find...I've found it once before and when I searched again for it, it took me 20 mins., and 13 steps to find it...and I knew exactly what I was looking for. I also asked if a Doctor has the right to refuse to keep a patient (or their children) if they are not vaccinated, or if they fill out an exemption form. I was sent this:


Ministry of Health
and Long-Term Care
Correspondence Services
2nd Floor
56 Wellesley Street West
Toronto ON M5S 2S3


HLTC2966MC-2010-10281

Dear Ms. XXXXXX:
Thank you for your letter to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, expressing concerns that the Health Canada website could mislead parents into believing that their child had to be vaccinated in order to go to school.

In Ontario vaccines are available, at no cost to the general public, through publicly funded immunization programs. All Ontarians are encouraged to access vaccine through the publicly funded programs, through which provincial laws protect the right to informed consent. The statement you have noted from the Health Canada website “…your child may not be allowed to attend school without proof of immunization…” is a true statement for the province of Ontario. The single, mandatory component to attend school in Ontario is to declare your child’s immunization status according to the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA)


The purpose of the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) is to protect children against the six diseases designated in the Act. The diseases are; Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Mumps and Rubella. Even under the ISPA, people that choose not to be immunized can complete and submit a statement of conscience or a religious belief affidavit to the relevant health authority, thereby allowing parents the ability to opt out of immunization for their children.


However, please be aware that, in the event of a vaccine preventable disease outbreak at a school, immunized children that are susceptible to the outbreak may be excluded from school by the Medical Officer of Health for that jurisdiction for the duration of the outbreak.


The medical exemption form and the statement of conscious or religious belief forms are attached to the ISPA and are located on page 2 and 3 of the Act. If you wish, you may access this information and the form via the Internet through the Service Ontario E-Laws site that is located at http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca. For your convenience the specific information for Ontario that you have requested is located at the following link:

-2-

http://www.search.e-laws.gov.on.ca/en/isysquery/bbacc18d-87ec-4129-9a7a-eb397fe67d7d/1/doc/?search=browseStatutes&context=#hit1

The ministry is not aware of any laws in Ontario or Canada that allow physicians to refuse services to children that are not vaccinated. You may wish to contact the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for information on the college’s interpretation on the acceptability of such a refusal of service. The CPSO may be contacted at, feedback@cpso.on.ca

Again, thank you for bringing your concerns to the attention of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Sincerely,


M. MacPhail
Correspondence Services
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

This is all great and dandy, but he really did just completely avoid the entire question about why it is so hard to find the information. Maybe he can't answer because of his job? Or maybe he can't say "because if we made it easier to find that information, people would know and not vaccinate."

Either way, they're being less than transparent with their information. Am I all that surprised? Not so much. At least now you know. It's never to late to stop vaccinating, or researching this information for yourself.

**Update: Aug., 2012**

The information from the first link I provided can no longer be found there.  The second link I posted goes to  the "Public Health Agency of Canada" website.  (Again, you can find the page HERE.)

The information on that site says this;

"Is immunization compulsory in Canada? Does my child have to be immunized?

Answer:

Immunization is not compulsory or "forced" in Canada, but we do have regulations that help ensure that as many people as possible are protected by vaccines from the diseases they prevent. Some provinces require certain vaccines to be given before a child can enter school, but these are not mandatory in the usual sense of the term. Rather, parents (or children, if they are old enough to give consent) are required to declare a choice of whether to have their child (or themselves) immunized or not. If they choose not to, the child may be told that he or she must stay home from school if there is an outbreak of disease. This rule is designed to keep unimmunized children from getting sick and to keep the outbreak from spreading. School entry regulations also give parents an opportunity to bring their child's immunizations up to date. Health care workers may also be required to have certain vaccinations, such as hepatitis B vaccine and an annual 'flu shot. If they refuse, they may be required to stay away from work during an outbreak. This practice protects their patients, who could be in grave danger if they became ill with a communicable disease."

********

I'm going to give it to you straight. Your children depend on you to keep them alive. If you know NOTHING and only follow the herd, you might as well not have kids. You MUST know what the hell you're talking about when it comes to their health. You MUST be educated on what is in the vaccines, what they do, how well they work, what can happen, the adverse effects, the diseases, how they present themselves, how to prevent them, what they can do, and how to cure them. You need to know about the immune system and how vaccines can damage it. You need to know how to make it strong, so it can naturally fight off disease...you can't stop vaccinating and just leave your child eating trans-fat filled garbage.  Your job is to know what you're doing.  What the risks on either side are.  And then you need to make a choice.

Educate before you vaccinate. If you're reading this you have access to the internet. Use it for something more than a place to gossip about your MIL. Research. Your children's lives depend on it!

For some fantastic information go to DrTenpenny.com (or find her page on Facebook), Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children (website) or (Facebook), VAERS, or look at the information on the Health Canada, CDC, and FDA websites. If you search for FACTS and not their biased opinions, you'll be terrified. Also, ask for the "package insert" that comes with EVERY vaccine. Take it home and look up the ingredients online. And read what it says can happen after vaccination.