Anyone breastfeed exclusively for the 1st year?

[christinamikayla]

You may all think I am weird but here goes. Can a person Breastfeed exclusively for the entire first year? Like no cereal, jar food, formula at all. I am not saying that is what I am going to do but just wondering if there is anyone out there that did this and how did it go.
When I told the Dr that I was going to wait until DD was 6 months old to start on rice cereal he acted weird about it. He looked at me like he had never had someone say that before. She is almost 5 months old and sleeps through the night 10+ hours and seems satisfied on just BF. She is in the 75-100% for her weight so she is gaining weight fine. Any Feedback would be great.

[tmsmalley]

You COULD but your child is going to need more food than that before 1 year. You can certainly only do breastmilk (as opposed to forumla or milk), but between 4-6 months (more are now waiting for 6 months these days), you start adding in solids, cereals, fruits, veggies, meats... Even the sites on breastfeeding don't advocate not moving to solids at some point.

Tess

[derketchup]

Stages of Breastfeeding - Breastfeeding by Stage

[MrsPinecone]

Originally Posted by tmsmalley Even the sites on breastfeeding don't advocate not moving to solids at some point. Tess

Ditto this.

I waited until the AAP recommended 6 months, and introduced gradually. But I never considered waiting longer than that. Some of the moms on my baby boards waited until 7-8 months and lived to regret it. Some now have kids who fight solid foods and have texture issues with the little they will eat.

I continued to BF DS until he was 14 months old.

[darmomof2]

my sil did this and now she is having a heck of a time getting her son to eat anything at all he is in the 35% for his wt and her dr. is kinda upset at her for doing this i bf my 1st dd for a year and we did not start her on any cereal till she was 6 mo old and she has always been in the 95% for her wt and she was just fine to wait till she was 6 mo old to start any thing else.

[greenrays]

Absolutely NOTHING wrong w/just breastfeeding the first year. I will put off food with my next one for AT least 7-8 months due to food allergies.
kellymom.com :: Why Delay Solids?

I think 4 months is way too early for food, personally just my opinion.

[drnuke14]

I'm currently exclusively bf my 5th daughter who happens to also be 5 months. I've bf each 13-14 months. With all my girls, I've never started solids until somewhere around 7-8 months. I've skipped the entire rice cereal phase all together (tried but they never cared for it or jarred food in general). Make sure you're still taking your prenatals because there is a tendency for babies to develop mild anemia because breastmilk is not very high in iron. That being said, my girls have never tested positive for anemia while I've bf them. I think, however, that to exclusively bf ONLY (no extra food) through the first year is not a great idea. The baby needs to develop the skill of mouthing/chewing/swallowing solid foods. Also, as they reach their 1st birthday, you'd be needing to nurse a whole lot more due to their developing need (their caloric need increases as they begin crawling/walking). I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice to not supplement with some sort of solid when you feel you're baby is ready. Like I said, around 7 months or so, babies really WANT to try solids. If you don't want to go the whole jarred baby route, some easy table foods to start with off the top of my head could be:

1. regular cheerios, goldfish crackers
2. bits of graham crackers
3. saltines
4. bits of bread/bagel
5. peas, avocado
6. apple sauce
7. cottage cheese/yogurt (when they get a little older)

Anyhow, you get the picture. I'm sure you can google it and find other ideas. Oh, and make sure you add them slowly so as to detect any possible allergies. Good luck!

[xolesliexo]

I had a friend who did it... i thought she was crazy... but she did it.. lol :) She continued to breast feed thru the second year as well but added in food.

[christinamikayla]

I think I'll wait till 7-8 months. Just to claify I never said I was going to do this just wanted to see if anyone on here did and how it went. Also, one of the articles said peanut butter is ok after the first year. My Dr. said to wait till 2 years. Thanks for the input.

[greenrays]

I think peanut butter is an iffy one.... it all depends if you have food allergies in the family or not. Since we do, the age is 3 yrs AT LEAST for peanut butter. My son is allergic and he's never had it and we've never touched it to his skin.

I think it has recently changed to 2 yrs, but I know many many moms on 2 of the baby boards I follow have started peanut butter at 1 yr.

I just think we should bubble wrap children till they are at least 5