Experts seek to debunk baby food myths

[Dodger]

Highlighting added.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/12861031.htm

Ditch the rice cereal and mashed peas, and make way for enchiladas, curry and even - gasp! - hot peppers. It's time to discard everything you think you know about feeding babies. It turns out most advice parents get about weaning infants onto solid foods - even from pediatricians - is more myth than science.

That's right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut butter doesn't have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering fruits before vegetables won't breed a sweet tooth. And strong spices? Bring 'em on.

"There's a bunch of mythology out there about this," says Dr. David Bergman, a Stanford University pediatrics professor. "There's not much evidence to support any particular way of doing things."

Word of that has been slow to reach parents and the stacks of baby books they rely on to navigate this often intimidating period of their children's lives. But that may be changing.

As research increasingly suggests a child's first experiences with food shape later eating habits, doctors say battling obesity and improving the American diet may mean debunking the myths and broadening babies' palates.

It's easier - and harder - than it sounds. Easier because experts say 6-month-olds can eat many of the same things their parents do. Harder because it's tough to find detailed guidance for nervous parents.

"Parents have lost touch with the notion that these charts are guides, not rules," says Rachel Brandeis, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Babies start with a very clean palate and it's your job to mold it."

It's easy to mistake that for a regimented process. Most parents are told to start rice cereal at 6 months, then slowly progress to simple vegetables, mild fruits and finally pasta and meat.

Ethnic foods and spices are mostly ignored by the guidelines - cinnamon and avocados are about as exotic as it gets - and parents are warned off potential allergens such as nuts and seafood for at least a year.

Yet experts say children over 6 months can handle most anything, with a few caveats: Be cautious if you have a family history of allergies; introduce one food at a time and watch for any problems; and make sure the food isn't a choking hazard.

Parents elsewhere in the world certainly take a more freewheeling approach, often starting babies on heartier, more flavorful fare - from meats in African countries to fish and radishes in Japan and artichokes and tomatoes in France.

The difference is cultural, not scientific, says Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' nutrition committee who says the American approach suffers from a Western bias that fails to reflect the nation's ethnic diversity.

Bhatia says he hopes his group soon will address not only that, but also ways to better educate parents about which rules must be followed and which ones are only suggestions.

Rayya Azarbeygui, a 35-year-old Lebanese immigrant living in New York, isn't waiting. After her son was born last year, she decided he should eat the same foods she does - heavily seasoned Middle Eastern dishes like hummus and baba ghanoush.

"My pediatrician thinks I'm completely crazy," says Azarbeygui, whose son is now 13 months old. "But you know, he sees my child thriving and so says, 'You know what, children in India eat like that. Why not yours?'"

How to introduce healthy children to solid food has rarely been studied. Even the federal government has given it little attention; dietary guidelines apply only to children 2 and older.

In a review of the research, Nancy Butte, a pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine, found that many strongly held assumptions - such as the need to offer foods in a particular order or to delay allergenic foods - have little scientific basis.

Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom, it's the best first food. But Butte says iron-rich meat - often one of the last foods American parents introduce - would be a better choice.

Dr. David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston, a specialist in pediatric nutrition, says some studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants.

"These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels" and could contribute to later health problems, including obesity, he says.

The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem. Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat healthier.

Food allergy fears get some of the blame for the bland approach. For decades doctors have said the best way to prevent allergies is to limit infants to bland foods, avoiding seasonings, citrus, nuts and certain seafood.

But Butte's review found no evidence that children without family histories of food allergies benefit from this. Others suspect avoiding certain foods or eating bland diets actually could make allergies more likely. Some exposure might be a good thing.

And bring on the spices. Science is catching up with the folklore that babies in the womb and those who are breast-fed taste - and develop a taste for - whatever Mom eats. So experts say if Mom enjoys loads of oregano, baby might, too.

That's been Maru Mondragon's experience. The 40-year-old Mexican indulged on spicy foods while pregnant with her youngest son, 21-month-old Russell, but not while carrying his 3-year-old brother, Christian.

Christian has a mild palate while his younger brother snacks on jalapenos and demands hot salsa on everything.

"If it is really spicy, he cries, but still keeps eating it," says Mondragon, who moved to Denver four years ago.

That's the sort of approach Bhatia says more parents should know about. Parents should view this as a chance to encourage children to embrace healthy eating habits and introduce them to their culture and heritage.

"So you eat a lot of curry," he says, "try junior on a mild curry."

[ysabella]

That's a fun read, Dodger, thank you. Very timely for me. My mom was saying something to me about how babies love cereal and I was thinking, Yeah, but then the insulin spike and...so on.

[eepobee]

timely for me as well. got a six-month old who we've started on egg yolks and have just progressed to chicken. my wife and her family, who are korean, keep begging me to allow rice and i haven't caved. this article will help my cause. also hope to start her on liver and other meats shortly, and reading this makes me a little more confident in my decision.

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/8533/shinbism2uf.jpg
shinbi

[AJCole]

I breast fed my 18 yoa daughter and supplemented early with whatever was on my plate. If it was a choking hazard, I would chew it for her first (now I wonder if that helped her antibodies boost). But my 7 yoa twin boys wanted nothing but breast milk (maybe because they were boys?). They got no other food until they were 8 months old, and then only jarred veg's and fruits at lunch. All my children are very healthy. I think the key is breast milk. Maybe so many children have had allergies because so many mothers had, and have, fed thier children formula instead of natural breast milk?

[foxgluvs]

Over here in the uk we are encouraged to start feeding on rice cereal and fruit to begin with. I remember thinking, oh for goodness sake, what a load of faffing about, so I use to blend whatever we were having (even very lightly spiced curry) up for my kids right from the word go. They now don't have a problem with any foods. They'll eat anything and don't have any allergies.

[BawdyWench]

I don't have children, so maybe I shouldn't have an opinion either. Oh well, here goes.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I have a friend who had a small manual food grinder, and she simply put whatever was on her plate into the grinder for her kids. It was simple (and cheap) for her, and her kids are thriving and of a healthy weight.

After all we've now learned about grains and insulin, you'd think we'd be more careful about what we feed our children. (I speaking of the general "we"). It pains me to see parents constantly feeding their children the goldfish crackers and cheerios. I have another friend who does this. Those kids don't go anywhere in the car without a container of crackers and a box of juice. Do kids really need to be eating all the time? I sure didn't when I was a kid.

Isn't this just setting kids up for a dependency on grains and all the negative effects that go along with this type of eating?

A lot of these parents say that the kids are doing fine -- they're not gaining weight. Not now, maybe, but they're being set up for problems later.

The Eades (doctors and authors of the Protein Plan series) raised all of their kids on low-carb foods.

I know not all parents are this way, and I apologize if I've offended any parents out there. After all, I don't know what it's like to raise kids.

That said, it's good to see articles like this. Maybe the thinking really is changing for the better!

[tuscany]

I'll attest to this; I only fed my now 2-yr old son the rice cereal once, as his first introduction to grains (banana was his first solid I think). That cereal tasted so bad, I never felt like giving that to him again. He ate a lot of guacamole. I'm from India, & he now eats all kinds of spicy indian food. He does get mac n'cheese occasionally, eats fruit everyday, but no juice, no cereals etc. He does get "junk" at his daycare for snacks sometimes, but we pack his lunch, so overall he is doing pretty good.

[foxgluvs]

timely for me as well. got a six-month old who we've started on egg yolks and have just progressed to chicken. my wife and her family, who are korean, keep begging me to allow rice and i haven't caved. this article will help my cause. also hope to start her on liver and other meats shortly, and reading this makes me a little more confident in my decision.

http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/8533/shinbism2uf.jpg
shinbi

That baby is just the sweetest thing!!

[BetyLouWho]

(eepobee: That is a beautiful little girl! What a face!)

[Nancy LC]

I heard that exposing babies to a wide variety of tastes extremely early helps get them to eat more foods later on. And I agree, that baby is adorable! *coochie coo!*

[kyrasdad]

Interesting. We went the conventional route with Kyra, cereals and all. When I have it to do again, we'll be doing more in the way of protein. She's an egg fanatic right now, and loves tomatoes more than anything else including chocolate, so I'm pretty happy with the way she's eating. Tons of cheese, veggies, eggs and meat. Pretty much the way I eat, except of course I can't eat eggs, which have always smelled vile to me.

[BetyLouWho]

My little one is one (TODAY!). He has always hated cereal and I was scolded by several doctors and developmental specialists for not getting cereal into him.

There have been some delays in his milestones that we have been watching. After various professionals assessed him and found that he was lagging in a few areas, the "diet" issues came up. They were horrified by the fact that he gagged on cereal! He did not and still does not want anything to do with it. They made it sound like it was my fault for not feeding him RICE! My brain saw that these cereals were fortified with iron, but I could not see what else was so freakin' important about rice cereal. Starch. So? He was getting his iron in enough other forms for me to feel confident about it!

They said:

"Where will he get his NUTRITION?" (Boy, are the doctors ever brainwashed by the formula companies by this crap! They even question the superiority of breastmilk!! That's a whole other thread, forum, discussion ... AGGH...)

"He has to eat from a spoon! Its an important stage of development"


For a while I would sneak rice cereal into a bottle just to eliminate my guilt. Then of course they cautioned against putting rice into BOTTLES as it introduced huge amounts of empty calories and set them up for a lifetime of obesity. I'm not kidding. What the heck is the difference if it goes in by spoon or by a bottle? They're crazy.

Now I try to let him have a variety of options at every sitting. He usually focuses on the meats, eggs, and veggies. Add the odd yogurt or pudding for fun. He's not keen on sweets. I don't outlaw fruits or whole wheat pastas or any food groups with him, but I find that when it is all laid out in front of him, he chooses to eat the lower carb stuff most of the time. To him it's "Give me meat, and a few other tasty things and don't bother me too much with cookies, crackers, noodles, or, Heaven forbid..CEREAL!

[tigersue]

Here I am a nurse, and in a way I agree with the article and in a way I don't. I think a great deal of problem is we start our babies on solids way too early, around here the norm is 4 months. I have never understood why people are in such a hurry to get babies to eat solids. I generally start my babies with a bit of rice, then a fruit and then veggetables, then back to other fruits. I do put meats last because they are more likely to cause allergies, but the allergy problem is a factor of how early things are introduces, like at 4 months. Breastfeeding mothers have less trouble getting their babies to eat solid foods of any variety. As for spicies, as soon as I have my babies on the basic foods we start giving them what every we have on the table, I didn't care what I made, or the spice in it, babies love food with flavor.
As to the concept that Dr's think formula is better than breastmilk, I would like to know where you get that from because since 1987, when I first started working in a NewBorn ICU unit, breastmilk has been pushed and has always been the prefered milk to give to our babies.
Tanya

[BetyLouWho]

Here I am a nurse, and in a way I agree with the article and in a way I don't. I think a great deal of problem is we start our babies on solids way too early, around here the norm is 4 months.

The WHO has recently started recommending that babies are not given solids until 6 months. My own doctor was unaware of this and was very concerned about the possibility of seeing in her office, a whole generation of children who were not able to spoon feed and would therefore be somehow developmentally delayed. I was asked by the same doctor: "Who is saying this? The BREASTFEEDING people???"

Those who continue to convince a struggling mother that it is worth it to continue trying to get it right are seen as extremist. (These are people with various levels of training, or perhaps none at all, who lecture breastfeeding at parent classes, or who work in breastfeeding clinics. They are not so affectionately known as Breastfeeding Nazis.) When I told my doc that I was struggling with nursing, her big concern was that if the baby was not getting enough formula that I would need to give him a vitamin D supplement. Fair enough. Message: breastmilk lacks essential nutrients. She is bombarded with info from the vitamin companies and formula companies.


As to the concept that Dr's think formula is better than breastmilk, I would like to know where you get that from because since 1987, when I first started working in a NewBorn ICU unit, breastmilk has been pushed and has always been the prefered milk to give to our babies.


I should clarify what I was trying to say. I would imagine that most, if not all health professionals would agree that nursing is the best route for the health of the baby. I suppose that having been through the ringer with problems, and having run into so little help, encouragement or direction from the professionals, from peers and from society, I have come to believe that our society is almost anti-breastfeeding.

When I was pregnant and under the care of my fam doc and OB/GYN there was not one word mentioned about nursing. Then one day, there I am in the hospital after my son's birth being instructed on how to hold the baby(wrong), latch the baby on (wrong) etc by a nurse. She insisted that I wake him every three hours which didn't seem right to me so I let it go for longer. Then she started coming in to remind me and tell me that I "had to" or my milk would not come in properly. I listened since she was the "expert". She then came in and woke my exhausted child to from a deep sleep, tore off his clothes, turned on overhead lights in his face to keep him alert and forced the shivering, screaming child onto my breast every three hours. I wound up with blisters that would not allow him to TOUCH me for 8 days!

Ya. That's natural. That's bonding. (Sorry, we have opened a can of worms here with me)

I got "TSK"ed by the nurses who all rolled their eyes at my lack of dedication and from needing to take a break from feeding him. I knew very little about supply and such so I asked if I should be pumping. The nurse looked at me as if I had two heads: "PUMPING?? Who said anything about PUMPING??"

The child was born over a holiday weekend so the hospital breastfeeding clinic was not opened. The solution from the nurses was (of course) formula. The formula which, by the way is given to the hospitals at no charge in order to get mothers started on the easier route and become life long customers.

(I'm foggy now on the details of the agreement of all of the formula companies that they would not give formula to hospitals or send it to the homes of expectant mothers etc. Anyhow, after one company broke the rules a little, the rest followed and the practices are alive and well again today. There have been enough studies that determine that people will stick with the brand that they were given in the hospital (it MUST be good!), or give in to the temptation of an easy bottle feed, an then others, if the stuff is already in their house.)

The next six weeks were a nightmare of breast pumps every three hours, bottles, formula, breastfeeding clinics (2, who both assured me that I had the baby latching correctly, and who gave me a plethora of stupid advice, along with an eye infection for the baby who, by the way, was a colicky disaster to begin with!) and whatever books that I could find on my own for help.

Let's try to get a baby who's only experience with the breast is a horror to latch back on after over a week of bottles (while the blisters heal on his mom!)! In hind sight I am FURIOUS at what these morons did to me!!!

Let's fast forward to my six week check up with my OB/GYN:
Three standard questions, three standard answers. Hows this and that? Fine, fine, fine.
"Are you breastfeeding?"
<insert instant meltdown>
Advice: "Go see family doc for YOURSELF! If you are COMMITTED, who will look after the baby?"

Here is a person who could not see that this was important to me, that it had been my every minute obsession, day and night for the last 6 weeks, and that I was not CRAZY, but in fact screaming for help!!! My own doc thankfully knows me and decided that I was just tired. But, apart from asking what was so wrong with formula and sending me back to the stupid clinic, she had no advice either.

I could go on. It gets stupider at the speed of light. I'll leave it at this....

If there is one thing that I wish I had discovered BEFORE I had the baby it is this site. www.breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml (http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml) . I would encourage any mom, or soon-to be mom, or already nursing mom, or health professional to PLEASE PLEASE look into JACK NEWMAN's work!!!

Dr Jack Newman is actually a local (Toronto) doc that runs clinics within an hour from my home. I wish that I had made it out to his clinics when I was killing myself over problems. I will always wonder if he could have helped me.
<insert aftershock meltdown as I write this>

I will never know how I managed to get breastmilk to my kid for 5 and a half months. I remember being asked the standard question by the docs if I was bonding with the baby alright. Let's see...I love the kid more than anything, however, he does nothing but sleep and cry and I am spending up to 8 hrs a day hooked up to a breast pump ON TOP of every thing else! Bonding, you say? **** off! You have no idea.

[BetyLouWho]

How should solids be introduced?

When the baby is starting to take solids at about six months of age, there is little difference what he starts with or the order foods are introduced. It is prudent to avoid highly spiced or highly allergenic foods at first (e.g. egg white, strawberries), but if the baby reaches for the potato on your plate, make sure it is not too hot, and let him have the potato. There is no need to go in any specific order, and there is no need for the baby to eat only one food for a certain period of time. Some exclusively breastfed babies dislike infant cereal when it is introduced at about six months of age. There is no need for concern and no need to persist if the baby doesn’t want the cereal. There is nothing magic or necessary about infant cereal. Offer your baby the foods that he is interested in. Allow the baby to enjoy food and do not worry exactly how much he actually takes at first. Much of it may end up in his hair and on the floor anyhow. There is no need either that foods be pureed if the baby is six months of age or older. Simple mashing with a fork is all that is necessary at first. You also do not have to be exceedingly careful about how much the baby takes. Why limit the baby to one teaspoon if he wants more? You do not need to waste your money on commercial baby foods.

Be relaxed, feed the baby at your mealtimes, and as he becomes a more accomplished eater of solid foods, offer a greater variety of foods at any one time.

The easiest way to get extra iron for your baby five or six months of age is by giving him meat. Infant cereal has iron, but it is poorly absorbed and may cause the baby to be constipated.

There is no reason to introduce vegetables before fruit. Breastmilk is far sweeter than fruit, so there is no reason to believe that the baby will take vegetables better by delaying the introduction of fruit.

Respect your baby’s likes and dislikes. There is no essential food (except breastmilk). If your baby does not like a certain food, do not push it on him. If you think it important for him, wait a few weeks and offer it again.

At about eight months of age, babies become somewhat assertive in displaying their individuality. Your baby may not want you to put a spoon into his mouth. He very likely will take it out of your hand and put it into his mouth himself, often upside down, so that the food falls on his lap. Respect his attempts at self-sufficiency and encourage his learning. http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/16.html

[Galliard]

We had some friends from India who had a child a few months older than ours and we'd eat out together sometimes and our 2 year-old daughter couldn't eat even the mildly spicy food, where their little girl loved it, because she'd eaten it from early on. I guess I'd just assumed that hot spices were somehow bad for a toddler, but I guess not!

[LadyBelle]

That's right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut butter doesn't have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering fruits before vegetables won't breed a sweet tooth. And strong spices? Bring 'em on.

The rice cereal I completely agree with. Neither of my kids ate it period as babies. I saw it as a complete nutritional void. Of course I was looked at like I had two heads.

I did try the veggies before fruit route however. With both my children. My 2 year old daughter will eat salads and try most things, my 6 year old son almost faints at the idea of touching anything green.

What I think made the biggest difference in thier preferances is my daughter sees me eating veggies all the time since I've been low carbing since after her birth. My son saw my old, poor eating habits. Monkey see monkey do.

[LadyBelle]

BetyLouWho - When did you have your child? I'm in US, so Canada may be different, but I had almost the exact opposit problem.

Here there was tons of pressure to breast feed. If you didn't you're child would be obese, sickly ect ect and you were just a bad mother.

With my son I had to have a C-section and my milk didn't come in. we tried nursing for a few days, and I felt so bad because the kid was bright red and screaming from hunger (yes I know most newborns aren't hungry, my angels came out eating and havn't stopped). I finally broke down and let the nurse give us a bottle. I felt like a failure though.

Then when he was a few months older he was not gaining weight. My milk just couldn't keep up with him. The doctor recomended I start supplimenting. I fought it at first of course, but we finally did and I am happy. My son thrived better and it was nice to let daddy take care of some feedings.

I am glad I breastfed. I did so with my daughter as well, even though we started supplimenting her earlier. Neither of my kids have any kind of weight problems, except we have to buy a length of belt or rope to keep thier pants up. They both eat like horses still, but make healthy choices.

I think alot of nurses, doctors and society really just need to back off new moms who are already under stress. Let them know it's ok to make the decision that's best for you and the new baby. Yes educate people to the benifits of breastfeeding, but don't try to guilt them into thinking that is the only choice.

[tigersue]

Betty Lou and Lady Belle,
How right you both are! I didn't nurse my first two children because I didnt' and still don't deal with stress well and the work I was doing just wouldn't allow for pumping at work. Funny for a nurse, Huh. I was pressured by my MIL to nurse, forgetting that it is my choice in what I do, and with this last baby it was all "I'm so glad you chose to nurse this baby".
Formula is provided free in nurses yes as promotion, but the guidlines are always changing. A few years ago it was only give water to a baby nursing if they needed a supplement, after I quit working it changed to only formula, so the Dr. associations can't even make up their minds what to do, it if very, very frustrating.
As for your experience Betty Lou, don't mind bringing up a can of worms. I can't completely comment on everything because I don't know the weight of your baby, but hospitals can be very tough on nurses to chart when a baby eats and if a baby doesn't eat in a specific amount of time, we have to get tough. Generally I fudges it for the moms and babies I took care of, but it wasn't something I believe in. I think 4 to 5 hours in between eating is fine, if the baby has good blood sugars it is nothing to worry about. As to the help in BF, it is hard to find good Laction consultant, here I had to help moms try to nurse their little tiny babies that often had poor suck swallow reflexes and it would be so hard, because moms put so much pressure on themselves that they are failures if they can't nurse or can't get a baby to nurse, it happens sometimes. I can only say I'm so thankful that we do have access to formula, in cases like this because it can be a relief to know that if I can't formula is okay. Most babies with formula get big because parents force them to finish a bottle, not just let them stop. I have also seen BF babies be very chunky and big too, so it can go both ways.
I do think starting eggs particularily whites at 6 months is a bad idea, I guess i just feel that a couple of months to get veggies, fruits and other meats going, help reduce the allergy to eggs, and egg allergies are very big. It is not the yolk that is the problem just the whites. One other think is reading on autism, is that many are allergic to a variety of foods, so how much of autism is caused by food allergies? Another can of worms for another time and another place. :)
As to spoon feeding, IMHO, the biggest culprit in the past 12 years or so, is the sleeping on back. I have it from occupational therapist, that this practice has caused all kinds of problems with hand to mouth coordination in babies because they are not getting the tummy time they need to help get hands to mouth. This is a bigger problem that holding off baby getting solids. I have always waited until 6months to start my babies on solids, and so far none of them have had a problem with spoon feeding. In fact starting early is more a problem because sometimes the muscle coordination in the mouth is not ready yet. By the way, my babies end up sleeping on the tummy because I can't stand the lack of sleep, and they just sleep better, because my children have alll had mild forms of refulx, and are miserable on their backs.
Sorry for the long post. Hope it makes sense.
Tanya

[BetyLouWho]

Originally posted by LadyBelle
BetyLouWho - When did you have your child? I'm in US, so Canada may be different, but I had almost the exact opposite problem.

Here there was tons of pressure to breast feed. If you didn't you're child would be obese, sickly ect ect and you were just a bad mother.

It might sound like medieval times but my child just turned one on Monday. I am also in Southern Ontario in between two major cities with leading edge, world class hospitals (Hamilton, McMaster and Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children) so the knowledge and resources should not have been a problem. I also have to agree with you that on the surface, EVERYONE seems to be pro-breastfeeding. (I went to mom and baby groups a couple of times and, even though my child's bottle had "the real thing" in it, I felt that the rest of the nursing mothers were judging me for not applying myself enough or something.)

When there are problems though, there is very little trained help and most people will advise you to give it up if it's too hard. I wanted to nurse my son until he was at least one and maybe two. Our culture has way too many hangups about how long to breastfeed, feeding in public etc. It's quite twisted really. We were even raised with dolls that had bottles. When have I ever been able to learn about nursing in this culture? It's like a hidden dirty secret or something. If you don't figure it out on your own, your ship is sunk.


Yes educate people to the benifits of breastfeeding, but don't try to guilt them into thinking that is the only choice.


It's funny that after all of my struggles I would still never jump to judgements with someone else's choices. I was much harder on myself than anyone. In fact I sometimes wonder if I might have enjoyed my child's first half year much more if I had made the decision to formula feed. I can be comfortable knowing though, without a doubt, that I gave it my best shot and then some!

[BetyLouWho]

Originally posted by tigersue
A few years ago it was only give water to a baby nursing if they needed a supplement, after I quit working it changed to only formula, so the Dr. associations can't even make up their minds what to do, it if very, very frustrating.

Interesting. I wasn't aware of this!

As for your experience Betty Lou, don't mind bringing up a can of worms. I can't completely comment on everything because I don't know the weight of your baby, but hospitals can be very tough on nurses to chart when a baby eats and if a baby doesn't eat in a specific amount of time, we have to get tough.

My baby had a quick, uneventful birth at 39 weeks and was 7 lb 5 oz. APGAR score was 9. I have read that for the first 24 hours after birth, mother and baby should be left to rest and not worry about eating, if that is what the otherwise healthy child decides to do. At that point, we start to keep track of feedings and such. I would insist on this if I ever had another child.

By the way, my babies end up sleeping on the tummy because I can't stand the lack of sleep, and they just sleep better, because my children have alll had mild forms of refulx, and are miserable on their backs.

I gave into this too!;) As did my sister with her baby. The first night or two we were awake ALL night checking for breathing and being terrified of SIDS...but we got over it. Then we got much better sleep!:D
(Story provided for information only, not as medical advice!)

[tuscany]

I'll add my 2c to the sleep on our tummy position. I was born & grew up in India & we have (or used to) a lot of extended families, living in the same house or close by. So saw & lived with my fair share of babies/kids. I always saw kids sleeping on their backs, or on their side. Never on their stomachs. Maybe just a cultural difference ?
Another difference, babies usually slept with parents in the same bed, sometimes in a crib, if there is already another toddler in the bed, who refuses to budge :)
For my son, I first tried the crib next to the bed, but kept waking up every so often to check if he was breathing. We bought something called a snuggle nest to keep between our pillows for the first few weeks and later, he just slept snuggled next to me. I must say, as soon as I got him in my bed, both of us slept well. It was also easier nursing, I never even really woke up, just latched him on when he stirred. We do have a king-size bed; not sure if it would have worked well in a smaller bed.
Ok I'll stop now, this thread has gone completely off course...

[potatofree]

They've had it all over the news that they're now saying babies placed on their backs to sleep are less vulnerable to SIDS, and that pacifier use also seems to tie in to a lower risk.

As a high-risk baby, they insisted I put Steven on his back or side... preferably the back, and only to prop him on his side if he absolutely couldn't sleep on his back. He was swaddled during the early weeks, and after he was able to roll independently he could sleep however he wanted.

As for the "new" food recommendations, I say GOOD! :D If having some sort of official endorsement for not having to buy over-priced processed goo means new moms will relax and trust their own instincts, I say it's about time. ;) I was pressured to start the kids on solids starting at 3 months...mostly by other Moms.

The doctors said no solids at ALL are needed for at least 6 months, and to introduce solids only when breastfeeding didn't leave them satisfied anymore and they start showing interest in other things.

And for the record... I'm still finding little bags of Cheerios and goldfish crackers. ;)

[tigersue]

Yes I have seen the news on SIDS, I will not be one of those moms that use a pacifier to put a baby to sleep. They really are only designed for suck reflex use, and that is the way I like it. I have never had a child stuck on a pacifier, they spit them out between 1 month and 2 months old.
Don't you just love the things we do with our babies, and all the stress we give ourselves that we are doing things wrong, or not completely right. We do the best we can for our sanity and our well being from which way to feed the baby, to what position we let them sleep in, to how clean the house is. Ah the joy of being a parent. :)
Tanya

[potatofree]

Mine loved theirs, and used them for several months. I don't even remember when they stopped, they just kind of gave them up gradually. It was funny when the (now ex) SIL kept lecturing me on how I was going to ruin Steven's life, basically, with a pacifier... when they finally adopted a baby boy, she ended up using one for him. I kept my mouth shut, but it was sorely tempting... ;)

He's 12 now, and STILL making her eat her words on a regular basis. :lol:

[LadyBelle]

I tried a pacifier with my son. He gave a few experimental sucks, then got mad at me when no food came out and the thing was chucked at my head. He never showed interest after that.

My daughter, the sweet little vaccume, liked a pacifier. When she started to get teeth in however she no longer sucked on it and would instead use it as a chew toy. All of her pacifiers were tossed out and as long as she had a chew toy of some sort she was happy. Kid is two and a half and I still have issues with her sticking every darn thing she comes across in her mouth.