Not eating much solids. Is this OK?

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

Hi, my DS is 6.5 months old and we've just started solids a couple of weeks ago. We're doing mostly BLS with occasional baby oatmeal and purees thrown in. My concern is that regardless of whether I'm spoonfeeding him or he's feeding himself, he's eating very little. Like if I spoonfeed him, he'll take 4-5 tiny spoonfuls before losing interest. If I give him food to feed himself, he'll pick it up and take it to his mouth, and suck on it, but doesn't really swallow anything. He seems to think it's great fun to try to feed himself but it's as if the food is a toy; I'm not sure he understands it's meant to be eaten. I have tried putting the food in my mouth and showing him how to chew and he finds that entertaining but isn't getting the point.

My concern is whether breastmilk alone is still adequate nutritionally at this point? I doubt he's taking in more than 10-20 calories a day in solids. I nurse on demand while at home and he gets bottles of EBF--again, fed on demand--while I am at work. He seems to get plenty of milk, has 5-6 wet diapers/day and 1-2 poopy ones. We haven't been to the doctor since his 4 month shots (we have an appointment next week for the 6 month ones) so I don't have a recent formal weight. However, on my home scale he is between 17-18 lbs, and he was 14lbs 12oz at his 4 month appointment so I think he's gained about 3 lbs in 2.5 months. He is growing out of his clothes every other day, it seems. He is happy and healthy and meeting milestones like crazy.

I just need to know whether it's okay that he's taking very little solids and whether breastmilk is still adequate nutritionally at this point. At what point does he really need to be eating more solids? Thanks in advance!

[@llli*phi]

6.5 months is really, really young. Breast milk alone will be sufficient through the first year, although it's nice to let babies play around with new tastes and textures. It's far more important to let him play with and make his own decisions about solid foods than it is for him to actually eat anything.

My baby barely took more than a bite before 8 months. He didn't start eating any significant quantity of food until 10 months. He didn't start eating significant quantities of food reliably until 15 months.

Just relax and enjoy the ride! He'll be gobbling down full meals on his own before you know it!

[@llli*joshuas.mommy]

Thank you--this is really reassuring! If breastmilk is sufficient for the whole first year, I will relax now Glad to hear, too, that your baby didn't eat much until 10 months or so.

[@llli*mommal]

The rule with solids is "Until 1, just for fun". It's not until somewhere around the first birthday that solids become a necessary part of a baby's diet, and because the transition to a majority solid food diet is generally a slow one, many babies remain mostly breastfed until well into their second year. My kids probably ate a tablespoon or two of solid food, if that, until around 14-15 months. And they were just fine.