“sehr sub”

solid food???

Uih. bankrupcy ler bapak kamu kalau makan cenggini

Personally, I think Lana is not quite ready for solid food. But, I hear some remarks (mostly from both my mom & parents in law) which came out in their advice form: “Lana dah boleh makan ni”, “Dah boleh bagi biskut rendam dalam susu”, and one from my husband, “Lana dah nak makan lah” (lagi hebat kan? siap confident je cakap anak dia nak makan dah). What a relieve for me for having 100% of my own choice on subject matter. I DON’T THINK LANA IS READY FOR SOLID, YET!!!

And so, begin the journey of my own little research:asking around other moms and reading from various sites and books. There’s this one site: Baby Center that I really like - been reading it since my pregnancy. So, while I search for information on postpartum hair loss (oh, thankfully, I’m not going bald!!! and so much about old wives tales on “baby kalau air liur meleleh or main air liur (bubbles), confirm rambut mak dia gugur - hehehe.. it’s all hormonal changes. Now I can go around and tell people that!), I looked for “Introducing Solid Foods”. Here’s some cues to look for:

•  Head control. Your baby needs to be able to keep his head in a steady, upright position.
(Ok, Lana does have good head control)

•  Losing the “extrusion reflex.” To keep solid food in his mouth and then swallow it, your baby needs to stop using his tongue to push food out of his mouth.
( See, she is still pushing the bottle’s nipple & pacifier away with her tongue)

•  Sitting well when supported. Even if he’s not quite ready for a highchair, your baby needs to be able to sit upright to swallow well.
(She can sit quite well with support, but the likelihood of her tersembam head first is still high)
•  Chewing motions. Your baby’s mouth and tongue develop in sync with his digestive system. To start solids, he should be able to move food to the back of his mouth and swallow. As he learns to swallow efficiently, you may notice less drooling. He may also be teething around the same time.
(I noticed that 2 days ago, Lana started to have this chewing motions and less drools. But, it’s only 2 days. You can’t just start solid as soon as she knows how to chew, right? I should give her some time to master the skills first. Am I right? My baby is teething!!!)
•  Significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they’ve doubled their birth weight (or weigh about 15 pounds) and are at least 4 months old.
(OK. OK. She was born 2.85kg. She is currently around 6.3kg. And, is 4 months old. But still…)
•  Growing appetite. He seems hungry — even with eight to ten feedings of breast milk or formula a day.
(She feeds more now. Longer feeding time and more volume. I think I have sufficient milk for her)
•  Curiosity about what you’re eating. Your baby may begin eyeing your bowl of rice or reaching for a forkful of fettuccine as it travels from your plate to your mouth.

(haha. This is funny. Just 2 days ago she was eyeing my nasi goreng and she kept looking at me with interest! But she didn’t try to reach for it. Anyway, even when she had started to see better, she had been very interested in looking at food on the table. - tetiba teringat citer sang kancil dengan monyet yang salu aired kat TV dulu-dulu “Jangan monyet, jangan..”)

Erk. 4 out of 7. Hahaha.. I’m giving her more time to settle down. She is not sitting well, yet. That is one of the most important thing. She can’t swallow well if not sitting well. Plus she has not yet lose the extrusion reflex. All the important developments for her to start on solid.

I’m planning to breastfeed her exclusively, at least for 6 months. Need to strengthen her immune system and also creating bond with her. Then, and only then she can make her debut in the solid food department.