By Colleen Huber, Naturopathy Works

The Year 2000 Health Goals for the United States, "Healthy People 2000," recommend that mothers nurse their infants for at least six months. At that six-month point a process occurs known as weaning, which is from the Anglo-Saxon wenian, which literally means "to become accustomed to something different." ¹ Such a process does not imply a cessation of breastfeeding, but rather the addition of other foods.

Where did six months come from? The consensus seems to be as follows: The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition has concluded that no nutritional benefit is gained from starting solid foods before the age of 4-6 months.² The World Health Organization (WHO), the Canadian Pediatric Society, the Pediatric Society of New Zealand, and similar organizations in other countries have made similar statements.^{3 4 5} In fact, before six months the epithelial lining of the gut is not sufficiently developed to handle solid foods. Too early feeding of solid foods allows large molecules to get into the bloodstream and create the antibodies that characterize long-term food allergies.

Of equal importance, your baby starts reaching for the food on your plate about the age of 6 months. The AAP Committee on Nutrition further states, "By 5 to 6 months of age, the infant will be able to indicate a desire for food by opening his or her mouth and leaning forward, and to indicate disinterest or satiety by leaning back and turning away."⁶

Breastfeeding anthropologist Katherine Dettwyler identifies 6 months as the age at which most human cultures throughout history have introduced solid foods. Around this six-month point, there are excellent reasons for continuing to breastfeed and excellent reasons for supplementing good-quality solid foods as well. Dettwyler notes:

"Nonhuman primates and children in traditional cultures worldwide normally experience several years of a transitional diet, with steadily increasing amounts of solid foods in addition to breast milk. The breast milk component of the diet continues to provide an excellent, uncontaminated source of protein as well as of immunological factors, and may be the only food the child desires or can tolerate during illnesses."⁷

Benefits of Continued Breastfeeding

First, let's examine the benefits of continued breastfeeding. Two to four years of breastfeeding is typical for modern humans, as shown by cross-cultural evidence from around the world.⁸ The reasons for continued breastfeeding are many. Breast milk not only continues to be nutritionally superior to any other formula or food for the infant and toddler, but it is also vastly superior to artificial infant feeding products in immunological, biochemical and cognitive benefits.

As long as your child is ingesting breast milk, it is protective against a wide range of illnesses and parasites. It is also important for mothers to understand the life-long health advantages to their child of breastfeeding, and, conversely, without breastfeeding the increased rates of morbidity and mortality during childhood, higher rates of cancer and diabetes during adulthood and weaker cognitive development.

On the other hand, sooner or later solid foods will have to be introduced, and for the reasons given above, you may start to think about the types and quantities of such foods as your child approaches six months.

Breast milk supplies sufficient protein for the first six or seven months of life. Afterward, the growing infant requires additional protein for adequate growth. Public health guidelines are approximately 14 grams per day for infants under 1 year old and 16 grams for those aged 1-4. Most of this protein may still be supplied by breast milk and the remainder supplemented with other foods.

Baby's First Solid Foods

Choose your baby's first foods from those that are soft or easily gummed by the child. Such early foods are:

• Mashed avocado
• Yam or sweet potato
• Cooked peas, lentils or beans of various kinds
• Mashed banana or papaya

A few months later, as more teeth begin to erupt and the GI tract epithelium begins to mature, a more varied diet will be tolerated (and maybe even demanded!) by your baby. At this point, consider adding:

• Cooked greens, finely chopped, such as kale, chard, collards, spinach
• Squashes, such as butternut, acorn and other winter squashes
• Mashed asparagus
• Eggs
• Nut butters (but be wary of aflatoxin in many peanut butters)
• Seaweeds that become soft on soaking, such as wakame or nori

Early in the second year, you may want to introduce some meats, although some parents introduce these during the first year. Watch your child carefully as he or she eats meat, as it is the most frequently choked-on category of food. You may consider:

• Chicken, turkey or other poultry

• Fish (Remember, only wild-caught, Pacific salmon may be free from harmful levels of mercury and PCBs. Other varieties of fish may contain harmful toxins that shouldn't be given to children.)

• Mozzarella cheese or other cheese that can be made soft by heating. Such cheeses can be baked on a casserole of some of the above vegetables and meats.

• Pieces of fruit cut small (but no whole grapes yet)

Water and breast milk, of course, and never fruit juices or other beverages, should be given as the child desires.

Watch your child closely with all solid eating experiences for two main reasons. One, the novice eater chokes more easily and frequently than the rest of us. But it is also the easiest time to observe any food sensitivities.

Introduce one new food at a time, and wait a few days before introducing the next one. That way, any unusual symptoms, such as redness of ears or cheeks, nasal discharge, darker areas under the eyes or puffy eyes, unusual moodiness, gassiness, vomiting or diarrhea may be attributed to the newly introduced food. When the suspect food is noted, discontinue temporarily and try it again in several months with especially careful observation.

Please note that the above list does not include macaroni or other pasta, which is often given to babies. (Nor--heaven forbid--do we need to give children sweetened foods or drink of any kind.) Pasta, sweets and other refined carbohydrates offer nothing nutritionally to your child, but do wreak havoc with your child's gut and immune system, and their neurological, endocrine and even cardiovascular health.

Sticking with, preferably organic, whole foods through your child's earliest years of eating will develop the healthy taste preferences that you will later yearn for if you do not follow this advice. If preparing whole organic food seems too daunting a task, please see my other articles on this topic:

• How to Cook Whole Food From Scratch and Keep Your Day Job
• Organic Food Vs. Processed Food: Price Comparison
• Chidlren's Food Demands: Do You Have to Give In?

  Colleen Huber, 46, is a wife, mother and student at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, Ariz., where she is training to be a naturopathic physician. Her original research on the mechanism of migraines has appeared in Lancet and Headache Quarterly, and was reported in The Washington Post.

  Her double blind placebo controlled research in homeopathy has appeared in Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, European Journal of Classical Homeopathy, and Homeopathy Today. Her website Naturopathy Works introduces naturopathic medicine to the layperson and provides references to the abundant medical literature demonstrating that natural medicine does work.