# how long only breastmilk?



## kfillmore (Oct 23, 2008)

How long could a baby survive (thrive) on breastmilk only. I am wondering about delaying giving food.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kfillmore* 
How long could a baby survive (thrive) on breastmilk only. I am wondering about delaying giving food.

Depends on the baby/mom. I would say that (assuming no major problems) all babies can thrive until 6 months on only breastmilk. Most babies could probably thrive until 9. Many would thrive until 12 months. Some thrive until 2 years.

But that's just my guesses and observations.

In general, I think that as long as you meet the readiness signs, it may be a good idea to delay solids to at least 6 months, but beyond that I don't see any benefit in ignoring baby if they show readiness.

-Angela


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## Mamato3wild ponnie (Jan 6, 2007)

My 4th baby(11months)...we didnt feed solids until he was 10 months...and somedays...he only takes breastmilk...and he's a healthy boy. If he is interested in food we offer it to him...were not on any sort of feeding schedule...he eats when he's hungry. If were eating breakfast and he lloks interested...we'll offer...but other wise..he goes on with just breastmilk.


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## sbrinton (Jul 17, 2008)

I think it's a good idea to delay solids until at least 6 months and then until the baby is ready. I look at solids from about 6-9 months as mostly for fun and practice. From 9-12 months, our babies have started to take in more food. For example, our 9 month old had a jar of rice, peas and turkey plus 1/2 a banana and some pizza crust for dinner! He's very, very interested in food and would be miserable if we did not offer him food when we eat.

But we're still breastfeeding and will continue that hopefully through his 2nd year.


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

This really is an issue where all babies are different. My dd barely ate at all until she was about 18 months. My ds was grabbing food off our plates or trying to rip it from our hands just shy of six months.


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## Stephenie (Oct 11, 2007)

I think it really depends on the child. I know our naturopath said that kids don't really _need_ anything else until a year... and recommends that we wait as long as we can with dd because she had a ton of sensitivities to foods I ate and ds has a ton of allergies/ sesnsitivties. We're hoping to wait until at least nine months, but we also want to follow her cues.


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## BeagleMommy (May 26, 2006)

We waited until dd's first brithday, but she didn't really eat much until 18 months.







:
And she still (at 2 and 1/2) hates bananas!


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## averlee (Apr 10, 2009)

I have known kids as old as 15 mos still on breastmilk only. Formula feeding now recommended to stop at 12 mos means, most kids are solids-only by about 1 year. My daughter began grabbing food off my plate at less than 2 months old, I let her start tasting things at only 10wks, she never had a bad reaction to any food, never choked or gagged and almost never spit any food out, ever. So, I think whatever you think and whatever baby wants is probably OK?


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## StoriesInTheSoil (May 8, 2008)

I started offering foods to DS aroung 8.5 months, IIRC. He has basically refused everything. He will occasionally eat something but it's always a small amount and usually a one-time thing. He is 12.5 months old now and weighs almost 30 lbs on breastmilk only so I'd say he's thriving still!


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

I offered solids to my son starting from 6.5 months. He will be a year this month and still does not eat solids, but he is thriving fine without them.


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## Dahlea (May 15, 2008)

Mine's 10 months old and still uninterested in food. He has a gag reflex problem too so I am going super slow on trying anything. He's 32 lbs and in the 95th percentile for height, so I'd say he's thriving!


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## caitsaunt (May 6, 2009)

Ian tongue thrusted most everything out until around 10 months. So up until then it was probably 99% breastmilk and 1% food - he thrived and gained like crazy.


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## Drummer's Wife (Jun 5, 2005)

My 3rd baby did not eat more than a taste or two for the whole first year - and he was fine growth/weight/milestone wise. He really didn't eat a good amount of food at all until he was 18 months - and even then, most of his nutrients came from nursing.

I would guess, on average, most breastfed babies do not _need_ food until around 12 months or so. But of course it's best to follow your LO's lead. Some are super interested and do well with self-feeding at 7 mos, and others not so much until some time after their first birthday.


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## 20605 (Oct 11, 2004)

DD didn't have any interest until about 9 months..then really wasn't a reliable eater until about 14 months...


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## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

I know I've read here at MDC of kids who went upwards of two years on breastmilk only, due to allergies or medical conditions. My oldest didn't take to solid food until he was around 18 months old and I got pregnant. He had bites of things here and there, but pretty much rejected everything. It wasn't until my milk supply dropped that he branched out a little. My dd, though, grabbed a piece of my apple at 5 1/2 months and never looked back. She didn't have any teeth at all until her fist bday, but she ate everything I did. DS2 was another late solids kid. I started offering around 7 months, but he never ate more than a bite or two a day (if that) until he was well over a year old.


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## phrogger (Oct 16, 2006)

If your baby wants food, they will ususually let you know. My oldest was grabbing EVERYTHING off my plate at 5 months and by 7 was feeding himself. He liked food and still does.

My daughter who lives with her fathers, didn't start solids until she was 8 months and that was only because I went to visit and she wasn't eatting anything at all and they hadn't tried it yet. She was mostly on BM (I was pumping and shipping) but she seemed a little interested. I feed her some banana off my plate and she never looked back. She started eatting everything after that. So if by 7 or 8 months the baby isn't showing major interest, I would try a little, see what happens and go from there.


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