Congratulations!  I second the suggestions made so
far, and I'll add some of my own.  If you plan to do
extended bfeeding, get some support.  IMO THeola's
children weaned early.  Some children give up nursing
on their own at that age, but many children nurse
three, four, or even five years.  Night nursing
continues as well for most extended bfeeders. Many
women lose their milk when night nursing ceases;
frequency of nursing is what maintains milk supply,
and eight hours with no nursing is too long an
interval.  The WHO recommends BF for AT LEAST two
years.  My dd nursed 3.5 years, my ds is 2.5 and still
going strong.  The age of full weaning for most other
mammals is when adult teeth appear and the baby can
find most of its own food.  For humans, this is 5 to 8
years old!  (Not that your child needs to nurse that
long!) Also, a human child's immune system does not
mature until 5 to 8 years of age, so the additional
antibodies from the breastmilk continue to provide
protection and support against illness. The NEW
edition of Mothering Your Nursing Toddler published by
La Leche League is a good resource.  (The new one is
much better than the old one.)

"Natural" breastfeeding is a challenge.  Sometimes it
is overwhelming.  But it is incredibly rewarding and
beneficial to mother and baby.  If you and your wife
choose to do this, your wife will need lots of support
and patience from you; she won't have a tribe or
extended family around her full of experienced
breastfeeding mothers and helping hands. You'll both
get a lot of conflicting advice.

I certainly had an "instinctual" impulse to chew food
for my babies (but figured I would gross people out.)
I did it at home when they were eating off my plate.
The baby food grinder Theola mentioned I used
extensively.  It is made by the "Happy Baby" company
and I have an extra unused one that I would be happy
to part with.

I dodn't feed my kids paleo; since my dh isn't a paleo
eater, we just feed the kids high-protein, moderate
fat, moderate to low carb whole foods diet.  But as
first foods go, my kids liked banana, pumpkin, squash,
applesauce, and carrots. Sometimes I gave them pureed
spinach, but they didn't seem to digest it very well.
Broth thickened with arrowroot flour is another
possibility.  I let them taste anyhting they were
interested in, be it hot, spicy, salty, sour,
whatever. They liked raw fruits early on but didn't
seem to digest them well (ie it came out looking
pretty much like it went in!) until age 2 - 2.5.  At
age two my ds and dd both began to like raw veggies
and at 2.5 or 3 seemed to digest them well.  So now
they like raw carrots, cucumbers, salad greens, bell
pepper, etc.  AVOID JUICE LIKE THE PLAGUE! My kids are
allowed one cup of juice in the morning, more than
that, and they get diarrhea.  Kids seem to get
addicted to juice.

My children were both pretty well into solids by the
end of the first year (but I was also feeding
cereals), but I know people who have breast fed
exclusively for a year, and almost exclusively for
nearly two years.  IMO any solid food from age 6 mos
to 1 year is purely supplemental to mother's milk (so
don't feel like you have to feed baby three times a
day or worry if he spits out/isn't interested/doesn't
eat enough), and the second year is transitional,
maybe 50/50 milk/solids.  Doctors counsel intoduction
of solids at 6 months because the baby has used up the
supply of iron in his liver that he was born with; if
you are concerned that he is not getting enough iron,
you can have a prick test done; otherwise, if he isn't
hungry all the time and doesn't show signs of ill
health, mother's milk is enough.  A
toddler/preschooler who nurses at least four times a
day doesn't need any other milk or dairy.  (source:
Dr. William Sears' Baby Book)

When he can sit up, let him sit on your lap at dinner
time.  He'll want to handle whats on your plate, maybe
put something in his mouth to taste and feel, chew on
a spoon.  (It is a challenge for the adult to learn to
eat this way!) As he gets bigger, you can chew up a
taste for him here and there.

When your baby is born, if he is breathing and his
heart is beating, don't let the doctors take him from
you.  Their tests and other nonsense can wait until he
has had some time to rest on mother's chest, try to
nurse, and see her face.  Her body heat will warm him
perfectly adequately, and they can do an Apgar score
while he is with her (don't let them tell you
otherwise.  They CAN.)  He needs human contact more
than anything else in the world at that moment! I had
two C-sections and my only regret is that we didn't
speak up and make them bring us our baby. My dh was
with me in the OR and he could have helped me hold and
cuddle baby while they stitched me up even though I
couldn't nurse right away.  Remember, he is YOUR
child, not the doctor's.  If you have a hospital
birth, I strongly recommend using a doula (birth
assistant).  The hospital nurses change shifts every
six hours or so, and the doctor just peeps in every
now and then.  It's very comforting to have someone
who knows what's going on in the birth process and
will be there for you the whole time, who will run
interference with the hospital staff, make suggestions
of laboring positions, who knows what you want and
helps you communicate that to your doctor, and frees
you up to comfort and encourage your wife.

Search the net for "attachment parenting"; you'll find
any number of sites with info on breastfeeding,
co-sleeping, babywearing, gentle discipline, cloth
diapering and/or no-diapering and more. If you need
any help at any time feel free to e-mail me...



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