In my Tips for When Your Baby Resists Solid Food, I made the remark that “there is no rush to get the baby to eat solids because breast milk provides complete nutrition through the first year.” I’ve since revised that statement to “there is no rush to get the baby to eat much solid food because breast milk provides the bulk of nutrition through the first year (and in fact some babies thrive on breast milk alone)” based on the following comment that that post received:
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/infantfeeding/WHO_NHD_00.1/en/index.html – see page 10 + 11
Breastmilk does not provide complete nutrition for the second …read more

Sixty-four percent of 111 voters said their most recent or only child had only had breast milk and had never had any artificial milk. That left 36% of voters whose child has had at least some artificial milk at some point. Here is the complete breakdown:

Special shout-out to the 11 percent of voters who started off supplementing with formula and made a successful transition to exclusive breastfeeding!
Please vote in the new poll!

As we all know, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months of a baby’s life. One reader shares how her son’s first six months went:
“Henry is still exclusively breastfeeding. He hasn’t even tried formula. And I’m amazed at how fast these six months have flown by in the breastfeeding realm. I remember with Kira that exclusively nursing her for six months felt a bit like running a marathon. (I presume, anyhow. No marathon running for me.) But with Henry, overall the nursing has been pretty easy and it hasn’t felt like a strain at all. I feel as …read more