when little button was 5 months ++, I started to do some research on introducing solids. and I stumbled upon an insightful forum, susuibu.com, whereby there was a discussion on exclusive breastfeeding for 2 years. exclusive breastfeed here means no complementary food or drink and the baby feeds solely on the mother's breastmilk. I became intrigued and very interested with the discussion. some excerpt from the person who started off the discussion as below:
maksud "penyusuan 2tahun secara sempurna" yg disebut dlm al-Quran tu ulamak mensyarahkannya sbg memberikan susu ibu 2tahun penuh tnpa bg ape2 mkanan tmbahan lain pd anak.
and so, I started to discuss with Encik Mon. honestly, just before I started off the discussion, both of us had this conversation with Encik Mon's sister (a doctor) on babies who delay solids and she told us, infants/toddlers in that situations will be underweight, and malnourished. so, when I started to discuss with Encik Mon, hoping for him to agree with to delay solids, he started to get irritated ... "did you hear what N said abt delaying solids..???" terkedu-kedu pwincess dibuatnya ... then I said, najis mukhaffafah cakap apa Mon?
let me paste from JAKIM's official portal :
Dari Ummu Qais binti Mihsan katanya:Dia datang kepada Rasulullah s.a.w dengan anak lelakinya yang belum makan sesuatu selain dari susu ibunya; ketika anak itu dalam pangkuan Nabi s.a.w, ia terkencing. Berkata yang meriwayatkan hadith ini dari Ummu Qais, bahawa Rasulullah s.a.w tidak lebih dari memercikkan air ke tempat yang terkena kencing itu.
Huraian Hadith:
Islam menggalakkan kebersihan. Bersih meliputi semua perkara termasuk tubuh badan, pakaian, tempat, makan minum dan hati. Bersih bukan sahaja daripada najis bahkan juga kotoran dan segala pemandangan yang tidak menyenangkan, apatah lagi yang menyakiti. Tiap-tiap yang kotor (tidak bersih) itu tidak semestinya najis tetapi sebaliknya tiap-tiap yang najis itu adalah kotor (tidak bersih). Umpamanya pakaian yang terkena Iumpur, kopi atau kicap adalah kotor (tidak bersih). lanya tidak najis tetapi pakaian yang kotor. Najis Mukhaffafah ialah najis ringan seperti air kencing kanak-kanak lelaki yang belum sampai umurnya dua tahun dan belum makan makanan secara mengenyangkan melainkan susu ibunya sahaja. Jika kanak-kanak itu makan atau minum selain susu ibu seperti susu tepung, maka air kencing kanak-kanak itu tidak lagi dianggap sebagai najis mukhaffafah bahkan ia adalah najis mutawassitah. Mana-mana pakaian yang terkena najis mukhaffafah memadai dengan merenjis air ke atas pakaian-pakaian yang terkena najis itu.
Encik Mon pun terdiam ... dan agreed. Dah memang terang-terang kata najis bayi lelaki bawah 2 tahun yang hanya minum susu ibunya sahaja....apa lagi yang nak disangkal? Kita percaya, mesti ada hikmah dalam Islam tentang sesuatu perkara itu ... memang tak salah kalau nak introduce solids after 6 months ... tapi tak salah jugak kalau nak bagi susu ibu sahaja lebih daripada 6 bulan....maknanya susu ibu tu mampu membesarkan anak sehingga umurnya 2 tahun ....
and so, litte button continues to feed on mama's milk ....
when he reached 6 mos, debaran tu masih tak terasa lagi ... seminggu .... 2 minggu .... his classmates has already started on semi solids ... one by one .... we can see jars of baby food at the counters and refrigerator. the caregivers also smiled encouragingly at us, everytime we send off and fetch little button ... sometimes they tell us which type of fruits/veges we can start off with our little one.
then, when little button reached 7 mos, the teachers asked us when are we going to start off little button with semi solids ... we told them a white lie ... we said our paed strongly urge us to delay solids since he has sensitive skin. so that quieted them down for a while. during parent-teacher meeting in early this year, when it came to column 'ability to chew and swallow food' .... it was a very awkward moment for all of us. the teacher again, asked us, when are we going to give him food. tak tahan beb ... at the nick of the moment, we said, the paed said to wait until he is 1 year old.
did i mention what we went through with our families? asyik kena haruk je .... there was once, my mom was eating a slice of papaya and the juice was dripping .. and she gave little button to lick her fingers ... oh goodness. my in laws tidak ketinggalan jugak .... asyik tanya je ....and said kesian kat budak tu ....
one day, while we hang a bit while fetching irfan naufal ... the teacher with a serious expression came up to me and said, Puan, you mention to hold the solid introduction until your son is one year old ... and now he is already. when can we introduce solids to him? memang taken aback ....because we actually dah terlupa what we told the teachers....
i wonder , ada ke parents out there yang betul-betul kejam nak kebulurkan anak sendiri ? for us, one of the ways to demonstrate our unconditional love for little button is to give him the best food ... and the best food at the moment for him is mama's milk that Allah has anugerahkan ... so why do people throw cruel remarks to us ... just because we choose to be eclectic and not conforming to common practices?
I almost lost my temper yesterday ... the teacher called me up and told that my son has high fever and had given some meds to him. despite that, the temperature still remain high. and so, I was asked to take him home or to the clinic. my parents were kind enough to drive all the way to the day care centre and fetch my baby (but I had to accompany them to the school compound, of course). when I reached the sick bay ... my baby was like relieved to see me and wanted to cling to me, and my maternal instinct was of course to give in to him ... and then, came the matron and began attacking me with all sorts of questions ... kenapa tak bagi solid lagi .... which paed I am seeing ... which specialist .... what kind of reaction does the boy get when he gets solids ... yada yada ... she was actually judging and questioning our parenting decision!! oh membara beb ... and my mom wasnt helping at all ... dah dia pun mmg nak budak ni makan kan ... so she was adding to the matron's comments ... stating something is wrong with us, the younger generation of parents .. yada yada ... so I said about there's nothing wrong with giving breastmilk ... it's stated in our religion ... in Quran. hah! there you have it.
terdiam kejap dia ... and she said she's not questioning my religion ... but again, she mentioned abt how unhealthy it is for the child only to get nutrition from breastmilk alone ... well mam, that's already questioning my religion.
she's also attacking of my child being unhealthy as maybe it's due of low antibodi that he is getting from my milk ... I have no answer to that, wallahualam, but kalau bende nak jadi, then dia akan jadi. if you ask my opinion, my child is most healthy when he is at home .... and he is exceeding all of his milestones, has an abundant of energy and is the happiest baby on earth! and he rarely gets fever everytime he gets his immunisation ...
my patience is thinning out already ... I really want to give exclusive breastmilk to him .... but I do not know sampai bila boleh bertahan with all the busy body ppl around me .... Ya Allah, berilah kami kekuatan dan keyakinan atas sesuatu yang kami lakukan ke atas jalanMu yang benar.
