Baby food

[tinkerbellkj]

Hello all,

 

My almost 6 month old is now eating baby food. The doctor said it was fine to start him on solids and he is VERY interested in them and eats them up! I started with once per day, but he's really not satisfied (he gets plenty of formula) so I'm thinking of doing 2-3 times a day. He has had a few kinds (started to introduce food about a month or so ago) and he doesn't seem to have any issues with anything other than sweet potatoes, so for now I have taken that off of the menu. There is SO much information out there it's all so overwhelming.

 

Basically, I wanted to see how others introduced food, ie. should I be feeding him breakfast, lunch and dinner? And also do you just do one kind at each meal, vs. like apples, and carrots for lunch. So far he has only had one kind during a meal. Any advice would be appreciated.

[annony]

I started with one meal a day, then slowly worked up to three. This worked with both of my kids.

In the beginning I would use just cereal, then I started adding fruits and veg to the cereal, then took away the cereal. After this I started mashing up table food and feeding it instead of the plain fruit/veg purees (I always made my own, I'm incredibly cheap)

 

This worked for me, but if your baby does well feeding him more, then I don't see a problem with it! If baby starts getting barfy or gassy that'd be a sign to ease off.

[thejigsup]

At 4 months my son started on veggies and cereal. My pediatrician had me put him on meats at 5 months and that satisified him. I made all of my baby foods myself, so I just took whatever meat we were having that night (unseasoned, of course) and popped it into the food processor. My son loved it and was very satisfied. At six months, he should be eating meat.

[Seraphim]

I started with the baby rice cereal 3 times a day for a month or so and then moved to other food. I was told to introduce one new food every few weeks to see how he tolerated it. I was also told to introduce veggies before fruits because if you did it the other way they would like the sweet fruits and refuse veggies. I was told I could introduce meat about 12 months old. I tried but every time I did my son would vomit and he HATED meat. He never ate it till he was about 3 years old.

 

Information is always changing so it could have changed since my son was a baby.

[annony]

In canada, they have started telling us to give meat early at around 6 months I believe. They change their minds so often with what the public health nurses recommend, so I never followed it as gospel, our parents used a very different recommended model for us and we survived. I don't believe there's a one size fits all way to go about these things, just whatever works best for you.

[tinkerbellkj]

Thanks everyone.

 

There is so much out there, it's overwhelming. I think I will be giving him food 3x a day, about half a jar each feeding. Today is my first day, so he's had breakfast and lunch so far, and dinner later. He's eating 40 oz of formula which is A LOT so I'm hoping that by adding food we'll cut down a bottle, because he truly doesn't need that much. He just LOVES to eat. I went to the store today and I picked up state 2 baby food, because they are more filling and start at age 6 months, which he is only 1.5 weeks shy of. Those also have the meats/veggie mixes. I'll just try him on them and look for allergies. Weaning is not as simple as I thought it would be!

[Batya33]

I did the one new food every three days (meaning three days in a row) to test for allergies and I kept a list of what I gave him. At 6 months old I did rice cereal every day (very thin, mixed with formula) and I think I did three "meals" a day but maybe 2oz of food at each meal - there is a very good chart in the book Baby411 as to how much to give at each stage. I think he was doing 30oz of formula a day in addition to the food. I believe I did all jars -all organic. Good luck -he sounds like a great eater!

[Seraphim]

Thanks everyone.

 

There is so much out there, it's overwhelming. I think I will be giving him food 3x a day, about half a jar each feeding. Today is my first day, so he's had breakfast and lunch so far, and dinner later. He's eating 40 oz of formula which is A LOT so I'm hoping that by adding food we'll cut down a bottle, because he truly doesn't need that much. He just LOVES to eat. I went to the store today and I picked up state 2 baby food, because they are more filling and start at age 6 months, which he is only 1.5 weeks shy of. Those also have the meats/veggie mixes. I'll just try him on them and look for allergies. Weaning is not as simple as I thought it would be!

 

You are lucky. My son hated I mean HATED food and eating until about 4 months ago.....lol.

[tinkerbellkj]

You are lucky. My son hated I mean HATED food and eating until about 4 months ago.....lol.

 

I had a feeling from day one he was gonna be a "good eater" haha! He was just husky looking from birth on and he just had that look about him. I mean, when I first did the baby food I was expecting that terrible face that babies often given trying something new, but he just gobbled it down like he had been eating it forever!

 

He did go down without an extra bottle (he has been wanting one for the last few nights) so I am hoping that maybe this is helping. I won't really know for a little while, after I see how he does for a few days.

 

Some of the names of these meals are so funny though, I told my husband we may need to feed him by candlelight, because they sound so fancy! For example, chicken and mango risotto, and creamy chicken apple compote. I got organic because honestly the price is not much different and they seem to have a nice blend, so we'll see what my little man thinks of it!

[Hope75]

I didn't bother with cereals when I started my daughter on solids, those really have no nutritional value and frankly they taste like wallpaper paste (I'm guessing- haven't actually even wallpaper paste). I started her with sweet potatoes and went from there. I started with one meal a day, did that for a few months and gradually introduced a second meal, then a third about a month after that, so by 10 months or so she was eating 3 meals a day. I started with veggies, then after a few months introduced fruits, than finally meats, as was recommended in the books I read and by my daughters' pediatrician. Meats I started around 9 months.

 

I would stick with stage 1 foods until your baby has mastered accepting the spoon and swallowing, since stage 2 foods have more texture and require a bit of mashing with the tongue and then swallowing, a skill that is developed with time and practicing with stage 1, softer more liquidy foods.

 

I also waited at least 10 days between introducing each new food, one at a time, since allergies tend to develop slowly over time and I wanted to be able to track if she had any food sensitivities.

 

Good luck!

[Batya33]

Once I could do the baby oatmeal I did that every day and switched to regular oatmeal when he was 2 - I like to make sure he has at least some every day.

[Seraphim]

I wish my son would eat oatmeal. I gave to him when he was 2 and he puked it back at me. He won't eat it to this day. He was really hard to feed as a baby. If he did not want something he would puke it back at you. Even at 12 months he was only drinking 4 ounces at a time. The dr was having a fit, but there was very little I could do. Apparently he is still alive though! And he has discovered his apeptite now!

[BellaDonna]

For online sources, I used the Dr. Sears website a lot and BabyCenter when trying to figure out how much to feed my son link removed and what he should be eating and doing developmentally while eating/when to progress. link removed

 

link removed

 

I found them to be credible resources right through toddlerhood.

 

I never used rice cereal, but used the baby oatmeal because it contains fiber. Rice always constipated my son and made him gassy.