HOW DO YOU START SOLIDS??!

Stephanie - posted on 08/01/2012

Melissa, I forgot to say, when I started solids, I just gave her 1-2 tablespoons once a day, when she seemed most hungry. When you're breastfeeding, the best time to give solids is in the evening, when your supply is the lowest. I let my girl play with the spoon and just have fun. Try to feed him at a time when you can relax and take your time. Try one kind of food, say peaches, and just give him the one food for about 3-4 days. You'll want to wait those few days in between different foods to check for any allergies and to let his system get used to it. I know he may be hungry, but look at it as him just tasting and getting a feel for the solids, not filling him up. Maybe a little pureed peaches would help the constipation.

Stephanie - posted on 08/01/2012

When I started my daughter on solids, she got constipated, too. It is so scary! I feel for you!
I make my own baby food and I use ice cube trays to freeze the food after I puree it. I think the cubes are around 1 oz each. I feed my 7 month old: 1 cube of bananas and 1 cube of chicken for breakfast, 1 cube of peaches and some goat's milk yogurt for lunch and 1 cube sweet potatoes and 1 cube prunes with a tablespoon (or so) of rice cereal for dinner.
Making your own baby food is so easy and you'll know that the food is fresh and doesn't contain preservatives. Plus you can choose organic produce and it's cheaper!
Avocado is also great, quick and easy, no cooking required. Foods that will help your baby go are peaches, plums, nectarines, pears and prunes. Those powdered baby cereals are like glue! Stay away from those. Your breast milk has the vitamins he needs.
My baby girl can not tolerate applesauce, it literally comes out a darker shade, looking just like what went it! Also, she had a reaction to pears! It's strange how different the wee ones can be!
Good luck!

Dove - posted on 08/01/2012

Maybe his body just isn't ready for solids.

Are you judging constipation on just how often your baby poops... or on what comes out when he does poop? Not every baby poops every day. Some breastfed babies only poop once a week or even less.

I've never had a constipated baby issue, but everything my son ate would change the color of his poop until he was 2. I don't think his body could properly handle it.

Lindsay - posted on 07/31/2012

I started by giving her about half of the 1st foods baby food container/jar of peas and if she wanted more or less she pretty much let me know. After a short while she was eating the whole container divided between 2 meals (1 container a day). I would give her half at lunch and half at dinner so she adjusted to our eating schedule too. I think it just takes time for them to adjust to each food, unlike us when we eat different things it usually doesn't bother us :) By 9 months she was eating 3 containers a day, 1 for each meal and still breastfeeding about 4 times during the day plus nursing a few times at night. Ironically the breast milk actually fills them up pretty well because it contains a lot of water and vitamins etc. so depending on the child they may take in more or less solids depending on how much they are still nursing. They go through quite a few growth spurts and it seems like over night they are big. He will adjust quickly to the baby food and be interested in table food before long, they grow way too fast!!!

Melissa - posted on 07/30/2012

Thank you, Lindsay- you really made my day today! Not only does it seem like I know better than my doctor, its more like she doesn't even really care. I'm just wondering how much you fed your daughter at first- 2 oz a day, of peas? Again, thank you!

Lindsay - posted on 07/30/2012

OK my child went through the constipation thing too, here are some suggestions. First of all good for you on the breastfeeding!!! I am planning on continuing until she is 18 months or even maybe 2, we will see what she wants :) My first thing I did was get rid of the poop in the system, buy glycerin suppositories and cut them long ways and then in half again (they are pretty small then), insert it into the rectum and wait a few minutes and I guarantee the baby will poop. I would never let your baby go past 4 days without pooping, if food goes IN then it needs to come OUT! Doctors are sometimes a little stupid with common since things, Moms know more LOL. Only use this once a week if the baby hasn't pooped. If you are scared of medication insert a thermometer with Vaseline on it into the rectum for just a few seconds, a lot of times babies just need stimulation. If the baby still struggles try sitting/holding him on a baby potty or big potty with a seat adjuster after doing the glycerin or the thermometer and getting him into that bent over position we are in when we go to the bathroom. My baby poops on the potty every day since she was 10 months old but struggled with pooping in her diaper, she couldn't get comfortable enough to push and get it out. I wish I would have put her on the potty sooner because it really helped, don't get me wrong you won't potty train your 7 month old completely, you will need to wait a few more months for that. This food schedule worked for my baby too.... after lots of problems with cereals and fruits etc. causing constipation, I put her on only Peas for about 2 weeks and then introduced Prunes for 2 weeks with the Peas. I slowly added food that were not constipating (stay away from bananas, apples, etc. for a while) To many different foods mess up their systems so only introduce one at a time and stay with it for 2 weeks to let them adjust before adding another. Don't give the baby juice, just breast milk and water, they don't NEED juice and it is one more thing to complicate the pooping. Do not use cereals if your baby easily gets constipated, they don't have to have them. I didn't give my baby cereal until she was 10 months after the extreme constipation problems I had from them at 6 months. She is now almost 11 months and eats all kinds of food and she eats dinner with us, not baby food, and poops every day. I can't stress enough that you should give your baby water with the solids, up to 12 ounces a day or a little more is fine. The water also helps with the constipation. They need water and yes our breast milk has water but sometimes it isn't enough. I really hope my suggestions help you, and keep up the breast feedings along with the new world of solids because there is no better food than ours :)