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When to nurse and when to offer solid food?

Jessi - posted on 10/03/2009 ( 7 moms have responded )

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Right now my daughter is nursing in the morning and before bed at night, around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m... in between I'm not sure when to offer her solids and when to let her nurse.



I've been feeding her solids at 11 a.m. and then again at 3 in the afternoon (roughly four hourse apart) and then letting her nurse after these meals if she wants to (which she usually does).... but lately she seems upset when I sit her down to eat.



I can't figure out if its because 4 hours inbetween feedings is too much at this point... or if its becasue she just doesn't like the food. We haven't had any trouble in terms of reactions but she seems less and less interested in mush lately... however, when I tried to give her more textured foods she makes faces like its too hard for her to swallow... rice puffs and small pieces of really ripe bananas are the only textured substances that she seems interested in... and only in the last week has she started to try putting them in her mouth herself (which she has trouble with but is occasionally successful at)...



Any ideas or advice would be appreciated? What do your feeding schedules look like? Do you offer milk/formula with your solid food meals or only offer milk inbetween? What about snacks? Does anyone do snacks at this age in between meals? I sometimes give my daughter puffs and small pieces or super ripe bananas as a sort of snack or sometimes with her meals...



Eventually I'd like to push the solid feedings back so that they line up with our eating schedule... perhaps giving snacks before her morning and afternoon naps would make this possible...

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Lise - posted on 11/17/2011

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I nursed on demand, but solids always came when we ate. If she was hungry before lunch time, she'd nurse. For meals, we followed this schedule: http://www.mother-2-mother.com/samplemen...

Shelly - posted on 10/06/2009

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Our almost 9 month old eats full meals when we eats and nurses around 7 am, 11am, 3pm, 5pm, and bedtime. he has some snacks in between meals. if you want an idea of feeding schedules babycenter.com has some sample schedules with times of the day and everything. Plus, they send them at the beginning of the month when you register for weekly e-mails.

Kadie - posted on 10/05/2009

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i would offer solid food first then the breast this promotes an easier transition from breast to solids according to my doctor

Phillipa - posted on 10/05/2009

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My son is 8 months and from when he was 7 months we've been on the same schedule. He wakes about 6am, breastfeeds at 6.30am, rice cereal for breakfast at 7.30am, lunch (fruit or veg) at 12.30pm, breastfeed at 1pm, dinner at 6pm (veg or meat and maybe some fruit if he's still hungry), breastfeed at 7pm, bed at 7.30pm.
He usually has 3 sleeps a day, half an hour at 8am, an hour at 11am and 2hours at 2pm. He also has a bath every night at 6.30pm. He usually sleeps through the night so I don't feed him again until the morning.
Our schedule is flexible though, I'm not a nazi and has to do everything exact! Lol.

Eva - posted on 10/05/2009

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DD has switched her awake time all over the place lately...so when she wakes up she gets a bottle anywhere between 5 and 7, bout an hour after her bottle she gets breakfast, she will take another bottle mid morning, then she has lunch right around noon. Another bottle mid afternoon, then dinner at 5 and another bottle before bed. She also might get some cheerios thrown in there randomly as a snack.
Basically I just try to space out and alternate her bottles and solid feedings. I also offer her a sippy of water or juice/water during meals.
HTH!

Fiona - posted on 10/04/2009

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My little man is having basically 3 bottles and 3 meals a day. I alternate them so he will start with breakfast, then a bottle for morning nap, lunch, bottle mid-afternoon followed by a small snack, dinner, then bottle before bed. Occasionally he will also have a bottle during the night as I have just stopped breastfeeding. At this age I wouldn't be too fucused on snacks and try to get more into a routine of set mealtimes. If you give too many snacks she won't be interested in mealtime. Also be flexible in when you feed going by your child's needs.

Mandy - posted on 10/03/2009

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my son wakes at 6:30am has a piece of toast at 7am, milk to go to sleep at 9am, wakes at 11am, piece of fruit and/or a sandwich at 11:30am, back to bed with more milk at 12:30pm, wakes at 2pm, afternoon tea at 3:30pm, dinner (vegetables with a small amount of meat) at 5:30pm and milk to go to bed at 6pm. he also feeds as often as he wants during the night as i am breastfeeding.



breakfast and dinner line up with when we eat so he can sit in a high chair at the table with us for dinner.



if he is tired or having a bad day, i dont worry so much about solids as much as normal and offer more milk. i just go by what he wants.

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