Feeding my 8 month old....

Amy - posted on 12/03/2009

you can try to decide what works best for you guyes. What we did was he continued to drink the same amount of formula/breastmilk and we would feed him his real food just before we ate, then gave him the bottle while we ate. That way he got used to sitting down with us eating. we also didn't pay too much attention to the stages of food, we read in a book that some things you need to wait for a specific age to give, but if it wasn't on that list we would just give them a new food and wait a few days. We also gave him a lot of sweet potatoes and bananas. We would make our own food and freeze it. We found that he would eat the homemade food better because the canned stuff was too liquidly.

Hanna - posted on 12/03/2009

well the idea is that by 1, the formula gets replaced by real food and calcium requirements are filled by real milk/cheese/yogurt. i would substitute some of the feedings with veggies/fruits. my son just turned 9 months and we've been on solids since 4.5 months. i usually do 2 feedings of veggies, 2 feedings of fruit, 2 bottles of breastmilk & cereal (morning and night) and a bottle of yogurt & banana during the day (6-7 oz each). then he also has snacks (baby cereal, baby cookies or cheese or pieces of bread or something that i'm snacking on) and in the evening, he eats dinner with us so he gets whatever we're eating for dinner (meat, starch, veggies). i should also add that we do make our own food for our son and it's usually steamed veggies (carrot, onion, turnip, celery, leeks, celery root, tomato, broccoli, zucchini, peas, mushrooms, corn, beets in any combination) with pasta or grain (like buckwheat or millet or red rice (regular makes him a bit constipated) or potato, a bit of olive oil & herbs for flavor (thyme, rosemary, basil, thai basil) and some kind of meat or egg yolk pureed to chunky.

they say it should be about 24 oz of formula a day and the rest you supplement with real food. as far as how much to give, your baby will know when she's no longer hungry. personally, i would encourage you to feed her as much variety as possible before she hits the "picky eater" stage to make her like veggies & fruits. hope this helps, good luck!

Sandy - posted on 12/03/2009

There is no reason not to have her try the veggies and fruits with her formula. Once you start introducing foods, the bottle becomes her "drink" with lunch and dinner and she may drink less. Just feed her as you would feed yourself or any other kid. Let common sense and her reactions guide you. Babies know what they need and she will let you know if it's working or not. Give her a fruit with her morning rice cereal and formula, or a veggie with her lunchtime bottle, or some fruit as a snack between bottles. You should be working towards three regular meals and 2-3 snacks, the way she will be eating once she becomes a toddler. Most of all, don't let it stress you out. All kids eat go through times where they eat lots or not enough or only select items, but they all eventually grow out of those phases and grow up healthy. Just go with what feels right. Hope this helps...and good luck!

September - posted on 12/03/2009

When we started to add solids to our son's diet this is what our Pediatrician recommended....Still offer the formula before you offer the solids since her main source of nutrition should come from the formula until she is 1. Then offer the veggie/fruit. I would start with a small amount (a couple tablespoons) and then offer her more if she seems like she wants it. I've always made our son's food from scratch so I started with pureed foods until our son was able to eat little bites of things. Now at 13 months old he pretty much eats what we eat. I love cooking! :) We had homemade gumbo last night :) I hope this helps. Best wishes!

Sonia - posted on 12/03/2009

Quoting Beth:

Feeding my 8 month old....

I am starting to feed my 8 month old daughter a variety of veggies and fruits. Problem is..i don't know when is the proper time to feed her these or how much to feed her or even how much formula to give her. I don't want to give her some veggies for lunch and still give her a bottle with 7 ounces of formula(which is what she has been taking...) Any advice?

the way i did it with my kids was a bottle 1 hour before lunch and then then the veggies maybe 2 or 3 table spoons and then the friuts about the same amout and if u see she would eat more increase it the next day  then in the afternoon at around 3 or 3:30 another bottle and then supper the veggies and fruits and before bed a bottle .I also would give her meat at that age.

Donna - posted on 12/03/2009

At your daughter's age she should be eating 2 meals of solids, fruits and or veggies, and the rest of her nutrition should come from the formula. She can eat a container of fruit/vegetable and have a full bottle, if she is willing to eat that much. Most babies "know" when and how much to eat, their bodies and brains will tell them. As far as times, I would suggest a breakfast time meal and dinner time meal. Within the next couple of months she should begin to eat one at lunch time, so that when she is 10 - 11 months old she is eating three meals a day.

Jessica - posted on 12/03/2009

You set the schedule. She will tell you if she needs more. water works great too.

Emerald - posted on 12/03/2009

My daughter is 9 months old. I offer her a variety of fruits and veggies. I usually use a kiddie plate and use the individual sections to guide me w portions. If i use Gerber, usually it's a half of the 3rd foods jar and the whole 2nd food veggie. Then I will follow w no more than 2-4 oz. of formla.