How much do you feed your baby solids?

Donna - posted on 11/22/2009

DEPENDS ON THE AGE OF THE BABY, my doctor said i could put rice cereal in her bottle at night to help her sleep later, not alot, just enough to make her belly full...worked like a charm...do u puree the food for the baby to introduce the new flavors to it, or are u just hoping u can put the child in a high chair and say "here ya go"...lol...i have soooo many great remedies if u wanna pick my brain, pick away...

Wendy - posted on 11/22/2009

every baby is different, and your baby will let you know if he is ready for the solids or not just by his reaction... if he doesnt like it, or seems to spit it out all the time - dont force him... my son is 8 months, i started the cereals with him around 4 months and it took him a while to get used to it. I give him his normal bottle for his morning feed and just before he goes down for his nap i give him 2 scoops of baby cereal before he sleeps... you never want to introduce something new when the baby is really hungry - always try when they are not "full" but satisfied.

Katie - posted on 11/22/2009

yeah, just give him the rice cereal 1st, my son is 3 mons and i've been doing that sence he was 2 mons n he loves it.. It shouldnt matter how much u give him. he let u lnow by turnin his head or just spitting it out..

Amanda - posted on 11/22/2009

im a mum of two my first daughter was an angle when it came to solids but my second didn't take to them until she was 7 months and now she cant get enough. some baby's just don't like the farax and some love it just like adults they have there preferences in food and just remember that they have taste buds all over there mouth and not just on there tongue. dont try and rush him into it milk is there main source of food until they r 12 months old. always give him his milk be for offering him solids. good luck xox

Chelsea - posted on 11/22/2009

dont stress yourself about it too much. you're doing a good job. just get him used to it. its a bonus if they eat it at that age. he will let you know if he is hungry anyway. i only tried to give solid food twice a day though.

Nichole - posted on 11/22/2009

I never gave my son or daughter rice cereal plain, it always had fruit in it. If he is 4 months old he doesn't really need anything else but cereal til about 6 months unless he is really eating a lot. I would just start with putting some banana's in his cereal like I did for my kids, and then wait til 6 months to start giving him different foods. All I gave my kids up to 6 months was common cereals. You can even buy size 3 jars and just quarter them bc they last longer.. that way you won't have to buy as many 1's.

Renae - posted on 11/22/2009

Keep in mind that up until about 10 - 12 months the majority of his nutrients and energy will come from milk (formula or breast) and young babies are not able to absorb alot of the nutrients in solid food. Giving them food is more about the sensory experience and learning to eat than about nutrition. At 4 months he still needs the same amount of milk even though he is having solids (if you look on the packet/jar of any baby food you will see there are very little calories in a serve of baby food compared to what is in formula). After a milk feed he will probably eat about a tablespoon of solids 1 or 2 times a day. Many dieticians say it is fine to keep feeding him until he doesn't want any more because it will just go in one end and out the other. But there are some dieticians and paeds who say that some babies do not know when to stop. My baby will just keep eating, he thinks its a game and doesn't understand to stop when he is full so I have to be sensible about how much I let him eat. Also know that there is no need to give him food until he is looking for it (very interested in watching you eat, trying to grab your food, wanting to touch your face when you chew etc). This is natures way of telling you he is ready. The safest way to start food is to give cereal first, as you have, then vegies like sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, zucchini, squash. Then try fruits (the frucose in fruits disagrees with some babies which is why they recommend vegies first) like apple, pear, avocado. Alergies to strawberries and other berries are common so you might wait until he is older for them. Then when he is around 8 months he can have some meat. (Protein molecules are more difficult for babies to digest and absorb which is why they need to be a bit older for meat). The debate on when babies should start solids seems to change every couple of years between 4 and 6 months, a GP recently told me WHO has just changed back to 4 months (that is 3 changes in 3 years!). As far as I am aware the most recent change to 6 months was because of a theory that an increase in alergies was caused by starting solids too early and another theory that starting solids early might be linked to intestinal problems later in life. From what I understand these are just theories and every expert has their own opinion. So if food doesn't cause him any problems then use your own discretion. Hope this helps.

Kristy - posted on 11/22/2009

Try going for simply 2 solid feeds a day Breakfast and Dinner. You can go straight on to the fruits and canned custards at his age, you can also buy powder custard that you make with formula. Trying to feed after his bottle so often will make him lose interest pretty quickly. He drinks quite a lot of his bottles so i wouldnt get to concerned.

My little girl also never really like her food to runny try making it a bit more thicker he may like it better. As for the 2 courses idea that works best at nights and actually before his bottles. If using tins start with a 3rd of a tin of veg cooled to room temp, then approx the same of fruits or something. Give him these at say 5:30 then hold off his bottle till the 6:30 time frame.

Breakfast try some mushy banana in the rice cereal, you can mush it up enough with a fork only not blender needed. One thing i noticed from the other post if the lady agrees with alot of the WHO leadings, some of these are great but the whole no solids to 6 months is silly. I started my little girl on solids at not quite 3 months, but she only had one feed a day of them and would eat over a full tin. But she didnt usually only drank 110 to 150 mls and still to this day is not a big eater or drinker she is a healthy 4 year old.

It might take some checking round but you will also find that somewhere it actually says that babies need to gag on their food as its what builds up there throat muscles. The longer they are on runny food the harder it gets for them to eat later in life

Kelly - posted on 11/22/2009

If he is taking to the rice cereal alright, you can try giving this to him first before his formula. If I remember correctly the suggestions on the box indicate that they should be up to one or two tablespoons after about a week (although he may only need it once or twice a day at this point). If your son is having formula first this is probably filling him up. Either way, I wouldn't stress over it too much at this point. The World Health Orginaisation recommends holding off introducing solids until 6 months indicating that solids aren't necessary at 4 months so if he is eating any at all it's a bonus. By the way, Im not preaching here with the WHO stuff. I started my son on solids at 5 months with no reprocussions and will probably start earlier again with my second, as long as he shows the signs he is ready.