Help! Solids!

Ok - I need help. I cannot get a handle on solids. I feel lost! So far all I have given the boys is rice cereal, green beans and apples. I am the type that I have to have things structured and planned our and right now I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants..

So - if someone can help that would be wonderful!!!

What is the best schedule to include solids into.

Right now I nurse at 8,12,4,8 and I would like to keep those times and do full nursings. When should I inclue solids. How many times a day? How much at each feeding? When to do fruits, veggies, and just cereal?

HELP!!!

 

When I started solids, I started with breakfast because that was easiest in my schedule. I bumped that feeding up by 30 minutes at first just so they'd be a little interested in the solids. I just stayed with one solids meal a day until that was consistent. Then I added the other meals in one at a time too.

If you don't want to bump up any of their nursing schedules, you could try solids 30 minutes or so after nursing.

 

There's no rule, it's really up to you.

We started at 6 months with one meal and added a meal every month. We're at 3 now. We started with breakfast, then added dinner, then added lunch... Just a jar at first with some cereal split in two, but now I'm adding cheerios and puffs and sometimes give 1.5 jar. They get yogurt, cereal and fruit in the morning, and veggies (sometimes meat) for the other meals, with sometimes half a jar of fruit after.

For us we feed solids 1 hour after their bottle, and for dinner half way between both bottles.

 

I did not breastfeed but we introduced cereal at the time of the day they seemed the happiest (therefore more agreeable), so for us that was first thing in the morning. For a week, we did just cereal at breakfast and just a little bit. When they first start solids, it is really just practice. Most of the nutrients are going be from the breast or bottle. After a week when they seemed to really like the cereal, we then introduced veggies at the next feeding. We would do a veggie a week. Once we cycled through the veggies, we then added fruits at the following feeding.
Our schedule was like this by the time we introduced fruits:
7:30ish-8:00ish-cereal and bottle
11:00 ish-vegetable and bottle
2:00-fruit and bottle
5:00 bottle
8:00 bottle

Good luck!!!

 

HERE is a link to fellow TS 8 month schedules (since you are almost there). This might help you to see if there is another schedule that you might like to follow to help incorporate some solids in there.

However, you can do them in your own time. We did solids about an hour after a bottle so that they werent starving when they ate solids, but a bit hungry. We did veggies like sweet potatoes, squash, etc... when I started. I would do them for 4 days at a time, the same food to see if there was going to be any reaction.

www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great website too for info about introducing solids. It has a chart that I printed about what to offer and when.

HTH!

 

We gave solids an hour after their bottle. By that time I think you could do 1-2 meals a day and try all the orange and yellow veggies too!

 

At 7 months we were still only doing one meal a day in between 4pm and 8pm bottles (so around 6pm).

 

I nurse mine as well (though every 3 hrs) and I do solids about 1 to 1.5 hrs after nursing. We working on 2 meals a day. Usually 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with a jar of fruit in the am and cereal mixed with a jar of veggies at night. That's for both kids.

I personally don't think there's much to the theory that you should start with veggies and then move to fruit. If you've ever tried the baby food, some of the veggies are sweeter than the fruits (esp carrots and sweet potatoes). I usually let my DD (5) pick out the jar