I'm not feeding enough solids according to my Pedi....HELP!

We just had our 6 month well baby visit. The doc said I should be feeding more solids than what I am currently doing. I've been giving this...

7:30am 7oz bottle
8:30am 1 Tbsp Oatmeal, 1 Tbsp fruit

11:30am 7oz bottle

3:30pm 7oz bottle
5pm 1Tbsp Rice, 1Tbsp veggie

7:30pm 7oz bottle

She told me I should be giving them 4oz each meal and I'm currently only giving them 1oz!!! She also wants me to add in lunch. She said to offer the lunch first and do the bottle later. I am SO completely confused now. I don't know what I'm doing. She also said we could do stage 2 foods and I haven't even finished the stage 1's! She said to give the meat combo dinners and to even offer yogurt as a substitute...sub for what??? I had a nice schedule going over here and now I'm back to square one and totally clueless. Please help me figure this out! What did you do at 6 months? I gave carrots that I made last night and on the solid paper the pedi gave me it says not to make your own carrots, beets, turnips, spinach or collard greens due to the large amounts of nitrates. She also said to be careful with the organic foods and I didn't catch the reason why since we aren't feeding those anyway. Oh, the other thing I'm confused about is she said they should be on the 3/2 food group plan which is 3 fruits a day and 2 veggies...or is it the other way around...2 fruits a day and 3 veggies??? Okay, if you could try to answer all of my questions I would greatly appreciate it!!!

 

We just had our 6 month well baby visit. The doc said I should be feeding more solids than what I am currently doing. I've been giving this...

7:30am 7oz bottle
8:30am 1 Tbsp Oatmeal, 1 Tbsp fruit

11:30am 7oz bottle

3:30pm 7oz bottle
5pm 1Tbsp Rice, 1Tbsp veggie

7:30pm 7oz bottle

She told me I should be giving them 4oz each meal and I'm currently only giving them 1oz!!! She also wants me to add in lunch. She said to offer the lunch first and do the bottle later. I am SO completely confused now. I don't know what I'm doing. She also said we could do stage 2 foods and I haven't even finished the stage 1's! She said to give the meat combo dinners and to even offer yogurt as a substitute...sub for what??? I had a nice schedule going over here and now I'm back to square one and totally clueless. Please help me figure this out! What did you do at 6 months? I gave carrots that I made last night and on the solid paper the pedi gave me it says not to make your own carrots, beets, turnips, spinach or collard greens due to the large amounts of nitrates. She also said to be careful with the organic foods and I didn't catch the reason why since we aren't feeding those anyway. Oh, the other thing I'm confused about is she said they should be on the 3/2 food group plan which is 3 fruits a day and 2 veggies...or is it the other way around...2 fruits a day and 3 veggies??? Okay, if you could try to answer all of my questions I would greatly appreciate it!!!

 

Our ped didn't have us add lunch until 8-9 months, when they learned the pincer grasp (we've never spoon fed them lunch - always finger foods).

At 6 months, we gave them oatmeal mixed with fruit (1 jar plus enough oatmeal and water or formula to get the consistency they liked) and watered down juice for brkfast. At dinner they got 2 veggies (1 green and 1 orange) and 1 fruit. (3 jars shared)

I think it's too early for you to start combo meals. I'm baffled why she'd tell you that. It's supposed to be 3 days btwn adding a new food for allergy risks.

Anyway, check out the wholesomebabyfood website for more help. Also Super Baby food book is decent if you can get it from your library.

I think your schedule is fine. Just try increasing the amount of solids you are giving them. (just my opinion. maybe call back your Ped office and ask to speak to a nurse for clarification). BTW many peds don't recommend starting any solids til 6 months. so why is she pushing so hard? Are they have weight gaining issues?

 

Is she worried about their weight gain? Did she give a reason why? Not to discount your pediatrician, but I think occasionally they give generic advice as though it's a set in stone requirement. I am breastfeeding my twins and did my older children, too. So maybe it's a little different than formula. But if they're satisfied, growing and they are progressing, I wouldn't sweat it. If they're too small or seem hungry, that would be different. And for what it's worth, I've never given my babies very much baby food. My girlies have gotten more than any of the older ones, just for convenience. But my older kids were BF until they started on soft table foods and just moved up from there. All happy and healthy children now. One of my boys seriously maybe had 1 jar of baby food in his life. And one spoonful of baby cereal that he spit all over me (and then flatly refused any more). Trust your instincts as mama, add in some more if that works for you, and keep taking great care of those babies!!!

 

I am a dietitian. I specialize in peds and high risk pregnancies. Honestly, the only thing babies need for the first year of life is formula or breastmilk. Everything else is a learning experience.

Go with what feels right and don't let the pedi make you feel bad!

Angel

 

Considering they don't even recommend STARTING solids until 6 months (although I did do it earlier) I am not sure where your ped gets off. Does this ped ever adjust the age (if they, in fact, were premature)? One of my twins was extremely slow to accept solids. I have also never heard of there being a minimum amount of solids. That's bunk.

You should go with your instincts and the pace the babies set, not the ped.

 

Hi. Thanks everyone for your input. They are gaining weight beautifully. One weights 16.9, the other 17.2 and they were 7 weeks premature....so adjusted age is 4.5 months I'm not sure why she told me everything she did. I think I will call for clarification...even though I asked the same questions 3 times. LOL

 

Kelly,
Look at your Babywise 2 book. It explains how you should be feeding them. Then buy Super Baby food. It explains very clearly the amounts of food, and what food groups you should be giving. It also tells how to pick your fruits and veggies and how to cook them to feed to your baby. The book is very clear and easy to use. Here is a link with more information and some sample pages. It is a great resource

http://www.superbabyfood.com/

 

I agree your ped is overreacting a little bit. However what I used to do ...

Bottle at wake up
Solids / breakfast before morning nap (cereal mixed with fruit) and sometimes yogurt (she spit up quite a bit with yogurt)
Bottle after waking up
Solids for lunch before nap (veggies, later bread as finger food and pices of fruit)
Bottle after nap with some finger foods (a little later)
Dinner (veggies / meat combos)
Bottle before bed

I basically tried to do what I would do as an adult, and tried to copy that in baby food.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Kellyx2:
Hi. Thanks everyone for your input. They are gaining weight beautifully. One weights 16.9, the other 17.2 and they were 7 weeks premature....so adjusted age is 4.5 months I'm not sure why she told me everything she did. I think I will call for clarification...even though I asked the same questions 3 times. LOL


Based on them growing well and being only 4.5 adjusted, I think your ped is nuts. My girls are 8 months...6 adjusted...and we just started stage 1 today./ Our new ped doenst even ask about solids and our last ped before we moved said to definatly do our feeding on the adjusted scale...our sons ped said the same thing and he was a 27 weeker.
Dont sweat it, formula or bm is the best thing for them right now

 

it sounds a little low to me, but I don't know if that's just because mine are abnormal. Ours are just past 6 months and we just moved from 2 to 3 solid meals a day. They eat TWO stage 2 jars of food per solid meal and then down a 3-4 oz bottle. We also do 3 additional feedings a day of 8-9oz bottles. We started solids at 4 months with stage 1 because they were eating well over 40oz of formula per day and wanting more. So now at 6 months, they have already been through all the stage 2 foods. The way they look at our dinners and try to grab our plates, I am pretty sure they'll be eating cheeseburgers soon By the way, one baby was in the 50% for weight and the other is 85% as of our 6 month appt this past Friday but they have the same appetite!

 

My girl twin still refuses ALL solids (and we're just past 6 months here too). My boy has 2 solid meals a day, and the dr said we could add lunch whenever we wanted and just to keep trying solids w/girly, but was totally not concerned that she's not taking any yet. Sounds like your babies are doing GREAT! I'd take the dr's comments with a grain of salt!

 

Mine are 7 months and eat about 1/2 jar (split) stage 1 each day and 1-2 tablespoons of cereal split daily. My thoughts on the matter are that it is just for practice and there is barely any calories in this food so they need formula or breastmilk much more. Ds JUST started opening his mouth for solids, so he didn't even really get anything till 7 months!!!!

My ped also said not to start 3 meals till 9 months.

Kristi
Molly and Zach 7 months

 

quote:
Originally posted by Kellyx2:
Hi. Thanks everyone for your input. They are gaining weight beautifully. One weights 16.9, the other 17.2 and they were 7 weeks premature....so adjusted age is 4.5 months I'm not sure why she told me everything she did. I think I will call for clarification...even though I asked the same questions 3 times. LOL


I would be a little alarmed about this. I would call the ped, say their adjusted age is 4.5 months, say that you understand the only thing they must have is BM or formula, and ask her straight out why she pushed you to up the solids. If her response is defensive or she just continues to hold the line, I would find another pediatrician who understands preemies better.

I had to move, but before the twins were even born I selected a neonatologist with a pediatric practice. We had to pay a higher co-pay since she was a specialist, but she always adjusted for age. She even did their growth charts based on adjusted age. She understood that preemies are different than other babies.

Personally, I've found most doctors (not just peds) anymore want to lump every patient together, and when you have something or someone different they don't do anything to adjust. If you can find a doctor who is more flexible and understands each patient's uniqueness, that would be better.

It's not the end of the world what your ped did, but it is a red flag or symptom of a bigger problem... that she doesn't understand or want to learn about preemies and their different needs and progress levels.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Cassie05:
Based on them growing well and being only 4.5 adjusted, I think your ped is nuts...

...don't sweat it, formula or bm is the best thing for them right now


Ditto this exactly. At 4.5 months adjusted some peds wouldn't even recommend starting solids at all. We started around 4.5 month adjusted and they barely had 2 spoonfulls for quite a long time. Hate to say it, but just ignore that stupid advice.

 

I know that it is hard to discount your pedi's advice, when they are supposed to be the "go-to" person for all our parenting questions. But it sounds to me, comparing your pedi to my pedi, that the recommendation to add more solids is a little over-zealous.

We did not even START solids until six months, per the advice of our pedi. And we were not even on 3 meals a day until 9 months or so.

Try to take her input with a grain of salt. Nutritionally speaking, your children are not missing out on anything. Formula or breast milk should be the NUMBER ONE priority. Look at everything else as exposure--exposure to new tastes, new textures, new foods, new spices. And take things slowly. You seem to have a great routine down. Keep at it. That is my two cents!

 

I was also told from a lactation consultant and our Pedi that solids during the first year are mostly "practice" and all nutrition can be from breastmilk/formula. I would do any increase gradually, base it on their adjusted age.

 

I think you are doing fine. You have to consider advice and make your own decisions. I got similar advice, but I knew that my LOs weren't ready for foods that quick, so we got into it very slow. They did just fine. I wouldn't cut a baby off from eating if they are enjoying it, but I also wouldn't force feed to meet a chart either.

 

I was giving them 3 meals a day at this point. They got a cereal, either oatmeal, barley or rice for breakfast, about 6oz each. I usually added a tiny bit of juice with it for flavor. Then at lunch they would each get a stage 2 or 3 if it was fruit. At dinner they got a mashed up version of what we were eating, as much as they wanted. I follow their cues on a daily basis. Some days they want more food, some days, especially while teething, they prefered bottles. The main thing is not to push. Now they eat every thing we eat. They are 8 months and one has 4 teeth. They even eat tiny pieces of meat. Once they start appearing interested in your food, like grabbing for it ect, it is time to go to stage 3's or chop your own food.

 

Ditto what everyone has said. Also, with my son, I never really did stage 2 foods at all since they add so many fillers. So I don't think you ever need to go to stage 2--it's just a bigger jar with some combination foods. You can always combine 2 jars from stage 1 and you get more food for the $$ (since they add so many fillers into the stage 2 foods). If you read Super Baby Food, it really does explain everything so well. When I was going through this with my son, I was so confused and that book really, really helped!

Good luck!

 

at 4.5 mos adj age your twins are bigger than mine and I carried mine to 36 weeks - I don't think size matters - maybe the ped thinks that they should be hungrier than they are because of their size? how many ounces of formula do they drink a day - I would use that as a bigger gauge of how much solids they should be eating...

mine get 2 bowls of cereal a day (one in the morning and one for dinner) each mixed with a jar of fruit and about 4 oz of formula, and a jar of veggies eachfor lunch along with some Cheerios or Puffs if they're still hungry...they also get 3-4 6 oz bottles of formula per day - granted mine are older...

also my ped told me to hold off on meat, cheese and yogurt till 9 mos...

 

Hi Kelly,

I just returned from our 6 month appt. Our ped. was not pushing us to feed more. He suggested that we do Stage 1 foods for months 6-7, Stage 2 foods for 7-8, and Stage 3 and some table food for months 8-9. We've been concerned that our little eaters are taking even less formula. The ped. stated that as long as they are getting 16oz a day then they try not to get concerned. My dd is drinking approx. 20oz a day. Anyway . . . just thought I would share!

 

at 6 months the twins were getting four 8oz bottles in 24 hrs. 1/2 a cup of cereal in the morning after their morning bottle. 1/2 a jar of veggies and 1/2 a jar of fruit (each) after their afternoon bottle, and 1/2 a jar of veggies and meat (gerber has stuff like chicken and veggies, on the jar it says 'From 6 months") and 1/2 a jar (each) of fruit.

They also got Mum Mum cookies (1 a day each) sometime during the day

At 7 1/2 months we are still at four 8oz bottles in 24 hrs. Meals are the same except for the last meal (we'll call it dinner) they each get 1 jar of veggies and meat and 1 jar of fruit rather then splitting jars. They also get dry toast, boiled, peeled soft fruit pieces, Mum Mum cookies.