Not this again!

When the boys were first born, I had the hardest time with feeding. I didn't want to give them too much or too little. Getting a feeding "schedule" was a nightmare. I FINALLY eased into one, though, and the boys are doing fine. Now, we are getting to the solid food stage and I am freaking out again! I have even held off on cereal because I don't want to give too little or too much. It's something new. I know that's my real issue. BUT I can't figure this out very easily because I've gotten about 16 different pamphlets and info online that tells me different things. I've even looked at the sticky about this. I can't figure out what I should feed them, how much, and when. If every schedule I read was at least somewhat close I'd be okay, but there are so many different ones out there!
Once again, I know my problem is that this is something new. Once it becomes a routine, I won't be so crazy!!!!!!!

 

When the boys were first born, I had the hardest time with feeding. I didn't want to give them too much or too little. Getting a feeding "schedule" was a nightmare. I FINALLY eased into one, though, and the boys are doing fine. Now, we are getting to the solid food stage and I am freaking out again! I have even held off on cereal because I don't want to give too little or too much. It's something new. I know that's my real issue. BUT I can't figure this out very easily because I've gotten about 16 different pamphlets and info online that tells me different things. I've even looked at the sticky about this. I can't figure out what I should feed them, how much, and when. If every schedule I read was at least somewhat close I'd be okay, but there are so many different ones out there!
Once again, I know my problem is that this is something new. Once it becomes a routine, I won't be so crazy!!!!!!!

 

Aimee,

I would just start by picking a schedule that looks like it will work for you, and then you can adjust as you go. As far as feeding solids, this is what I do, bottle first, then an hour later, feed them solids, and I always feed as much as they will eat. If they seem uninterested for a while, no big deal, it's just practice! Good luck!

 

I do exactly like Becky!

 

Ditto on the above. When I did the first solid feeding, I was concerend that I would not know which baby ate how much. Then I realized that they will give signs as to not wanting anymore food; not opening their mouth or looking away seem to be what my boys do.

 

Thanks! When it came to bottle feeding, I've never really had a schedule in writing. It's always been kind of a "see how it goes" method. On the other hand, I did know how much to give them (7 oz now) and it was about every 3-4 hours.

As for solids, I am going to take your advice, and start by feeding them a solid in the AM at some point and again in the PM. I will do it 1 hour after a bottle, and I will just feed them as much as they want. Should I do it in combination with cereal? I noticed that on other TSers schedules. Also, do I need to cut back the number of oz of formula they get? Adding the cereal and fruits and veggies seems like a lot of calories.

 

Ditto with everyone else's remarks! I just pour cereal in the bowl dry and add water til its the right consistency. Then I give them what they will eat, I always make too much though

 

Me too! When I first started I was very inconsistent because it was something else to try to fit into the day. So, some days we had some cereal and some days we didn't at first. I just didn't stress about it. Like everyone else I gave them the cereal about an hour or so after their bottles. And at first they just spit it out and played around with it. They didn't seem to know exactly what to do with it bit they caught on pretty quick!

I wouldn't worry about too much or too little. Just like the PP, let them eat and when they are uninterested stop.

 

1st off, let me say you are doing great. I know all the books, research etc...can make us all a little nutz. Trust yourself, your babies will tell you when they are done.

Let them get used to one thing at a time, cereal 1st. Then you can do vegies, one at a time. Add fruit last (its sweeter so you don't want them rejecting the vegies in preference to the fruit). At 5 months, I think we were doing about 1 small jar of food between them with some cereal.

Add in as many meals as you think they, and you, can handle. So if there is a day when they do not get "food" no biggie...most of thier nutrition is from the milk/formula at this point anyway.

They will be hitting a growth spurt soon probably, so expect them to get really hungry for a while, then for it to slow down a bit again.

Good Luck!

 

I agree - start with 2 meals per day with cereal and once they have that down, add veggies and fruit - moving to 3 meals per day. Give thme the bottle first and the 45 min or an hour later - solid food. DON'T worry about calories - your babies will eat what fills them up and then stop. I offer the same to my girls and one just eats more than the other - both formula and solids.

Don't be afraid - you'll figure it out. You can also see what your Ped recommends. I followed the sheet they gave me that breaks it down by age. It's very helpful as a guideline.

Good luck!