Ready to start Solids

Hi ladies,

Well my Pedi advised us to wait until 6 months adjusted to start solids and we are just about there. My babies watch us eat and open their mouths to food. So I've been giving them rice cereal for a couple of days now and they take a few bites and that's it. I expect it to be a slow process and I'm sure they will gradually eat more right?

Right now they are taking 5 bottles, first one being at between 6-7am depending on when they wake. They are drinking approx every 3-3.5 hours. DD is taking 6oz and DS is taking 6.5. I increase the first bottle by about 1/2 an oz and they usually finish it. They don't always finish their entire bottles throughout the day.

The last couple of days I've been giving them their afternoon bottle and then giving them cereal right after. They are really excited when they see it, take a few bites each and then they are done. I've read that some of you wait an hour or so, but my babies still like to nap after they eat so I don't want to wait too long. Is this wrong? Is there a better time to give them cereal?

Is it okay to start with one feed?
Should I try a stage 2 cereal soon. (these are for 6 months plus) How long to I wait?
When do I start to introduce fruits and of veggies?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a little lost in all this. I didn't think it would be so confusing.

TIA

 

This is my opinion on the topic..... I found every person, professional, book, website says something different. Some say veggies first since they will get "hooked" on the sweetness of fruit, yet I have found many veggies are quite sweet and many fruits are more sour than sweet.

They say start on rice, yet many babies dont' like rice and it is constipating. The foods that constipate are apples, rice, bananas, carrots. Foods that DON"T bind you up are squash, peaches, pears, (many "p" fruits) pineapple, figs, oats, raisins, prunes.

I found it interesting how only certain veggies and fruits are made separate... like carrots, beans, apples and many of these are the LEAST likely allergens. Who has a carrot allergy I'd love to meet them ??!!!

The main allergies are milk, wheat, egg, peanuts, soy, ...... if you have any allergies in your family then use absolute caution in trying each new food and give 3-4 days before trying something new.....

Otherwise I'd ask your mom, your friends, the person on the street -- what they gave their kids. Make it fun. I think it is the only thing that there are no rules. My sister started her daughter on mashed potatoes.

Bake up a sweet potato and puree it up -- they are so healthy. Or avocado....

 

Maybe you can try just half an hour after you've given a bottle. Our dr. said to try veggies right after cereal. So five days after, we started feeding other solids. Mine never really did care for rice cereal. GL!

 

This is totally up to you. I listened to my ped though, because I value his opinion. He told me I can start them on cereals first, at 4 months of age. We started with rice cereal after a week on that, we went to barley, and then we went to oatmeal. Each having a week between them, actually a little longer since we were on the road due to hurricane Ike.

At 5 months of age we started with veggies first, I liked the idea. We started w/ green beans. I attempted to make them, but they hated them, so we tried the jar food. We did green beans for 3-4 days before moving to the next stage one veggie. Next we did carrots... my babies do not get stopped up by carrots, it's like prunes for them! Anyways, we did 3-4 days on carrots, then we went to peas, then we went to squash etc. After cycling through all of the veggies, we went to fruits. By the time we cycled through all of the fruits and veggies it was time for their six month appointment, where my pedi said they can start eating stage 2 foods, which are more of a mixture. Such as Chicken noodle, and so forth. We are supposed to do 3-4 days between those as well.

Meanwhile, your child/ren should be getting at least 24 oz of formula a day. As of now this is our feeding schedule.

8am- 8oz of formula
12pm- stage 2 fruit mixed w/ 3 tbsp of oatmeal for each child, with 4-6 oz of formula
4pm-stage 2 veggie or dinner mix w/ 3 tbsp of rice for each child, with 4-6 oz of formula
8pm- 8oz of formula

I hope this kind of helps...

 

QUOTE(San12 @ Jan 11 2009, 10:06 PM) [snapback]1142318[/snapback]
Is there a better time to give them cereal?

Is it okay to start with one feed?
Should I try a stage 2 cereal soon. (these are for 6 months plus) How long to I wait?
When do I start to introduce fruits and of veggies?


We started with one feeding per day and then increased them to 2 only when they were doing well and consistently eating solids. When I started I didnt do it every day. I offered it about an hour after a bottle, but I dont think it matters when you do it as long as its not interfering with their formula intake.

We did cereal for about 2 weeks or so and then moved on to fruits and veggies. We alternated them and just did the same food for 4 days in a row to make sure there was no reaction to it.

GL! Have fun with it!

 

The last couple of days I've been giving them their afternoon bottle and then giving them cereal right after.

Perfect! It's really good to give solids right after a bottle (or no more than 30-60 min), because their nutrition is coming from the bottles, and solids are for practice (you don't want them to fill up on solids and take less from the bottles at this point).

Is it okay to start with one feed?

Absolutely. It's just for practice. We did just one "meal" a day for quite a while. Just follow your babies' cues. If it seems like they want to eat more (greater quantities and/or more often), then go for it, as long as it's not cutting into the bottles. If they seem content with one "meal" a day, that's fine too.

When do I start to introduce fruits and of veggies?

Like pps said, it's fine to start anytime, as long as you stick to the least allergenic stuff and wait 3-4 days to introduce something new (so that if there's a reaction, you'll know what it's from). Personally, I don't think it matters a whole lot whether you do fruits or veggies first. And don't worry if they reject something - it often takes many, many tries before they can even decide whether they like something or not.

Good luck, and above all, have fun!

 

Thanks for your reply's ladies. I waited a little longer today and they didn't eat very much again. I'm guessing they don't like the rice. I'll try a little everyday I guess before moving on to something else.

 

I've been giving my little ladies rice cereal twice a day for a month now [it helps them sleep better I've found]. Although it does constipate them sometimes so when I notice the change I go back to once a day for a few days. One of the servings after their first nap [so.. probably here in about an hr or so ].

They get hungry about 30-40 mins after they wake up usually so I feed them a full tablespoon worth of cereal [add formula to make consistancy], then a bottle about 30-60 mins after that. Then about an hr before they go to bed at night I feed them about 2 full tablespoons worth of cereal. [I talked to other moms about the amount of cereal given and they say "heck, I just put cereal in a bowl and they eat how much they eat." Lol, I guess when first starting out you go by the 'rules' and then you learn to do your own thing.

We have our good days and we have our bad ones. Some days they'll eat it all - mouth wide open and head leaning in for the bite. Other days they pucker up their lips and look down or spit [airplane sounds].

Also whatever it's worth -- my MIL is a nurse and said not to push solids on the babies and to continue giving them milk/formula/cereal as long as possible [preferably 9 mos-1 year]. And from her experience [she has 3 kids] they were really poor starting out so my DH's oldest brother has lots of health issues and allergies - she says it's cause they gave him food as soon as he could keep them down.. thus being to early for his body to process them properly - causing allergies.

She might also just be paranoid, lol. But I take everything into consideration. I think I'll start my girls on sweet potatoes next month or so and go from there. Not in a big rush. Also we give them little bites of what we're eating sometimes ^_^