Solid Foods Questions

Our LO's will be 6 months old next week. We have had a few weeks of rice cereal (in the bottles though) and this week introduced oatmeal as a solid with spoons, etc. I have three questions:

1) DS loves the oatmeal and eats all that I give him. I have just been putting a few teaspoons in the bowl then following it with his regular bottle. But the amount I use is totally random. How much should I be giving him? Will this eventually replace the bottle at a feeding? Is there a certain amount that I should be limiting the solid food to? I know that in a few days we'll be adding a vegetable, and I don't know how much to be giving them.

2) DD still won't eat the oatmeal, after 5 days of trying. I have tried it when she was hungry and also after 1/2 a bottle. She spits it out and cries. Any suggestions?

3) Neither of them will drink water, either in a bottle or a starter sippy cup. They spit it out and act very insulted! Should I just keep trying? Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks for any help!

 

My suggestions:

Give the bottle first--so you don't lose that since that is the most important right now. Then an hour or so later, give oatmeal--and give him as much as he will take-he will let you know when he's done--maybe one or two tablespoons of oatmeal at first.

As for the one who doesn't like it---it's tough, but be patient. They just started. It took a while for one of mine to enjoy it--and still many times doesn't seem interested.

The sippy cup--that will take a while. I just give mine the cup to hold. They will evrery now and then take sips..but msot of the time chew on the handle and throw it on the ground. Think the idea is just to get them used to what it is..not really to get anything out of it. What I was told though...don't give anything besides milk in the bottle. You don't want them to get used to continuing the bottle w/ other drinks since the goal would be to get them off of it. Keep water in a sippy cup--and just let them hold it. Mine spit out water for a long time before actually taking sips of it.

It's tough starting solids and takes a lot of time and patience--which I don't have much of!!!

Good luck!

 

Yes, solids come second after the bottle in importance so definitely give the bottle first and then solids within 1/2 hour.

 

Ditto everything, good advice.

Mine still do solids an hour after bottles (give or take our schedule for the day). We did about a TBS of dry cereal per kid, plus formula to make it the right consistency (got thicker as they got older). We didn't drop the bottle feeds until 8 months when we added a third solid meal. They now get 24oz of formula a day, 3 solid meals and LOT of cheerios as snacks (basically, when ever they're whiney and I need to get something done). [Michael never liked baby food and it wasn't until he was about 9 months old and I started feeding him off my plate that he actually liked solid food. Now, he'll eat anything and both babies are off "baby" food.] Try playing with the texture, make it thicker or thinner to see if she'll eat it. Or try rice or barley cereal. Or add fruit or veggies.

Mine still spit water out at 10 months old, no advice for you there. If you really want to push the sippy cup thing, try adding 100% juice to the water; that worked for Ryan. Michael [sigh] still hasn't figured the sippy/straw/open cup thing out yet [despite 5 months of trying and 6 different types of cups].

 

For pretty much the whole first year, almost all of a baby's nutrition comes from formula or breast milk, so I agree that giving the bottle first is a good idea so that the solids don't replace that nutrition. As for how much, feeding them solids at this point is just a learning activity for them, so there is no set amount. I would just give them a tablespoon or two & work up to more as the months progress.

As for the one who doesn't like it, you might try a different type of cereal, but I usually found we had the most success with oatmeal. You might try a different brand, since they do taste different. Other than that, just keep trying, she may just not be quite ready.

They are still on the young side for sippies. I would just keep offering them. They may mostly play with them at first, but eventually they will learn.

 

My DD never took to the cereal on its own. I was on veggies with DS and still trying rice and oatmeal with her when I finally mixed the cereal with veggies and then she gobbled it up. She will still gag and spit it out if the ratio of cereal to veggie or fruit isn't right!

As for water, not really necessary because they get enough fluids through their bottles. It is a good way to practice sippies but if they are not getting it they are probably a little too young and I would just keep offering every few weeks.