Menb- you didn't mess up
it takes getting into a routine to get the hang of solids! I do things a little differently than berdc, but remember you have to find what works best for your babies and your schedule
Little guy gets 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner, and two "extra bottles). He gets up and drinks a bottle between 5am and 6am (I offer him 8oz bottles, but he usually drinks somewhere between 5-7oz each, but he occasionally will drink the 8, so it was easier just to make them all the same). Then during the week we drop him off at my Mom's (who babysits for us) and he eats breakfast there between 8am and 9am (he eats half a size two fruit and some cereal- I don't measure the amount any more, but about equal parts fruit and cereal). He eats lunch between 12 and 1pm (we give him food,about a size 2 tub- but half fruit and half veggie, then bottle). He will drink a bottle between 4pm and 5pm before I get home, then he eats dinner with us (the rest of the fruit and veggie from lunch or the rest of the one from the night before if I don't bring home the food from my Mom's). Then a bottle around 8pm or 9pm before bed. He gets food then bottle at breakfast and lunch, but a bottle then food at dinner, only because that is how our schedule works best. He has cut back on the amount of milk/formula he drinks, but it is still around 28-32oz a day. He also will eat a few baby snacks (gerber little crunchies, yogurt melts, or puffs) and he will try bites of our food when we have something he can chew (potatoes, soft carrots, soup, etc). We give him a sippy cup occasionally, but he really hasn't mastered drinking from one yet. What I have found works best:
-start introducing slowly (a few tablespoons might be all they will eat at first, but they will increase amounts faster than you think
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-I never had a problem with him preferring fruit to veggies, but try veggies first if you are worried
-put the food in a bowl if you aren't going to give them the whole jar in one day (bacteria from their mouth can be transferred to the food from the spoon, same concept as not saving bottles)
-If there is a particular food they don't like, dip the end of the spoon in a food they do like so they taste that one first (OK so we are tricking them, but hey whatever works sometimes!)
-I really like the gerber little crunchies and the yogurt melts to introduce self feeding because they "melt" faster than the puffed rice snacks. Little guy is just getting the hang of chewing so he still needs things that melt easily.
-remember babies/toddlers learn from their parents, so if you only offer them the same food over and ove again, that is what they will want to eat when they are older. I always offer my kids variety from an early age. Once they have had all the different kinds of baby food and you are sure they don't have allergies, it is not a bad idea to get them used to different textures/tastes from other foods. *disclaimer* I am a relaxed parent and our pediatrician is very "old school" so I had no problem offering stuff to little man when I feld he was ready. I have a friend who will NOT offer her daughter anything before she gets it OK'd by a Dr. Her daughter is 3 months older than little man and doesn't get a sippy cup and has never even had a taste of table food! It seems crazy to me, but to each their own!