how much food?

[frogslegs]

Hi ladies,

I was just wondering, how much food you feed your little ones? My little one will be 6 months on Saturday and I have been feeding him solids for the past 2 weeks. We tried from around 4 months but unfortunately it gave him such terrible stomach gas that it woke him up every night so we held off feeding him. We started again when he was waking every night and quickly polishing off 8oz - he was starving!!

So far he has cow & gate porridge sometimes with banana or apple puree then he has a 2nd meal of vegetable puree, mainly the orange veg such as sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot although he has had avocado (not sure about that), he likes parsnip too. I am just a bit stuck as he seems to eat everything I put in front of him. His weight is absolutely spot on the average for his age . Do I just give him food till he's full? Do you give milk at the same meal or have you dropped some milk feeds altogether?

I have made all my own puree so far, he definitely has a sweet tooth as he hates apple unless it is mixed with his porridge - he give me the full body sour shudder and screws his face up.

Any advice would be gratefully received, I just feel slightly overwhelmed at the moment.

 

[Vickie]

We give milk first and solids second. She can have as much of either that she wants (though she's never been a big milk drinker).

Breakfast 5-7 ounces of milk followed by cereal made up with 2 ounces of formula
mid-morning snack banana, avocado, toast fingers, cheese (pretty much any finger type foods)
lunch 4-6 ounces of milk followed by veggie puree (2 cubes) and fruit puree (2 cubes) She also usually ends up eating part of my lunch
mid-afternoon snack (another finger food snack)
dinner 4-6 ounces of milk followed by meat/veggie combo plus fruit snack if she wants it
top up bottle 3-5 ounces

 

[lozzy21]

By 6m old they usaly can have 3 meals a day with snacks in between if wanted and usualy 3 bottels with water or juice as needed.

 

[lcside]

I give milk seperate to solids as Erin has always loved her milk and would drink a full bottle and not want solids. She has 3 bottles a day - mid morning, afternoon and bedtime. We started weaning her at 6 months - she eats about 3 icecubes at each meal now.

 

[frogslegs]

thanks for all your replies, it sounds like it is fine for babies to eat as they want - I was just worried about over feeding him! Time to start some new recipes!

 

[jenstar]

I stop feeding my baby when I think he has had enough; he's a big boy and I don't think he knows when he is full and would just eat til he's sick if I let him. He doesn't look upset or cry with hunger when the food goes away, and isn't hungry before the next meal time so I think he gets enough.

 

[ani]

I was just going to post this same question!

I have been weaning for just over a week now and the little guy would just eat and eat! I know at this stage I'm just supposed to be giving a couple of spoonfuls but he really wants more. Is there any harm in letting him have more? Like this morning he actually ate half a banana, and this was after his milk, too! He would have eaten the whole thing but I had to put a stop to it.

He has always had lots of problems with milk feeds (I BF) and it's quite painful for him. I think he does not end up getting enough milk, but he never looks hungry between feeds, just cries and wriggles and arches his back when he is trying to eat. (To me it looks like silent reflux but the doctors here have been very very unhelpful and have not listened to us. No over-the-counter cures available, either...) His weight is very low compared to his height. (Height: 50%, Weight: 10%)

So what do you think, can I just let him eat more than the recommended amount this early in the weaning?

Anyway

 

[Vickie]

I think you just have to go with what you think is best. I would just be careful and not introduce too many new foods at once (so you can make sure he doesn't have any allergies ) And be careful with the constipating foods (give too much is not good--learned the hard way )

 

[ani]

Vickie, which foods did you find most constipating? I've heard that banana can do that... Just thinking that I just gave him half a banana, argh. Fingers crossed!

 

[Vickie]

bananas, applesauce, white bread, cheese, and yogurt. I usually try to balance those with prunes, pears, peaches, apple juice, peas etc. (these are foods that are good to use when a baby is constipated). It's all about finding the right balance really (easier said than done sometimes!)

 

[frogslegs]

my gosh it is such a confusing world - I read that ripe bananas were good for digestion and bowel movement but unripe had the opposite effect, i.e. constipation! I need to be careful of that then as archie really isn't very good at no.2s. Vickie how do you give prunes to Hannah? Do you just make a puree or do you add them to other things?

 

[Vickie]

Prunes I use the jar and just give it to her out of that--she loves them I make some of my baby food and use some jars

 

[lcside]

I give Erin prunes quite often as she suffers a lot with constipation and she is on medication for it. I use dried prunes, boil them and then puree. I make a batch and freeze them. xx

 

[frogslegs]

well this morning I tried him on prunes, did the same as you lcside as I had some lovely plup prunes d'argen in my pantry. It made a lovely smooth, sweet puree which I gave him with his porridge this morning - Yuk I think was his exact phrase in baby talk. I hasve since discovered that his screw face up and shudder is not a result of something too sour but simply that he does not like it. However, I will continue with the prunes as they do taste really good so it's probably new foods and as he gets used to it he will be better.

 

[Vickie]

at least he didn't spit them at you