How much? How soon?

[Shortstuff88]

We have started weaning LO for the past week (once he turned 20). There are reasons for why we started early, and he is definitely showing all the signs of being ready.
For the last week or so I have been giving him 1 tsp of fruits purée once a day as I was suggested. However, today he started grabbing the spoon off of me and feeding himself. And then he was opening his mouth and crying for more. I have him one more teaspoon and the second he saw the pears on the spoon he grabbed it and shoved it into his mouth. Should I be giving him more? As he seems to really want it. And if so do I not give him his bottle after (I have been giving him 5oz afterwards as he would usually have 8oz)?

 

[whittnie117]

I've always been told to breastfeed (or give a bottle to) my baby prior to feeding solids. We make about 2 oz of puree at a time and let him be the judge of stopping. He usually will eat half or a little more than half of what's made (so about 2 tablespoons or so). We started solids two weeks ago upon pediatrician recommendation and after careful consideration). All babies are different though and we used his cues of fullness as a guide.

 

[MindUtopia]

As long as it doesn't make him sick, I'd let him have as much as he wants, just make sure it isn't all fruit all the time, as fruit is still very sugary. A good mix of fruit and veg at that age is fine to feed on demand. Just follow his lead. He'll let you know when he's done. We didn't start weaning until 6 months and did BLW, but we started with lunch, then added in breakfast and dinner by 7.5 months. She ate varying amounts, some days lots, some days just played with it. There's really no rush to get them to eat more or add more meals, but I'd just go with his lead and also with what you just feel comfortable with and have time to do.

Like the PP said, it's recommended to offer milk (BM or formula) before meals so that they fill up on milk first and then have solids. There aren't many calories or nutrients in solids relative to milk, so to keep him growing and healthy, he still needs milk to be his main source of nutrition. I always offered milk on demand and then solids 1-2 hours after milk. In time, she started to fill up enough on solids that she dropped a bottle (not until about 8-9 months) and is now at 15 months, about to drop another, so that she only had her sippy of milk first thing in the morning and before bed now. But it was a gradual shift and I wouldn't expect it to happen too quickly just yet.

 

[cupcakesarah]

I've been giving my little boy solids first and then milk. It seemed to make him a bit sicky the other way, probably because he was full. Before I started he was having ridiculous volumes of milk so now he's dropped down to be having a reasonable amount per day.