starting solids!!

[ButterCup17]

So our pedi recommended starting solids at 6 months so we r starting this weekend! Except idk what I'm doing lol we have ebf this far. When do I bf and when do we do foods during the day? How many times a day does he eat foods? How do you store them, i plan to make my own. Do you do the thing with the ice cube trays? Any advice or tips welcomed! Tia!

 

[Wish85]

Start off with just 1 tbsp per day and gradually increase. Make sure you offer one food for 3 days before adding others in so that if there is an allergy you can pin point which food it is.

I started with baby cereal and gave him a little about an hour after his first milk feed in the mornings. Or you could try some pureed apple or pear?

 

[ButterCup17]

Do u pump when u give solids or just deal with the engorgement for a few days until u adjust? Or do u still bf right before u give food?

 

[Akayj]

I'm with you on this. I just sorted out getting him to drink his milk well now we add foods. As far as baby food he only eats sweet potatoes haven't found a fruit he likes. I know banannas he isn't into he throws them up I think lol. Sooo hard lol

 

[Wish85]

The solids shouldn't replace any bf's. You give solids as well as the normal amount of bf's.

Example: bf in the morning as usual then an hr later offer a table spoon of rice cereal (mixed with breast milk). Do that for a week and then bump it up to 2 table spoons per day and so on.

You could also offer some pureed fruit or vegetables after a day time bf if you like? It's really up to you and your baby. Breast milk should still be the main source of food. The solids is just practise for when they reach age one and should be getting their main nutrients from food.

 

[HBGirl]

Don't bother with rice cereal. Its just crap. What we are doing is offering her soft cooked butternut cubes and avo. What she gets in her mouth she eats. We don't spoon feed her. She doesn't like it, Miss Independant. LOL

I still bf as normal.

 

[Wish85]

Whatever works for you Buttercup17. A lot of people start with rice cereal, some don't. Up to you. I'm just offering suggestions. I started with weetbix (not sure what they're called in USA?)

 

[Miss_Cellany]

At 6 months you don't need to start with spoon feeding if you don't want to. Look up baby led weaning. The first food I gave was cooked carrot and sweet potato sticks. At first food is just something for them to get used to so offer small amounts once a day.

 

[george83]

With ds1 I tried baby rice as that's what everybody seemed to do and he hated it with a passion! We had screaming fits for a whole week whenever I tried to feed him. So then I tried root vegetables on a spoon left on his high chair tray in amongst a couple of toys and as everything went into his mouth he ended up eating them. From root vegetables we moved onto fruits and then mixtures and eventually pretty much whatever we were eating - or a baby friendly version of it - pureed. We started with lunch time meals then moved on to breakfast and finally tea. To begin with he was offered the same bottles but after his food and he would just drink less depending on how much he'd eaten. I've done the same with ds2 but I feel like I've not stressed over it so much - I've just been trying to offer him different tastes and if he doesn't eat it I'm not worried.

I've always made my own foods in batches and frozen them but simply because that works for me. I've used the annabel karmel weaning book and followed some of her recipes

 

[HBGirl]

www.foodrenegade.com/why-ditch-infant-cereals/

www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/right-way-to-feed-babies/

www.keeperofthehome.org/2008/01/raising-healt-4.html

Just some info on grains. Any commertially produced, instant food is not healthy.

 

[Moolia]

I echo what George83 said about the Annabelle karmel book - highly recommend!
We waited until 6 months last time and started with baby rice (please don't shoot me!) and then mixed the baby rice with pear puree, apple puree etc. We did a mixture of this and blw, giving sticks of toast, cooked carrot etc.
Just start once a day at first, after a feed not before as it shouldn't interfere with milk intake and gradually introduce new foods. You might want to start with veg instead of fruit because fruit is so sweet.
Because you are starting at 6 months you can move quite quickly through the foods and up to twice a day and then three meals but I can't remember at what age ds was eating three times a day!
This time we are weaning earlier. Dd is soooo ready! I am not sure what to offer her before 6 months though...?

 

[liz1985]

Its completly upto you if you want to follow the traditional route and start with purrees or you could look into baby led weaning. With ds we started with fruit and veg, mashed not pureed which we spoon fed, we quickly transistioned to chopped food and gave finger foods straight away. With dd we did baby led at the beginning and again started with fruit and veg but gave them cut up into finger sized peices that she could easily hold. We ended up spoon feeding her breakfast after about a month usually weetabix which with true blw you do no spoon feeding at all. She's never had a puree though unless its supposed to be that way like yogurt. At 6 months you can give any food except whole nuts, honey and certain shell fish. You should just bf as normal and try a little food at a time thats good for you and lo when he's not overly hungry or tired, it doesnt need to be a set meal time at first. As he takes more food he will naturally begin to take less milk himself. Im not sure about pumping as I ff. There's also no need to introduce one food at a time unless you have a history of allergies in your family or your particularly worried about a certain food. There's lots of different advice out there but as always do what works for you and lo. Baby rice doesn't really have much nutritional value but if thats what you want to start with it wont hurt and its a good transition between milk and food as you mix it with your usual milk so tastes very familiar. However you'll find most babies espessially at 6 months will take very easily to a wide variety of tastes and textures. Good luck and have fun.

 

[ButterCup17]

thank you all sooo much for your replies!!! Very very helpful!!! I'm so excited!!