We actually started solids with my son at 4 months and he's doing great with it. He is now 6 months and I'm wondering how much and how often he needs solids. A pouch? A little banana? Some bites of my food? He's still exclusively breastfeefing, I'd say a little less than before.
I have no concept of much he should be eating or if it's really just for 'fun'.
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My twins are formula fed but they continued eating the full bottles for about 3 months (from 6-9 months) and a few bites of purees. After 3 months, we noticed that they wouldn't finish their bottles and would crave or expect solids. So we cut back on their bottles and gave them as much purees as they wanted. I, too, was confused about the 'for fun' part. I thought it meant they would only have a few bites until they reached a year old. I was surprise how much they love purees at 9 months and still do. I do need to give them chunkier stuff like cubed sweet potato to get them used to non-puree foods. I do give them puffs so they are still working on feeding themselves.
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All of mine were EBF and had big appetites from the getgo.
DD3 is six months and ate a 1/3 cup of pasta cooked in chicken broth, half an avocado, and a nectarine for dinner last night.
She is maybe nursing a little bit less.
I don't really believe the food before one bit. I think that helps mom's of kids that don't take to solids not stress out. -
@oliviaoblivia: I think that is more than my almost 3 year old ate!
My baby will be 7 months and she tends to eat one container of purée plus some finger foods twice a day. It seems like more than I remember her sister having at this age. She hasn't cut back on nursing at all, I think she's actually having a growth spurt.
The food before one part I think is more don't stress if they aren't eating much, not that they will only ever eat a few spoonfuls, at least that was my take. But at 6 months their primary nutrition is still breastmilk or formula, the other stuff is just extra.
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We do baby led weaning, my almost 6 month old eats 1/3 of a banana in the morning and then 3 "sticks" for dinner (tonight was a peach, broccoli, and a potato. He only eats about 1/3 of it.
I was told not to worry about consumption until 9 months. Just expose him to tastes.
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I tried, and still try at 10 months, to follow her lead. At 6 months, we were mostly doing table foods, because she had so much interest in what we were eating and no tolerance for being spoon fed. We gave her two meals at that point, lunch and dinner. I usually gave her a pinch or a piece or two of whatever we were having, plus some banana, yam, avocado or something else I knew she'd eat. If she ate it all, I'd give her more.
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i don't think I'm feeding him enough solids... It takes SO long to feed him and I'm so afraid he will choke on food.
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@pachamama: Do you nurse him first or try to give him solids first? My kiddo loves to eat, but if I nursed her first, she filled up and barely ate any solids. At 6 months, I tried to time it so she was getting hungry but not too hungry, offer solids, and then nurse. She was still getting the vast majority of her calories from nursing, but she had more interest in other food that way.
As for the choking thing...it freaked me out too. I tried to tell myself that it was a process, she might gag a bit at first, but she'd figure it out. It took about 2 weeks for her to really figure it out. I just stayed right by her just in case, and only offered small bites and small quantities (she likes to fill her mouth) to start. Avocado, steamed yams, pear, and banana were great because she could hold a piece and gum it. Shredded cheese was also a favorite first food.
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At six months, I really don't think you need to worry that you aren't feeding him enough solids. The amount of solids he eats will ramp up gradually over the next few months until 12 months when he theoretically could wean off breastmilk and be okay on solids and cowmilk. At 6 months we were EBF and offering one or two solid food portions a day. Like maybe a little avocado one day, a little banana the next day. She was probably 8 months before we were regularly feeding her one entire portion of solid food per day. I do think "food before one is just for fun" is false, and mainly said to make people feel less stressed (which is a good thing), but it's also true that your LO is getting the vast majority of needed calories and nutrients from breastmilk. It's going to be a gradual process.
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Ezra is EBF and we started BLW at 6 mo. The first month he didn't eat much at all. The big issue was he had a hard time swallowing, he would hold the food in the back of his throat but didn't want to swallow it, causing him to often gag. We practiced a lot with baby mum-mums, which dissolve so I felt good about him not chocking. Once he got the skill of swallowing down (it took a little over a month) he ate all kinds of table food. I'm not sure how much he eats (he is almost 9months now) but for the past 2 months he breastfeeds 4x a day and once at night.
A typical schedule is:
7am nurse
8am Breakfast
11am nurse
1230 lunch
230pm nurse
600pm nurse
630 dinner(We are not on a tight schedule so those times are like +/- 2 hours lol)
I feed him bits of whatever we are eating throughout the corse of the meal so I'm not sure exactly how much he eats. Like people said before, the majority of calories he is getting now is through breastmilk and is acquiring tastes of regular food. The last month his appetite has been growing a lot so maybe I'll start loosely tracking just to see roughly how much he is eating.
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@LindsayLou: yeah that's the timing I'm doing- feed then nurse. He loves any food I give him, that's not the problem but if I fed him as much as he wanted, I'd have no life!
@justjules: thanks for this! we do something similar but I only feed him 'real' food like maybe an ounce? -
@pachamama: my kids could eat for hours when they're little, each meal takes an hour plus. They get quicker.
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@pachamama: They get more efficient I promise! One mealtime, where she maybe ate 2 tablespoons of food, could easily take an hour when my daughter was 6 months. Now she can devour an entire peach in 2 minutes flat. It sounds like you're doing everything right! It just takes some time for them to learn and be mature enough to eat a meal.
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@pachamama: I think it's recommended to nurse before feeding, but I agree that if you try to feed right after nursing, yes they can be full!
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I did baby led weaning around that age. So just offering different foods and grinding up some steamed veggies. LO didn't stop until two years old!
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@junebugsmama: that makes sense to nurse first.
Between naps, breastfeeding, and feeding solid foods, it kind of feels like I have no other time to do anything. I guess that's mothering? -
@pachamama: Totally! I feel like I feed my son all day, even after they stop nursing! I think if you search old posts some people post some schedules of their routines, people here are so organized!
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As long as she had breast milk or formula first, we let her dictate how much she wanted to eat. We did purees for a few weeks then went to full BLW.
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@snowjewelz: How did BLW go? What age was she? Was there a lot of choking? My 6 month old has gagged a few times and it terrifies me.
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@pachamama: I watched youtube videos regularly to remind myself the difference between gagging and choking. It def takes a while to feel more comfortable; but basically I know that if she's actually choking she wouldn't even be making sounds.
BLW went great! It is stressful at times to have to make sure what she's eating is safe, etc but it's so much easier than making purees haha. And whole they're still on milk, there's no pressure of how much she has to eat.
It gets MUCH easier once they have the pincer grasp figured out; so as long as everything is tiny, they can pick it up and eat it. The hardest part to me was when she needed long shapes to hold onto, but then it has to be soft/mushy...
We started purees maybe 1-2 weeks before she turned 6 months, and then just ditched purees and moved onto BLW within like 2-3 weeks. I know a lot of people do a hybrid, so really just do whatever you feel comfortable with!
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If schedule is the problem, what if you nurse on demand and offer solids whenever you have meals? That's what we do.
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@snowjewelz: very helpful thanks! I need to watch some videos. He doesn't quite have the pincer grasp but he 'feeds himself' with the spoon and drinks from our glasses all the time.
@MrsSRS: at 6.5 months we don't really nurse on demand really; he doesn't ever cry for food anymore, we have a 3 - 3.5 hour feeding schedule that will work when he goes to daycare soon. Solids an hour after he nurses has been working out lately; he always eats whatever I give him!!
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