Hellobee Boards

I was just about to ask the same thing so I'll be following this post.

My doctor said food before 12 months wasn't really for nutrition, it was more to get the baby used to eating and they still get their nutrition from bottle /breastmilk. My lo has always been a good eater so luckily I didn't have to worry, she ate plenty of each. But I always gave solids and then an hour or so later gave milk. Like I said.... she would always eat both.

@irene: I worried about this too when I started LO on solids at 6 months - she didn't eat much and didn't seem interested in food.

I started with just one feeding of solids a day at 6 months and when she started taking more over several weeks I added another feeding of solids...I think this was at 7 months. Then she was eating pretty consistently 3-4 oz at each feeding so I added a third feeding at 8 months...and around this time she transitioned from 3 naps to 2 naps so it worked well for her feedings. I nursed her when she woke up and about an hour later she had her solids. Around 8.5 months she started showing a stronger interest in finger foods (not just Cheerios and puffs) and refused her purées and would want bits of our food. I nursed her 4 times a day (at each waking and before bed).

Now she is 9 months and eats 3 full meals (3-4 oz of purées plus a ton of finger foods - pasta, chicken breast, steamed veggies like green beans and broccoli, cheese, toast, egg yolk, etc. just take it slow and it will happen. I never thought it would but very slowly she started eating more and more and somedays I have no idea how she eats so much

My LO is only 4 months old and has started solids yet but I was told "under one is just for fun" so until they are 12 months old breast milk or formula should be their main source of nutrition

We're in the "food is just for fun before 1" camp. At 9 months, Baby X still nurses or gets a bottle of breast milk an hour or less before he gets food. He is naturally cutting back though-- he nurses 6-7 times a day now (which translates to every 2.5-4 hours), and eats a ton. We are off the purees, he just does finger foods. (We kind of did a hybrid of purees and baby-led weaning.) I don't pay attention to how much or how often he eats, I just plop him in his high chair a few times a day, put food on his tray and when he gets fussy or starts feeding the dog his food (both signs that he's done), I stop giving him food and we end the meal.

@irene: About the iron thing--there are mixed thoughts on that it seems:

Here's more from KellyMom: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/

And from AAP: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/Vitamin-Iron-Supplements.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token

So there's a CHANCE that your baby MIGHT be low in iron if exclusively breastfed past 6 months. KellyMom says don't worry about it. But if you're concerned, the AAP recommends that around 6 months, you introduce foods that contain iron. Cereal, yes, but also beef, spinach, and other things are fine too. As a supplement, not replacement to breastmilk. They still recommend that you breastfeed until a year, and longer if you and baby still want to.

I think it kinda just magically happens. You think at 6 months, there is no way I will get 3 meals in, and then by 9 months you laugh at trying to get 2 tsps in per day! Keep up the practice and offer lots of options frequently and they will get it!