My LO is 6 months old and we are a few weeks into solids. Her ped recommended a grain and a fruit/vegetable twice a day, so that is what we are going with for now. But how do I know how MUCH to give her? Everyone tells you that the baby will let you know when they are finished, and to not force-feed. She definitely lets us know when she is done with things that she doesn't like (peas, anyone?) But, for foods that she likes, she will eat and eat and eat. Is there a such thing as too much? I have been "limiting" her somewhat--should I just let her keep going until she refuses? I see so many conflicting things about this... what did you do with your LOs?
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My doctor said don't be too strict, let her eat what she wants, but be cautious about going beyond 4 ounces at that age.
Our LO at too much one night and barfed everywhere later on.
But generally they are pretty good at knowing when to stop.
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It will probably depend on when you feed her too in relation to nursing or bottles. If you nurse/give a bottle first and then feed solids after (like an hour after), you can probably just keep giving her food until she stops. But if you do solids first, you'll want to limit just so she won't be too full to have her normal amount of BM/FF. I would just feed her slowly so that her stomach has time to recognize that she's full when/if she gets there.
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My doctor said just give him what he wants. He is a healthy weight so he isn't worried one way or the other.
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I think it's fine to let her eat what she wants, but maybe just make sure you aren't feeding her too fast? Our brains take a little while to get signals from our stomach that they're full.
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We've always done a loaded spoon approach with anything 'soft' or pureed - so we load it, and hand it to him. He's in control, and he decides when he is done. The trouble I've read is when the adult is shoveling it in and the baby can't process that they're full fast enough.
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@scg00387: at what age could your baby use a spoon?
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@scg00387: OMG, that approach would result in the biggest mess at my house... If you hand Xander a spoon, he immediately starts waving it around, and the purees would go everywhere!!!
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@travellingbee: we started solids at 6 months, and have always done this approach.
@Adira: ha, yeah, we've always done pretty chunky purees so they sort of plopped if he whipped it around. but if he did that, we figured he was done
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@Adira: lol me too! Maybe with something sticky like hummus or guacamole....
@scg00387: wow you are brave! That's pretty amazing. We pretty much just do finger foods and pouches. He definitely likes feeding himself! -
Thanks, Bees! It sounds like the consensus in to let her have at it! I guess it is just hard to believe that she could go from eating only 1-2 spoonfuls to eating several ounces in such a short period of time. Especially since she hasn't bothered to drop any feedings (middle-of-the-night feeding, I'm gunning for you!) yet
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I generally let LO have as much as he wants, but be careful about foods that are constipating or cause them to go. I learned the hard way when he ate a lot of oatmeal and bananas one day. He was not a happy baby the next day
But generally they are pretty good at knowing when to stop.
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11 comments