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I only really paid attention to the stage 1 foods because I was being careful to introduce one kind of food at a time that first month or two so that I could easily weed out intolerance and allergies. Once there was a number of single purees I knew DS could eat just fine, I went with stage 2 combinations, except for anything containing yogurt or dairy. I introduced that on its own to make sure it was okay and then added that in.

Stage 3 just tends to be more exotic combinations of foods and grains and meats and maybe some spices with a tiny bit more texture, so I don't really think it matters when you introduce those, as long as your kid is okay with the ingredients themselves, given that BLW is so popular and people have no issues with giving kids chunky stuff. I would just try out combinations that include weird grains or beans a little slowly in case of gas or indigestion.

As for amounts, I would follow their lead. My son has always been a light eater and he barely took a tablespoon of food when we started even though all the guides I'd seen were like "your baby should be eating this whole jar." I was so worried, but yeah they eat what they want.

We pretty much followed the age guidelines on the containers (Stage 1: 4+ months, Stage 2: 6+ months, Stage 3: 8/9+ months). But we also started purées at 4 months so if you are starting later you may want to adjust a little bit just because most of the stage 1s are single food and many of the stage 2s start combining foods so if you want to introduce things one at a time you would need to use more stage 1.

As for amount, I agree with the previous poster to follow your LO's lead. When we first were starting, DD would only eat a partial container but now she almost always eats a whole container and it is not uncommon for her to eat two containers!

We also started with a few meals a week, increasing to one a day, and now up to two a day. But we did not immediately jumped into multiple meals of solids. There was a gradual progression.

@MUI831: Yeah don't sweat it. He took like 1 tablespoon a meal for like a month. We just upped the frequency (1 meal a day for 1 week, then 2 meals a day at week 2, etc) until he was taking 3 tablespoons a day 3 times a day after the 1st month. That way I wasn't having to throw away the pouches or jars quite so often. I just squirted a little bit into a small teacup and sealed up the pouch so it didn't get tainted.

I would say by the second or third month, he was taking a few tablespoons every meal and I could finish 1 pouch or even 2 a day if he was hungry.

I follow DS' lead on amounts. Some days he eats a lot and others he wants nothing to do with it.

I pretty much just follow the allergy rules when it comes to the stages. Since stage 2 has mostly involved just more mixing of foods. I started feeding solids at about 5 months and just sort of got a baseline of foods he is ok with and likes. At about 7 months I started with the stage 2, but never fed him anything that contained more than one type of food he's never had yet. So, there are still plenty of stage 2 stuff he hasn't had yet as some of the foods aren't sold just by themselves--which means I have to make it myself.