talk to me about food for babes

[narbuckle01]

Ok so I tried to Dr. Google this and it was too inconsistent, and my next pedi apt isn't for 4 weeks. I want to know what the standard recommended schedule is for baby's food. When does cereal start (I know there's pros and cons here)? When does baby food start? When do solids start? When does formula/bm end (no longer needed to provide necessary nutrition that couldn't be received from food)?

I'm starting full time at work next week and want to set myself some bfing goals. Thanks!

[JoBub]

The old recommendation was Formula or BM only until 4 months. Now the recommendation is 6 months. Then from 6 to 12 months, food is just for fun/learning, not nutrition. So they still need formula or BM regularly during that time.

What we did:

A little before 6 months, we started with rice cereal. Just mixed it with BM to make it a creamy consistency and fed it to him with a spoon. That didn't last long. Then we moved on to sweet potatoes. I would mash them up and mix with BM to be creamy enough for him to handle it. Then each week we would try a new puree, and the consistency got gradually thicker for whatever I thought he could handle. I don't remember when we started puffs, but he loved those. That led to cheerios. And around 7-ish months (I think?) I started sticking small pieces of steamed veggies, pasta, rice, anything we were eating in front of him. At first he just played with it, but now he tries to eat almost everything.

[JoBub]

After 6 months, there are really no rules. You can let LO try to eat anything you're comfortable with. The only "rule" my pedi gave us is to give him cereal at 6 months because of the iron. So I would mix rice cereal in with all my veggie purees, and he would have oatmeal cereal with fruit puree almost every morning. Cheerios also have a lot of iron, so once we use up our current container of cereal we're going to be done with that. (He's 9 months)

ETA: You should obviously try to ease in to it. Don't just slap a steak in front of the kid on the first day. But we "eased in" a lot quicker than I expected.

[becole]

We tried oatmeal at 5 months because of reflux but he wouldn't eat it until after 6 months. The we did purees- after we didn't have any allergic reactions to the first 8-10 foods, we introd foods without waiting a few days between. We started solids at like 8 months but he's still not eating them well. He's just been slow with food. Youll just have to see.

[hbrockman01]

just make sure no peanut butter or honey until after a year... we didn't do a lot of purees we did about 50/50 blw... and make sure when you do decide to start purees you do 1 thing for a couple of days at a time, to determine allergic reaction.

[sstwinklinglites]

I agree with what's been said except that "solids" are for fun and learning. At first, yes. They learn how to handle new tastes and textures. After that though, they actually start getting those solids down, wanting them, and their intake of BM / formula decreases, so it becomes important to make sure they're getting enough nutrients / calories from their foods.

We did oatmeal first, then purees, and now he gets a combo of some purees (mostly mixed with oatmeal or cereal), and finger / table foods. Now at nine months he's actually showing tremendous interest in what the adults are eating.

BM / formula through the first year. Their intake will decrease naturally, so the min. my pedi wants DS to take in is 24 oz a day of formula, and the rest can be solids (he was at about 36 oz formula prior to the decrease).

hbrockman01 - My pedi told us at DS nine month appt. that we can give DS anything at this point. I'm holding off because of his food allergies, however, on the news just yesterday, they were saying that babies exposed to peanuts under a year of age were less likely to develop an allergy. I haven't looked into it a whole lot, but seems the norm is changing.

[becole]

I would recommend reading the AAP recs. No honey, but I would give peanut butter before 9 months. There's research that waiting can actually cause the allergy.

[hbrockman01]

sstwinklinglites & becole - I gave Avery peanut butter prior to 1yr only because she had allergy test done early on, when she was under a year (only been 1yr for that) her doctor said no to the peanut butter or honey, but since she was tested I went against them and gave it to her (peanut butter, not honey). Its crazy to see what changes in such a short period of time!!

[becole]

Feb 25, 2015 10:03:56 GMT -5 becole said:

I would recommend reading the AAP recs. No honey, but I would give peanut butter before 9 months. There's research that waiting can actually cause the allergy.

sstwinklinglites and I must have been typing at the same time. Yes and the rice cereal rec was changed too. And my pedi has said things off the old recs- and I have questioned it and then they go into more detail. It's still pretty much- you do you.

[narbuckle01]

So in general it sounds like the amount of nutrients from milk starts to decrease around 6 months or so as babes start solids/purees. I was thinking my bf-ing goal was going to be 6 months and then I could decrease the my-world-revolves-around-pumping/boobage and use up my supply; maybe just nurse at night + formula when needed. This really helps put me in a good mindset going back full time next week!! Thanks!

[sstwinklinglites]

Feb 25, 2015 10:19:34 GMT -5 becole said:

Feb 25, 2015 10:03:56 GMT -5 becole said:

I would recommend reading the AAP recs. No honey, but I would give peanut butter before 9 months. There's research that waiting can actually cause the allergy.

sstwinklinglites and I must have been typing at the same time. Yes and the rice cereal rec was changed too. And my pedi has said things off the old recs- and I have questioned it and then they go into more detail. It's still pretty much- you do you.

Yep. Rice cereal = zero nutritional value. I only keep some on hand to thicken some purees when necessary. And since we're moving to table foods, I hope to not buy anymore.

[becole]

We mix a little oatmeal with his fruit in the morning. Rice cereal constipated him.

[JoBub]

Feb 25, 2015 10:22:43 GMT -5 narbuckle01 said:

So in general it sounds like the amount of nutrients from milk starts to decrease around 6 months or so as babes start solids/purees. I was thinking my bf-ing goal was going to be 6 months and then I could decrease the my-world-revolves-around-pumping/boobage and use up my supply; maybe just nurse at night + formula when needed. This really helps put me in a good mindset going back full time next week!! Thanks!

My DS is 9 months and still takes 30-ish ounces each day. I think you need to just wait and see what your LO wants to do. I have always read that BM/Formula should be the primary source of nutrients until 1 year. But it's not like you're going to force-feed the baby if they don't want it. If LO naturally starts taking less, then you will want to be sure she's getting nutrients somewhere else. Since my little bottomless pit still wants all the formula, I feel like we're in "practice mode" for meals. I try to give him a variety of things at each meal, but if he doesn't feel like eating it, I don't stress because I know he's covered nutritionally. 

[mom2boxers]

We never did rice cereal either. I didn't really give him oatmeal until about 7 months when I started introducing something for breakfast.

I just followed his cues. We waited until 5 1/2 months to try purees when he was able to eat off the spoon. We never had an issue with him letting stuff fall out of his mouth.

ETA: MY LO still eats about 25-30 ounces/per day of formula in addition to his purees/oatmeal/puffs/cheerios/table food.

[mrscatfarmer13]

It sounds like the basics have been covered already and there's a lot of good information posted above. Read up on AAP guidelines, decide if you want to do the tradiotional puree route, BLW, or a combination of the two, and talk to your pedi at the next appointment. Every pediatrician seems to have different information, so if you notice something going against AAP don't be afraid to ask questions or for an explanation.

We also skipped rice cereal and started with oatmeal. Neither H or myself have food allergies, so the only things we held off on at first was strawberries, dairy, peanut butter and honey. We introduced strawberries/dairy around 7-8 months and our pedi gave us the go ahead for PB and honey at 9mo. If you or your H have allergies ask your pedi if they recommend holding off for a bit on those foods.

[nachomomma]

Only one thing to add. I read that baby's pallet is strongly influenced in that first year, so I made it a point to introduce as many new flavors as possible. That might be complete nonsense, but it was fun.

[chunkymonkeylvr]

With my son we did breastfeeding up until a year for the main source of nutrition. We started to play and explore with BLW at 6 months. The only food I held off on was honey until after a year, which wasn't hard because we don't each much of it anyway.

I never did purees, rice, or oatmeal.

It's all about what you are comfortable with. You can't go wrong, like most things in parenting.


My 1 yr old would eat anything..... now he is almost two it's pasta or rice.... *sigh*