Solids - I'm confused!

[jt2378]

I feel so stupid when it comes to solids, DD has been getting better about it but still not totally sold on the idea. I know solids after BF/formula but should she be eating 3 times a day? A few bites and she is pretty much done.  As you know from previous posts, I'm always paranoid about supply so I don't know if I should just continue to nurse frequently like I do and not worry so much about solids? She has tried lots of stuff and I do mix it up a bit but its usually at the most twice a day.

I have no idea about giving finger foods either, she has two bottom teeth so would probably be fine but just wondering if you all give snacks and stuff.  I know about BLW and thinking of giving that a shot because she seems to like that better than purees (when I give her mashed banana, avocado,etc..)

Sorry for the novel!

[spacedcadet]

I'm probably not much help, because I don't have much clue what I'm doing either. Basically what my pedi said was to start, you are just introducing different foods and not necessarily to worry about how much, how many times a day, etc. and that solids are on top of what they need as far as BM/ formula. He said that even a teaspoon was enough at the beginning and that it would kind of go from there.

What I have been doing is feeding him once a day, in the evening. He eats dinner with us. I have just been giving him purees to start. He has gone from eating a few spoonfuls to about half of a jar every meal. I have been thinking about adding a meal, like having him eat at day care as well.

I am definitely not rushing it.

[jt2378]

Thanks spacedcadet, sounds good. I am doing morning and dinner with us but like you said a few bites here and there. Glad to hear its fine

[spacedcadet]

As far as finger foods/ snacks. I have given him some of the baby cookies and he seems to like those, but they are messy. I recently started giving him some of the little puffs but he seemed to kind of choke on them like he didn't quite get chewing on the smaller ones. I am curious what others are doing too.

[jt2378]

Thanks, yes I wondered about the puffs and snacks as well

[melw629]

I feel kind of lost with solids too. We just switched from purees to BLW, since DS has decided he's no longer interested in being spoon fed. I offer solids once or twice a day. If twice, he gets an afternoon snack (he sleeps through lunch) and then joins us for dinner. I steam, saute, or roast veggies in sticks big enough that he can hold it in his fist and chew on the other end, or cut up ripe fruits in similar sizes. I give him a piece or two on his tray and he plays with them, talks to them, and eventually eats them. He probably only gets a few bites per meal. No idea if I'm doing BLW right, but he seems happy with my efforts.

All that to say, I don't think there's necessarily a wrong way to do solids at 7 months. I don't think underfeeding is a concern like over-feeding solids is. I know of several people who EBF their babies and didn't even introduce solids until they were a year old. Not my cup of tea, but the kids seemed to turn out ok.

[jt2378]

Thanks melw629, very helpful! DD just bites the spoon and grabs it and wants to play so she would probably love BLW, LOL

[spacedcadet]

Oh yes, he LOVES the spoon! I have to have 2 ready when I feed him because he will inevitably take the first one and want to play/ chew on it. If I try to take it away, he will cry and cry.

[rkang01]

It is interesting to hear all of the different was everyone is feeding their babies.

We are actually going to be adding a third meal in this week, mainly because the little girl I babysit is a little older and she is added a third meal and it was 100x easier for them to be on the same schedule.

I always have her drink her bottle before solid foods. Sometime she takes just a few spoonfuls, sometimes she eats a ton.

My kid is a total snacker! The first time she picked up a puff and put it in her mouth her face lite up! She is obsessed with puffs, teething biscuits, rice cakes and any other snacks that I find interesting. She feels like she needs to eat something if she sees us each something. I also give them to her if she is complaining while I cook.

With all this said my DD is still only 15 pounds so I dont really worry about over feeding her.

[jt2378]

May 1, 2015 14:33:47 GMT -5 spacedcadet said:

Oh yes, he LOVES the spoon! I have to have 2 ready when I feed him because he will inevitably take the first one and want to play/ chew on it. If I try to take it away, he will cry and cry.

Haha I love this, we have to do this at bathtime with the washcloth, one for her to chew and one for me to wash her with it!

[abbyroad]

DS is 7.5 mos and we started BLW at 6 mos. He gets 3 solid meals a day but it's because he's in the 6th %ile for weight despite frequent and overnight nursing (I just make skinny kids apparently) so my pedi wants me to make sure I'm feeding him extra calories in addition to breastmilk. He loooooooves to eat so it's no problem. I'm a bit mess-averse (and DH is a full neat freak) so we do spoon feed him when it's a spoon food (like yogurt or oatmeal or whatever). He has no teeth yet but is totally fine to eat a large variety of foods and his pincer grip has been improving hugely. By 7 mos he was able to pick up single Cheerios and get them into his mouth - I was shocked!

[jt2378]

Sorry @lildiamondeyes, I know that was my worry about solids too. Do you think maybe it is from a decrease in your supply since your pregnant? Have you noticed that?

[thelittlesrunmylife]

My cousins youngest had problems with his digestive system until he was almost 8 months and if he even had one little puff he would violently throw up and their doctors said at that age(6-8mos) they are still getting almost all of their nutrition from formula/breastmilk so solid foods are just getting use to different textures and flavors.

I usually do at least one baby food meal and at least one snack of the yogurt bites every day and I have been trying for two of each every day. We are starting to give him more self feeding options like scrambled eggs, small bits of fruits and veggies and pastas since he is actually able to get the food into his mouth about half of the time now.

There really isn't a wrong way as long as you are happy with how things are going and most of the nutrition is still in breastmilk or formula. If you have an adventurous baby, be happy! My kids are pretty great eaters and I had them on full normal meals well before a year.

Oh, and watch out for generic brands of puffs and yogurt bite. We tried Walmart brand yogurts because they were a little cheaper but the do not dissolve the same way and we had some choking when he was fine eating gerber brand. Not sure on the puffs, I will stick with gerber from now on.

Sorry for my novel! ?

[jt2378]

May 2, 2015 21:20:42 GMT -5 @lildiamondeyes said:

May 2, 2015 7:42:43 GMT -5 jt2378 said:

Sorry @lildiamondeyes, I know that was my worry about solids too. Do you think maybe it is from a decrease in your supply since your pregnant? Have you noticed that?

It could be. I did notice my supply is just barely minimal. I hope she is getting enough. She is happy and has enough wet diapers. I am just watching for an indication that she is hungry/unsatisfied. I waffle day to day about continuing to breast feed. I am not ready to give it up yet.

Yes that is tough, I imagine it would be hard on you and sad with your hormones kicking up right now anyways!! Hope things get easier for you, at least she seems satisfied so maybe all is fine, GL!!

[doglover31]

When DS is at MILs house during the week he gets a smoothie (strawberries, bananas, and formula or breastmilk), then he will get 1-2 more containers of purees. Then when we have him in the evening we normally give him some puffs. He is 8 months old today, and has started to lose interest in breast milk from the bottle. He would rather have solid foods or be nursing from me.

On the weekend we kind of slack in the solid foods department. If we are out to eat somewhere I let him try some of what I am having. Like Saturday while we were out to breakfast I gave him small pieces of pancake and sausage. He has no teeth so I give him tiny pieces and he does okay with it.

[jt2378]

@adulruna, I'm surprised the pedi would say that if he is still 92%!

Yes DD is not feeding herself either but now after reading everyone's experiences I'm not too stressed about it, it will all happen in sooner than later anyways

[jt2378]

May 4, 2015 8:24:23 GMT -5 @adulruna said:

May 4, 2015 8:18:29 GMT -5 jt2378 said:

@adulruna, I'm surprised the pedi would say that if he is still 92%!

Yes DD is not feeding herself either but now after reading everyone's experiences I'm not too stressed about it, it will all happen in sooner than later anyways

I'm not a huge fan of hers lol. I mean, she's fine and a good doctor but she keeps trying to tell me how to parent and hell to the no with that.

I need a new pedi. I'm just too lazy.

Yes that is totally annoying! I know I felt the same way and I ended up switching to another who was in the same practice who I like SO much better! Is there more than one doctor in the practice? I would probably be the same way if i had to go elsewhere, lol

[doglover31]

@adulruna,DS isn't feeding himself either. He can feed himself the Gerber Crunchies, because they are big enough. But he normally just opens his mouth for me to feed him. He looks like a little baby bird lol.

I'm worried about giving him bigger pieces to grab because of I am terrified of him choking. So he probably won't be feeding himself until I get over that fear.

[jt2378]

Me too doglover31, I don't know if I am irrationally paranoid about it, I gave her a piece of Cheerio and was on standby just in case! haha I think I need to loosen up a bit

[doglover31]

jt2378,DS has choked. A couple months ago we gave him a small piece of a waffle and he started choking on it. His face turned all red and he couldn't breathe. I had to stick my finger in his mouth and get it out. It was really scary....

Of course now he is "chewing" better....even though he doesn't have teeth. But it makes me nervous when he has food now and every little sound he makes with it.

[jt2378]

May 4, 2015 11:12:23 GMT -5 doglover31 said:

jt2378,DS has choked. A couple months ago we gave him a small piece of a waffle and he started choking on it. His face turned all red and he couldn't breathe. I had to stick my finger in his mouth and get it out. It was really scary....

Of course now he is "chewing" better....even though he doesn't have teeth. But it makes me nervous when he has food now and every little sound he makes with it.

OMG that is my worst fear, so glad he was ok!!

[doglover31]

jt2378,yea its scary...thankfully we got the piece out quick. DH was panicking worse than I was. I was strangely calm while it was happening, but now I am scared to give him too much.

He can just live on purees forever right?

[jt2378]

May 4, 2015 11:26:57 GMT -5 doglover31 said:

jt2378,yea its scary...thankfully we got the piece out quick. DH was panicking worse than I was. I was strangely calm while it was happening, but now I am scared to give him too much.

He can just live on purees forever right?

doglover31, YES at least until he gets some chompers!! haha

Totally unrelated but I know you did some sleep training, I tried looking back in the threads and couldn't find it, is he still sleeping better? I'm at the end of my rope!

[doglover31]

jt2378,his sleep has gotten way better. He is not STTN, but he usually only has 2 wake ups now. I can do 2 wakeups, compared to how it was.

I can send you all the info if you want it. We pretty much did the Ferber method, but instead of cutting out all night feedings I still feed him. I figured it wouldn't be fair since he is used to eating so much at night to just take it away suddenly.

[doglover31]

@beckaroo, the puffs are good foods to try. At least with those they dissolve. I put one in my mouth and counted how long it took to dissolve (10 second fyi). So I figured if he starts choking with those, in 10 seconds or so it should be dissolved. DS loves the Crunchies (baby Cheetos as I call them) and its so great that they dissolve, but I think they have started to teach him how to chew.

[jt2378]

May 4, 2015 14:00:42 GMT -5 doglover31 said:

@beckaroo, the puffs are good foods to try. At least with those they dissolve. I put one in my mouth and counted how long it took to dissolve (10 second fyi). So I figured if he starts choking with those, in 10 seconds or so it should be dissolved. DS loves the Crunchies (baby Cheetos as I call them) and its so great that they dissolve, but I think they have started to teach him how to chew.

Nice! I just bought these so its good to know that they dissolve

[jt2378]

May 4, 2015 13:59:02 GMT -5 doglover31 said:

jt2378,his sleep has gotten way better. He is not STTN, but he usually only has 2 wake ups now. I can do 2 wakeups, compared to how it was.

I can send you all the info if you want it. We pretty much did the Ferber method, but instead of cutting out all night feedings I still feed him. I figured it wouldn't be fair since he is used to eating so much at night to just take it away suddenly.

ya DD would be looking to still chow too, LOL...I could handle 2 wakes up as opposed to 6! UGH

thanks for sharing

[judyblume14]

Food before one is just for fun! Keep nursing or feeding formula as baby's main source of nutrition!

DD takes five 3.5-oz bottles of BM at day care and we nurse when waking up and when going to bed.
During the week, she has one Gerber puree and puffs at day care and the same in the evening. When we have time (and the patience), we'll do some BLW as well. During the week, we'll give her tiny bites of what we're eating (either by spoon, or finger foods).

Weekends are much more fun to experiment with eating, because we're not rushed and have the time and patience to let her "play" and "explore" her food. A weekend "meal" for example would start with a puree, then we'll offer her about 15 puffs and half a slice of cheese broken into pieces (most of these end up on the floor), and a strawberry, or big chunk of melon, or green or red pepper strip that she can gnaw on. She's much better at chewing than she is at getting food out of her fingers and into her mouth!

The gagging can be scary. But was she gets more practice chewing with the not-so-scary things like puffs... I see that she gets better with the "scarier" things.

[doglover31]

May 4, 2015 14:03:36 GMT -5 jt2378 said:

ya DD would be looking to still chow too, LOL...I could handle 2 wakes up as opposed to 6! UGH

thanks for sharing

There are a bunch of different sleep training methods out there. I liked the Ferber approach since I could go in to reassure him. But for some babies that makes things worse. It really depends on the baby. We also introduced a "lovey" to DS. Its a small pillow that MIL made from one of his baby blankets and it was helpful because he snuggles with it and it really helps him sleep now.

I got really desperate so that's why I finally did it. And it has made nighttime so much less stressful.

[jt2378]

May 4, 2015 14:15:23 GMT -5 doglover31 said:

May 4, 2015 14:03:36 GMT -5 jt2378 said:

ya DD would be looking to still chow too, LOL...I could handle 2 wakes up as opposed to 6! UGH

thanks for sharing

There are a bunch of different sleep training methods out there. I liked the Ferber approach since I could go in to reassure him. But for some babies that makes things worse. It really depends on the baby. We also introduced a "lovey" to DS. Its a small pillow that MIL made from one of his baby blankets and it was helpful because he snuggles with it and it really helps him sleep now.

I got really desperate so that's why I finally did it. And it has made nighttime so much less stressful.

Thanks doglover31, yes DD does not do well with check in's, she gets more upset so that is why I feel stuck with my options if I don't CIO. She does have a lovey which is a small stuffed bunny, she sucks his ears and bites his head, haha