Need Answers When It Comes to Mealtime...

OUr son is almost 9 mo. and has been on a 3 a day meal schedule for a month or more now. Here is our feeding schedule...

Breakfast: 1/2 cup Baby oatmeal w/ banana mixed with breastmilk

7 oz bottle breastmilk before morning nap (about 2 hours after meal)

Lunch: 1-2 containers 2nd stage baby food plus all the cheerios he wants

7 oz bottle again (about 2 hours after eating)

Dinner: 1-2 containers 2nd stage baby food plus shredded cheese &/or cut up green beans, peas or other veggies

7 oz bottle w/ rice cereal before bedtime

Our son has recently stopped eating his 1-2 containers baby food in the evening, I think becuase he wants to feed himself. So now we give more finger foods at dinner.

Hope this gives you some idea.

Everyone has given great advice.

I'd give table foods over jars. More variety to chooose from and a better likeness to what food actually tastes like. I did too much jar feeding when my daughter was little, becasue thats what the pedi said too do, and now I have a picky eater because i wasn't offering a better variety from the get go.

Good luck, and everyone is right, you know best!

My daughter is 9 months, and she doesn't eat that much. She eats solids really, really well, but if I start to feed her more, she doesn't want any formula. I only feed her 2 meals a day, and about 4 ounces of baby fruits and veggies during the whole day. I have a really hard time getting her to drink even 15 ounces of formula a day, so I am going to wait on upping her food intake. I think your daughter will be fine if you stick to what is working for you.

Hey there! My son is 8 mos. and since he was 4 mos I have been feeding him solids - I think there's something to it, because he's never been sick or on the low side of the charts as far as growth and development...For his meals I first let him take as much milk as he will (sometimes it's only 2 oz), then, I mix an additional 2oz with rice / multigrain/oatmeal cereal + 1/2 jar of the 2nd stage food. I do this for Breakfast,lunch,& dinner. Then right before my son goes to sleep at night, I give him just milk - which is where he usually takes in the most milk.I also let him drink water throughout the day (my MD says it's especially important in the summer months). I hope this helps, feel free to ask any questions!

Wow, my son is 9 mos. (we have our appt. next week, lol) and he doesn't eat that much at every meal. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. Are you still nursing/giving formula? I'm still breastfeeding and when I'm at work he gets a couple bottles. I think your daughter is still getting most of her nutrients from formula/breastmilk, and not from the "food" she's eating. lol. At any rate, I sure as heck wouldn't stress over it. At our 6 mos. appt. our doctor told us we technically wouldn't need to start solids until a year (we held off until almost 6 mos, he hated the rice cereal, solids were difficult to begin with) because breastmilk was all he needed. I definitely wouldn't force food on your child. If she isn't hungry, she isn't hungry. Mealtime shouldn't be a battle. As long as she's gaining weight I'd really trust yourself over the doctor. Good luck! (Besides, wouldn't how big your child is be a better factor than how old??? This just seems ridiculous.... sorry, no offense to the doc.)

My son is only 7 months, but he has been eating solids for a couple of months (his doc thought it might help with his reflux). Anyhow, he still gets one full bottle first thing in the morning, and has a smaller one with lunch and dinner, plus a few other bottles peppered in there. I realize that he is really only eating two "meals" a day, but I think it's important that the little ones still get bottles/breast milk with every meal, even if it's just a little. It is the main component in brain development for the first year.

This has been helpful! I have a 6 month old and I've started wondering this same thing. We are at one meal and one snack, but she doesn't seem to want to take a bottle anymore... We go for our 6 month check up soon and I will discuss it with her, but this has been great to read!!!

Thanks :)

According to my doctor after 6 months of age breastmilk/formula isn't enough. they need more nutrients than that.they need more substance. I disagree about that there isn't any nutrients in the baby food and that it is just "overprocessed food" if that was true the doctors wouldn't tell us to feed our children that. one stage 2 jar isn't all that much.I wouldn't cut back on anything. feed your baby when she's hungry. You cannot force feed your baby. they know when they are full!

Go with your instincts. Just make sure they are getting enough nutritous meals, whether it be just a bottle for lunch or a banana and half a bottle, or whatever. As long as they don't go hungry, it's hard to screw it up. Every child is different too, so my advice would be to read your baby's cues as to what he likes. Never force them to eat more than they want at that age. Meal time can be fun. Let them experiment with feeding themselves, that helps with getting them to try new foods. My son is also 9 months. He has less bottles than he did at 6 months and eats a lot more solids. He's very interested in what I'm eating and only really seems to want a bottle when he's tired. But I know other babies who are less interested in "real" food and still only want mostly bottles. Good luck. and have fun!

I would say that you know what's best for your LO, and if she doesn't need that much to eat, that's ok. At 9 months, my DS was eating table food, but he's a very unusual kid as far as food goes. He's also about twice the size of his peers. This was his rough schedule/routine at 9 months:

8am 6oz bottle of formula
9am solids breakfast
9:30 - 11:30 nap
11:30am 6oz bottle of formula
12:30pm Solids lunch
2:00 - 3:15 nap
3:30pm 6oz bottle of formula
5pm Solids dinner
7pm 8oz bottle (bedtime after this)
11pm 4oz bottle

I would follow her cues. RIght now her main nutrition is still supposed to be coming from breastmilk.. or formula. Jarred baby food does'nt really have any nutritional value.... its overprocessed food. So if she prefers, give her chunks of finger foods instead, like shredded chicken, small peaches, pears, or small cooked veggies that she can pick up herself. That way she is getting healthier foods, and she is regulating her own food intake, she can start and stop when she is done.

If your daughter isn't hungry enough to eat an entire jar of stage 2 foods, don't force her to. Feed her until she turns away. My neice is 9 months old and not really even getting baby food anymore. With her weight she is on table food. You know your daughter better than anyone. Don't let a doctor tell you how much your child should eat since he just goes by the "average", and I know full well my daughter is anything but average when it comes to meal time.