Hi! I have a 6 month old son, who is on sage 1 baby food and is about to start stage 2. Right now I give him a bottle {6-8 oz} every 4 hours and for breakfast he gets @3Tble of cereal mixed up in a couple of oz of formula, then he drinks the rest. I just give him a bottle for lunch, and then give him half a jar of both a veggie and a fruit and 6 oz of formula. He just gets a bottle for bed. My question is I read that at stage 2 they should be eatting alot! This is what I read.
Appetites do vary, of course, but generally speaking, your baby should consume 6-8 ounces of breast milk or formula every feeding, to which you can add 2-4 tablespoons of fortified infant cereal and 1-4 tablespoons of fruit or vegetables at the morning feeding.
At afternoon and evening feedings, 2-4 tablespoons of fortified infant cereal, 1-4 tablespoons of fruit or vegetables, and 1-4 tablespoons of meat or meat dinner can be added.
Your baby will also have one or two snacks throughout the day. Some healthy suggestions include: 4 ounces of breast milk or formula, 2 tablespoons of fruits or vegetables, 2 tablespoons of cereal, half-slice of bread, 1-2 crackers or biscuits.
Is this right? How much and how did you feed your babies?
Hi A.,
At that age, my kids were eating cereal mixed with fruit for breakfast. I mixed the formula into their cereal and then gave them the rest of their bottle after they ate their cereal. They were getting fruit and/or veggie for lunch. I would give them a bottle before going down for afternoon nap. They would get fruit and veggie for dinner and then a bottle before bed. That's what I did. It worked for both of them. Hope this helps.
I would say you are doing just fine. You know your baby better than anyone else and if he seems satisfied and is growing and thriving, then just continue to follow his cues and being the great mother that you are!
this is not an answer to your question but a little suggestion that might make feeding time more healthy...with my daughter i never actually bought a jar of baby food. instead i put a bag of fresh cooked or frozen vegetables in the blender with some water and made it into a baby food consistency. i did the same with fresh fruit and later noodles and chicken with vegetables, etc...then fill an ice cube tray with the mixtures and freeze. once frozen, transfer to an airtight container or ziplock. just defrost or thaw the night before what you are going to need. a couple of cubes per meal. there are no preservatives, no sodium. just fresh food. it saves a ton of money too, im sure.
He should be getting baby food for all 3 meals, but just a bottle at bedtime is fine. Every baby is different, and they grow so fast that the amount they eat is always changing and increasing. Start off with cereal mixed with fruit for breakfast and then a bottle; start with a veggie first for lunch and if he is still hungry then do a fruit and then a bottle, and for dinner you could try to do 1/2 fruit/ 1/2 veggie and a bottle. That way you know he is getting enough fruits and veggetables throughout the day. You could start with 1/2 of a stage 2 jar, and then give him the bottle. Keep increasing the amount of food until he is almost finishing the whole bottle afterward. If he sucks down the whole bottle he may still be hungry, but if he isn't even close to finishing the bottle he probably got too much food. I'm not sure where you got the info you posted, but I remember looking at suggestions from a baby food company, and it was all wrong. They suggested a lot more than my daughter could eat, which is saying something, because she was 9 lbs. 11 oz. at birth and could definitely eat like a champ! Bottomline- my doctor always said just feed them as much as they want to eat. As long as Blake is satisfied, and he is gaining weight, you don't have to worry too much about it.
well ive raised four kids and i dont ever remember reading something like that at 6 months for breakfast i would feed them cereal mixed with formula or juice with a little fruit mixed in it THEN a bottle of formula till they didnt want it
for lunch a baby food dinner maybe 1/4 ti 1/2 a jar and the same amount of fruit or a dessert juice or formula in a bottle
only after they ate same thing for dinner i offered fruit juice
or water several times a day after all babies get thirsty too and a bottle of formula at night and i NEVER gave my children a bottle in bed it also wouldnt hurt to offer them a sippy cup with formula or juice in it when they are sitting i hte high chair
A.,
I did the about the same thing the last person said. 4-6 oz bottle in the morning, cereal mixed with formula and 1/2 container of fruit about 1 hour later, 1/2 container of vegetable for lunch with a 4-6 oz bottle some time between breakfast and lunch. Repeat that same pattern for diner with either a fruit or vegetable and then a bottle about 2 hours after dinner. Eventually the 1/2 containers increased to full containers. Log onto babycenter.com. They have great advice! Good luck.
Many, many pediatricians and moms (and others!) are still operating under the old information to start babies on solids early (like 6 weeks, 3 months, etc). I'm not talking about babies with severe reflux or some other medical condition - I'm talking about your average baby. So many babies are being started waaay too early on solids. The actual medical research shows that babies who are ready for solids can do the following:
* sit up well unassisted
* have a good finger-thumb pincer grasp
* perhaps have teeth
* tongue thrust reflex has lessened
Better to follow your baby's signs than watch the calendar!
For more details, links to current medical research on solids:
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html
Medical research shows that it is healthiest for the MAJORITY of a baby's nutrition for at least the first 12 months of life to come from breastmilk (ideal because of the immunological benefits, reduced risk of cancers for both mom and baby, and reduced risk of obesity for the baby) or formula (2nd choice - we're lucky to have a 2nd choice, though it'd be healthier for ALL of us if moms had more support for breastfeeding from their pediatrician, their friends & family, and their workplace).
Bottom line: for the first 12 months of life, breastmilk or formula should be the BULK of a baby's diet, with solids thrown in for supplementation, experimentation, social time at the dinner table -- starting when the baby shows the signs of readiness.
Your baby is just 6 months old, so if he's sitting up well, has a tooth, is able to pick things up well with his thumb + first finger, and doesn't thrust food out of his mouth when offered via spoon, he's ready to try solids - but definitely the good majority should still be breastmilk/formula.
Congrats on your baby boy - 6 months flies by, doesn't it?
Hi A.,
My second daughter is 9 months old. She is on stage 2 food and formula but she is small. Born at 3lb 13 oz, she is still in 3-6 clothes. She now eats fruit/ceral in the am with 4-5 oz formula. Lunch is one small jar of fruit and one small jar of vegies, with maybe 2-3 oz formula. Same at dinner except we add cereal to the fruit. We were told this is what she should be eating at this point. Now she does get a bottle sometimes 1 hour after eating her solids with about 2-3 more ounces. I think it all depends on the baby. I don't shove food down my baby's throat but the doctor says now at 9 months, we should be encouraging more and more "solid" foods. The formula will lessen as she eats more solids. Hope that helps. Different for everyone. You know your baby.
G.
I have a 6 month old son also. He is very interested in foods. We have just started the stage 1 foods. So I have not moved to the stage 2 yet. But when we saw the peditrician last week she said to make sure he gets at least 22 ounces of formula or breastmilk a day.
That is all I can really contribute because I am in a similiar situation.
A.
Hi A.,
With my daughter I started her on food at 4 months. When she moved onto stage 2 foods I talked with several doctors(peds). For breakfast she would have cereal with formula with friut mixed in or half a jar give or take after the cereal, lunch would be the rest of the fruit veggies, she loved the mixed ones, dinner would be about the same. You just have to remember that your child should be eating food for all 3 meals and that the amount of form./bm will go down some, for snack I would give her the fruit/veggie wheel or the fruit/veggie puffs, all of them are in the baby food isle. But if they don't get the proper amount of food vs form/bm they won't get absolutely everything. Honestly, if you're even just curious you can always just call your health department clinic and they will give you the AVERAGE amount of food a child your age should be eating, whereas your doc will tell you what HE expects your child to eat, and if your child is not eating that amount you'll end up worrying, but if you have the average you'll know that youre still the great mom that you are. Every child is different and eat at different rates, my daughter loved food and drank her bottle VERY SLOWLY and would never finish it, I'm not sure but I believe that your child can even be give juice-gerber is great with their little bottles and it doesn't have as mush sugar. Overall when it comes to feeding a child you have to take the cluse from that child if you think that he/she's not eating enough and drinking alot still switch it up, but the more food consumed the less form.bm he/she will need. A baby's stomach can not hold the food AND the same amount of form/bm at the same time, if you give more food give less form/bm vice versa. Remeber, you are the mother and in my opinion mom's know best:)!
Each kid is different so you need to take cues from them. I have a 6 month old son who is eating stage 2's but he started cereal at 3 months. I could tell the stage 1's weren't enough for him so that's why I moved him up. If he's satisfied with stage 1, keep him on that. There's no "right" amount to feed a baby, they let you know what they need. Good luck!
