Solids for My 8 Month Baby

Although, your daughter is old enough for juice, drinking it isn't recommended. I've done quite a bit of reading on this, and it can be difficult for a baby to process. Juice has no nutritional value and can cause stomach cramps & diarrhea. To be sure, I asked my pediatrician about this, and he agreed that there is no reason to be giving my 8 mo old son juice.

As far as knowing what foods and how much to feed your daughter, Gerber has a great resource on their website that allows your to download weekly menus based on your child's age and developmental stage. It's an easy way to plan a well-balanced diet. They do all the work for you...even providing a shopping list of items included in the menu.

She is old enough to start juices at this age. The serving for a baby is only about 4oz. per day of juice though. If she is constipated then she's not ready for food yet. Maybe stick with the bottle and formula more and use the food as a supplement.

I recommend this book HIGHLY: "Super Baby Food." It gives the month-by-month (by age) list of what foods to introduce your baby to, recipes and feeding schedules, how to check for allergies, and EASY EASY EASY ways to make your own baby food (we never bought a jar, and we both worked for our first son). You'll LOVE this book.

Are you still breastfeeding? If so, the constipation isn't such a big deal. (My second son was REALLY constipated.) You can eat dried fruit, etc., and it will come out in the milk. And yes, you can give (watered) prune juice. My doctor said so. Go easy on it though.

So much good luck to you!

If she is tending toward constipation, avoid bananas and rice cereal. Try oatmeal cereal and pureed prunes instead. Personally I am in favor of fruits instead of juices, with water in a sippy cup so they learn to drink out of a cup and to drink plain water instead of sweet drinks.

Give her a variety of vegies and you can even add chicken/turkey. My children were wanting to try what we ate at that age and I gave them small soft bits of avocado, scrambled eggs, potato, pasta etc, to self feed. Food at this age is about tasting and trying new things and learning to swallow more than nutrition - breastmilk or formula is still their main source of nutrition.

Don't worry about her lack of teeth, babies manage to gum soft foods when they are ready to eat.

Try only one new thing at a time and make mealtime fun. I tried to feed them at the times the family ate to get them on our routine. Just feed her formula first and she will eat how much she wants.

yes you are fine doing juice at this age. but constipation tells me the baby food isn't setting right with her. Give formula before food was my rule. If they at a whole bottle then I would give food. HOw long are you waiting before adding another one I waited a week inbetween longer than suggested. but if I had a culprit that caused constipation it was out and another one in. I would re introduce that food about 2-3 months later to see if they are more phyically ready for it. My youngest at that age had a very wierd eating scheuale but he gained alot of weight fast and then leveled out he has kept this weight almost 2 yrs. there is no set rules it varies from baby to baby. but I suggest finding the constipation culprit (apples, bannanas or whatever and omitting it. french fries and cheetos and stuff are ok for kids with no teeth. also table green beans. this is just how I did mine. you have to adjust to your kids needs which isn't going to be the same as any other kids needs.