Starting Real Food

Looks like you got some really good advice from other mommies. I wanted to suggest a good web site with recipes for making baby food at home...it is www.wholesomebabyfood.com I've been making my son's food since he was 6 months old. It's a joy to know exactly what he's eating and that it is fresh and healthy.

all the best,

S.

Hi L....I am also a nurse and understand your pumping issue. I had the same problem. Adding goats milk to your breastmilk is not recommeneded. There isn't a lot of nutrients in goats milk. Formula is a much better choice than that. (Any pedi. would agree that if you don't breastfeed, formula is the best option.) I wouldn't feel guilty at all for having to supplement. I felt the same way at first but then realized I was doing the best thing for my baby by giving her some formula. As for food, I gave cereal with a little fruit mixed in it for breakfast. I also exclusively breastfed in the morning and evening before/after I went to work and then supplemented the other times that I wasn't with my baby. At dinner, I mixed a little more fruit in the cereal. I did the same with the veggies. Good luck and never feel guilty. You are doing what is best for your baby. Keep up the good work!!

try sweet potatoes or carrots. My son loves them.

Hi L.. Most people who don't know about goats milk would say it's weird, but I was raised on it after my mom found out she was pregnant and couldn't nurse me anymore. Food at this age is for fun and learning, but not really for any nutritional value. If you want to keep your milk then I wouldn't remove a feeding. One thing I was told from a LLLeague mom was to spend a whole day laying in bed nursing and laying together. It sounds funny, but the skin to skin time helped my milk come back. I nursed my now 21 month old for a year. We started her on solids at about 5 1/2 months because I could tell she was ready. She'd open her mouth and fallow the fork as we ate our food. I made all of her food from scratch and still do. If you don't already have it, I would suggest "The Magic Bullet" to puree any food you make. You can boil any veggie or fruit and then puree it. So you really have a lot of options. Just keep trying. I used to mix the foods I made into cereal, slowly adding more until the cereal wasn't needed. I think the most important thing I was told was that food is not the source of nutrition until 12 months. The most important food is breast milk or formula. So just have fun with it!
Good luck to you and happy parenting!
J.

I also did not want to give my son formula. However, I work full time and sometimes long shifts, too and it was so much pressure to try to pump enough before I went to work. My fiance tested formula for me and swore that my son would not drink it. Finally, at about 6 months, I started mixing the breastmilk with formula without telling him, and guess what, my son was drinking it. When I am home, I still breast feed him, but when I work, he is now on all formula. He likes Nestle Good Start. We also do cereal and/or fruits, veggies, or some stage 2 meals 3 times a day. He is really into his solids and is very healthy.

I just wanted to stress the fact that Goat milk is NOT a good alternative to breast milk or formula. Besides not having many other vitamins and minerals and fatty acids your baby needs, it has NO iron in it, and you risk making your baby anemic. As well, babies this young cannot digest the proteins properly in Goat and Cow milk.

If you need to supplement use formula. Mix it with breast milk instead of giving straight formula. Your baby will be able to digest it easier. Start with just a little at a time, as formula is very different than breast milk and her gut needs to get used to it. Even just a 1/3 formula mix once a day will probably create some constipation and gas at first until your baby's digestive system gets used to it. Don't be alarmed. The straight breast milk the rest of the day will get her going again and the gas will go away. I am exclusively pumping as my 4 month old daughter cannot breastfeed and I am slowly winding down on the pumping and relying on frozen milk. I am introducing formula to her (2 oz. every other day mixed with 4 oz. breast milk) as I think I am going to have to supplement sooner than I had hoped. Pumping is hard whether you are working outside the home or have a toddler as I have to take care of. Don't worry about it. Your baby will thrive due to the breast milk you have already given her and continue to give her. Supplemental formula is to make sure she continues to get the nutrition she needs. My toddler had to get formula mixed with breast milk starting at four months and she is doing great.

The doctor told me to drink lots of milk and it will help to keep your milk in. As far as the feedings I waited until six months for veggies. I gave them cereal at four months. I did't give them any fruits until after they started eating their veggies good. Be careful with carrots and sweet potatoes. My youngest was allergic to them when she was a baby. She out grew it. But the doctor told me thats very common. Start with one veggie at a time at six months. I breast fed both of mine. I agree, formula isn't good for them.
Good Luck!

Just because he hated it now doesn't mean he always will. Try more of a variety after he eats his cereal and just let him get use to the idea. Any kind of baby food is going to have a lot more flavor than the cereal, so it is a shock at first. I used the Earth's best baby food and loved it! I don't understand your problem with formula. Supplementing your breast milk with just milk of any kind is actually a negative, he will not get the same nutrition out it. Don't beat yourself up about it and just do it! Breastfeeding is best, but I think most of the time people take it too far. When I had to supplement and eventually stop, I could barely sleep at night! People kept making it sound like I was going to hurt my child and I wasn't doing my job. I gave formula a try and he loved it more than breast milk! He is the perfect boy and incredibly smart, so now I know things can be taken to an extreme. There is nothing wrong with formula and nothing wrong with being a hard working mommy! I will also breastfeed my second due in August, but I won't let it keep my up at night this time if things don't work out for the whole year. Now I know that she will be just fine!

Hey L.,

I am not to sure about the goats’ milk. I have never heard of it nor would I personally feel comfortable about giving my baby that young milk of any kind of milk other than formula. But that is just me. Anyhow, my 5 month old has been on cereal in a bottle since she was 1 week old per my pediatrician and gastroenterologist. At about 3 months she ate cereal by spoon. She has had many issues eating and digesting along with allergies. I was concerned to offer food to her that early since we have already found out she has a milk allergy and possibly a soy allergy. I was told by my gastroenterologist that earlier (than 6 months) introduction to food no longer is thought to be the cause of allergies. She said that was new research done by the AAP. I can’t find it on their website but she is a well known and respected pediatric gastroenterologist so I believe her. I have been giving my daughter food now for about 1 month and she is doing great and loving it (besides carrots). Just keep trying to offer any foods they may not take to right away. I learned with my first daughter that it takes sometimes 10 or more tries before they like it.

Hi L.. This might be a lame answer but do what your gut tells you. The fact your son is not sleeping through the night and is clearly hungry -it's time to feed real food. Since he is nearly 6 mths old, I don't think you should worry about the allergy part. If he is allergic, he'll be allergic at this point. I would suggest keep on the homemade route with root vegetables (carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash) and some likely fruits not to cause allergies (apple & pears)because he is obviously accostom to milk and cereal - but he will need more nutrition and seems like he wants more.
A book I have used for both my daughters (3 years and 6 months) is: Gina Ford. Her 'weaning' book is awesome and really a great guide. Goes through the breast to formula phase (if you choose) but literally goes through day-by-day the food introduction route. Even has commentary about if your child refuses food which is pretty common.
I would suggest doing 50/50 breastmilk and formula as a good start. If you don't want formula but goat's milk..do the 50/50 route with that. I found when I weaned my daughters off breastmilk (6 mths and 4 mths), this helped with the 'flavor' and took about 1 week until they were both on formula 100%.
Good luck and again, do what you think is right!!!! You know more than anybody what your son needs.

My 4.5 mos old is also on feedings every 3 hours, and wakes up twice per night to eat. She's not quite 13 pounds, and her dr. tells me to feed her when she wakes up cause she probably needs it. I think I don't produce a whole lot at one time so she has to eat often. For that reason I haven't been able to cut out a feeding. So I don't have any advice for you on that one except that when he starts eating the veggies along with the cereal, you may be able to cut it out. We just started rice cereal 2 days ago. I wouldn't worry at all about him not eating the squash. It may take a while before he likes it or he may not like it at all. Just try the same food every day for about a week, just a little. Don't force him. If he still doesn't like it, move on to the next food. Not a big deal , cause he's getting nutrition from your milk. I have to go back to work when she's 6 mos and will not be able to pump due to a high demand job. So I'm going to have to put her on formula during the day and possibly keep up the breastfeeding at night. I don't think there's anything wrong with formula esp. if they are getting breast milk too. You could do half/half bottles. Half bm, half formula. That's what I do when I have to leave her, cause I just can't pump enough. I plan on making my own baby food too. Good luck with that!

Hi L.,

You might want to try summer squash. Alec loved it and it was one of his first foods. You might want to mix just a little of something mild into his cereal. (also make the cereal a little thicker). We tried a new food every week. My pediatrician suggested keeping the same one for the whole week for two reasons. One, so Alec would get used to the taste and two, so that if he had an alergic reaction, we would be fairly sure what caused it. Try just a tiny bit at first so he can get used to it. Also, I didn't avoid any foods while I was breastfeeding so he probably had a little taste of just about everything before he ever had "real food". We nursed until he was about 7 months old but once he had cereal (4 months) he really starting losing interest in nursing quickly. Also, don't dismiss formula out of hand. Breastmilk is better than formula but forumula is pretty great in that it is nutritionally balanced and specifically designed to fit his needs (unlike goat or cow milk). We mixed his cereal with formula until he was about a year old and eating really well. (it made Mommy feel that we had all based covered). We also starting feeding him solids first and then "topping him off" with nursing for most nursing periods. I don't remember the exact timing but near the 7th month mark, I was only actually nursing him after breakfast when he was still sleepy in the mornings.

Just remember every baby is different, what works for one doesn't always work for another....that being said......there is a great website for babyfoods wholesomebabyfoods.com and wholesometoddlerfoods.com that give good guidelines for what types of foods to introduce as well as ideas for doing your own babyfoods. My babygirl did great w/ everything from the get go, our bestfriend's child who is 3 weeks younger still isn't interested in many foods, not cereals, purees, only a bit of well-cooked rice, some bits of chicken(she's 9 months now)and a nibble of soft fruit(banana, pear) here and there. I am also a working mom who has to pump, and I'm faced with the same struggles of time allowed to pump, i'm taking fenugreek and fennel and sometimes mother's milk teas to keep supply up(i even pump at home 1-2x's on my days off to keep supply up and have enough milk for the days I work) and trying to stay true to breastmilk only. I have found that it is definitely a struggle, and we have had to supplement a bottle of formula here and there. I have not "dropped" a feeding yet, I still nurse 6-8 times a day when I'm not working, and we actually do a middle of the night feeding included (so look at how lucky you are w/ the 12 hours of nighttime sleep!!)I added foods mostly starting in the evening for dinner, then gradually a snack of whatever fruit I was eating at breakfast or mid-morning, then eventually a snack of what ever I prepared for lunch too. she eats organic babyfood purees(earth's best/gerber) at nighttime mixed w/ bits of whatever "protein" I fixed for dinner that night. Try and try again because w/ most foods its just going to be experimentation at this point not truly nourishment. Some foods he might try a bite or 2 and others he may eat the whole thing, but try everything so he won't get stuck on liking only 1-2 foods. That website should help a lot! Good Luck and please let me know if you need anymore info-L.(too!)

Hi L.,
Kudos for wanting to raise your son in such a healthy way! A few things to think about though. RE: adding the goat-milk - make sure whatever you feed your young baby is pasteruized! My daughter does have several food allergies and I found out that the protein in goat's milk is similar to cow's milk, so if their little tummies aren't ready for cow's milk yet, they probably won't be ready to goat's milk either. Don't add rice milk to anything b/c there is no nutritional benefit to it (some woman in the midwest lost her child b/c she was giving her rice milk instead of formula).

RE: dropping feedings. For my two girls, it worked best nurse first thing in the morning, then feed food at the mid-morning mark. I then added the second meal at dinnertime. Everything you read will tell you to continually give a new food and that it may take up to 5 or 6 times of introducing something until they like it. If you made your own food, maybe the texture was too thick. There are lots of organic babyfoods out there, even Gerber has one now, and the texture is thin and smooth.

Everyone has a plan in mind of how they want to raise their children, but remember that their health has to come before your plan. So try not feel like having to give formula is making you a bad parent if that's the decision you have to make so your son continues to grow and thrive.

Good luck to you!

Hello L.,

I supplemented breastmilk with an organic formula, it seemed to work real well for us although is was a good bit more expensive than regular formula. I also had a tough time with figuring out what and when to feed my son anything other than breastmilk, especially since I am vegetarian (not vegan). He stopped breastmilk at about 7 mos, seemed like I was just not producing enough. That is when I started the organic formula and supplementing it with organic rice cereal, I really think it was a good decision for me, it eased the stress of producing and I was sure he was getting enough to eat...he also really liked it. I also started mashing my own carrots, green beens, peas, potatoes, etc and gradully added each individually into his diet. Most health food grocery stores also sell organic, no chemical jarred food which I also used. He is now 25 mos old and is great health, his height and weight have always been in almost perfect proportion. Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.

M.

I would start out with vegetables first and give them to the little one for 2 -3 days Same kind of vegie. Maybe giving it to him in the evening. Then after all the veggies are introduced I would then introduce the fruits, doing the same thing giving them 2-3 days. The reason for giving them several days is to make sure they do not have any alergic reactions to any of the foods. Every baby is different on when they start needing more nutrition. My grandson started eating table food at 10 months - I would have never have done this when I raised my kids but - HE LOVES IT AND FOOD!! The baby food just wasn't cutting it with him, he need more substantial food. He started walking at 10 months and I think he just needed it for more energy. I also breasfeed both of my kids for 1 whole year. It is not for everyone and not everyone can make enough milk. My daughter was very frustrated with the breast feeding and I told her it just wasn't worth her frustration!! She was getting angry and crying because she could not produce enough milk... so I told her to try giving them formula, which she did and the frustration ended. If it is frustrating you and you are always worried about enoug then I recommend the formula. They now make them with the same vitamins that they get in breast milk so the solutions are so much better these days!

Good Luck
: )

I would recommend checking out www.kellymom.com for ways to increase your milk. If your diet has not changed, your milk should not "run out." It does change and become more potent though and the babies become more efficient at nursing so it goes a lot faster.

Regarding eating solids, it often takes several tries for the baby to like something. Some foods, they'll never like! Maybe try mixing it with the cereal - that worked for my daughter. Then I gradually increased the amount of fruit/veggie until she was eating that straight.

Their primary source of nutrition until age 1 is breast milk or formula so don't worry if your son doesn't take to solids right away. It's really not a big deal for a while yet.

Also stick with one food for a few days in case of allergies. That way it's easy to tell what's causing the reaction. Good Luck!

HI L.,
I completely understand all of your concerns and worries. Hopefully, I have some helpful info for you to use.
Let's see, I EB my son for three months, then started giving him just one bottle of formula a day (in the evening, by my hubby). At 3 1/2 months, i started him on cereal, which he really liked. My son started to ween himself from the breast at about 6 months old (broke my heart!) and became much more interested in eating "solids". He doesn't drink much formula, but is very healthy and I make it a point to ensure that he gets enough vitamins, minerals and nutrients from the baby food i make for him. I, too, make all of his baby foods myself, even his cereal (I use millet for iron and add in some wheat germ for folic acid)
As for a first food, have you tried avocado? It's a very healthy, non-allergenic food for babies. And, just because your son didn't appreciate the butternut squash today (good choice by the way!) keep trying! It's just so new to him. Try mixing some of the squash in with his cereal (a familiar taste and texture) until he developes a taste for it.
My son is now 11 months old and will eat anything I feed him.
I get a LOT of recipes and information from this website:
www.wholesomebabyfoods.com and of course the book, Super Baby Foods.
Good luck!
K.

Goat's milk?!?! Wow that is a bit strange- most people supplement with formula- but that is besides the point.. I am here to help you with your question. If you have enough breast milk there is no need for subsitution at all. If you are looking to wean off the boob- then use formula.

As far as food:
My daughter is now 9 months old and I started her on rice cereal at 4 months because she jsut never seemed full with milk alone anymore. Then at 5 moths started other gerber foods:

I gave her ONE new food a week starting with veggies. I started with veggies becasue I knew if i started with fruit she would like the sweet stuff and never want to eat veggies.
As long as you only do one new food every week it will be easy to determine what caused a reaction if there is one.

Also, just because your baby does not like a certain food one day does not mean he will not like it the next- keep trying.

Good luck and prepare for some funny faces!
@}~>~~

I too just started solid food for my LO. At this point you might want to give him breastmilk every 4 hours. Try stretching him out 15 minutes a day and see how he does. It may knock him off his routine but that might be the answer to cutting out a feeding. Here is an example of our schedule (on a good day that is)...

Wake - 8am
Eat - 8:30 Breastfeed
Play
Eat - 9:30 Cereal mixed Fruit or Veggie (Introduce new food)
Play
Sleep- 10:30-12:30
Eat - 12:30 BF
Play
Eat - 1:30 Veggie and Fruit (should be biggest meal)
Play
Sleep- 3-5:00
Eat - 5:00 BF
Play
Eat - 6:00 Fruit or Veggie (snack while Mom and Dad eat)
Play/Bath/WindDown
Eat - 7:30 BF
Sleep- 8pm Bedtime
Eat - 11:30 BF Dreamfeed (wake to feed then right back to sleep)

At this age, your LO can go longer between feedings. You know that because he sleeps 12 hours! I will sometimes wake at 3 or 4am to pump so I can keep up my supply and have a little extra for cereal. I serve at a restaurant so I know what you mean about not being able to pump at work. Don't worry, your body will continue to make milk. You may not feel as full now because your letdown is more, thus you are making more on the spot. Don't let the pump be your gauge. Your LO is way more efficient at getting milk than a machine. Drink lots of Water!!!!

Don't worry if he doesn't eat right away. Offer him a new food twice a day for three days. If he eats it great! If not move on to the next food. If you think he is ready then go for it. Just make sure you don't introduce anything new after that first 3 days to check for sensitivity to that particular food. Anyway, your milk should stay the prime source of food. Solid food at this point is just for fun and practice.

Puree away, and have fun! You are doing a great job by keeping your LO on a chemical free diet. Keep it up!

There is a great tea found at organic/health food stores called Mother's Milk that will help increase lactation. Not interested in tea, try the capsul Blessed Thistle, this is what is in the tea that stimulates milk production.

I started both my kids on the fruits and the first veggie was sweet potatoes. Kids love the sweet taste. He might have rebelled against the texture of the squash; was it reallllllyyy pureed? It needs to be. Also, it can take up to 10 feedings for a child to decide they want/like a food.
Rule of thumb, introduce a new food. Do not introduce another new one for three days. This allows you time to note if there is going to be an allergic reaction to a specific food. Foods that might trigger one: strawberries and apricots; I would introduce these last.
Remember, no honey or peanut butter (he is a little young for that anyways), but not before the age of 1.

If I remember correctly, when my daughter was a baby (I am a grandmother now) She started on cereal, then fruits, then veggies and then like gerber dinners. If you want to puree your own foods, start with apple sauce,pears,plums and bananas. We started mixing a little pureed fruit into the cereal first. Then cereal and some fruit after the cereal was eaten. when your baby is used to that and eats it well, veggies can be introduced at lunch time and dinner.

I began to supplement breast milk with formula when my son made it clear he was still hungry after nursing (at about 5 months old). I tried different formula and found the Similac organic worked best for him. I started with 2 ounces at night when my milk supply was lowest and slowly worked up to 3-4 ounces with every feeding).

I like to make my own baby food as well. I use only organic fruits and vegetables. My son liked peas and greenbeans best at first. If you feed carrots you should use jarred because the jarring process takes out the high content of nitrites naturally occuring in carrots. I started with veggies (my son didn't like cereal at first) then added fruit to cereal after a couple weeks. My son is now 7 months old and this is his current feeding schedule:

7am breast milk, formula, cereal with fruit
9am sometimes breast milk (he got breast milk and formula until he was on a regular food schedule)
noon breast milk, formula, veggie
3pm breast milk, formula
6pm breast milk, formula, veggie, cereal with fruit

You got alot of great advice. Main thing: don't feel guilty about supplementing if you need to. The main thing is for your baby to be healthy.

Cheers to breastfeeding moms and making your own baby food!

Next, I must say that I would follow my doctors recommendations. Unless you don't trust him then you should get a new doctore.
With that said, I made my own food for my daughter, also. I loved it and felt really great about knowing what I was feeding her was healthy. I steamed apples, sweet potatoes, carrots, yellow squash, etc. I then mixed them (seperatley) either with water or a little bit of sugar free white grape juice. It takes time for them to adjust to the feelings of food in their mouth, so be patient and just keep trying. I would try during a non-important meal, though. You want to keep him eating his regular food first. MAKE SURE TO ONLY INTRODUCE ONE FOOD EVERY 3 DAYS!!! That is very important...you need to assess for allergic reactions after every new food introduction.
As for breastfeeding, the only other thing I could suggest is make a CD of your son babbling or cooing, put a picture next to where you pump and see if that works. I am assuming you try to pump the most in the morning, as that's when your supply is the most abundant. Make sure to check out La Leche on the web. It's a breastfeeding support website.
Good luck and I hope I have helped a little bit.

Keep up the good work!

AT this age breastmilk is still the #1 source of nutrition. From age 6 mo to 1 year solids are supposed to be merely for introduction to foods, textures, tastes, social table experiences, etc. Even what they do eat is barely absorbed and processed to gain much nutrition. That is why your Dr is telling you to wait. As much fun as it is for parents to experiment and try new things with our little ones, sometimes it is not best. Their gut is not ready and like the Dr said, it can cause allergies and sensitivities of the gut due to early exposure to things their linings have not matured enough to handle.

As for reducing breastfeed sessions...this is not recommended. Until a year, you should still nurse first, THEN follow it with a solid food offering a few times a day. The breastmilk shold always come before the solids so they get all their needed nutrition first, then just experiment with the solids.... It is not true that he should stretch out daytime feedings at only 6 months just because he can go 12 hrs overnight. He is probably sleeping all night due to taking in enough breastmilk by day.... if you start taking away his most important meals, you are probably going to end up with a baby waking at night to be fed the nutrition that he missed in the day. Count your blessings that you have 12 hrs at night and feed him whatever he requests by day! Every kid is different, follow his lead and answer his food requests. He may go months with this pattern and then Poof! he may have new, different needs on an entirely different day/night schedule. Go with his flow....:-)

Have you tried taking the full dosage of Fenugreek (3 capsules, 3x a day)? How about drinking Red Raspberry Leaf tea (from health food store) or coconut milk? If all else fails there is a presription for increasing supply to avoid feeding formula. You can also buy breastmilk from a milk bank to avoid formula as well... Pump more often to tell yor body you need more milk....Always pump immediatley after the first two morning feeds for sure, when milk is in highest supply. You should be producing more and saving more in no time with all of these tricks!

Last - the best recommended first foods at 6 months I learned at LLL meetings are avacado, sweet potato and banana.

Hi L.,
Just want to applaud you for all your efforts! That is awesome that you want to continue nursing and raise him on such healthy food! I worked FT, too, and it was a challenge to pump enough; I can relate. Stick with it if you can. And you might want to call the La Leche League for support. (Going to their meetings is a great way to meet like-minded, supportive moms, too.)
Regarding the food, I'd just try something else like pears or sweet potatoes...something most babies do like. Maybe he just didn't like squash. (I hate it, too!) :-)
Good luck, and all the best,
L.