Starting Solids - Duarte,CA

I would hold off on solids. Both my children didnt really eat solids till 9 or 10 months, just plenty of mama milk. I definately feel mama milk is way better for the littl eones than anything else we could give them.

Just a little FYI, youre not supposed to give any baby under a year strawberries, peanut butter, or honey due to the fact they might have allergic reactions. You should also start off with veggies, nit fruit because they are less likely to eat veggies if they have had fruit first. I started my son out with peas, then carrots, srting beans and then sweet potatoes. He loves his veggies! If all else fails, talk to your baby's doc!!

When I first started giving solids (around 5.5 months)I waited until about an hour after I nursed my daughter. She would only eat a couple bites or so and be done. She usually nursed about 2 hours after that. Slowly but surely she started wanting more of the solids. She now sometimes eats a whole baby food jar in one sitting (she is now 7 months). I feed her solids 3 times a day, and she usually nurses every 4 - 4.5 hours(sleeps at night though). I am not sure how much of the baby food to give, but somedays she doesn't want much at all and others she can't get enough. I figured she knows best. She doesn't eat cereal (horrible tummy issues with both rice and oatmeal), so I went for the fruit and veggies, and now she eats meat. As far as needing solids, breast fed babies need more iron than you can give them around 6 months. That is why the cereal is iron fortified (meat dishes are a source as well).

Hi D.-
I have a 9 month old daughter and I started giving her solids at 5 1/2 months. I made her the food, steamed the veggies and fruits at first and then had them pureed in a "MAGIC BULLET." I started out with the butternut squash and peaches. She loved the peaches and was OK with the butternut squash.

I then put the pureed fruit in a BABY CUBE I purchased online on BABYCENTER.com and I would normally give her half the cube. Each cube is about 1 ounce. I would give her half the veggie and half the fruit. I made sure to make and freeze enough food for about a week.
I always breastfeed her first and then wait about 30-45 minutes, and then feed her the solids. I make sure I scoop it iut of the baby cube first and then microwave it. You do not want to feed her directly from the plate and then have some left over and save it. Too much bacteria.

I still have not fed her the pre-packaged jar baby food. I have made and fed her everything from mango, peaches, apricots, strawberries and blueberries mixed, bananas, kiwis...to yams, peas (her favorite veggie), butternut squash, asparagus, broccoli and carrots. You have to do trial and error with feeding her. Just because she does not like it once does not mean she will not eat it. Try again...and she will like it. My daughter likes her yams and butternut squash now.

Good luck..and if you have any questions...send me an e-mail. I am now feeding her chicken soup, lentils, chicken bits...mexican style pasta....rice.

Hi D.,

My son just started too at 6 mo. I believe that breast milk provides all the nutrition they need. But if you give the breast first expect that they will only take a couple of spoonfuls of food after. Eventually they will want more solids, but will also still need the milk. Consider only offering the solids when you are sitting down to eat yourself. Then they can expect to get some as well. Then give her the breast when you are ready to relax after a meal. Perfect segway into naptime.

I already have started signing (opening/closing mouth) to my son. And he already "tells" me when he wants to eat. This is a good time to start communicating to your child. And "ask" what she wants.

Hope this helps

I gave my kids, 1st feeding with breast milk, then 2nd feeding bottle. So when it was time to wheen them it was a breeze. But then again, not all babies are the same. I had boys! I started with baby cereal when they where 1 month old. Then when it came time for solids they were about 6-7 months old. Now my boys are 22 years old and 13 years old.

Hi D.,
My name is Francisca and I live in Chile.
I have a 10 months old baby and I started giving her solids when she was 5.5. Her doctor told me to give her what she wanted without insisting and then give her a bottle so that she receive what she needs (they eat too little at the begining so they need to fill the rest of the stomach with milk). After they are used to the spoon you can give your baby the meal and fruit or the dessert you choose. I started with apple and pear. The amount depends on your baby but ussualy you star giving the baby meal size (the one you buy at the supermarket, gerber etc, the little one of course). My baby is still eating that size (130 grs aprox) one for meals and another one for dessert and that what she needs. My nefew has one month more and she eats a lot more even though she is thinner than mine.
I must say Im very lucky because my daughter loved her spoon and she never had any trouble with solids so I tried a few days only the milk thing and then I started to give her solids only at lunch time. She have her bottle at 930m, then lucnh at 1230pm, another bottle at 430pm, now she is having her dinner at 7pm and her last bottle at 10pm.
Every kid is diferent and you need to have pacience, love and tender because they can drive you crazy sometimes at this age!!
Hpe that helps!

Hi D.,

I am also nursing and found going to solids to be a bit challenging. Nursing is your daughters number one source of nutrition and needs to be nursed as normal. I have found this to be helpful for me. You feed her one to two tablespoons of rice cereal in the morning along with one to two tablespoons of fruits. At lunch feed her one to two tablespoons of rice cereal with one to two tablespoons of veggies. At dinner is when you can give her the same amount of all three.
Our schedule is when my daughter first wakes up I nurse her. About 1.5 hours later I feed her some rice and fruit mixed together. I then feed her lunch right before her nap around noon and then feed her dinner about 5 to 5:30.

It took me about a 1.5 months to get our routine down and it may just take you that as well with going back to work.
Good luck to you and figuring out YOUR schedule for feeding :)