Starting Solids

I read the book On Becoming Babywise about eating and sleeping schedules and it recommends nursing them and then feed them their baby food or rice cereal all in the same sitting. I nurse first so my baby isn't too full and will eat an adequate amount of breastmilk, which I think is more important for her nutritionally at this point than the babyfood. I often blenderize our steamed vegetables or soup or what we're eating, especially as the baby gets older because it's healthier.

Here's my schedule that works great for me. It has 3 naps and 5 nursings with 3 solid feedings that line up with normal mealtimes. Be careful about not going below 4 nursings a day if you want to keep your milk supply up, plus she needs the liquid:

7 or 7:30 Baby wakes and nurses, then eats rice cereal
9:30 Baby naps until 11
11:00 Baby wakes & nurses & immediately has babyfood for lunch
12:00 Baby naps (I did it this way so her nap overlaps a little with my toddler's nap so I get a little break. I put her down right before me and the toddler eat lunch because it's less stress to have her down while I prepare and eat lunch.)
3:00-ish Baby wakes and nurses (no babyfood this time. Maybe some baby cracker puffs as a snack--the kind that dissolve)
5:00 Baby naps (this is the nap I'm trying to get rid of)
6:00 Baby wakes and nurses, then eats babyfood or rice cereal
8:00 Baby goes to bed with cuddling and story and song
9:00 I wake baby up for one last nursing without food, and then put her right back down to bed unless she's so smiley I can't resist playing a little with her. I'll eventually merge this and the 6:00 nursing and just nurse her once at 7:00-ish before bedtime and then not have to wake her up again after that.

So I tried to line up the solid foods with normal mealtimes to make that transition easier when she gets older and so she can sit at the table now with the rest of us when we eat. I like a schedule because I plan outings around it and have a pretty good idea when my kids will be well-rested and fed, so they won't be grumpy.

L.,

I always gave my babies their bottles at the regular times and I'd feed solids about half way between regular feedings. Up until babies are 8 months or older solids are mainly for practice and experience, not for nutrition. At 5.5 months old, the primary source of nutrition should be breastmilk or formula. Breastmilk and formula both have around 20 calories per ounce and you aren't going to find solid foods that are that calorie dense. So if you are worried about weight gain, I'd definitely focus on formula or breastmilk and just use the solid foods as "extra." Rice cereal and applesauce also don't really have that much nutritional value, so you really don't want them to replace formula or breastmilk.

T.

My doctor told me to do the bottle first because when they are doing solids it's for texture and to introduce a new taste. She said to do one food a week for allergy purposes and start with veggies. Once they have tried all the veggies then move on to the sweets as the other woman told you. Be careful when you get to the exotic flavors like papaya and guava, they make the nasty smelling poop. Good luck it's a lot of fun.

Start with breast milk or formula so you know he's getting enough of that and then introduce the food at meal time. You might want to start with the veggies because if you start with the sweet fruit they tend to not want things without the sweet. Good luck! M.

I always fed him breastmilk first (not sure if you are breastfeeding or not, but if not, it would be formula ;)) in the beginning. I wanted to make sure he filled up with everything that had the most nutrition. When he got a bit older (9-10 months), then I didn't worry about it so much. A great way to make sure he is still getting what he needs is to make your own baby food. Just get a magic bullet and mix everything with breastmilk (or formula ;)) so he gets both!

Hello there,

We started with offering rice cereal made with breast milk at dinner time while breastfeeding on a normal schedule. Pretty quickly our daughter started eating more cereal and taking less milk. We let her decide when to cut back on breastfeeding. We continued on our normal nursing schedule regardless of the solid food until she was ready to switch over. And we did avoid fruit at first. We did rice cereal, then veggies and did not introduce fruit until much later.

Hope that helps!

Both my kids are 5 percentile or lower for weight - so I know where you're comming from! With both girls, I started by giving them the food first and later (about half an hour or so) doing the bottle. I was worried that if I gave the bottle first, they would never really be interested in the solids. I know that everyone else is saying bottle first - but this is how I did it.

Which ever way you decide to go, just remember that kids won't starve themselves! Good luck!

We must have sons with similar b-dates! My 5 month old is starting solids, too. I usually try to time it so he's not starving, but could eat something. Then feed him until he seems to get antsy and give him a bottle to top him off. Good luck!