Schedule: Starting Solids

kmornelas29

So my LO is 4 months old, and at her check up the dr. gave us the okay to start her on rice cereal at 4.5 weeks. She said that we can then start more of the puree food around 5 months of age, due to her individual needs. 

My question is, how does this all work? I feel like this is such a confusing process. 

I have been reading online, and it still doesnt make too much sense to me. Some websites say do it at night to help them sleep, others say do it during the morning, so if there is a reaction, then it doesn't interfere with their sleep, and you are awake to catch an allergic reaction. 

Also, how many times a day do you feed them? Once, twice? When do the feedings (times per day) increase? 

My other question is, how long are they on stage 1 foods, before you can move them to stage 2, since I am starting her at 4.5 to 5 months of age on solids?

Third, do I still breastfeed her and then give her solids immediately after, or do I feed her, wait awhile, and then feed her solids? What do your feeding schedules look like?

I need some advice and input. Thanks everyone! 

CougFan

We will do baby led weaning (there is a book and website) which starts at 6 months. No purees, baby feeds herself. I read the book and it just made so much sense. I hated convincing my kids to try food and spoonfeeding them before or after we ate. Really excited to start in about 6 weeks!

CrazyMary77

LO's pedi just gave her the OK yesterday to start her on foods. She has been taking oatmeal cereal with her formula due to reflux. Pedi said she can start eating stage 1 fruits and veggies, and to start giving her just a little bit once a day. I highly recommend the website wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com to answer all your questions. I'm using it as a great resource as a FTM myself.

beppes1013

Lurker here...

We will be starting LO on solids in 3 weeks, and will follow the same system we did with DS. We will be starting with stage 1 green veggies and he will be getting the same veggie for an entire week before trying the next green veggie. I would advise starting with green veggies first then orange because the green arent as sweet as the orange. We will add fruits to his veggie rotation after he has tried ALL veggies first. I like to give oatmeal cereal for breakfast and then the veggie/fruit for lunch and a normal formula bottle at dinner time for the first month.

At 5mos we will incorporate feeding 2x a day with oatmeal cereal for breakfast. I found that mixing a fruit with a bitter veggie makes feedings a lot easier. At 6mos we will move up to stage 2 solids and at 9mos start incorporating stage 3 foods. I will be making LOs food this go round because it is less expensive.

MNMC1228

DD just turned 4 months this week and our pediatrician gave the go ahead for us to give her cereal.  I make her 6 oz bottle and use that to make the tablespoon of oatmeal.  (I've mixed in about maybe a 1/2 oz from that bottle.)  

 From what I understand, you start with 1x a day until they get the hang of it.  My doctor said start with 1 tablespoon but don't go past 5 tablespoons. Once she starts eating more in one sitting, she can get it 2x a day. After she finishes the meal, she gets the rest of the bottle you made.  

I'm going to try this for a couple more days and see how she does then start to introduce a fruit. HTH

MrsG071809

MNMC1228 said:

. After she finishes the meal, she gets the rest of the bottle you made.  

We haven't started yet, and will do BLW as well, but I just wanted to point out that I think this is backwards - from everything I've read you want to feed them first, whether that be BF or Bottle, then offer the solids.  That way they are getting the nutrition they need first.

MNMC1228

MrsG071809 said:

MNMC1228 said:

. After she finishes the meal, she gets the rest of the bottle you made.  

We haven't started yet, and will do BLW as well, but I just wanted to point out that I think this is backwards - from everything I've read you want to feed them first, whether that be BF or Bottle, then offer the solids.  That way they are getting the nutrition they need first.

The thing is, if you feed them the entire bottle first, how are they going to be hungry for the oatmeal? Plus, whats going to make them want to eat the oatmeal if they already got the bottle?  I have read that too about the bottle first, but who says we have to follow everything we read.  My mother fed my brothers and myself the way I'm feeding my daughter.  

Who knows which way is the "right" way, as long as our children are receiving all of the nutrition they should be getting.

laujam31

MNMC1228 said:

MrsG071809 said:

MNMC1228 said:

. After she finishes the meal, she gets the rest of the bottle you made.  

We haven't started yet, and will do BLW as well, but I just wanted to point out that I think this is backwards - from everything I've read you want to feed them first, whether that be BF or Bottle, then offer the solids.  That way they are getting the nutrition they need first.

The thing is, if you feed them the entire bottle first, how are they going to be hungry for the oatmeal? Plus, whats going to make them want to eat the oatmeal if they already got the bottle?  I have read that too about the bottle first, but who says we have to follow everything we read.  My mother fed my brothers and myself the way I'm feeding my daughter.  

Who knows which way is the "right" way, as long as our children are receiving all of the nutrition they should be getting.

This  We started last week.  LO eats every 3 hours .  Twice a day I give him a tbsp of rice cereal and a tbsp of fruit (today we introduce vegetables.  I give it to him his second feeding after he wakes and his feeding before his last feeding before bed.  LO eats every 3 hours so if he had his wake up feeding at 6 am, then his next feed would be at 9.  So at 8:30 I give him the solids, this way he is hungry, but not starving otherwise he'll get frustrated and freak out.  By the time he's done with the solids he's ready to nurse at 9, as planned.  

MrsG071809

MNMC1228 said:

MrsG071809 said:

MNMC1228 said:

. After she finishes the meal, she gets the rest of the bottle you made.  

We haven't started yet, and will do BLW as well, but I just wanted to point out that I think this is backwards - from everything I've read you want to feed them first, whether that be BF or Bottle, then offer the solids.  That way they are getting the nutrition they need first.

The thing is, if you feed them the entire bottle first, how are they going to be hungry for the oatmeal? Plus, whats going to make them want to eat the oatmeal if they already got the bottle?  I have read that too about the bottle first, but who says we have to follow everything we read.  My mother fed my brothers and myself the way I'm feeding my daughter.  

Who knows which way is the "right" way, as long as our children are receiving all of the nutrition they should be getting.

Again, I haven't actually started solids yet, so what do I know :P  But my thinking was that you don't want them to fill up on the solids when they still need the BM to get their nutrition, so they may not eat it all if they already had solids.

But, again, what do I know.  I agree as long as they are getting what they need it's neither here nor there.

CougFan

MrsG071809 said:

MNMC1228 said:

MrsG071809 said:

MNMC1228 said:

. After she finishes the meal, she gets the rest of the bottle you made.  

We haven't started yet, and will do BLW as well, but I just wanted to point out that I think this is backwards - from everything I've read you want to feed them first, whether that be BF or Bottle, then offer the solids.  That way they are getting the nutrition they need first.

The thing is, if you feed them the entire bottle first, how are they going to be hungry for the oatmeal? Plus, whats going to make them want to eat the oatmeal if they already got the bottle?  I have read that too about the bottle first, but who says we have to follow everything we read.  My mother fed my brothers and myself the way I'm feeding my daughter.  

Who knows which way is the "right" way, as long as our children are receiving all of the nutrition they should be getting.

Again, I haven't actually started solids yet, so what do I know :P  But my thinking was that you don't want them to fill up on the solids when they still need the BM to get their nutrition, so they may not eat it all if they already had solids.

But, again, what do I know.  I agree as long as they are getting what they need it's neither here nor there.

It might be more of a BLW thing, with BLW we are operating as though food before 6m is just for "practice" and not nutrition; milk feedings should be the primary source of nutrition. And with BLW there is no pressure to get them to eat certain things or a certain amount.
Seriously kicking myself for not doing BLW with the first two. Had I known!!

amykins1283

We are doing purees for now and going to do a combination of purees (at daycare) and baby led meaning (at home) when he turns 6 months.  We started with rice cereal once in the evening for three days.  After that I did it twice a day for another three days, once an hour after his first bottle and once an hour after his third bottle (he takes four bottles a day).  After three days of that with no signs of constipation or discomfort we started using purees.  We started with green beans mixed with a little cereal in the evening for three days, then added bananas with cereal in the morning so he was getting a fruit in the morning and a veggie in the evening.  We will keep adding in a different fruit or veggie every three days until we have a nice variety going.  Right now he eats half of a 2.5 ounce jar mixed with a teaspoon or so of cereal and each meal (breakfast and dinner).  We will probably move on to three meals a day when he is 6 months old.  

You can check out the website https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ for a lot of really good info about starting babies on solids.

laurenbell09

We read a book called Super Baby Food - it pretty much gives you the run down on anything and everything related to feeding baby (when to feed in terms of nursing, what time of day, what types of foods to start with). Also, studies have shown that babies that eat solids of any sort before 4 months and don't start until 6 months have a higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes.  Our little is 4+ months and just started purees. She loves it. She gets so excited when she gets in her high chair to eat. She's only eating once a day outside of normal nursing. 

alyssa&cody

My daughter has a very sensitive digestive system, so her doctor suggested yellow/orange vegetables first, and then green because the darker the food, the harder they are to digest. We have had carrots and sweet potatoes, and it has worked great. Just made sure to ask your pediatrician what would be best for YOUR baby. I offer her veggies about 30 minutes before it's time for her to eat so she won't be too hungry and frustrated. She has her solids around dinner time, so she can get used to eating at the table with us and we still have time to watch for a reaction before bed. All of my friends' babies have been very different, so just try a few different schedules/variances to see what works best for you and your baby! She'll tell if something needs to be changed!