Solids - Please Help!

MommyAndHerLatte

I'm sorry if this question has already been asked, but I tried the search function and couldn't find any related posts.  I'm finding this whole solids thing to be extremely overwhelming and I would love to get some advice.  How are you all giving solids to your little ones (what amounts, how often, and when)?  

A few weeks ago, we started DS on 1 tablespoon a day of avocado and sweet potato.  DS is EBF and I thought breastmilk was supposed to be the bulk of his nutrition for the first year.  We had his 6 month appointment today and our new pedi (we just moved) told me to start giving DS solids 3 times a day before I nurse him.  He wants solids to be the bulk of his nutritional intake.  I also asked him if there are any foods we should avoid, and he just said milk and honey.  I thought we couldn't give them strawberries or citrus yet either...  

Is our new pedi right or is it time to look for someone else?  I'm so confused (and stressed...and in need of a massage!)...  Thanks in advance for your help! 

nuttycoconut

I've heard both...you can give solids before nursing or nurse about 45 min before solids. But I also read that most of a baby's nutritional intake should be from breastmilk/formula NOT solids. My pedi does not feel strongly about this however, and is pretty relaxed when it comes to what and when I feed them. He is very strict about the 4-5 day rule though.  I am getting most of my information from wholesomebabyfood.com.

 At 6 months I gave 1 meal a day, 7 months 2 meals a day. and I don't plan on giving 3 meals a day until 8-9 months. My twins were born 5 weeks early which is why I frequent this board occasionally.

I give 5 bottles a day (they are on formula now). I give breakfast in the morning about 45 min after their morning bottle, and I give dinner in the evening about 45 min before their nighttime bottle. I'm not giving citrus fruit, berries, eggs, etc. for a while.

I honestly don't think you can go wrong. It's a personal decision. Do a little research, ask a few friends and see what kind of advice you get on here. Good luck to you!

musicalmama5

I've always thought it was the opposite of what your pedi said... that you should nurse before they eat solids, because at this point they still don't quite understand that food can fill their tummies like milk can. And that "food before 1 is just for fun".

kleigh926

We have been giving her either purées or oatmeal at supper for about 2 weeks. I don't really measure how much I give her.... it's about half a container of baby food, so maybe a couple tablespoons? I'm not ready to add another meal yet. I'm probably going to wait another 2 weeks at least before adding another meal, and then I think we'll do breakfast and supper. I feed her the solids first and then finish with nursing. I have also heard that the bulk of their calories should be BM or formula till they're a year old....

holly321

I too feel the bulk of calories and nutrients need to come from bm or formula. I give Ds how much he acts like he wants. We just started our second meal a day. He just started eating more than a few bites the last few days. It honestly never occurred to me to not give or to give him a bottle within any time frame of eating. He eats dinner when we do, regardless of when he had a bottle.

happylady5

DS is EBF and he gets 3 tbsp of purées per day. I split it up into a breakfast and dinner feeding. And it's always after nursing. We did rice cereal and oatmeal which caused pooping issues so moved on to purées. He's eating pears, sweet potatoes, zucchini. (In that order) next up is peaches and peas.

tdmd09

I asked both our pedis about this and they both said to feed solids and then finish with a bottle. This is what we've been doing (even though it felt wrong to me) but LO's growth was totally consistent since his last appointment (when we started solids) so apparently his growth isn't suffering by eating solids first. His formula intake has only decreased slightly (he gets oatmeal + fruit in the morning before his second bottle and oatmeal + veggie in the evening before his last bottle), so I guess he's fine.

jkuhmann

We saw our pediatrician today and he told us to do our regular feedings first and give solids after. He also said the #1 source of calories should still be coming from breastmilk. It sounds like there is some disagreement between pediatricians though. You can always look it up on the aap website for their recommendations. It is www.healthychildren.org.

Drea926

We do solids for breakfast and dinner. When we first started the pediatrician said to give solids an hour and half or so after a bottle feeding (we FF). We give oatmeal in between bottles 1 & 2 and dinner, a puree of some kind, between bottles 4 & 5 (the last of the day). Occasionally I give him some fruit or yogurt (which doc said we could give now) at lunch time but not consistently. The pediatrician also said the bulk of nutrients should be from formula (or breast milk) and not to worry about 3 meals a day until DS is 9 months old. 

ETA - As for amounts, DS is a piggie and eats almost 1/4 cup of oatmeal, and for the most part I make my own purees so he has the standard 2 ice cubes worth - not really sure what that amounts to!

emd886

We BF first, then about an hour or so later we try some solids. We do a little bit at breakfast lunch and dinner. We are staying away from milk, honey, eggs for at least 1 year. Acidic fruits or things with small seeds we will be waiting on as well, maybe not 1 year but certainly not anytime soon!

mishka29

emd886 said:

We BF first, then about an hour or so later we try some solids. We do a little bit at breakfast lunch and dinner. We are staying away from milk, honey, eggs for at least 1 year. Acidic fruits or things with small seeds we will be waiting on as well, maybe not 1 year but certainly not anytime soon!

This! Some days we don't get all three meals in but that's fine bc she is getting the same amount of breast milk.

pitterpatter129

We are doing something akin to BLW.  He's had a chunk of banana, a chunk of potato, and a couple squashed blueberries.  He really didn't show much interest at any of it.  Not worried.  I think your pedi is dead wrong about needing so many solids though.

 

MommyAndHerLatte

Thank you for all your replies and advice!  It makes me feel a lot better to know that there isn't a consensus among pediatricians, and that my pedi isn't the only one who feels this way about solids.  DH and I decided that we are just going to do what "feels right" -- meaning, we'll do our research and decide on an avenue that works best for our family.  We still feel that breastmilk should be the bulk of our LO's nutrition until he's a year old, and I'm relieved to hear that I'm not the only one who thinks my pedi is mistaken.

And thank you all for sharing what you have been doing with your LOs.  It really gives me comfort to know that the way we have been feeding DS is consistent with what you all have been doing.  It's one of those mornings where I'm feeling really thankful for you ladies.  As a FTM, it's so valuable being able to learn from other moms.  Thank you all!  

Dannysmama

I've been curious myself about this question because we've just been winging it.  Our pedi gave a us a pamphlet on starting solids with 3 articles in it, and each one said something different, so, yeah.  Love our pediatrician, but I have no clue what I'm doing. 

I found the think below super helpful - if you look at the BM/formula amounts listed in the tables midway down, you'll note that until a year, it basically stays the same, give or take a few ounces, until a year, with gradual solid increase.  

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/pediatrics/feeding_guide_for_the_first_year_90,P02209/  

ilysarahd

You have to listen to your mommy instincts! There are too many conflicting arguments, it will make your head spin!

penguingrrl

Every doctor is different. The pediatrician we had when the girls were little gave us the green light for solids at 4 months. We held off and followed signs for when they were ready (5.5 months for DD1, 8 months for DD2). They then said no peanuts, honey, strawberries before 1 year.

We moved and have a new ped and were told no solids before 6 months (consistent with current AAP thinking) and no more than 1 meal a day (2 tbsp) before 9 months then from 9 -12 months a very gradual increase to 2 then 3 meals.

I'm following my instinct. Usually DS eats dinner with us and only takes a few bites here and there. I've started keeping mum mums in my diaper bag when we're out because he likes them and sometimes I need to hold him off a little bit until we're in a place I can more easily nurse him. Yesterday he ended up knawing on a bit of banana while I ate my breakfast and had some sweet potato at dinner. I'm pretty sure he ingested less than 2 tbsp total, but I'm not sure. Today we were busy and had dinner out so he ended up not having any solids at all.

Puck1182

@dannysmama Thanks for that link! I've sort of been lurking on this thread because all we've been doing so far is a little bit of cereal at breakfast and dinner, but we're going to start veggies tomorrow and wasn't really sure about volumes. Our pediatrician was on board with us doing cereal in the morning and a fruit or veggie at lunch and dinner so that she's basically eating three meals a day with us, but I didn't want to be giving her so much that it displaces her breast milk intake.

I actually wound up using that chart to build a menu plan for the next month to help us stay organized with introducing new foods!

MommyAndHerLatte

Dannysmama said:

I've been curious myself about this question because we've just been winging it.  Our pedi gave a us a pamphlet on starting solids with 3 articles in it, and each one said something different, so, yeah.  Love our pediatrician, but I have no clue what I'm doing. 

I found the think below super helpful - if you look at the BM/formula amounts listed in the tables midway down, you'll note that until a year, it basically stays the same, give or take a few ounces, until a year, with gradual solid increase.  

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/pediatrics/feeding_guide_for_the_first_year_90,P02209/  

Awesome, thank you for the link!!

MommyAndHerLatte

ilysarahd said:

You have to listen to your mommy instincts! There are too many conflicting arguments, it will make your head spin!

Yes, totally!  It's hard being a mommy sometimes...so many decisions to make!