5-month-old purée serving - how much?

amarie1504

LO is 5 months old. We tried to do cereal but it gave him terrible gas, so we went straight to puréed fruits and veggies. Does anyone know about how much we should be giving him in one day? Our pedi gave us info at his 4-month appt regarding how often to feed (once a day for a while and then twice a day after that), but it doesn't say how much to give him at each serving. Do we just follow his lead and feed until he's full? I just don't want to over-feed. He is EBF. Thanks!

midge519

I nurse Damien and then feed him his purée. He usually eats a half container of gerber stage 1 if he likes it. We just follow his cues of being done/full. Sometimes it's a few spoonfuls other times half the container

amarie1504

@midge519 thank you! I do the same - nurse first, purée second. I just wasn't sure if there was a restriction on the amount. I think I will follow his lead. I did sweet potatoes for the first time today and it was the first thing he really likes, but I only gave him less than a quarter of the jar because I wasn't sure. I think I'll just start following his cues of being full. Thanks again. 

midge519

@maral1015 you're welcome!! After my first two I learned every child eats differently. And Damien is even different daily. One day he ate almost 3/4 of s container the next he ate maybe three bites of the same thing. We learned he hates green beans but loves carrots. In four days I couldn't get him to eat a full container of green beans but every other time it's been two days or less for one. I love how they're starting to show their likes and dislikes already!

amarie1504

@midge519 me too! It's so cute watching them learning and so fun learning about them! My son hated cereal and pears, but he was literally cracking up, kicking his legs, and diving forward toward the spoon today when I did sweet potatoes. So sweet! I love that he's becoming his own little person and shows me what he likes and doesn't like. Just hope he isn't a picky eater like his daddy! Lol

midge519

@maral1015 I hope he isn't for you too!!! These guys and gals are growing too quickly!

lalena

Both my kids got horrible gas with rice cereal and we found out they had slight allergies to rice. DD grew out of the allergy by 2. Oatmeal is less gassy for them and both my kids did/are doing well on oatmeal. 

Babies will be a tad gassy in the beginning of feeding solid as the body has to adjust. I used to put a little gripe water in the food or give then gas meds afterwards just to help.

shantyrae

Great info! Did any of y'all water down your puree with formula or BM, or did you just dive right in?

alinic916

We do 1-2 tablespoons of puree.  The doctor told us to start with 1 and work our way up to 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) eventually

amarie1504

@lalena I started with oatmeal because I was worried rice would constipated him, and it was awful. I will probably start mixing a little in with the purées because I know it's recommended for iron, but I'm steering clear of it for now. It was horrible gas. 
@shantyrae I mixed the oatmeal cereal with BM but he still hated it. I gave him a sweet potatoe purée yesterday that did NOT contain BM and he couldn't get enough of it! I'm going to try them plain, but if he seems to be picky or we find one he doesn't like I may mix with BM. 
@aprosch good to know! Our pedi gave the same advice for cereal, but I wasn't sure if that was the case with purées as well. 

lalena

@maral1015, both my kids have an iron intolerance, as do I and my Mom. I can't take any iron in vitamins at all or I get physically ill. My DD had issues with formula due to the iron content. Rice and iron constipated her like crazy until age 2.5!! It was awful. DS had issues with rice cereal and gas but so far is OK with the oatmeal as long as I mix it with BM and a puree. I also found that, brand to brand, the iron content differs. As I haven't been able to find a non iron one, the Gerber one had the least iron content. Gripe water helped for the gas as well. Dr put DS on PolyViSol vitamins and they make it with and without iron. We're going to get the without iron. Don't forget, both formula and breastmilk have iron on them, so not giving him cereal yet is really no big deal.

jham201

I started with purees a week and a half ago and so far it has been going well.  We started with avocado, then sweet potato, and now we are eating zucchini.  I breastfeed her in the morning, then I have my breakfast, then she gets her puree.  We are at about 2 tablespoons once a day right now.  I tried upping it to twice a day but she seemed extra gassy and uncomfortable so I decided she just wasn't ready yet and dropped it back down for the time being.  I make them according to a book I got at my shower called "Real Baby Food" by Jenna Helwig.  It has recipes and feeding charts in it that I have found helpful.  I have not needed to thin out anything except the sweet potato a little bit and I just added a dash of bottled water to it.  The sweet potato has been her favorite so far.