For those that have started solids...advice please!

LittleMissParis

I have some questions surrounding starting solids..

Some background: My LO is 5 months old and we will be starting solids pretty soon here.  My doctor (who is our family doctor) suggested starting with meats.  Of course I will be doing my own research and talking more with my doctor before starting solids but I would like some advice from you ladies that have experience surrounding this.  Oh and if it matters, my LO is exclusively breastfed.

-What did you start with?
-How much each day did you give? How many times a day?
-How do I know when to nurse her and when to give solids?
-Do you make your own foods? Suggestions for websites/books?
-Any additional and useful information you might have would be appreciated.

 I will post this on the 6-12 board as they will probably have more experience with solids.

carolinaem

Meats?????  That is the 1st time I have ever heard that.  Check out wholesomebabyfood.com.  Even if you don't plan on making your own food they have charts with suggested amounts of food, feeding schedules, and when to start what foods.

Leila'sMommy

-What did you start with? We initially started with Gerber baby cereal, and after she got used to that, we started with Gerber 1st stage sweet peas.
-How much each day did you give? How many times a day? We didn't really measure the cereal, we just poured it and mixed it and let her eat what she wanted. The Gerber foods were 3oz I think.
-How do I know when to nurse her and when to give solids? We gave her solids at night to start with... a veggie. We'd do that, and then feed her her bedtime bottle and put her to bed.
-Do you make your own foods? Suggestions for websites/books? wholesomebabyfood. com is a great site.
-Any additional and useful information you might have would be appreciated.

Just go at your baby's pace, and be ready to try things over again many times until he/she likes it. It is fun

ladyaylena

carolinaem:

Meats?????  That is the 1st time I have ever heard that.  Check out wholesomebabyfood.com.  Even if you don't plan on making your own food they have charts with suggested amounts of food, feeding schedules, and when to start what foods.

 

LOL..that was MY reaction.  My ped said start with single grain cereal then try veggies, then applesauce

Tabby2727

carolinaem:

Meats?????  That is the 1st time I have ever heard that.  Check out wholesomebabyfood.com.  Even if you don't plan on making your own food they have charts with suggested amounts of food, feeding schedules, and when to start what foods.

They sell it in baby food. I picked some up today.  My doctor said Hannah can have whatever as long as we don't give her cow's milk, shellfish and honey.

jmfote09

My dr also said meats and veggies. Something about new research says it's better. I trust his judgment so I tried butternut squash first. Nate LOVED it. I make my own and it's super easy. I also nurse him. When I first started I nursed him for a minute or two because we were starting solids and my theory was since he's starving from not eating all night he would be more keen on eating something new if he weren't ravenous. Then I offered the squash. I only feed him solids once a day. My dr said we'll move to 2 times a day when he's about a yr old. HTH!! Good Luck!

LittleMissParis

carolinaem:

Meats?????  That is the 1st time I have ever heard that.  Check out wholesomebabyfood.com.  Even if you don't plan on making your own food they have charts with suggested amounts of food, feeding schedules, and when to start what foods.

I had never heard of starting with meats either which is why I wanted some practical opinions from people who have been there.  She (the doc) said that because their iron stores are low (which is why 6 months is a great time to start solids) you should start with meats.  The nurse that administered our LO's 4 month vaccinations said the same and gave us pamphlets on it.

Thanks for the website.

Uiowachick01

We started with rice cereal, went to oatmeal then started yellowish veggies and continued on till DS ate all stage 1 foods. I have never heard of meats first.

electricdoctor83

-What did you start with?  I started with sweet potatos.  (I make my own baby food.)

-How much each day did you give? How many times a day?  I gave them to J once the first day, twice the second and then 3 times on the third day.  He gets solids 3 times a day now.  It's only been a couple weeks, so far he's had sweet potato and yellow squash.

-How do I know when to nurse her and when to give solids?  I give J a bottle after he eats his solids. 

-Do you make your own foods? Suggestions for websites/books?  Yep, I used www.wholesomebabyfood.com   Sweet potatos freeze and reheat well.  Squash thaws really runny so I add a little cereal/oatmeal to it.

-Any additional and useful information you might have would be appreciated.  I make a big batch of the food and freeze them in ice trays.  Once they are frozen, pop them out into big ziploc bags.  Label the bags with what it is and when you made it.  Frozen food lasts 3 months. 

ivs112

Meat is fine later on but I don't know about using it as a first food. Try starting with cereal or you can skip that altogether and move on to veggies and fruit.

LoveInCowboyBoots

First off, it's weird to me to start on meats. I've never heard of that before and I recommend doing your own research.

To start out, DD is also exclusively BFed and we started solids on the 1st of this month, so we are by no means experts. lol

-What did you start with? Apples. She hated cereal, so we just went straight to applesauce. She loved it right away and we introduced bananas after a week or so.
-How much each day did you give? How many times a day? We started with once a day, and I plan on adding a second time soon. She started with about 1/3-1/2 of a container, and she is now getting close to a full container.
-How do I know when to nurse her and when to give solids? I kind of set our schedule around eating her solids. She wakes up from her nap about 3-3:30, I nurse her, and we feed solids at 4:30. If she gets "too hungry" she won't eat well. I figure I'm setting a schedule for later, and the next feeding I'll add will be a "breakfast."
-Do you make your own foods? Suggestions for websites/books? I don't now because we don't have anything fresh and my H works for Nestle and gets a lot of food at cost from the company store, so Gerber is all very cheap for us. This summer, my parents have a huge garden and several fruit trees and we will freeze a lot of things. I haven't looked into it much yet, but will then.
-Any additional and useful information you might have would be appreciated.

SusieQ1982

I was told the same thing about starting meat first because of the iron. I assume however if you FF that it's not necessary because formula has iron.

hellopoppyseed

Yeah my doctor dh says new research recommends meats first b/c they fortify cereal with iron, zinc and other stuff but meat has all of that in there. I still don't know though. Seems odd.

LittleMissParis

I was just reading on wholesomebabyfood.com and it states that some pedi's are now saying to start with meats because of the iron content.

smilelari

I haven't started solids and haven't done too much research yet, but meats are actually a very common first food in some parts of the world

Mrs.Teddy

The Canadian Pediatric Association does suggest cereal followed by meat. I discussed this with our family doctor and he did not agree. He said that he has not treated a child for anemia that it is not very common, that they do get soem from breastmilk or formula. I am not comfortable with it and netiehr was he so we are waiting on meats.

We started with rice cereal just after 5 months, I started with 1TBSP in the am, then switched it to the evening (first in AM to watch for a reaction). We waited a week then did oatmeal, waited another week then did barley. We are now up to 2 heaping TBSP twice a day. Next week we will start with fruits & veggies.

I was hesitant about starting solids before 6 months as I EBF and didn't want to replace that so I don't push the solids, today he wasn't too interested but nursed per usual. I BF on his regular "schedule" on demand and offer solids 1/2 way between two feedings (for example he nurses at 8 am & 12pm I give cereal around 9:30/10am) he hasn't dropped any feedings at all.

I made a bunch of different fruits & veggies this week using the recipes & reccomendations on wholesomebabyfoods it was really easy.

Good Luck