Cereal & pureed foods - too much?

SugarChick10 · July 2011

At her 4 mth wellness check, LO's pedi gave us the ok to start cereal & pureed foods. Can someone please tell me if I'm feeding LO too much? I told my mom what I was feeding her & she pretty much yelled at me & said I was feeding her too much:

Breakfast: 6 oz formula w/1.5 oz cereal

Morning: 6 oz formula

Lunch: 4 oz formula w/1 oz cereal and 2.5 oz pureed veggie

Afternoon: 6 oz formula

Dinner: 4 oz formula w/1 oz cereal and 2.5 oz pureed veggie

Bed time: 6 oz formula w/1.5 oz cereal

LO used to drink 4-6 oz of formula 5-6 times a day, drinking the full 6 the majority of the time. When we started cereal & veggies last Sunday, I would give LO 4 oz of formula & 2.5 oz of veggies for lunch & dinner, but she didn't seem satisfied. Today I started adding 1 oz of cereal to her lunch & dinner 4 oz bottles and she seems fine. When I told my mom about this (she watches LO for us during the week), she flipped out, lol. Then she reminded me she raised 6 kids who all turned out fine (um, we could debate that one for hours, but I digress). I can't remember how she fed my youngest siblings.

FWIW, I'm calling the pedi in the morning to follow-up on what he said at the wellness appt. I swore he said he wanted us to give LO cereal & a veggie for lunch & dinner, working up to cereal & fruit for breakfast (I would cut the breakfast bottle to 4 oz of formula w/1 oz of cereal).

SugarChick10 · July 2011

And again, FWIW: when I went back to work & my mom began to watch LO during the week, LO wouldn't take a 6 oz bottle from my mom. She would drink 4 oz or less while MH & I were at work. I talked to the pedi about it & he said it was because my mom was giving her those bottles, not me or MH and not to worry, LO would come around. I told my mom that & she said "who told you that--that young dr?" LOL.

Peppernut · July 2011

I think your mom needs to chill out!

Okay, the only thing I can think of is are you easing into each food? Like, giving cereal for a few days and making sure the baby doesn't have a weird reaction to it before trying a different one? Same with the veggies. Doing it that way makes it easier to track down what the problem is if the baby gets a rash or unfortunate belly issues.

From what I understand, early eating for babies is pretty experimental, and some babies won't take more than a bite or two before wanting their milk or formula. If the baby will eat a lot, though, that certainly doesn't sound like a problem!

stever · July 2011

I agree with Pepper that it's experimental at your LO's age but, IMO, that seems like a lot of solids.

Is she actually eating all of that or is that just what's offered?

Piranha54 · July 2011

It seems like a lot, but I made most of my purees when DD was that age, and so I know ice cube tray blocks size but not necessarily ounces! I really don't remember the amounts from 4 months, but see what your pedi says and go from there. wholesomebabyfood.com may have some good ideas

SugarChick10 · July 2011

Peppernut:
I think your mom needs to chill out!
Okay, the only thing I can think of is are you easing into each food? Like, giving cereal for a few days and making sure the baby doesn't have a weird reaction to it before trying a different one? Same with the veggies. Doing it that way makes it easier to track down what the problem is if the baby gets a rash or unfortunate belly issues.

She totally needs to chill out, lol!

Yupper, I am easing her into each food. Pedi recommended 5-7 days between new foods, so I went with 5 days (I've seen as little as 3 days online, but I don't want to push it). I let LO finish out the box of rice cereal before starting the barley today.

My LO seems more satisfied today than she has all week. Pre-cereal & foods, if she was too full to finish a formula bottle she would push it away, so I'm thinking she'd do the same with the cereal & veggies.

At LO's final hematology appt in June, her hematologist said she was in the 90th percentile for weight (up from 56 percentile at her 2 mth check-up) and he said her pedi would probably talk to us about that at her next check up. I asked pedi about it last week & he said "she's growing beautifully," and didn't say it was a problem.

SugarChick10 · July 2011

stever:
Is she actually eating all of that or is that just what's offered?

She is eating all of it, which surprised me. She gets the cereal & formula in a bottle w/a cereal nipple. She drains those bottles. Having said that, I'm realizing she's probably draining those bottles because they're just that--bottles & it's "easier" for her. It might be different if she took it from a spoon. She gets the veggies from a spoon, but she won't take the cereal from a spoon.

I thought about maybe cutting the cereal from the bedtime bottle, if she's going to get cereal & formula with her veggies. Again, I'll check in with the pediatrician as a follow-up (and the website that Piranha54 suggested).

Thanks ladies!

vanverth · July 2011

I am a "go with the baby" kind of mama. If Baby Sugarchick likes cereal, give her cereal.

BrideBuddies · July 2011

All kids are different (duh!) and if yours seems eager and ready to eat and the pedi says it's fine.. then so be it.

I might shy away from the cereal in the bottle thing, tho. I think I would want LO to only think of liquids coming in that form, not food. But that's not a big thing, really.

My kid gagged constantly on even the most pureed of purees until he was nearly a year old and is STILL a bit of a picky eater. We didn't even do cereal until he was about 8 months. So I'd be tickled pink to have a baby that was that happy to eat!

KerryHS · July 2011

If your baby is eating it all and still taking formula then go for it. Our LO (6 months) is taking 6-8 oz of solids three times a day and taking in about 20 oz of formula a day. Granted he is a big boy and a big eater, but still he takes it all in an loves it. You can set the clock by when he wants to eat. Each baby is different - just go with it.

Strunella · July 2011

We're doing about 40 oz of formula a day and 4 oz of solids a day...2 oz of cereal in the morning and 2 oz of veggie/fruit for lunch. From what I've read, formula/BM should be the primary source of nutrition for the first year. The solids are just a bonus. From 4-6 months, they recommend 32-40 oz of formula/BM. So it sounds like you're covering all that...if baby likes her solids, why not?