Starting solid foods

Mamaspumpkin · March 2014

So we are finally starting solids. My son is 5 1/2 months old and we just tried some oatmeal cereal tonight. He did great! I wanted to start sooner with food but he has been battling with eczema and we needed to make sure it wasn't allergy related first. I have read and been told that you should give them a bottle first and then offer the cereal. That is what we did tonight. Then we waited a half hour or so and gave him some cereal. He only took 3-4 spoonfuls because he was full. He did so great I am wondering if I could try giving him the cereal first or maybe just 4oz from the bottle and then give him cereal. I do mix his cereal with 2 oz of his formula. How has everyone else gone about this? I was going to start with giving him cereal at breakfast and dinner with his bottle.

Littlemama01 · March 2014

1-2 teaspoons is all they are supposed to take when you just start. Refer to the attached guide which outlines getting started with food

sekenn0 · March 2014

Solids are meant to supplement not replace milk. My doc told me to do bottles/bf at regular time and then offer solids an hour later. He takes about 3-4 tbsp or more each time. He's 5.5 months.

roo1oo · March 2014

At this age its definitely about taste/texture/experience, not about nutrition. That said, you definitely want your LO to have good experiences with eating to keep him interested in eating. It helps if he's a little hungry, not starving nor full.

I give my LO a normal bottle (we do 4oz bottles every 2ish hours) and wait an hour. By this time I've usually had my dinner, he's watched me eat, and that helps pique his interest. I give him about 1 oz of food, which is maybe 2 tbsp. Sometimes he gobbles the food down, sometimes he is disinterested. If he's disinterested I wait 15 minutes or so and try again. If he's still disinterested we try again the next day. If he eats it all and wants more I give him a 2oz bottle afterwards.

DahliaFlower · March 2014

Agree w/ others that first should offer BM or formula.

Also, before you get too excited: See how LO does with digesting the solids. My DS was an eating champ and then got super backed up with cereals (brown rice then oatmeal) in very small quantities. We had such issues (as in 4-5 days of no poop, followed by days and days of frequent green poop) that we quit everything until he got back to normal. Now we are doing pureed veggies, no cereal and he is doing great with that.

Littlemama01 · March 2014

@karissa2009 Alberta health services (our provincial health care) puts them out, they have a whole booklet on starting solids so a few weeks ago our moms group had a dietician there talking about starting solids and healthy nutrition for baby. I'm excited to start with LO but we will wait a bit longer

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