Solids Feeding Schedule

ChrissyD1203 · June 2016

We introduced cereal and then veggies and now fruits over the course of the last month (5 mos to now 6 mos). Baby loves solids! Other than my dr encouraging us to start solids, we haven't really been given any direction. I'm looking for some feeding schedule resources that folks have found helpful (not so much in terms of start solids at this age vs that age), but more like what types of foods we should give at what time in the day. We are just using rice cereal and Earth's Best jarred food (might do some homemade stuff and maybe some BLW but not quite yet).

Cricket99 · June 2016

One of my friends does a standard breakfast, lunch, dinner schedule exactly like what you as an adult would do. Since breastmilk/formula is still a major part of baby's nutritional needs and hydration they use that as "snacks" and after meals. Since babies will eventually become toddlers and big kids, feeding them on the schedule they will eventually be on seems practical to me. Just make sure they get a good balance of foods like you get yourself! I hope you're enjoying the solid food adventure as much as I am because the faces when he doesn't like something are priceless!

ETA: I usually give my LO some solids, usually veggies when I sit down to lunch. He's still in the exploration stage of BLW and doesn't eat so much as plays with his food

Ebiejay · June 2016

We only just started with cereal a few days ago so we're behind you. But I'm planning on using the rough guide from Lucie's List:
https://www.lucieslist.com/year-1/starting-solids/

There's more information but this is the basic plan:

The Exploratory Phase: the first month (Month 6, or, whenever you start[ed])
This is a fun time of exploring new flavors, textures, and smells. We’re also getting used to sitting in a high chair and getting acquainted with bowls, bibs, and other appurtenances. Don’t expect your baby to get any significant calories from food during this phase; this first month is really just an intro. For the most part, he will continue to consume the same amount of milk or formula as before (sorry, boobs, you’re not off the hook yet).
Flavor Immersion: 7-9 months
During this phase, we’ll move to a regular, 3x a day meal schedule as baby starts consuming larger quantities of food. We are focusing on variety and adoption of healthy foods by repetition (more on this later). We’ll also introduce a sippy cup during this phase.
Finger Feeding: 10-12 months
Baby should begin self-feeding during this phase, if he hasn’t already begun. In this phase, we focus on handheld foods that can be self-administered. You can begin to introduce utensils if you think your babe is ready. He should be eating a wide variety of foods by this time. Breastfeeding will occur less frequently.
Regular Eating: 12 months +
By 12 months, your baby should be eating three regular meals a day, just like you, and snacking as needed. By this point, you’ll want him to be completely weaned off the bottle, if he’s not already. Nursing moms will be breastfeeding less frequently, as baby is deriving more and more calories from food.

Hipshaker · June 2016

I started this week. Lo will be 6m next week. Just at dinner when my supply seems to dip around the fussy time of day. Just one-3tsp of sweet potato. I let him naw on a carrot or watermelon maybe a teething biscuit. His tounge thirst reflex is still strong. He's not really swallowing just tasting. That's it for now. It's better for me to let him get all drooley and sticky before bath and bed. Later I'll pick up lunch then breakfast. But super slow. We skipped dinner last night and just nursed. It's still nice to have that option.

grkgdss00 · June 2016

We started solids about a month ago (around 5 months) with purees in the evening occasionally. Now at almost 6 months we're giving oatmeal in the morning (mixed with BM and some sort of fruit/flavor to jazz it up), and a veggie or veggie combo in the evening. I love the little organic pouches, you can usually find them on sale and she will split it over 2 days. My pedi said there wasn't any rhyme or reason to which foods to start with first, baby can even eat purreed meats at this stage, but it's good to start with veggies so they don't get used to only the sweet fruits. We've tried about 10 fruits/veggies and her favorite so far is green beans

pooh71383 · June 2016

We started rice cereal at 4 months and orange/yellow veggies at 5 months - per pediatricians direction. After her first feed of the day we play for an hour and then she goes down for a nap. After her 2nd feed, maybe 30 min later we do a veggie. We do it earlier in the day in case there is a reaction it happens while we are awake and not sleeping. After the 3rd feed, again about 30 min later, she gets rice cereal mixed with BM. And after the 4th feed she gets more veggies or rice cereal, depends on how she did with the new veggie. Some veggies took longer to like than others. If she still has energy after her 5th feed we do a 2nd round of whichever she only got 1 round of. Then she goes to bed, and we wake her for her 6th feed. She only eats about 5 oz of BM per feeding. I found similar schedules on Pinterest. Hope that helps!

nlwz123 · June 2016

We never did rice cereal. Our guy normally gets a little bit of oatmeal mixed with formula and fruit for breakfast (or just fruit and no cereal), then in the late afternoon (around 3ish) he gets a veggie.

Our pediatrician is actually an advocate of introducing pureed meats early on because of it being a natural source of iron. We tried pureed chicken mixed with green beans a couple of weeks ago and he didn't really dig the texture. I will probably try again soon, though.

kaym6 · June 2016

Are yall all sticking to the new food only every 3 days rule? I know how important it is to be able to identify potential food allergies but it's going to take forever! Lol

nlwz123 · June 2016

kaym6 said:

Are yall all sticking to the new food only every 3 days rule? I know how important it is to be able to identify potential food allergies but it's going to take forever! Lol

For the most part, yes. When he gets a little bit older I will probably be more relaxed with it, though.

failuretofly · June 2016

We've been on solids for a few weeks now. I have been usually offering them 30-60 minutes after BFing (which would be 2-2.5 hours before next BF feed). I want to make sure he isn't filling up on solids and still getting his primary nutrition from me, but also not be encouraging him to eat solids on a stomach that's already full of milk. We started with fruit and veggies (banana was his first food). I've done some research into what foods are high in iron and in addition to meat purees we've been giving spinach, kale and red quinoa purees (has more iron than beef, who knew!), which he loves. His daily breakfast now is 1/2 quinoa and 1/2 apple sauce with some cinnamon since the vitamin C in the apple sauce will help him absorb the iron in the quinoa better, plus it makes it taste better. He's still only taking maybe 1/2 - 1 1/2 oz of solids per feed and we're offering 3-4x a day, but only small amounts. Initially I was sticking to a 'new food every 48 hours' rule, but it felt like he was going to be 25 before he got around to trying all the foods and I want to maximize the amount of flavours he's exposed to early on to limit aversions as he gets older. So we are only limiting new foods on days when we introduce a food that has a higher likelihood to be an allergen like peanuts or strawberries. There are literally zero allergies in any of DH and I's family so we feel confident in this decision.

teachmegs817 · July 2016

My Pedi. suggested giving DS 24-30 oz of formula a day, and meals 2x a day. Introducing 1 new food a week and then being able to alternate foods and combine what 2 foods we give him each day after that. After 8 months, he should be getting 3 meals a day and most likely dropping down to 4 bottles a day. at 6-7 oz. per bottle.

I want to try and establish a breakfast, lunch and dinner routine. We give him a bottle when he wakes, (7:00-8:30 a.m.) I've tried giving him oatmeal at this time and he's so hungry from not eating all night, that it has turned into a nightmare. So we wait to give him his 1st meal at his second feeding around 9:30-10:30. He gets 1 1/2 tbs. of oatmeal with 1oz of prunes. We feed him that 1st, then clean him up and feed him his bottle. He will get his second meal around 5:30-6:00. It's just been oatmeal because so far, carrots and sweet potato tasted good to him, but not on the digestive end of things. We're trying peas next. He will get another 1 1/2 tbs. of oatmeal, followed by his last bottle of the day by 6:30-7:00.

ekscopp · July 2016

@teachmegs817 what do u mean by digestive end of things? I have tried oatmeal a couple times - she doesn't show a lot of interest. So I tired carrots and she wasn't digging them. So I tried sweet potatoes and those she loves, but last night after she fell asleep, maybe 2-3 hours after eating she kept waking up and crying. Then this morning I gave her some more again, and she was really fussy about an hour after. Idk if it's the food, coincidence or her being tired. Any ideas?

Ebiejay · July 2016

4 days after starting on rice cereal (which I'm regretting now I've read that it gets converted to sugar super fast) and poor Jamie is really constipated, so we'll move onto a veggie puree next. Apparently bananas and carrots can have the same effect so I'll probably try something like green beans.

teachmegs817 · July 2016

ekscopp said:

@teachmegs817 what do u mean by digestive end of things? I have tried oatmeal a couple times - she doesn't show a lot of interest. So I tired carrots and she wasn't digging them. So I tried sweet potatoes and those she loves, but last night after she fell asleep, maybe 2-3 hours after eating she kept waking up and crying. Then this morning I gave her some more again, and she was really fussy about an hour after. Idk if it's the food, coincidence or her being tired. Any ideas?

He seemed to do the same things your LO did after eating the sweet potatoes. He liked the carrots and the sweet potatoes. Both times after giving him those his poop was really solid, even with a serving of prunes and he didn't go for 3 days. He usually goes every day or every other day. I would just rather wait on giving those two foods, and any others that seem to be doing this to him, a little bit longer. I know that he likes them initially, so I will probably try them again around 8 months, and see if I have better luck.

We also were on Nutramigen for about 2 1/2 months and pooping has always been some what of an issue for him. I'm not sure if being preemie had anything to do with it, but it doesn't surprise me if he ends up having some sensitivity to certain foods. Although, no one in my family has any type of food allergies or any intolerances.

failuretofly · July 2016

I didn't realize that sweet potatoes, applesauce and bananas are all constipating... That was all I had been feeding LO! Poor guy had such a difficult time pooping the other day, he started crying the saddest cry. I'm glad he's decided to love spinach and kale because that has definitely helped!

teachmegs817 · July 2016

We are having such issues with pooping and solids. Sweet Potatoes, carrots, and now pretty much peas have all made him wrench out in pain. He likes them but while trying sweet potato and carrots for a few days, he was in so much pain trying to poop. Peas can make him go, but it's so solid and today was absolutely awful. He was so backed up, that I had to help him get it out by pushing his legs up to his chest while he pushed and cried just to get it out.

linds852010 · July 2016

@teachmegs817 Pears have really helped our little guy poop and he really likes them.

teachmegs817 · July 2016

@linds852010 We are starting those tomorrow. So far, prunes and peas are the only two that he can tolerate, and apparently he can't do peas too many days in a row. This boy I tell ya! I don't know where he gets this issue from, other than being Preemie, because DH and I do not have stomach problems or any sort of food intolerance. Poor thing, I hope it doesn't turn into issues later on.

linds852010 · July 2016

@teachmegs817 I know what you mean. Our little guy is a preemie. It seems like the solids he's had either make it hard for him to poop or make him poop a lot. There hasn't been a middle ground.

pooh71383 · July 2016

Yes. If there is no reaction to the new food we will give it at a later feeding as well. If it's a food LO doesn't seem to enjoy we try again the next day. It took her 3 days to like squash, the first day she spit out every bite and now she's waiting with her mouth open before I can get more on the spoon! And it does feel like it will take forever!!! But my pediatrician said to think of it as practice - practice with eating, and of course figuring out what foods LO likes and which she may have a reaction to. Then when she is closer to 8 months it will be better. Similar to the post with the 4 phases by age.

ekscopp · July 2016

How much are you guys feeding your LOs? Or are you letting them tell you when they are done?

mestokes · July 2016

I'm just letting LO tell me when he's done. He's eating about 1/2 - 1 container of stage one Gerber purees a day. He seems to be most interested in eating at dinnertime when my husband and I eat!

KFrob · July 2016

We're doing baby led weaning for the most part. We're not really on a schedule yet. We'll give her a little snack after her bottle at dinner time while we eat. We're probably going to get on a schedule around 7 months but plan on talking to the dr about it next week at LOs 6 month appointment.

As far as introducing new foods slowly I'm trying not to over think it. I've read varying suggestion from one new food a day to waiting four days (which seems a little extreme). We're probably averaging a day or two between new foods. She seems to really like being able to feed herself and eat with us. So far no tummy troubles!

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Solids Feeding Schedule

Re: Solids Feeding Schedule

The Exploratory Phase: the first month (Month 6, or, whenever you start[ed])

Flavor Immersion: 7-9 months

Finger Feeding: 10-12 months

Regular Eating: 12 months +

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