Introducing SOLIDS!

C

clowe77

Registered User
hi all,

i am planning to introduce solids to my 5 month old in the next month and was wondering how other mommies did it.

How long did you do the rice cereal before introducing other "real" foods and what did you start with (after rice cereal)?

How did you start to incorporate solids into your babies' milk feeds schedule (what feeding did you start with and for how long, etc)?

Did you babies react positively to his/her first bite? We've just bought a camcorder to film the big day, though I realize there could be more pukey faces and spit-ups than anything else... so I am braced.

I know there's heaps of literature out on this stuff and I am reading most of it, but it would be great to hear about "real life" experiences from some mommies out here right now.

Thanks for any shared experiences, advice, etc.

:thanks
 
Hi.

My son is 9 months old. We also started trying to feed him solids at 5 months old. We started with pureed pears because one book recommended it. He wasn't a fan. In fact, he just kept pushing anything put in his mouth out so we went slow and gave him a couple-week break. My experience is that it is best to start feeding a baby when they start to show interest in what mommy and daddy are eating.

So, next we did an organic brown rice cereal mixed with hot water--started with a tablespoon. He ate that for a few weeks. At the same time I started pureeing apples and he really liked those. His favorite was the rice cereal mixed with pureed apples. Before long he could easily eat 4 or 5 tablespoons of that at two feedings--one in the morning around 10 am and another in the mid-afternoon.

Now our son is eating jarred baby foods and some of mommy and daddy's food, mushed up or broken into small pieces. He is starting to self-feed with some foods.

It's funny: The foods we thought our son would definitely like, like peaches, he totally detested and the stranger things we let him try (curried dahl with jalenenos, thai hot sauce, raspberries, lemons...) he really liked! Now he is starting to get a taste for tomato pasta! Today he had his first helping of yoghurt with strawberries blended into it--it was sorta like baby ice cream for him!

Some people have allergy concerns with their children and so they are really careful to keep anything associated with gluten or dairy out of their child's diet for quite some time.

My husband is Chinese. I'm Caucasian. Both of our families are 100% allergy free so we haven't been as concerned. Our son did have a little reaction to some green beans we fed him so we just sorta nixed that from his diet.

Have fun with the feedings!
 
Start anything new on a Monday . So that way if there is a reaction u will know by Wednesday . Dont give anything new on a thursday , friday because if there is reaction it can be difficult to get doctors.

Always take one thing like rice cereal, or any pureed food for a week. Then u know there is no reaction and every week change the selection. Once u have experimented with enough single food then u can start mixing 2 foods.

Best of luck
 
There is a fantastic book by Annabel Karmel called Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. It gives step by step instructions of what to introduce and when. It is brilliant.
 
i started with rice cereal with watery texture and gradually (after a week) making thicker ones. I mixed pureed veggie/fruits into the rice cereal 2 weeks later.....carrot, banana, pear, pumpkin, papaya (3 consecutive days for each kind of food)......followed by her normal amount of bottled milk.

after eating rice cereal for a month, i cook congee for her.... congee with pork, beef, sweet potato, choi sum, hairy melon and steamed fish.

i usually prepare a small portion of pureed food in a separate bowl so that she can taste the texture & smell the food she's eating.

i feed her solids during her usual lunch feed (11:30am). I stopped giving her bottled milk once she could finish 2/3 of her baby bowl.

i'll also give her pureed fruit for tea (around 5:30pm).

annabel karmel's book is fantastic! i'll follow annabel's recipe next week (after 2 weeks of chinese congee, it's time for some "western food")!

my baby just loves ANY solid food, no puking so far!!!!!
 
I've just recently started solids with my five-month old myself (two weeks ago). First with brown rice cereal mixed with some breastmilk and then carrot puree (thickened with a bit of rice cereal). He is now on his third week with sweet potato puree. Two feeds day (morning and evening), with each feed about 2-3 tbsp of puree followed by breastfeeding.

I found that it's better to feed your baby a bit of water first, followed by about half of the puree, more water than finish the puree and wash down with a third drink of water. Not only does it go down easier, it also lessens the problem of constipation.
 
thanks ladies for all your very helpful replies! really good stuff.

MLBW, your little one sounds like he has quite a mature taste in foods! good for him! Tallmama, thanks for your feedback. certainly gorgeous little Val seems to be thriving on her current regime.

just another question - at what point did you all start to reduce the milk feeds and by how much? MLBW, at 9 months how much milk is he drinking now? Tallmama, you said that you stopped giving her one bottle feed once she could finish 2/3 of her bowl - how old was she when that happened? anyone else?

also, has anyone given their baby sweet potato and if so how did you make that? did you have to put it into a blender or did you just bake it and scoop out the insides and mash it with a spoon before feeding? sorry if this is a dumb question...

i'll definitely get annabel karmel's book - sounds great!

thanks again everyone!
 
hi peainpod - thanks for your advice!! so you feed the solids first before breastfeeding... do you find your little one is still taking the same amount of milk than 3 weeks ago, or is she taking less now that she's also getting solids?

interesting about the water... how much do you give her at each time (3x total per solid feed)?

how long before bedtime do you offer the evening solid meal? they say at least 90 min, so that baby can digest propery...??

and how do you make your sweet potato puree? interested in your recipe!!

thanks so much! sorry for all the questions...
 
i have a question on puree as well. Is it necessary to buy a blender or can you just cook the food and mash it up like mash potato? I'm thinking of starting my baby on solids next week
 
At the very least, I'd buy a hand blender. Makes things easy as in the beginning you need the puree very smooth. Later you can mash with a fork so there are lumps for them to practice chewing (or gumming). The hand blenders are great for travelling and very easy to clean - ours has been invaluable.
 
Meant to add, sweet potato puree was a huge favourite. I steamed it in small pieces and then mixed to smooth with the blender. Later, I would mix with organic cream cheese for a little protein. Sweet potato and apple is also a nice combo.
 
Hi Clowe,

My son's formula consumption varies--the more solid food he eats, the less formula he drinks. His appetite is pretty steady but some days lately he is too busy playing to want to stop and eat much. Generally, I would say he drinks probably between 18-30 ounces of formula a day, depending on how much solid food he's eaten. I've read and been told by the pediatrician that formula or breastmilk are recommended up until at least the baby turns one-year-old.

Even with the amount of food my son is eating, there is probably no way he can be getting the amount of calories his growing body needs as well as the balanced nutrition that formula or breastmilk provide. I know some moms who also start feeding their baby goat's milk between 9-12 months as it's easier to digest than cow's milk.

Oh, and an interesting thing--my son until very recently, detested drinking water--he wouldn't swallow it--whether you gave it to him a bottle, in a sippy cup, in a dropper--nothing. We even added small amounts of pure juice to see if that would make a difference--still hated it. So...our solution was to start giving him small ice chips--he likes to suck on them and he can go through quite a few--that keeps him hydrated and prevents constipation (because he is formula-fed).

Hope you have fun with the feeding.
 
For us, even though ours really seems to enjoy solids, we haven't noticed much drop in his milk in-take. I work so my helper gives him EBM during the day and he is still consuming 4 full bottle feeds (5 oz each) as before. And bfing with the same frequency and duration once I'm home (4-5 times, am/pm).

Clowe: My baby drinks anywhere between 0.5-1.5 oz per feed. Sometimes he'll drink lots, other times barely enough to wet his lips. I just offer it and let him decide. The main purpose is just so the solids go down easier. In the evening, we generally feed him at about 7 p.m. (2 hours before he goes to bed).
 
Thanks everyone!

MLBW- ice chips, now there's a creative idea... hope i get to meet your little fellow one day, when you're back from the States.

Peainpod, thanks for the info re how much water your baby drinks. Do you feed him from a bottle or sippy cup? How old is he now? Sorry if you have already mentioned this - had a rough night and mommy is exhausted :-(
 
Oh, one more question to the mommies out there - in the first few weeks, did you offer the solids/cereal BEFORE or AFTER the bottle? I can see pro's and con's to both... I think a lot of people offer food AFTER bottle in morning feed (11am ish) and food BEFORE bottle in the evening (5-7pm ish) feed?

I've got such a good milk feed schedule now with my LO (FINALLY after lots of trial and error!), I am aware that introducing solids will probably throw everything into confusion again...
 
Just one thing - all the medical advice I have read says it is really important to make sure that your baby continues to take at least 500-800ml of formula/breast milk a day until they are a year old. This means that even if they are eating solids really well the milk should not be reduced to less than 500ml. Apparently babies may not be able to fully digest the solid food at this age and so will miss out on vital nutrients.
 
Thanks, fhurley! What about water? At what point post-solids should water be given to babies? Not right upon the introduction of solids, I assume...
 
our son gets about 500 ml of formula/day plus about a 150 ml/day of water. We started giving water at almost 7 months when we were trying to eliminate a feed at night. He now takes it whenever. It's especially helpful if we are out and I can't make a feed with formula. I just give the bottle filled with water.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top