sadie427
01-31-2004, 01:06 PM
We just started solids, and I have some questions. I had planned to wait until 6 months, which is what the pediatrician had said, but he was showing a lot of the signs (fascinated by my food, grabbing at it, sitting well.) Also, he just seemed so hungry--I know that's not necessarily one of the signs, and it's better for him to nurse more often, but my instincts were telling me to try solids so I did. So we started at about 5 months and one week, and he loved it. Ate 2 tablespoons of rice cereal the first day, reasonably thick. I did rice cereal for about a week, following his lead and giving him as much as he wanted, but that meant he ate 4 tbs one evening and didn't poop for 5 days!
I had planned to follow Satter's book, I really liked what she said, and keep him on the rice cereal till he was eating two fairly large thick and lumpy servings a day. (She says its best if you work up to this over a month or more.) But I was nervous about adding a second meal so soon. So I've slowly introduced other foods, for the experience but mostly to try some higher fiber things so he won't get constipated. I've tried sweet potato, baby oatmeal, avocado (not high fiber, but so delicious I couldn't resist, and I wanted something less sweet) and will try peas next. He generally eats quite a bit--won't give him more than 2-3 tbs cereal and a few tbs of veggie, till I know what constipates him. It doesn't seem to be replacing nursing--I do it 1/2 way between his evening nursing sessions, and he still nurses with enthusiasm before bed. He does seem to sleep a little longer at night--his first wakening is more reliably at 2am rather than sometimes at midnight--so perhaps he is less hungry at night.
So I guess the question is, I want to follow Sammy's lead, and I think he's telling me he wants more. I think I have a champion eater! But could this get us going too fast? I'm sure he'd eat a second meal if I gave it to him, but does that mean I should? How much food is too much? I really don't want to replace nursing. This is hard to figure out--don't have many people to advise me in real life as a lot of my friends seem to just start their babies on food at 4 months, and move quickly to 3 meals a day.
Two other random questions about orange veggies:
1-I read you shouldn't give homemade carrots as they could be too high in nitrates--is that really true? Even with organic? And how do you know that the jarred ones aren't high in nitrates anyway? Bought a jar of Earth's Best carrots and it doesn't say anything about it. I prefer to make my own--it's easy just to steam and mash, and he does so well with a little texture, like fork-mashed sweet potatoes, that I'd rather not give him the really smooth jarred stuff.
2. How much orange veggies is too much? I heard that your baby can turn orange with too much sweet potatoes, etc, and my aunt tells me she really did turn my cousin's nose orange. But Sammy loves his sweet potatoes, and it helps with the constipation. How much can he have without getting too much carotene?
Thanks!
I had planned to follow Satter's book, I really liked what she said, and keep him on the rice cereal till he was eating two fairly large thick and lumpy servings a day. (She says its best if you work up to this over a month or more.) But I was nervous about adding a second meal so soon. So I've slowly introduced other foods, for the experience but mostly to try some higher fiber things so he won't get constipated. I've tried sweet potato, baby oatmeal, avocado (not high fiber, but so delicious I couldn't resist, and I wanted something less sweet) and will try peas next. He generally eats quite a bit--won't give him more than 2-3 tbs cereal and a few tbs of veggie, till I know what constipates him. It doesn't seem to be replacing nursing--I do it 1/2 way between his evening nursing sessions, and he still nurses with enthusiasm before bed. He does seem to sleep a little longer at night--his first wakening is more reliably at 2am rather than sometimes at midnight--so perhaps he is less hungry at night.
So I guess the question is, I want to follow Sammy's lead, and I think he's telling me he wants more. I think I have a champion eater! But could this get us going too fast? I'm sure he'd eat a second meal if I gave it to him, but does that mean I should? How much food is too much? I really don't want to replace nursing. This is hard to figure out--don't have many people to advise me in real life as a lot of my friends seem to just start their babies on food at 4 months, and move quickly to 3 meals a day.
Two other random questions about orange veggies:
1-I read you shouldn't give homemade carrots as they could be too high in nitrates--is that really true? Even with organic? And how do you know that the jarred ones aren't high in nitrates anyway? Bought a jar of Earth's Best carrots and it doesn't say anything about it. I prefer to make my own--it's easy just to steam and mash, and he does so well with a little texture, like fork-mashed sweet potatoes, that I'd rather not give him the really smooth jarred stuff.
2. How much orange veggies is too much? I heard that your baby can turn orange with too much sweet potatoes, etc, and my aunt tells me she really did turn my cousin's nose orange. But Sammy loves his sweet potatoes, and it helps with the constipation. How much can he have without getting too much carotene?
Thanks!