Having a hard time with this whole "solids" thing

[JenCA]

I am having a really hard time with solids for DD. We started cereal at 5.5 months (begrudgingly, as I really wanted to wait a few more weeks, but she was showing every sign in the book that she was ready). That was easy enough. But now we're on veggies, and I guess I'm just confused as to when I should offer her different types of solids throughout the day. Should she be having solids twice a day? Three times a day? What food and when?

Typically, we'll give her some oatmeal in the morning (and then top her off with a bottle), and some rice cereal in the evening (again, before topping her off with a bottle). I offer her the veggies either mixed in with the cereal, or alone. If I just offer her the veggies, she only eats maybe 5-6 spoonfuls before she's done. Should I then offer her some cereal, or just go straight to the bottle?

Thanks in advance for any insight/suggestions. :)

[lizajane]

really, just let her tell you! don't worry too much! all of her nutrition is still coming from her bottle right now, so you can't get it wrong with solids. i prefer to nurse before solids, to be sure he is getting his fill of milk before going to the "practice" food. but many others prefer to do solids first.

if she only wants 5 or 6 spoonfuls of veggies, i would just stop there for now. when she looks interested in more and is annoyed that you have stopped offering her spoonfuls, then you can offer a little more. schuyler didn't get three solids meals until 10 months. he started getting two meals around 9 months. and he didn't even sucessfully start solids until 8 months.

definitely don't worry about not giving her enough solids at this point. since the bottle is her first priority, you can just let her decide how much she wants to eat (solids). you can probably stick with just two meals for a while.

[amp]

Completely agreeing w/ Liza here. Follow her lead. If she shows interest in more food, give it to her. If not, don't worry. And do continue to make BM or formula her primary source of nutrition until one year. We've done feeding after solids and before. For us, it didn't make a lot of difference. Some people find that it does. Just go slow and figure it out along the way by watching what your DD wants to do. Good luck!

[missliss55]

I have found solids to be one of the most challenging things. A book that has really helped me a ton (and was recommended by 2 of my dietician friends) is Child of Mine by Ellen Satter.

My dd is 10 months and we do 3 meals along with an afternoon snack. We breastfeed before each feeding as well as before bed. It is really important to follow your daughter lead. She will let you know when she is done. I offer a variety of foods now. Sometimes she has a ton of veggies, sometimes only a couple pieces.

Good luck!

Melissa and Emma (4/16/03)

[wendmatt]

I agree with Lisa, just give as much or as little as she wants. I used to give dd solids followed by bm, sometimes she'd eat more, sometimes less. I was SOOOO stressed out about solids and what to give and when and how much, looking back on it it doesn't seem so bad, just follow her lead and slowly introduce more as time goes by.
Good luck, it does get easier ( now it's harder in that you can't think oh well it doesn't matter because they're drinking milk and that's all they need!!) but you'll get the hang of it.

[JenCA]

Thank you for the book suggestions, I will definitely check it out. We tried giving DD her bottle first and then giving her the solids, but she wouldn't eat them because she was full from her bottle. So, we offer the solids first. She usually only eats about 2 tbsp of cereal and then will take a 4oz bottle, which is the norm for her.
Anyway...I don't know why this is so hard, maybe I'm just making it more difficult than it is. ;)

[amp]

Hey Jen, just wanted to mention that even though I said "just follow her lead", I didn't mean to imply that it's always easy to go with the flow. :-) I definitely questioned, and still do, whether we are doing it all right. I guess I just relaxed after a bit, when I realized that his love of food was growing, and he was getting full too. Also, when he started loving finger food, it got a bit more fun too. Now it's easier to tell when he's full by watching how much he's feeding himself. Give yourself a break, follow her lead and try to enjoy this new milestone in her life. Short of poisoning her (I'm kidding) you really can't screw it up, because if something doesn't work, you change it. Have fun!

[JenCA]

Thanks, Andrea. I'm not overly anxious for my peanut to grow up, but I have to admit that I'm looking forward to when she can eat table food--because I think feeding her will become exponentially easier at that point! Re: the poisoning comment--honestly, you'd think I was poisoning DD by the look on her face sometimes! Who knew organic peas could taste so terrible? ;)

[amp]

LOL! Feeding does get easier when they start feeding themselves finger food and loving it! I think it's a short reprieve then, though, because once they start feeding themselves, I think they quickly learn that *only they* should feed themselves! Yikes! That could be messy! I like that it's him eating finger foods and me feeding the messier stuff!

And my DS would agree that all green pureed food is bad! Luckily, I found out he will eat peas & green beans if they are not pureed. Boy, I've seen those faces! What on earth have you given me, mom?!!! Eeewwwww!