How much is a "serving" for babies? How much does yours eat/nurse?

[pritchettzoo]

We started solids last week at 6 mos, and I want to make and freeze some food so we don't waste anything. I googled to find what a serving would be...I know nothing will be exact, but an ounce, a tablespoon...what? Then I pulled up a chapter online from Super Baby Foods and it says a 7 month old should be eating a total of a cup of food a day spread out to 2-3 meals per day. This sounds like a ton of food!

DD's still nursing every 1.5 to 2 hours or so. We've only fed her about a tablespoon, maybe 1.5 of mashed up avocado so far. How often do/did your babies nurse once solids started?

I skimmed Ellyn Satter's book from the library and am waiting on it to come from amazon (grrr...super saver shipping = strapped to the back of a snail) and I really don't remember what she said. Maybe I'm not ready for DD to be so grown up? Why is this so shocking to me?

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[Momof3Labs]

Always beware when a book tells you what a baby "should" be doing. So, ignore Super Baby Food, IMO. Colin was only eating one solid meal a day at 7 months, and definitely wasn't consuming a cup of food at that meal.

Just keep reminding yourself that up to 1 year of age, solids are just for practice, and breastmilk/formula should make up the bulk of her diet!

[lrucci]

When we started solids, I gave DD a few teaspoons of cereal once a day, then we gradually increased it to 2 tablespoons 2 times a day. She gets a few teasoons of fruit in the morning and a few teaspoons of vegetables at night. She is still nursing, but she can go anywhere between 3 1/2 - 4 hours between feedings now. So she usually nurses anywhere from 5-6 times per day. She seems completely satisfied and has continued to grow. I look at what amount of food is *recommended* for her age and I can't imagine feeding her that much. It seems like an awful lot. As Lori said, right now solids are for practice, so if you are still BFing, I wouldn't worry too much about the "cup of food a day".

HTH

Lisa
Mom to Kyleigh Elizabeth 7/19/03

[Marisa6826]

Girlie-

Bear in mind that Gracie's stomach is roughly the size of her fist. Feed her as much as she wants, but it probably won't be much more than a couple tablespoons per feeding in the beginning. As far as quantities of how to freeze, I'd try using ice cube trays. That way you can thaw one or two at a time and not waste too much.

Sophie is well beyond the mushy stuff at this point, but to give you an idea, she is 20 lbs. 30" and quantity-wise can eat (one of these items not all of them ;) ):

about 1/3 of a grilled cheese sandwich
one large egg with about a teaspoon of shredded cheese
1/3 of a medium apple shredded
1/4 of a boneless porkchop
2 tbs. of cut up boneless chicken
1-2 tbs. chopped broccoli
3 baby carrots cut up (steamed)
5-6 tortellini cut up
a small box of raisins (her absolute fave!!)
6 seedless grapes cut up
1/2 hot dog cut up
2 slices of turkey lunchmeat
1" wide slice of quiche

She used to eat as much as an entire container of Yo Baby, but she's currently on strike with any "spoon foods". She wants to feed herself and can't handle utensils unless you include tossing them overboard at the dogs.

So for example, for dinner last night, I put out for Sophie 2 tbs. of diced pork chop, 1 tbs. of chopped broccoli, 3-4 tortellini cut up. She ate roughly 1/2 of it. The pigdogs got the rest. For dessert she got about 10 raisins.

Tonight she had about 1/2 a scrambled egg with broccoli and cheddar cheese, and a tablespoon of cut up pasta, with about three small chunks of bread, and again, a few raisins. She always wants about an ounce or two of milk before she goes to bed. I think that it's not because she's hungry, but because it's habit and a comfort thing.

The trick is to give Gracie enough so that SHE'S the one that stops eating on her own. That way you know she's gotten her fill and hasn't stopped because there's nothing left to eat.

Up until a year old, solids are for practice, not for nutrition. That's where your Mommy Milk comes in :P

hugs

-m

[C99]

Well if you want what Satter says about servings, she says that a serving is whatever amount you or a baby will eat or want to eat -- on the back of a jar of Earth's Best baby food, it will say that a serving is the 1 jar or 4 oz., but for Nate, a serving was usually 1/2 of the jar or sometimes even 1/4 of the jar.

And don't let the introduction of solids fool you into thinking that Gracie will nurse less or less frequently. Nathaniel really did not cut down on nursing sessions until he got used to the idea that solids were a replacement for some nursing sessions and, really, until he wanted to eat solids instead of nursing, and for him, that wasn't until he was about 2 weeks shy of his 1st birthday.

[Momof3Labs]

Marisa - I just sent you an e-mail through the board on a completely unrelated topic. LMK if you don't get it!

[jubilee]

I've heard the rule of thumb is one teaspoon's worth for every pounds that your child weighs- per day. So, a 20 pound baby should eat around 10 teaspoons of food per day.

[miki]

Anna,

Lorelei is the same age as Gracie and we just started the solids last week, too. My ped said a serving is however much she'll eat at a sitting and to do one meal this month, two next month, and three the month after that just for practicing. I find that she's very variable in how much she'll eat day to day. Last week we did rice cereal with EBM. I'd feed her after she already nursed. She'd eat anywhere from two spoonfuls fron the tiny baby spoon to about 2 tbsps. Today I gave her some apple puree that I made with the cereal. She probably ate half of the frozen cube of apple and a slightly larger amount of cereal. Lorelei is about 17 pounds. I have not found that she nurses any less even if she eats more during her solid meal.

[Marisa6826]

Lori-

Haven't gotten it yet. It's 12pm EST on Monday. Norah gave me a heads up ;)

-m

[amp]

To be completely honest with you, I have absolutely no earthly idea how many tablespoons or ounces or cups Jacob eats per day or at any given meal. I just start putting food in front of him and add to it as it gets low. At the end of every meal, I have a bit to toss in the trash, but at least I know he's gotten his fill. I have *never* measured it (aside from formula), and would stink at trying to guesstimate it! I've just tuned into what he likes and kind of found out it's similar to what Marisa listed. For example, I've learned that I can pull out about 4-5 grapes and slice and dice them and then give him something else to supplement it and he'll get full, etc.

[Momof3Labs]

Hmm, okay, do you want to drop me one at momof3labs @ yahoo.com (remove spaces)? Guess this one fell off into the BBB black hole!

[houseof3boys]

I got concerned with that whole thing too when we started solids. I gave Ryan a tablespoon of barley cereal (never did rice after hearing too many constipation horror stories) with ebm when we first started and then he started to get that twice a day. Once Gracie gets good at eating (it happens so don't worry that she won't get it), start adding more to the amount but just watch for her cues. If Ryan is still opening his mouth after I feed him and he just seems like he isn't finished, I grab something easy from the fridge like the organic applesauce and give that to him. I have a freezer stash with different veggies that I made in ice cube trays (then put in baggies and labeled) and will use that at dinner and lunch now with some cereal.

I also never really followed the advice on making sure he bf first before solids since he nurses a lot like Gracie does. Even after solids for 3 months now, he nurses the same amount as he ever did! Even if I am "off schedule" and he has just eaten a meal of solids and it's nap time, he still nurses to sleep the same amount of time. The books are confusing and just like everything, it will all make perfect sense in a few weeks with practice. Just watch her cues and if she is having fun eating and seems to want to continue then give her more. I hope she likes to drink water more than Ryan. He hates it despite the 4 different brands of sippy's I got to try! :)

LOL at super saver shipping! You can borrow mine if you want to!!!!

[pritchettzoo]

She loves drinking water out of a cup, but it's a regular cup, not a sippy. We found some really tiny cups at Wally World that another poster recommended (I asked about skipping the sippy a week or so ago...) and she *loves* them. She'll reach for it with both hands and gulp. Sometimes she gets too much and sputters, but she still grins afterwards.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)

[pritchettzoo]

I think it's more of an emotional thing for me--I'm not ready to even think about her weaning. I had a crying jag the other night after reading all that stuff...I had Gracie off to college and married because she didn't need me anymore after starting solids. I try to keep the insanity repressed but sometimes it peeks out anyway! :)

Anna
Mama to Gracie (9/16/03)