I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

DS will be 6 months on Saturday I don't know what I should be doing for him! I am introducing different fruits and veggies to him. So far he eats bananas, sweet potatoes, and apples (started yesterday). We will do string beans with him Wednesday. He eats rice and oatmeal cereals. He drinks 8oz bottles (has been since 4 months). I feel like I don't know what I should feed him over the course of a day.

He gets a bottle at about 6:30 when he wakes up. He leaves with DH and gets to daycare at about 8:15/8:30. At 10:30 they give him cereal and a bottle. At about 2 they give him cereal and whatever "food" I've sent in mixed in. 2:30 he gets a bottle. At about 5 they give him a bottle knowing I'll be there between 5:30-6:00, and we have a long commute. He usually only drinks about 6 oz of that one. I usually get home 7:00-7:15. At about 7:30/7:45 I give him cereal and banana (I never send in banana because i give him fresh banana and that wouldn't hold). We play for a little while and then I give him a bottle around 8:30 which he usually only drinks about 4 oz of. He then usually goes to bed by 9:00/9:30.

All of this does get knocked out of schedule though sometimes based on his nap/sleep schedule. Sometimes he takes a really long nap at daycare and misses a bottle. Other times he goes to sleep early and misses that last bottle. Sometimes I'm out of bananas and that last meal is just cereal. Is this a good schedule? Should I do something different? DH and I have such bad Eating habits and I do not want to teach these to DS. He is genetically predisposed to be overweight. I don't want to add horrible eating habits to it too. I'm trying to use this to improve my eating habits, and work on DH's too.

I know that I should just keep introducing foods at this point. I also just found wheat and barley cereals, so I'll introduce those as well. But I also see other mommies talking about sippy cups. I see that the brand I use has sippy cups for 6 month olds. What do I put in there??

I have a well visit on the 28th, so I will be asking my doc all these questions, but I just feel so lost. Who let me be in charge of a little human?

If you made it to the end thank you. If it makes no sense I'm sorry. If you can help me with anything, I greatly appreciate it! Sum it up with I have no clue what the heck I'm doin here and don't want to fail my child.

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

We've all been there!

Always keep in mind that for the first year their primary source of nutrition should be breastmilk or formula. All the solids are really just for practice. It doesn't matter what you give them, just make sure you introduce one food at a time for a few days to rule out any allergies.

As for the sippy, *I* like to put breastmilk in them (I EBF) because I didn't want there to be a difficult transition once we moved to sippies only. Some people give water. Just let the baby play with the sippy. I would take the stopper out at first so the baby knew there was something in there to drink. It gets messy, but that's what being 6 months and learning to eat/drink big kid food is.

You're doing just fine- don't stress about it!

Message edited 9/18/2011 10:50:30 PM.

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

I really can relate to what you are feeling. It's such a normal feeling to question what you are doing/not doing and if it's enough or hte right thing. I think I posted something so similar to this when DD was an infant.

At 6 mths, I was just doing formula and I started to introduce, just a spoonful or two a day, cereals. No sippy cups. Nothing else. Just cereal. I was a very slow mover with my child, hey, it was new to me and I wanted to be sure I was doing the right things.

I just want to say just b/c you see and read people on here doing certain things at your DCs age, doesnt mean its something you have to do or even neccessarily SHOULD be doing, kwim? I honestly followed my peds directions and thats how it worked for me.

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

as long as you DC is happy...you're doing the right thing! you can't make decisions based on what other people do b/c all babies are different.

my DD is 7 months, i do give her sippy cups with a little bit of water in it just to "play with" she hasn't figured out how to drink out of it she basically just uses it as a teething toy lol

talk to your doctor like you said...they will point you in the right direction!

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

Message edited 9/18/2011 10:54:27 PM.

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

the one thing that people told me was that if the baby is reaching for your cup or things in your hand they are telling you they are ready. my dd grabbed a cup from my sister pulled it to her mouth and started to "drink"...it was unreal...i bought a sippy cup the next day and she picked it up like she's been doing it forever...couldn't really drink from it but put it right in her mouth...i believe this was at like 6 months

Message edited 9/18/2011 10:55:28 PM.

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

Posted by KNic19

Posted by Kristi71208

the one thing that people told me was that if the baby is reaching for your cup or things in your hand they are telling you they are ready. my dd grabbed a cup from my sister pulled it to her mouth and started to "drink"...it was unreal...i bought a sippy cup the next day and she picked it up like she's been doing it forever...couldn't really drink from it but put it right in her mouth...i believe this was at like 6 months

Oh then he is totally telling me he is ready. He is constantly trying to grab my food and drinks. And when he watches me eat, he sits there 'chewing' the whole time!

Re: I feel lost (aka I'm a first time mom and I have no idea what I should be doing for DS)

You are doing everything right - not lost at all! Everyone does everything differently. I didn't introduce solid foods to DD until 5 months. 1 new fruit or veggie a week. DD is now 21 months, eats everything, but cannot for the life of her use a sippy cup other than to play with it. You are doing everything right. Please don't be so hard on yourself. My pediatrican told us that as long as she gets approximately 24 oz of formula a day, she's fine. The cereal, fruit and veggies were for learning how to eat, not to provide her nutrition yet. She was a horrible eater at first, but now is great.