Transitioning to Solids

We started Lucas on cereal (oatmeal) and sweet potatoes and the boy goes crazy to eat. He opens his mouth wide and can't get enough.

So I was wondering...does anyone have any information (maybe websites) where I can learn more about this process? How do I know when to move him to 2 times per day and how do I know when to transition him to adult food (I know he should have teeth - but that's all I know)? Also...how do I know how much milk he should be taking if he is eating solids?

Re: Transitioning to Solids

I was told by my doctor that at his age, he should still be getting between 30-40 oz of formula or breastmilk a day

DD is almost 8 months and this is what she eats

Breakfast - Cereal (2 tablespoons) and 1/2 - 3/4 container of fruit

Lunch and dinner - cereal and 1/2 fruit and 1/2 veggies

You can also try giving him some puffs if you want, they do not need teeth to eat table food, they can mash it with their gums

have fun

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we started cereal and sweet potatoes also. i am following the Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron. she really outlines everything very thoroughly. as far as recommending the book, i love it, but it based on making homemade food, including eventually homemade cereal. maybe check your local library for other choices.

the main thing she stresses is that the amount of formula or bm should not decrease. the main source of nutrition should still come from that and the solids are just a supplement to that.

my babies do the same thing when they see the spoon-it's so cute!! happy eating!!

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Thank you both!

I am going to get that book...I do make the vegetables (just not the cereal but I would be open to the idea).

So we are going to keep him on the 30 - 35 oz of formula he was taking prior to this but maybe we will up the solids to 2 times per day around Thanksgiving. This way I can start it for the 4 day weekend and then hand it over to daycare.

Does that sound okay...6 months having breakfast and lunch with cereal and vegetables?

Also...when do I introduce fruits? I wanted him to try vegetables first so I made sweet potatoes...next week I want to make butternut squash and then carrots (might buy that though). Then I guess move into the green veggies? But should I do fruits for maybe the am feedings when we start?

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Did your ped give you some sort of an outline?

I feed Jack solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is what mine told me to do.

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This is DS eating schedule (as you know he is 3 days younger than Lucas and has his two bottom teeth, and the top one are already coming in)

Wakes up 7am- has a 6 0z bottle of formula

Morning: 9:30am Oatmeal Cereal

Lunch- 1/2 of a jar of 1st food baby food (about 1.25 ounces)

Dinner- the other 1/2 of a jar of 1st food baby food (about 1.25 ounces)

And in between all meals he has formula which adds up to about 35 ounces a day.

Bed time - 9PM I rock him to sleep as has a 6 ounce bottle

So far we have tried:

Green beans-HATES it
Quash- likes it
Carrots- likes it
Sweet Peas- likes it
Sweet Potatoes-today is the first time so we will see

we are going to start fruit soon, but I just don't want him to eat too much food becasue my ped said that his main source of nutrients should be his formula. The food at this point is more for practice eating from a spoon, and to get use to different flavors & textures.


ETA: for bad spelling

Message edited 11/13/2007 10:14:10 AM.

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Message edited 11/13/2007 10:08:23 AM.

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My ped never gave me an amount to give Jack - so I kind of just wing it and give him 3 tablespoons of cereal three times a day. Then 3 baby spoonfulls of the fruit. So far he has had applesauce, pears, and this morning he just had bananas which he loved.

He gets a bottle with each feeding - and then an additional bottle at around 3pm (in between lunch and dinner)

His formula intake has def. decreased - but that's what we wanted bc he was taking in much more formula then he should have been. Now he takes about 24-28 ounces a day of formula.

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This is the schedule I followed for Thomas per ped's instructions:

4 months - rice cereal - oatmeal if rice constipates him (we did switch to oatmeal)

Start fruits as soon as DS starts enjoying cereal (meaning once he starts actually eating it, and not just pushing back out of his mouth), and increase to twice a day. Apples, bananas, pears, peaches.

5 months - Start veggies. Orange and yellow first, then greens. Cereal and fruit for breakfast, ceral and veggie for dinner.

My ped doesn't believe that starting fruits first will create a sweet tooth and interfere with veggies. Having said that, DS LOVES fruit, but took at least a full month before he'd eat veggies without them being covered in fruit. I don't know if it would have been different if we started veggies first.

6 months - Start Stage 2 fruits and veggies and add Stage 2 meats and add lunch.

Thomas is almost 7 months and this is his schedule:

6 a.m. 5 oz bottle
9 a.m. 5 oz bottle
9:30 a.m. oatmeal and Stage 2 fruit
1:00 p.m. 5 oz bottle
1:30 p.m. 1/2 Stage 2 fruite and 1/2 Stage 2 Veggie
5:00 p.m. 5 oz bottle
6:30 p.m. Dinner meat combo
7:30 - 8:30 p.m. 5 oz bottle

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help.

I don't know about table foods... Let me know what you find out!! I'm with you... all I know is they need teeth!

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my ped. didnt give me a schedule either so I created my own lol I started him with rice cereal, then oatmeal, then barley.... right now I give him cereal and sweet potatoes mixed together cause he didnt like the taste of sweet potatoes... he gets solids 2-3 times a day, I just make sure that he gets between 24-32 oz of formula as well (I believe thats the amount 5 month old should eat)

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Baby 411 says to start with one feeding per day for one month then add another feeding each month after that.

So right now he's only taking food after his 2nd bottle.

In a couple weeks we'll do it after his 2nd and 4th bottles.

So far we tried rice cereal and he just hated it. So we mixed in some applesauce and now he gobbles it up.

We're moving to sweet potatoes next.

We try one new thing a week.

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Just wanted to add also that we feed DS the same new food for 4 days straight, just in case he has a reaction to it we will know what cause it.

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I am being a lot more conservative in the introduction of solids than most people on here. I did a lot of reading on KellyMom and some LLL articles, and I am also following the way that my parents introduced solids.

This link relates to starting finger foods-
Finger Foods
I think you have to let your baby guide you in this a little. It seems that some babies tolerate texture sooner than others.

This is interesting. A much different approach to solids than you normally see-
Baby Led Approach

My parents made baby food for my sister and me so they helped me out the other weekend with the apple sauce and squash. My mom said that I should do carrots and peas next because then I can put the whole cooked ones on his tray and let him try to self feed.

I'm going to make carrots tomorrow. I'm using Annabel Karmel's book "Top 100 Baby Purees" as a guide. I have been doing purees because I'm sending food to daycare and I am not ready to have them let him self-feed. But I will start trying it at home soon.

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Thank you so much everyone. I am going to print this thread and read it on the train tonight so I can really take in all of the great examples and advice!

Okay - now this isn't as bad as I was making it out to seem. I think we can get through this.

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I made up my own schedule. I started DS on fruits at 4 months. And now he will be 5 months next week i just started introducing sweet potatoes and carrots. I say go with your gut if he loves the fruit then try veggies or vice versa. My ped says give it a couple of days before trying new things just to see if he has a reaction. So far my son loves everything we have given him (applesauce, pears, prunes, carrots, sweet patatoes all organic)

This is his schedule although it can vary.

8am: 4.5 oz bottle

11:30am: Fruit w/ cereal and 4 oz bottle

2:30pm: 4.5 oz bottle

6:30pm: Veggie mixed with fruit and 4oz bottle or Breastfeed. ( I get to my moms house from work at this time)

10:30pm: 4.5 oz bottle

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Posted by stephanief

I was told by my doctor that at his age, he should still be getting between 30-40 oz of formula or breastmilk a day

DD is almost 8 months and this is what she eats

Breakfast - Cereal (2 tablespoons) and 1/2 - 3/4 container of fruit

Lunch and dinner - cereal and 1/2 fruit and 1/2 veggies

You can also try giving him some puffs if you want, they do not need teeth to eat table food, they can mash it with their gums

have fun

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You may also want to check out "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel. It was highly recomended to me and I love it!