Eating Solids

My son Charlie stopped nursing at 4 months of age because I was not producing enough milk and he was under weight, so he started on formula and rice cereal at 4 months old. He loves food, but he does spit up a lot! Sometimes, it still amazes me how much he spits up :) Don't worry about the spit up, it is just what some babies do. I would definitely recommend giving your baby formula before the solids to ensure that he is getting enough to eat.

I would try to introduce some variety, pasta cooked really well and in small pieces can be fun. My son loves bananas, refried beans, cheese, whole milk yogurt, cheerios. They offer a variety of texture. Also, we only give Charlie diluted juice from a sippie cup, apparently, it is not good for babies to have juice from a bottle because it is bad for their teeth.

I would be confident that your son can gum food really well before I would introduce meat. Formula provides the baby with the vitamins and proteins he needs.

Hope that helps, feel free to email me ____@____.com

Hi Megan, with both of my girls my pediatrician recommended only starting with watered down rice cereal at 6 mos and sticking with that for two to three weeks before adding sweet potatoes and oats. I waited on things like meat for quite a long time and completely avoided the allergen foods such as peanuts and dairy products for a year. I never gave them meats or juice in a bottle. Juice really rots kid's teeth. Our pediatric dentist said that juice and raisins cause so many cavities and to avoid them. At such an early age trying one food at a time for two weeks is a good way to make sure your child is ok with each food type. Formula is still very important for at least the first year. Humans have sucking needs which develop the formation of the brain that last for four years. Don't take that bottle away too early. I gave my kids water in a bottle for several years just for hydration and neither has overeating problems nor learning disabilities.

I went to a talk by a dietician and she said that a serving of food is one tablespoon per year of life. juice is empty calories! Kids don't need it. They need milk after 1 yr formula/breastmilkbefore that.
My 9 mo old is just now showing some enthusiasm for solids. If he isreally into it he take 2 oz of food mixed with rice cereal he is burning a lot of calories now! I try to time solids between bottles or when he just isn't interested in one.
At this age you can introduce iron richfoods. I gave him turkey and sweet potatoes recently with great sucesss.

There's some good books: Child of Mine, Super Babyfood and I think Dr Sears has a book on the topic.
I hope things go well for you and your baby!
-C.

Hi Megan-
I only have the experience of being able to live close to my nephew and seeing him multiple times a week, but this is what my sister does with her son. He is 9 months old.
She waited until he was 8 months old to give him solids. She started with vegetables, one every 3-5 days. If there is one he just won't eat, then she doesn't worry about it and tries something else. He seems to do well with green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, and veggie medleys. He doesn't care for peas, but if he is super hungry, he will eat it.
As for the bottle, at 8 months old he had a full 8 ounce bottle of breast milk (at 9.5 months she switched to formula and only gives him 4-6 ounces of that) first. If he ate that, then she would give him one some cereal (the oat or barley) and mix in a little veggie. I am sure she did the cereal alone first and he ate a ton of it. Then she mixed it. Now, there isn't hardly any cereal.
Her son has never really liked sweet things. Fruit was almost impossible and his poor backside was red from the acidic poop. He can't have bananas except in very small quantities once every few weeks. He does ok with apple sauce (it has sweet potatoes in it) and apple with cherries. A few weeks ago she started him on 2 oz. juice, 4 oz. formula, and one jar of food. fruit or veggie. But the baby like veggies better. It is not so bad that they don;t like sweet things. He will grow into fruit eventually.
Lastly, I asked her about meat and sippie cups. We bought him a sippie cup at around 8 months because he refused to drink out of his bottle. He likes regular cups but spills alot. The sippie cup works when he wants it. She told me also that you should wait until they are at least one year old to give them meat. Something about their digestive system needing to fully function properly. It is the same with cow's milk (which is hard on an adult body). They need to be at least a year.
I think you can start the juice with the formula between 7-8 months, but water it down- one oz juice, one oz water. SOmething like that. ANd your baby may not like it. But juice, formula, veggie.
Hope this helps!
-E. M

I forgot to mention that the juice is not given at every meal- but in the afternoon so that he will poop regularly.

I believe my pediatrician said to hold off on any meats until a year of age give or take... best to keep the baby on a vegetarian diet until then. She might have said 9 months, though, so I'd ask your dr.

Re: the fruit. Perhaps it is too acidic on its own. I always mixed the fruits and veggies with rice cereal or oatmeal mixed with formula and a little apple juice for taste.

And I agree that solids 1 or 2 times per day is probably enough for a 6 month old.... your dr. can help you determine when to increase the solids.

Let me start with suggesting you speak with your pediatrician but it seems like a lot of solids for a 6 month old...Babies this age should be getting most of their nutrition from liquids at this stage. About 24-32oz breast or formula spread out over the course of 4-5 meals. Solids are still like play at this stage only about 2-4 Tablespoons. As they get closer to 9 months you add more.
I avoided all juice until my kids were closer to 2 years old and then I only serve them 100% juice blends and usually I water it down. Juice is like liquid sugar...while it is natural it doesn't have the same benefits as eating a piece of fruit. Too much juice can upset little tummies. We serve milk or water with meals and water is offered at snacks etc. I highly recommend the book Baby 411 by Ari Brown MD and Denise Fields lots of easy to understand info on all things baby. Good luck.

Hi Megan.

If your baby doesn't like a certain food, I wouldn't give it to him.

How much baby food are you giving at one feeding? One jar? Or more? How many bottles are you giving him?

At 6 months, milk/formula should still be his main source of calories.