Examples Needed of 5-6 Month Old Menu for the Day

My son was a hungry hippo.
Breakfast: fruit mixed with cereal and then a bottle (8oz)
Lunch: Veggie and veggie or veggie and fruit
Bottle (8oz) in between
Dinner: veggie and fruit, bottle before bed.

I think that's how we did it! He's 13 months now, hard to remember. But it was 2 of the stage 2 meals at each meal for him.

Hi! I hope this doesn't sound preachy but it's been my understanding that you should always start with orange food (carrots, squash, sweet potatoes) because it's easier to digest and I wouldn't worry too much about amounts. If she still has breastmilk and/or formula I would give a little cereal for breakfast and a little baby food with lunch and dinner and then breastmilk/formula throughout the day as she wants it. At 5 months I don't think she needs too much solid food. I have 3 boys and my doctor told me kids don't have the enzymes to digest food until they're around 12 months old. It's just to get them used to eating. Honestly, though, I think kids do need to eat solids before 12 months. My boys certainly needed more than just liquids! She may also have some digestive/stomach issues if she has too much solid food now. Again, I hope this didn't sound preachy, this has just been my experience.

I gave my kids whatever we were eating, unless it was fish, but that changed once they turned 10 months. For daycare I would send in yogurt and possibly baby food in a jar or make your own baby food. I was a home day care provider so I used to provide lunch and snacks, this way the parents didn't have to worry about packing lunches and I could feed everyone the same thing (unless they didn't like/eat something). The sooner your daughter gets used to eating what you eat, the better off she will be, just be careful of fish and peanut butter until she is almost a year old. My kids eat just about everything and they range from 25 down to 9 years old.
Hugs,
T.

My son is 6 1/2 months old and is eating solids 3 times a day breakfast, lunch & dinner. But he also has at least 24-28 ounces of formula a day. For example: breakfast he has ceral made with formula and a little fruit (1/2 the jar) and then a bottle about 1 hour later. Lunch consists of veggies (1/2 jar) with the remaining 1/2 jar of fruit and then another bottle about 1 hour later. Dinner is mostly ceral made with formula and his bottle. He has also started sleeping through the night. The most important thing is that she gets at least 24-28 ounces of formula/breast milk a day.
As far as sending food with him to daycare. I would think 1 jar of fruit & 1 jar of veggies each day would be enough. I hope this helps.

Hi M.,

Oooh, I'd like to know the answer to this one. We do the 3 day trial for everything, and are still trying what's out there in jars.

I'd love to say we do typical things, but the only thing I try to stick to is Oatmeal for breakfast, and rice for lunch and dinner - with oatmeal for extras if he's still hungry. We've had veggies for breakfast, fruit for dinner, and if he's really tired and falling asleep in his dinner, we might only get cereal in.

I don't think it matters when you feed them what - unless you want it to.

Having parents that have eaten really odd meals at really odd times in really odd places probably doesn't help my son much - he will have food at the table, but there isn't much of a schedule beyond feeding him when he's hungry.

I figure if we get the cereal in that the pediatrician requests, then we're fine. :)

Good Luck,
M.

M.,

Hi. I had the same questions. www.babycenter.com website has guidelines that I loosely follow. Good luck with the feedings and the job.

It was awhile back for me ... but I also used a little dicer to include meats at some point. The jarred baby foods may be good to send to the daycare.

At this age solids should be just like a dessert. Breastmilk/formula should still make up the majority of her meals. She should only have a few tablespoons at this point- less than the amount in a jar of baby food. Buy the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. It gives a great outline of what to feed when. The only thing that I don't agree about it is giving juice, which is basically just sugar-the vitamins are gone from it. There is also a companion website: www.superbabyfood.com

Hi M.,
My little girl is 7 months old. Her typical schedule is:
Am bottle- usually around 6 or 7 am (when she wakes up) 8 oz of formula
breakfast- about 3 hours or so later- small bowl of cereal mixed with some fruit (stage 1 or 2) and 4 oz of formula
lunch- 3 or so hours later- 1 container of either fruit or veggies (stage 2) and 4 oz of juice
dinner- 3 or so hours later- 1 container of stage 2 meats and half of a stage 2 veggies and half of a stage 2 fruit and 4 oz of formula
PM bottle- right before bed- 6 or 8 oz of formula (which ever she takes)

Sometimes she doesn't eat all of it. Hope that helps! My little one is doing really well with it!

Krista
(Mother of Kayla)

M. all the advice you have received so far is great. YOu can also go to http://www.beechnut.com/Caring%20For%20Baby/Article.asp?t... they have a lot information around feeding and sample menus. I found it very helpful. This is of course targeted to beechnut products but you don't have to buy those you can buy what you want and just focus on the tips and guidelines. Hope it helps.

O.

Hi,
i know that feeding was one of my biggest challenges with my son (and still is) but what i found helpful was the recipes from this site http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes and the book "The Contented Baby". i didn't really agree with a lot of the discipline in the book but at the end of each section was a sample menu and a sleep chart which i LOVED. they really helped me feel like i had some idea if what i was doing was consistent with what my baby needed.
Hope this helps, good luck!

Hi,
This is what worked for me and my sis:
6am wake: bottle
8-or--9 : breakfast: oatmeal/rice cereal
10am : bottle
noon: lunch (orange veg or green to start. I made my own purees until she was 15mos.
3 pm bottle
6 dinner
8 bath, bottle, bed

Play time is in between the 6am bottle and 8am breakfast.
Nap is usually 3 hours after waking so that would be after the 10am bottle and then play when up and in between the noon lunch and should nap after 3pm bottle. make sense?

Hi M.
My daughter just turned 5 months on sunday, and by and large this is the schedule she follows:
She usually wakes up around 530 or 600am and decides to hang out in the crib until about 730 or so. At about 730, I give her the rice cereal and about 4 ounces of formula (I dont know how much cereal i give her - but I know I make about 6 oz of formula and use about 2 or 2 1/2 ounces of it to mix in to the cereal.
Then around 11 or 1130am, she gets a container of either peas, bananas, or sweet potatoes along with about 3 or 4 oz of juice (either white grape or apple).
Then around 3 or 330pm, she gets a bottle of formula (around 7 or 8 oz).
Then around 7 or so, she gets a container of either peas or bananas along with about 4 oz of formula.
Then, around 1030 or 11pm, she gets a 7 or 8 oz formula bottle. I'm lucky in that her dad stays with her during the day, so bringing food around isnt an issue. However, though she doesnt really like any foods other than the peas and bananas, I'm hoping as she gets a little older I can add some more diversity. At first she liked all the ones we tried, but now she's more picky.

Hope that helps......
A.

Easy one is apple sauce, I cooked my own baby food which is actually pretty easy. I steamed different veggie like carrot, sweet potatoes, and pure them with blender or food processer and you put in ice tray, you can microwave a couple and mix with different cereal.

Hi,
I used to make sweet potatoes and various steamed veggies (string beans, squashes, broc(can be gassy), carrots) put them in a food processor and then freeze in ice cube trays. When my kids were really little (like yours) I filled the trays about 2/3 full and when the cubes were frozen dumped them into zip lock bags. Then when you are getting ready for work - put two or three different cubes in a nuke-able container and off you go. Yogurt and Monterey Jack (1cm) cubes were good snacks - along with the usual... cherrios or corn puffs!
I did this whenever I went anywhere - every restaurant/deli has a microwave (10-12 sec in high powered microwave is plenty).
Good luck - this is such a fun time! - J.

Dear M., infants should be breast fed till they are 8-9 month. Mother's milk is so good because it is not processed and fresh. You can supplement your infant's nutrition with other foods. Look for the quality of the food not quantity. The least processed and organic is always better. Avoid as much as possible artificial vitamins. Biodynamicaly grown food has the most life force (energy). Their is a farm in Spring Valley which grows vegetables and fruits biodynamicaly. If you can get a low speed grain grinder you could make wholesome porridge. Twice a week a little meat, (no hormones or antibiotic fed)chicken or other bird is the best. No eggs and honey till your child is 1 year old. You can sweeten with maple syrup or other fruit syrups. This way of eating will give you also the right nourishment.
Love, B.

hi M.,

i am a daycare provider and the food you give her for lunch depends on her apetite. we have a five mo. old who eats a small jar of veg. and some of his fruit. he also drinks 6 oz. of formula about 3/4 of hr. later. but not all children on the same. you can give your provider the veg. and fruit and let them decide how hungry the baby is. usually you can tell and as a provider i know when my 5 mo. old is full. I hope this is of some help to you.

M. s.

Hi
My son just turned 6 months and I'm wrestling with the same situation. I've giving him some baby cereal but he absolutely hates it- I've given him some soup, bananas, mangos and spaghetti- he loved everything. I'm trying something new - it's called baby led weaning- http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/

I'm not completely on board with the idea so i do a variation on what is within my comfort zone

hope this helps
M.