Question About How I Should Be Feeding My 7 Month Old.

Hey M.-
My little guy ate a lot of foods early. My only suggestion is to wait a little longer in between new ones. I usually wait 5 days. He sounds happy and healthy so I wouldn't worry too much, I know, it's hard not to worry! It gets easier though. As for cheerios, I'd wait for more teeth, also once you start letting them feed themselves, in my experience they rarely want to go back to being fed. Have a lot of fun with your baby boy and enjoy every minute, it goes really fast!

I found the whole solid food thing so confusing. I felt like there was a blue print plan for almost everything else, but solids there was information everywhere and often conflicting.
As far as introducing new foods, you can do it two ways. One is to wait 5 days in between starting new foods and look for reactions. The second way is to give him what you wants and if he gets a reaction take foods away to figure it out. If you don't have allergies in your or your husbands families, there's a better chance your son wont either. I always waited 5 days because if my daughter had a reaction I would never trust I knew for sure what was causing it.
At 7 months I was feeding my daughter pretty much anything, besides honey, eggs, and nuts. Just as long as it was cut small or smashed. Cheerios are fine, I went for the Trader Joe's high fiber ones, but if my daughter wasn't constipated most of the time I would have given her whole grain ones.
I say this, after stressing about food for 6+ months, as long as you are feeding your son healthy foods, you're doing it right...try not to stress too much about it. Lastly, the whole food thing before they are one year is more for the experience then anything else. He is still getting most, if not all his nutrition from the formula or breast milk, so have fun!

If your baby is "perfect in size", I would think you're not feeding him too much, as long as you are not making a game out of eating or forcing him to eat if he is not in the mood.

As far as spacing between new foods, I would draw it out longer. If your son is allergic to a new food, it may take more than a tsp or too to figure it out, and it also can take a few hours or days for food to pass through his digestive system. Waiting one day doesn't seem to me like that would give his body enough time to process and react. If he does have a reaction, you won't know which new food was the cause.

Finally, I would be careful about introducing certain foods. No honey, peanuts, citrus until after he is one year old. I thought eggs were also on that list, but my children are a little older and I don't remember for sure. Cheerios are pretty basic baby/toddler food and could probably be placed on his high chair tray at this point. Be sure not to give him more than 4-5 at a time, unless you are willing to sweep up most of them. :) He may not have the motor skills to pick them up yet, and will bump them off repeatedly.

I think the previous posters have great advice. I am a big believer in not over-thinking the amount of food your child eats. They are better self-regulators than 99% of adults i know! The only thing i wanted to add is my own little secret food that was a staple when my kids were 6 months to two years: liver sausage. I know...sounds gross to us adults. but it comes in a little tube and it's a great consistancy for those two teeth (or no teeth, it's easily transportable for a trip to a restaurant, and (my favorite reason) you can put chucks on their tray and they can pick it up and eat it themselves. And when they were 1+ years, i would make liver sausage sandwiches with saltines for an easy lunch on the road.

Hi M.,
Yes feeding is so confusing! (and sorry this is so long!)
Ok here are some of the "rules" or guidelines,
Allergies: allergies to foods develop after repeated exposure. so like allergies to wheat will not happen immediately, it takes multiple times feeding him that his allergy shows. Sometimes it is immediate, but most of the time it is from repeated. The next question to answer is do you have any allergies on either side of the family? Then just be mindful of those things, like nuts. (I am waiting until 3 yrs for peanuts - because I have allergies on both sides of the family to other kinds of nuts).

The best way is to offer the same thing for five days before you introduce something new(you can mix in with things that are already ok). So if he eats egg yolk fine, add cheerios with the egg. Then if there is a reaction you will know it is the cheerios not the egg. It's really so you can keep track, like if he has a reaction you will know what it was and not have to back track or start from scratch.

Then you have my SIL, who threw caution to the wind and gave her twin girls everything, and they are fine. I on the other hand am waiting on a year for dairy, wheat, and egg whites. Yes, that makes it very hard, but I feel a year of limitations is worth a lifetime of none! For my SIL everything is fine, and most kids it is.

My son is off and on with egg yolk. Try different things, scrambled and fried (which ends up kinda scrambling) and hard boiled. Like me his a moody eater.
It sounds like everything is fine. You are doing a great job! If you'd like more info, check out Dr. Sear's site, also babycenter has good articles too that are pretty right on. Just FYI, doctors do not have extensive training in nutrition, so if you feel you are at odds with your ped, you are not alone.

As for meat, I read in multiple places that they should be 8 to 9 months because their digestive track doesn't have all the enzymes to break it down. If you have already begun, just hold back from now on. And reintroduce later (I think you said he is 7 mo).
As for cheerios and stuff, I have seen kids with few teeth work those out just fine. I started by cutting them in half, and that worked. They just gum them.
Unfortunately I think food stuff is half instinct and half knowledge, with a pinch of trial and error.
I read Super Baby Food (but I don't make her porridge), and What to Expect Baby's First Year. I also use Dr. Sear's site and BabyCenter.com. Oh, and I tend to read a lot of magazines, which is good and bad. Sometimes they are a little sensational - so you have to use common sense.
Best wishes to you and your family!

M.,
You have some very good questions. Have you spoken with your health care provider?
It is usually wise to introduce one new food every week, not every day. Infants underthe age of 1 year get the bulk of their calories from formula or breast milk and at 7 months should be drinking between 20 to 24 ounces in 24 hours. I am gled to see you are using a spoon and not putting the cereal in the bottle.
Finger foods like cheerios,soft cooked vegetables, crackers, soft fresh fruits, are an important part of a child's development. He can also be sitting in his high chair at the table with you at meal time.
The goal of feeding is that at 1 year of age the child has progressed to 3 meals and 3 snacks, eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and protien sources.
Eggs are ok if you want ot offer only the yolk, however you want to wait until 1 year for the whole egg.
Thanksgiving dinner offers a great variety of table foods you can offer, mashed potatoes, cooked yams, gravy, pumpkin pie, soft rolls and whipping cream are all foods he could try.
Remember to have fun.

A.

It sounds like you are doing fine, but I would make sure he is getting the minimum amount of formula 1st- I think my daughter was drinking about 30 ounces at the time and eating 2-3 meals of baby food. My daughter didn't get teeth until 11 1/2 months and she was eating just about anything at 9 months old. Cheerios are a great snack and good practice for him to start self feeding eventually. My daughter also liked regular oatmeal and yogurt at that age.

It's always so hard to know! It sounds like you're feeding him right and that he's satisifed. I would, however, wait a little longer in between introducing the new foods so that if he does have a reaction, you'll have a clear idea of which food caused it.