How often do you feed your baby “baby food” when you just start doing this?
Question: How often do you feed your baby “baby food” when you just start doing this?
My daughter will be 6 months old later this month. I will talk to her DR. about introducing baby food, but how often and how much will I give to her in addition to her bottles? Thanks.
Answer:
Answer by wink86
I started off one 1 meal a day for dinner. I started him off on Stage 1 veggies. I stayed with that kind of food for 3-4 days. When I got through a couple veggies I started fruits. Once I got through a bunch of fruits, I started giving him fruits in the morning and veggies at night time.
Good luck!
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My baby is 5 months and I have just starting doing some reading on this. One to two meals a day for the first few weeks. I think food shouldn’t really replace bottles until closer to 9 months. Maybe someone else can correct me…?
I started at 5 months, and I started out with 1tbsp cereal once every other day.
Then I changed it to every day.
Then 2 tbsp once everyday..and just slowly graduated solids over many weeks
But thats how I did it…there are probably a million other ways to do it
Some people start right in offering 3 meals a day. I started with just one meal in the evening and just fed whatever my son would take. At first it took us 3 days to finish a stage 1 jar but within a couple weeks he was taking 2 stage one jars. When he was eating enough solids at that one meal to not want milk after I added lunch and the same with breakfast. On average we added a meal a month. By 9 months we were ready to add the third meal and now at 10 months we have a bed time snack as well. He is feeding himself table food now though so is back to needing a bit of milk after some meals but that’s ok.
Just go with the flow and remember that milk(breast or formula) needs to be the main part of your child’s diet until 12 months.
A good way to start is to give her cereal (rice or oatmeal) in the mornings in between bottles. Then do veggies for lunch later on (hold off on fruits for a while. If she tastes fruit now, it’ll kind of be like candy for her, and she might not like to eat her veggies at all) Then, you can move her on to a little fruit with her cereal in the morning after introducing her to all of her veggies. It’s usually pretty effective. Also, make sure and use Stage 1 gerber foods to start off with. After she can sit up by herself, progress to stage 2. And walking means stage 3. I think it’s okay to give babies a little mashed up fruit or potatoes occasionally though.
When we started baby food we would offer it 3 times a day. She wouldn’t eat a lot like she does not, but we offered it. Most of the time she would only eat maybe half, if even that, of the jar. So she would eat what she wanted and once she was done I would offer a bottle right after to make sure her tummy was full. Be patient because more then likely she wont eat a lot at first, but with time, if she like my baby, she will gobble them right up! Just offer it, and if she doesn’t like it then that’s fine she doesn’t have to take it. It’s something new she is still learning.
Start with one or two teaspoons once a day. Pick a time when she is no hungry. At first it is an introduction. She really won’t be eating just getting to the know food.
If she spits it out that is normal. Try again unless she gets upset. Baby will continue to spit out her food until she learns to swallow. Usually around 7 months. Don’t worry her main food is her bottle until 8 or 9 months. And just because she spits something out doesn’t mean she doesn’t like it.
Once a day to start with. After a week or so, if she’ likes it and does well, you can go to twice a day. She probably won’t want/need more than that until 8-9 months or more. (You don’t want her reducing her milk intake.)
As for how much per feeding — depends on the baby. Some love solids and eat quite lot (a jar at a time or the equivilent.) Others are indifferent, and happy with just a taste once a day for many weeks. So, always give the bottle first, and then follow baby’s lead. As long as she’s opening her mouth voluntarily for the spoon (no airplane games or coaxing) keep feeding. When she stops opening her mouth or turns her head away, the meal is over. It IS just for fun, so whatever is fun for her is ok.
EDIT: It is NOT normal for baby to spit the food out. If baby spits it out, it means she still has the tongue thrust reflex, and can’t yet eat from a spoon. Most babies have lost the reflex by 6 months, but a few have it longer. If, after a couple of tries, baby is still spitting it out, wait a week and try again. (Or try a different food and see if she likes it better. If it’s still no-go; wait.) There’s no rush. And they don’t have to learn to ‘swallow’ — baby is swallowing milk from birth. She needs to be developmentally mature enough to be able to take solids and transfer them from the front of her mouth to the back.
my sons pediatrician told me to start giving him baby gerber at 5 months try vegetables first and then fruits…. but to give him at least one gerber ever 2 days so he can get used to it…