Am I behind?

[Shayleesmom]

Hi there,
My little girl is 6 1/2 months and we have been trying solid foods now for about three weeks.  We stared with just the rice cereal and I have since added chicken, beef and just introduced carrots to the cereal mixture this week.  She is not too keen on those carrots but I'll keep trying those, she seems to love the meat though - my question is should she be eating more, or more often than she is?  I only give her baby food once a day, as someone told me that too much a day can make her sick or constipate her and I don't want to give her a tummy ache.  She is still getting four 8 oz bottles of formula a day, although after I feed her solids she doesn't take the whole bottle, maybe only 5 oz.  I am completely at a loss here because so many people have told me so many things and I have been reading the board and some little ones are so far ahead of her that I am wondering if I am behind schedule with her food.  I only give her something new every 5 days to prevent allergies as this seems to be the norm that I've been told.  Her schedule looks roughly like this:
Wake 7:30 am
Eat 8 oz bottle 8:00 am
Nap 9:30 am
Eat 12:00 noon, rice cereal mixed with either chicken, beef or carrots
Nap 1:30 pm
Eat 4:00 - 4:30 pm 8 oz bottle
Cat nap 6:00 pm
Bed 8:30 pm 8 oz bottle

Any info or help in this area would be wonderful.  I have had success with other issues posted on this board in various categories before and trust the people on this board and their advise over all the other advise I am getting through other sources.
Many thanks.

Richelle

[Sylvia.]

no no no, you are doing fine, just go slow, milk is the most important nourishment until 12 months, i can't remember when we started meat but i am sure it was heap after vegetable and fruit, all the best and enjoy this special time

[kgmf123]

Hello,
If anything I think you are making really good progress.

My ds was a big lad, but refused to open his mouth to solids until he was 7 months, and even then he would eat the equivalent of half a jar a day until he was 10 months. Once I introduced finger foods he then took off with his feeding. For me his weaning was so painfully slow but I went at his pace and now he'll eat virtually anything.

You are both doing great!

Kat x

[tylersmommy]

Honestly, it looks like the two of you are doing just fine! We took it nice and slow when Tyler started solids at 6 mo...I don't think we introduced a second meal for awhile and we also waited 5 days when introducing new foods. So many of the moms in our playgroup were racing through food introductions and comparing amounts, but they were also complaining about constipation, gas, and tummy problems. Yes, there were lots of foods he hadn't tried by his first birthday, but so what? He has the rest of his life to try them out! There aren't very many ways to do solids "wrong," it just comes down to what you and your DD are comfortable with.

As for amounts, keep an eye on her bottle intake and adjust solids from there, since formula should be her main source of nutrition for a few more months. She should get 26-32 oz per day, and how she gets there is completely up to you. And keep in mind that's an average...you probably have a pretty good idea by now of what kind of eater she is. Good luck!