2 week of solids - just some thoughts and questions

[maybell245]

Hello!
Merry Belated Christmas!

My DD is 6 1/2 months and started solids 2 weeks ago.  This is now the middle of week 3.  I have introduced rice cereal, sweet potatoes and carrots.

Do I reduce her bottle ounces?  I am finding mixed information on this and was confused more when I reference the BW book.

She won't take much solid food in the morning (around 8:30), but at dinner (around 6:00) she will take a ton and will still want her bottle too!

Her Dr. advised us to only do breakfast and dinner for awhile because there are lots of food allergies in the family. 

How much should I try to offer her?

I am trying to figure a lot of this out as now I am on Winter Break and would like to have a solid plan in place before I return to work after the New Year.  Both Grandmas are with DD at my home during the week when my husband and I work.  I went back about a month ago.

Thank you for any insight and feedback!

[Lolly]

You don't reduce her bottles, milk is her main source of nutrition until she gets to 1, until then solids are for fun! What you will find is that as her calorie needs increase as she gets bigger she will need more solids and her milk will gradually reduce. Most bottle fed babies drop to 3 bottles at around 9/10 months and then 2 bottles around 1 year. It tends to be that the day bottles start decreasing so you drop the mid-morning bottle and offer an afternoon bottle just before her afternoon nap.

You can let her guide you with quantities as long as it's not reducing her milk, follow her full signs.

Sounds like you are doing fine!

Laura

[creations]

follow her full signs.

Agree with everything Laura said. just wanted to add on this, turning her head from an offered spoon, pushing it away, refusing to open her mouth, spitting it back out or if she is self feeding with either a spoon or finger food then pushing it away, dropping it or throwing it are all signs of being full. It is very common (IME) for people to try to coax a baby to eat more, to finish the serving where as it is much healthier to follow her cues. Babies are pretty good at self regulating the amount they eat and some day this might be barely anything and some days will be lots. Allowing her to stop eating when she is full is a healthy habit for life (ie not teaching her to ignore the full sensation).

[maybell245]

Thank you both!  She is starting to take more food now in the morning and still eating a bunch at dinner. 

I think one of her full signs may be biting down really hard on the spoon so I can't get it out.  She has done some of the other ones too.

She has also started to not take as much milk at some feeds.  She bites down on the nipple or lets it all roll out of her mouth.

[creations]

Is she still taking a decent amount of milk?  it's ok if its a temporary drop, just a day or two, but you don't want the milk intake to drop too much longer term as this is her primary food source.

Sounds like it's going well though

[maybell245]

I think so, yesterday she still drank 29 oz out of the 32 she was offered.

[creations]

Oh sounds plenty