solid quantity question for 8 month old

[Austin's mom]

lo is just 8 months, but is pretty well establised on solids. He has 3 meals and a snack each day. He is ALSO eating between 32 and 40 oz of formula! I know the cap is supposed to be 32... but I don't want to starve him. I think the obvious answer would be to increase solids. He just isn't crazy about purees. some times he will chow them down, other times he resists. I am slowly introducing table foods. Like avacado, chicken, real oatmeal, speghetti, etc.

Just to give an idea of quantity... he eats about 3-4 jars (3.5 oz each) a day. plus other raw fruits.

Are there any other ways i'm not thinking of to increase quantity? When he eats table food, he eats less, because it takes so much longer to knaw on/chew. (only 4 teeth).

I have a little bit of a hard time trying to find healthy solids for him to eat, as he is intolerant to milk, soy and corn. But he seems to do great with everything else. 


I guess what i'm wondering, should i space out his bottles to 5 hours, or drop a bottle yet? Then maybe he will be hungry for more solids?

I would love your opinion. TIA

[~inbalance~]

What about adding a second snack during the day?

You could drop one bottle and he'd still be getting enough liquids and see how he does with his solids.  Overall though it looks like he's doing pretty good.  I would keep offering more of what you're eating and finger foods, as you are doing, to expand his solids assortment.

You'd be surprised how much they actually do get from finger foods and such, even if it seems like it's taking him awhile, it's still good practice and he'll get better at it.  Also, what about offering finger foods in small bite size pieces, about the size of peas?  If he has a good pincher grasp and can pick them up, he would probably eat a lot that way.  At that age my DS would eat tons of veggies and fruits in small pieces like that, as well as small pieces of meat and cereal.  I used to dice up things like carrots, brocoli, apples, pears, cauliflower, etc. and steam and freeze them, and it was great for fast healthy finger foods.  If they are steamed then they're soft enough for him to eat easily even with only 4 teeth. 

Lucky to have such a great little eater on your hands!!

[Austin's mom]

Great steaming/dicing idea! I will for sure do that. He does great with dry finger foods, but still working on the slicker ones like fruits and some veggies... But practice makes perfect!

[~inbalance~]

You might find some more ideas if you look over here too:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=10.0

Another idea too is to jump in on the BLW thread to find out what other moms are doing:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=175926.0

Solids are so much fun, I can't wait to do it all over again with DS2.  I hope he likes his food as much as DS1 did!

[Austin's mom]

oh great! i'll check those out! He ate a GREAT dinner tonight! its the first time he fed himself an entire meal! He ate about 1/3 of a diced avacado and 1/4 of a diced peach! I think he finally got the hang of slimy food! I'm so proud of him! your LO is super cute by the way (-:

[~inbalance~]

Fantastic!  He really is a hearty little eater isn't he?    My DS1 was a good eater, would try anything and always ate something but didn't eat huge quantities.  He's a skinny little man though.

Thanks!  Your guy is super cute too! 

[Austin's mom]

gosh...my child has been sucking down the bottles this weekend! My MIL kept him while we were in a wedding....she let him drink 3 full bottles last night! Ahhhh!!!! in addition to all his milk and meals during the day. I think its safe to say he was definately close to the 40 mark. I hope starts eating more solids, asap!

[~inbalance~]

Wow he is a big, hungry boy isn't he!  Keep working on those solids, I'm sure he'll start eating them more.  Another idea (thinking outside the box here) could be to consult a nutritionist to find ways of helping him get all he needs in a healthy way.  I know when DS1 was 8mos old I found a company here in TO that was run by a nutritionist who specialized in baby and toddler nutrition, and I registered for one of her cooking classes.  It was amazing, we made all sorts of healthy food every week (purees and finger foods) to take home and freeze, and she taught us all about proper nutrition.  Very informative, I wonder if you could find something similar?  A nutritionist would be full of ideas for what you can try for him that would be safe for his intolerances too. 

[Austin's mom]

What a great idea! I will for sure ask around for something like that!