New to Solids. Amount taken at milk feeds dropping quite a lot.

[lynners]

Hi there,

My son is 6.5 months and we are on to our third week of solids.  He started well, had a dip in the middle when he got a cold, but now seems to be very enthusiastic and eating lots  We've always had numerous problems with our breastfeeding though and his milk feeds seem to have got quite dramatically shorter which I'm concerned about.

Could someone please review my eating routine and let me know if it needs tweaking.  The milk feeds before solid feeds are shorter than they were, but the final breast feed before bed is now very, very short.

This is our routine in an ideal world (which really only happens very rarely.  Loads of variation with nap lengths!).  Nearly every day though we have our catnap at 5.00 pm and I'm not sure whether to have the solids before or after.  We currently have two solids feeds a day Will increase to three in about a week and a half.

7.00 Awake and change
7.15 E Milk
7.30 A
9.30 ish S
11.15 E Awake and Milk
11.30 E Solids
11.50 A
1.45/2.00 S
3.15 Ideal E Milk , but with ever increasing A times this would tend to be later
3.30 A
5.15 S
6.00 A - not sure whether to put solids meal before or after catnap.  Have been doing after but seems to have greatly affected the amount of milk he takes last thing.
7.00 Bath
7.15 E Milk
7.45/8.00 Sleep.

I've also got some questions about using frozen purees.  I've got loads stacked in my freezer and just want to check the following -

Is it fine just to take from freezer and let defrost outside fridge for a few hours before meal then either just serve at room temperature or just heat slightly in microwave?  (I'm talking about just fruit and veg at the moment but will be meat mixes soon)

I keep reading that if you're reheating it's important to heat until very hot and then cool down.  Is that just when you're heating from frozen though?  Is there any difference between frozen purees that do contain meat and those that don't?

Thanks so much for your help.

[Freya'sMum]

Hello & Welcome to world of solid foods

Suggest you check out this FAQ in the first instance about http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=118497.0 it should answer quite a few of your queries about how it all fits together...

...as for how to serve purees - it's basic food storage and preparation rules, same as with any chilled or frozen foods - to minimise bacterial growth, it is best to defrost in the fridge, and then decide whether you are going to serve either chilled or heated - room temperature is not a healthy temperature really if you are going to reheat, heat until very hot and allow to cool, otherwise serve chilled from the fridge. You could probably get away with it with fruit and veggies, but not with meats or dairy - it would be a bacteria-fest !

Ax

[lynners]

Hi there,

So if it's best to always have solids after the Milk feeds, in my routine is it best to have solids after my 3.15 feed - just seems very early.  Someone else suggested that for two meals a day best to have them at nch and breakfast to ensure hungry for good milk feed at bed.

What do you think.  I know Annabel Karmel suggests lunch and dinner.

Thanks so much

[lynners]

Just a few more questions sorry.

So as a general rule is it fine to take your meals for the whole day out of the freezer and put them in the fridge for use throughout he day either chilled or heated up substantially cooled.

I it not even possible to defrost in the fridge and once defrosted taken out of the fridge to reach room temperature.  It's just that it's definitely getting cold here so the idea of chilled foods isn't so appealling and I don't really want to bound to have to heat everything up especially if we're out and eating on the go.  If we had to go down the chilled route i assume I'd have to take a cooler bag for food all the time.

Thanks

Also a question re. sippy cup.  I tried my LO on one from about 4 1/2 months using water which he took to ok.  I then read that Tracy suggested teaching them to drink milk from it from the start so as it had only been a few weeks of water I changed it to milk which he definitely began to refuse.  I kept sticking at it but meanwhile he got a cold and stating refusing the bottle as well so the sippy cup appears to have gone down the same route.  I changed back to water to see if he would at least take that but alas not even that.

I'm just upset that he was taking the cup pretty well and now it's all gone wrong by me trying to do the right thing.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

[huntersmummyinoz]

no expert but i was always advised to do solids 1 hour after milk, that way they dont hold out for solids and still take a decent milk feed (also works the other way when not eating much solids, to make them hungry enuf an hour later to want it)

so maybe try giving lunch at closer to midday? as for the second meal, its really up to you if you want to go breakfast or dinner, but since you are already offering at dinner i would stick with that. i always gave hunter his 'dinner' at around 430pm so before his catnap. then as his A times increased gradually moved it later and later and then when the catnap disappeared, dinner was at a more regular time (he is almost 10mths old now and dinner is at 6pm). hope that makes sense?

also, remember he's only just starting out on solids so 1 or 2 tablespoons can be enuf to make up a 'meal' then gradually build it up over time so as not to affect milk intake just yet.

as for freezing/defrosting/heating - i used to take it out the night before or that morning and put in fridge to defrost. and heated up before use, fruit and veg only ever needed about 10/20secs to just warm slightly, but meat/dairy i heat a little longer and let cool (still only takes a couple  mins tho)

out and about, i must confess i used jars often as didnt need to worry re hot/cold, also they dont veggies etc at room temp. also banana easy to take out, sterile and already wrapped, and just mashed a little for him. HTH

re: sippy cup, keep trying, i dont know whether to recommend milk or water. hunter only ever accepted water and i only gave him water in it (obviously didnt read enuf of traceys book at the time!), kept trying milk about 2 months ago, always refused but gave him cold milk last month and he now drinks 3/4ozs milk from a cup  i'm sure someone will be able to give you good advice on this, maybe try posting about milk in sippy cup on bottles board?


by the way, love love love the annabel karmel books, i only bought on recently but its great, wish i had it when i started solids

[L76]

Hi there

Have you tried a doidy cup? I was using a Tommee Tippee sippy cup and my LO didn't take to it that well at first - she struggled to see over the top which seemed to frustrate her!!! (she's very nosy!!!)

Anyway, someone recommended the doidy cup (slanted rim makes it easier for LOs to drink from) to get her used to water. Worked a treat as she now takes water from both beaker and cup. Also, I did add a v.v.v.v.v. small amount of flavoured water to it a few days (I simply added a little bit of the water left over from when I steamed some apples and pears). Not sure if that helped at all but worth a try maybe?

Love the AK books too - my LO is 7.5 months and I've been following loads of the receipes - have you tried Lovely Lentils yet? My LO loves it. Also, I was struggling getting her to eat veggies for a while so added some grated cheese and it went down a treat.

No expert either, but agree with Huntersmommy about trying to do lunch a little later. We've not dropped any daytime milk feeds - still doing 4 a day at 7,11,3 and 7pm. Although each day is different with regard to how much she takes - sometimes nothing (like today at 11am) and other days the whole 6oz bottle.

Although AK suggests that you do dinner and lunch, I actually did lunch then breakfast then dinner. Don't think it really matters although sometimes I have the same problem as you as my LO still has a catnap some days and by the time she wakes up at 5.15ish she seems to be starving! She still takes a good dinner then good milk feed though but she is an eating monster!!!!

HTH
x

[huntersmummyinoz]

totally agree that the type of cup makes a big difference, hunter uses a playtex one, the handles are really wide and dont join the cup at the bottom so he can lift it right up and back to drink, (really good when they can only hold things with their fists) the tommy tippee one we had he cant tip back enuf to drink from. he also drinks from one with no handles now and just holds the cup in both hands.

however i suspect your probs are to do with what is in the cup, given that he used to drink fine from the cup before. maybe try really diluted juice to sweeten things up a bit too (make sure using 100% juice tho, no added sugar). have you tried luke warm water or even cold water?

[L76]

Oooh yes, luke warm water worked for us too - forgotten that. Especially if you have to heat his bottle (I know you are BF but if you do a bottle at any point?). Also, BM can be quite warm so maybe he likes his liquids to be warm.... worth a try. 

[huntersmummyinoz]

just be aware that the luke warm water can make them poop rather quickly afterwards 

but if it gets him accepting the cup go with it and then gradually adjust to room temp water

[L76]

LOL!
Now mine's on solids, she is filling her nappy every five minutes!!!!!
Makes me laugh when I think back to the first few weeks of solids when I had to resort to the prunes...!

[lynners]

Well hello lovely ladies.  Great to see you've both been hard at it with lots of good advice while I've been away.  Hoorah

Huntersmummy,

Will try leaving an hour between milk and solids feeds and see if that helps. 

I wish I could keep the quantity of solids down to a couple of tablespoons but he LOVES them and gets really upset if he can't have more.  I've taken to trying add milk, or baby rice with milk, to the purees to make the meals bigger but also get sneak some milk into him.  Not sure if i should just not let him have the amount of solids that he wants and deal with Mr Upset

Re freezing/defrosting/heating thanks for the advice.  So you definitely think this heating to very hot and then cooling issue is only for the likes of dairy and meat?  Sometimes too even if I've defrosted soemthing overnight it is still a bit icey.  Do you thinks if it's safe to microwave from that stage?

Leanne76,

Can you explain what a doidy cup is.  It doesn't mean anything to me.  I've been using a Tommee Tippee cup too and was told it was one of the better one because it's not non-spill.  My Health Visitor told me to avoid non-spill ones becase apparently the action a baby needs to use on them is pretty much the same as for a bottle whereas a non-non-drip (!!!!) cup needs an action closer to using a grown up cup. Hmm feel like I'd be pretty happy if he's take something from any old cup though at the moment!

By the way haven't got to lentils yet.  Still on First Tastes, but will definitely try when there.

Huntersmummy, Do you know if the Playtex one is non-drip?  Fab that your son is taking it so well.

Will think about warming the water.  Up until now when we give him a bottle he's accepted the milk at room temperature. - which has been great  (He's just had a cold though and started refusing the bottle which is a whole other story and could also be affecting the sippy cup but LO refused sippy cup with milk way before his cold)

Thanks again to both of you.

[L76]

Hi there

Link to doidy cup below - not sure if you are in the UK or US? I am in UK and they sell them in loads of places like Jo Jo Maman, John Lewis etc. Google it and you'll find lots of places selling them.

http://www.johnlewis.com/230409356/Product.aspx

My LO loves her solids so KWYM re: giving them enough to keep them happy and not replacing the milk! I think you have to go with what your baby is telling you. It is so difficult to know the right amount though isn't it? For example, I use the Annabel Karmel freezing cube tray and my LO has just demolished 2 cubes of butternut squash with grated cheese, 2 bread fingers, 1 cube of peach with 3 teaspoons of yoghurt! And then she'll happily tuck into a full feed in an hour or so! The monster!!!!!

[huntersmummyinoz]

the playtex cups have a valve in them to make them non spill, but you just take the valve out so that its free flowing.

also, you dont actually have to defrost the food if you are heating it. i freeze all hunters food in an ice cube tray, then put the ice cubes into a snap lock bag in the freezer, that way i just take out however many cubes he needs and zap them in the microwave. works well as when their appetite increases you just add an extra cube of food. same principle as other foods, fruit and veg i just zap until ready to eat, meat and dairy i zap til hot and let cool, but straight from freezer is fine, is that what you mean?

when you are saying he has a lot of solids, how much is he having?

[lynners]

Hi Leanne,

I'm in the UK too so John Lewis it is.  Wow these doidy numbers are fab, so grown up!!!  No lid or anything.  I've got to get my hands on one of those and spread the word around my group of mummies.

How old was your LO when she started to use one?  She sounds like a fabulous feeding monster!

Huntersmummy,

By the way welcome to the UK.  I'm from Oz too (Melbourne) and have lived over here for 14 years...I was only coming over to go backpacking.  Hee hee!

Will definitely look online for the Playtex cup too.  Great you can just take out the valve.

I've started doing the ice cube game too.  It's a great idea.  LO is doing two meals a day.  I put his meals in one of those Avent breast milk storage containers and it comes up to about the 100ml mark.  That's about four times the amount he was having a few days.  He's just got over a cold.  I don't know if that's part of it because he can now smell it properly etc.

[lynners]

Huntersmummy - I meant to say thank you for going over the freezing/defrosting thing again.  I've definitely got it now.  Doh!