how much solids should a 7 month old be eating?

[Picker blocker]

My daughter will be 7 months next week.  She is a good eater.  I give her cereal (about 4 tbsp mixed with milk) for breakfast and dinner and veggies and fruit (sometimes meat...still introducing new foods) for lunch (about 3-4tbsp).  She has milk (breastfeeding) 5 times a day including one feed during the night, but often wakes up a second time during the night wanting more milk, which I try to hold off.  If I feed her after 4am, I don't give her milk at 7am as I otherwise would so she only has milk 5 times a day.  Is it possible that she needs more solids to eat during the day? I usually give her solids 1/2 hr to 1 hr before milk so that she drinks milk.  So she has milk at 7, 11, 3, 7 and once during the night, usually between 12 and 3.  And she has solids at 10, 2, and 6 or within a half hr of those times. I think she would eat more solids if I offered, but I don't want to over feed her so that she is not hungry for milk.

Also, when do they start needing water to drink?

[<Catherine>]

Sorry your post had been missed.

Milk has more calories than solid food, and until 12 months milk is the most important nutritional source, solids are just for fun really. We recommend that you give milk first and solids about an hour later.

These links should be useful to you:-

Introducing Solid Foods the Baby Whispering Way

Solids for 6-12months very useful Information

Amount of Formula/Bottles/BFs when having Solids

Also, when do they start needing water to drink?

I *think* water should be offered now that your LO is on solids, so perhaps offer a sippy cup of water with each solid meal?

[*Ali*]

I'd actually say that is a large amount of solid food she is already eating. The WHO and NHS in UK recommend only introducing a third solid meal between 8-9mo.

You may wish to consider changing the timing of the solid meals so that she has milk first. That way she will fill up with breast milk, which should be her main source of nutrition until 12mo, and then only eat the solids she has space left for. Tracy recommend offering solids an hour after milk. You will see in the links Cath has posted that is what most people do here. Too much solid food at the detriment of milk can actually make them more likely to wake hungry at night because the food fills their bellies but doesn't contain the nutrients and calories to sustain them like milk would.

As Cath says I would offer water in a sippy cup with every solid meal. That will give opportunity to practise and a little drink to wash the food down and quench her thirst.