5months - Solid?

[Ma.of.Bo]

Hi all,
Sorry first for my English .
Im confusing the concept of SOLID.
Does SOLID mean any other food except milk?
Ex: Let say im going to let LO taste fruits before 6monrhs. Does that mean I start SOLID for him already?

LO is 5months now. His head is steady while sit up. He puts everything into his mouth. He crabs my food. He chew most of time. His weight is more than double from birth. BUT he needs support while sitting bec he keeps moving non stop. I BF him so dunt know how much he takes. But I thibk milk still can satisfy him.
I intend to give him rice cereal into routine after 6 month HOWEVER I would let him taste fruits before that.

Is that safe by doing this way?

When he was 4months. I did let him lick half of a cherry.after afew lick he... He suck the half into his mouth with an "ooch"sound :0. That was scary but I still can hear he swallow lots of juice. He then cried when I stopped feed him cherry.
is that a sign of solid readiness? Or just sucking thing?

Im just thinking am I delay his eating skills?

[creations]

Hi
Your English is great, don't worry!  I admire anyone who can use more than one language

Does SOLID mean any other food except milk?
Ex: Let say im going to let LO taste fruits before 6monrhs. Does that mean I start SOLID for him already?

Yes.

The guides from WHO (world health organisation) advise waiting until LO is 6 months but many people do begin earlier than this at around 4 months.

You know the guidance for readiness is ability to sit up unsupported. Mine could sit unsupported but moved quite a lot, his movements were quite jerky and erratic too as he tried to control his body and limbs, he also became quite tired trying to sit for long periods for example when eating. I used a folded towel behind him in the high chair to help him.  It IS very important that LO is upright though, not leaning backwards or reclining, or there is an increase choke risk.

I intend to give him rice cereal into routine after 6 month HOWEVER I would let him taste fruits before that.

Many people don't bother with rice cereal now. It has very little to nothing in the way of nutritional value so you may prefer to continue to offer fruits and perhaps introduce vegetables, then in a month or so introduce meat, fish and other foods.  There is also no need to puree food if you enjoy offering finger foods and tastes of your meals instead. I would watch out for round foods such as the cherry you mention, also baby tomatoes, grapes as they are all a higher choke risk. Think of finger foods as being the size of an adult finger, with enough length for LO to grasp in a fist whilst leaving a bit free for them to chew on.
I would also hold off on grains (eg wheat) for another month if you can.

It sounds like he was very interested in trying new tastes at 4 months.  Previous generations began solids much much earlier than the guide lines suggest now and I expect many people were fine with it, obviously there are reasons for the guides to be 6 months but I wouldn't worry now you have started.  It sounds like you are following your baby's cues
Mine screamed his head off every time he saw my food from 4.5 months to 5.5 months. I couldn't eat anything at all in front of him. Eventually I gave in and started him on solids at 5.5 months. I think if I did it all again I would have been more inclined to follow his lead a little earlier.

hope this helps

[Ma.of.Bo]

Thank you so much creations ♥
That is more than enough to help me now. Cause this is my first so stimes I quite worry to try a new thing for him.

There is also no need to puree food if you enjoy offering finger foods and tastes of your meals instead.

Do u mean I can let him try my meals which have heaps of MSG, chicken powder, salt & sugar? & how about circuits? Coconut?

[creations]

Do u mean I can let him try my meals which have heaps of MSG, chicken powder, salt & sugar?

Perhaps not
Do you cook the family meals?  What I did was slightly change the way I cooked, I didn't add any salt or salty seasoning (such as soy sauce or stock cubes) and if this was unsuitable for me or the rest of the family I took out a portion for DS and then seasoned the meal for the rest of the family.  For instance if I cooked noodles I used only water, no seasoning or salt, took out for DS then seasoned the rest.
If it is really not possible to do something like this and you still want to offer finger foods rather than purees you could prepare similar rather than the same meal.  LO can have all the same veg and meat you have but prepared without the MSG, sugar and salt.  The closer it is to your meal (whilst remaining suitable and healthy for his age) the more he will be ready for family meals as time goes on.

how about circuits?

is this biscuits?

[Ma.of.Bo]

Woo hoo sound really great & fun. Cause I have a typical Asian eating habit so I really want LO eat the same thing w me. Like porridge cook w veg (&meats later) & rice later.  I dunt like packaging food but the nurse recommend I use rice cereal to provide more iron for LO so I just use it.

this morning LO finisned 4teaspoon of rice cereal mix w 1teaspoon formula. Abit screaming after he finsh 2teaspoon so I give him more. But I stop at 4 cause worrying he would take less milk later
Is that ok? Or just feed whatever he want?

[creations]

I'm not aware that rice cereal contains a great source of iron. Perhaps the rice cereal you have there is different but from all articles I've read it lacks nutrition and may instead reduce the overall amount of nutrition because baby may be too full to take their milk. I would choose fruits or vegetables instead.
Dark green vegetables, beans, tofu, and meat contain iron. At 5 months your baby should still have his stores of iron from birth, also it's been shown that breast fed babies are able to obtain iron from breast milk.

The main thing at this point is to keep his milk intake up. Milk remains his primary food for many months yet and will give him the nutrition he needs. I chose BLW (baby led weaning - essentially this is where baby self feeds and chooses how much food to eat) which is becoming more common now.  I let my LO guide on portion size but it is essential to ensure that every mouthful is healthful and that milk intake doesn't drop.

This link may help too
Foods To Avoid

[Ma.of.Bo]

After 4days of rice cereal he drops 1 feed in 24hour. Sigh*
I stop the cereal today. 
cause I EBF so I dunt know how much he takes. I have no idea howto maintain the milk intake...

He cant selffeed now so I eat whatever I put into his mouth.
LO is a really happy & easy boy. He laughs & talks thoughout days & night wakes . Stimes cry for food but play most of time . He crys a bit when he wantto sleep & cry his lung out when OT.

The hardest thing is he rarely cries for food & dunt show any sign of full.

So how can I know how much solid I should feed him to keep the nutrition?

[creations]

I would agree with dropping the cereal for now. You don't want him to drop a milk feed for several months yet (was it a day feed or a night feed?)
LOs do become more efficient feeders as they get bigger but if he refuses a full feed or if the time he is feeding for reduces significantly (in minutes) then this could guide you that he is taking less overall.

See how he goes with a little taste of vegetable or fruit rather than the cereal. The cereal might have filled him up too much.
Portion sizes are very small at this age, even a tea spoon or two of puree can be enough.  Really it is just a taste.
Perhaps Tracy's weaning guide would help?
Weaning Guidelines from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
Tracy's guide shows 2 to 3 solids meal per day, it's fine for LO to have just 1 solid meal to begin with (and 3 meals at around 8 months). There really is no rush, especially as your LO is still quite young.

[Ma.of.Bo]

He dropped....night feed
Yesterday he dropped 1as well even I didnt feed him cereal
But I still stop cereal. Today I give him cherry & cooked apple.
I think I would let him taste veg & fruit until he 6month. Then I would cook proper porridge (W.o seasoning &meat) for the begining of 6th month. Then at the end I would cook w meat. On 7th month I would start really soft rice. On month end I would pmild seasoned.
Is that ok for the plan?

[Ma.of.Bo]

I have looked at Tracy guide but I dunt wanna wean BF.
How should my day go if I still wanna feed LO until he 2 or 3?

[creations]

Your plan sounds great
With the seasoning, try to avoid the salty things. Sorry I don't know exactly what you use, but things like fish sauce, soy sauce, salt and any fish/meats which have been dried/preserved with salts.  LO can have a tiny amount of salt but it really is very very small.  Other seasonings such as herbs, spices, garlic, ginger should all be fine unless you spot any reaction (mine had a skin reaction to curry masala, red blotches on his face and hands where it touched him, but he was not sick from it. I avoided for a few months following that).

I have looked at Tracy guide but I dunt wanna wean BF.

I've looked again at that link and it does appear as though a couple of milk feeds are dropped in Tracy's guide but I think it might be misleading (it says to finish off the solid meal with a BF but I believed that to be in *addition* to the 4 regular milk feeds of the day not in place of). A baby wouldn't drop to 3 feeds per day until more like 8-10 months and perhaps down to 2 at 11-12 months. Usually the drop is led by baby being less interested in 1 of the milk feeds. I'll check out the book again and make an amendment to the link if it's needed. Thanks for highlighting this.

How should my day go if I still wanna feed LO until he 2 or 3?

At 1yo their primary source of food comes from solids so the focus changes.  I see no problem with BF whenever you liked (WU, morning and/or afternoon snack, BT) so long as the balance of solid and milk is suitable. There's some info here about child-led weaning in case you haven't seen it:
Weaning
and a support thread for those who continue to BF after 1yo
Extended Nursing Support Thread Part 5

For now you will continue your 4 regular BF WU, mid morning, mid afternoon, BT and offer the solids an hour or so after the milk feed.

[Ma.of.Bo]

Ive just looked back all our posts. What did I say "circuit"?
Im not sure what I asked 
I think I meaned sour fruits like orange, lemon, lime...

[creations]

citrus fruits? Reflux LOs should avoid citrus but if your LO never had sign of reflux then I don't see a problem. Especially if it is for adding to something else, say lemon juice in a meal rather than big wedges of lemon

I also checked the books. Tracy's toddler book makes the feeding guide a little clearer. The 4 milk feeds remain untouched at 6 months. I'm afraid the FAQ may be a little misleading or open to misunderstanding. I'm looking at adding a note to make it clear the milk feeds continue with solids meals between. My assumption that finishing off the meal with breast or bottle are all additional milk feeds, rather than the solids being in place of milk feeds. Hope that clarifies for you.
Tracy also said in her toddler book to introduce finger foods from 7 months. Many now introduce at 6 months.

I don't know for sure about coconut (your other question), I did read around a little and saw information that it is fine for babies so long as there is no known tree nut allergy in the family.  I would introduce with caution perhaps, coconut flesh, milk, etc can be a diuretic and can cause loose stools, I would think small portions would be ok and as with any food keep a look out for any reaction or other changes.
Any food can cause changes in LO though.

[Ma.of.Bo]

I have 2 Tracy book already but not really understand all. Many ppl said the toddler book is great. Do u think I should buy it?

Lo has 7milk feeds in 24hours - 5 in day , 3 at night - at around 8, 11:30, 14, 17, 19, 1, 3:30. Stimes I feed him at 5Am cause his Dad goes to work & wake him up so I just feed to send him back to sleep .

For my understanding what u said mean under 1 year old If I feed LO solid in routine & Lo would drop milk feeds into 4 in day time & take full feed  - Thats ok. Am I right?

Then after 1, I can give him cow milk after meal & "serve" LO BF when he want. Rite?

At weaning link I found out Iam accepted to wean anytime when I want or Lo desire. But in Extended BF link, sound like I shouldnt BF after 3.

I dunt care if BM contains nothing at that time. when I BF I feel a strong attachments w LO so I just love BF him. (I think bec the loneliness from the pressure of a single parent)

Should I stick on the recomendation of giving the same food at 3days? Im thinking to vary vitamins in his meals & just keep the same food when I concern that might cause allergies. Is that ok?

[Ma.of.Bo]

  LO has just waken up at 10:30 (full sleep 1h30). I feed him at 11:30 & type the reply at the same time. So didnt notice he falls to sleep on my breast   . Why he can be that tired? :0 Should I wake him up to continue feeding?

My plan for EAS now
7:00 WU & play
8:00 BF
9:20 S
11:00 A
11:30 BF
12:30 1-2 tsp of fruit juice (normally I feed w spoon & let him play a bit fruit on his fingers. Cause he loves to put things in his mouth so I just let him touch& taste himself whatever I put into his mouth)
1:20 S
3:00 BF
5:20 BF & CN
6:00 A (Bath, story...)
7:20 BF
Take a little break after feed & go to cot.

Is that ok? . I think ok. Haha