Author Topic: Starting solids and BFing... when and how?  (Read 935 times)

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Offline aj's mom

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Starting solids and BFing... when and how?
« on: April 18, 2006, 16:48:12 pm »
Hi!  DD is 6 months old and is on a 4 hr easy.  She BF's at 7, 11, 3, 7 and a dreamfeed at 11... she usually wakes up once at night around 3 for a small feed.

I just introduced rice cereal for the first time 3 days ago and it went well... she was ready!
For the past 3 days I have been giving her the cereal at the 11am feed only, and I begin by BFing a few minutes then moving onto the cereal.  YEsterday she ate a heaping tablespoon of (dry) rice cereal with BM, as well as the few minutes of BFing beforehand. 

Question is, when do I move onto feeding her solids 2x a day, then 3, etc... and when do I introduce other foods - and which ones... pears, avocado, etc...  Do we stick with the feeding schedule of 7, 11, 3, and 7 but just keep replacing with solids?  Do we strive for one feeding being solely solids at this age or extend it a bit? 

Oh I also had a question about consistency... for the first feeding I made the cereal very liquidy like the box said for her 1st feeding but after that I made it much thicker - is that ok?  What is 'too' thick?

Another question.. no poop for 3 days since starting cereal... normal?  What should I do? 

Would you mind posting your feeding schedules and what/how much LO eats each day if on a 4 hr easy? for a 6 month old who just started?

Thanks!!
« Last Edit: April 18, 2006, 16:52:00 pm by aj's mom »

Offline tylersmommy

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Re: Starting solids and BFing... when and how?
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2006, 19:35:24 pm »
There might be some good feeding schedules in the EASY forum, but in general, a 6 mo old just starting solids usually eats an average of 1-2 tsp of solids per meal. Of course, this is just an average. Your best bet is to keep a close eye on how long her nursing sessions last and her interest in each one. Breastmilk should be her main source of nutrition for several more months, so if her interest starts to decrease, then that's a sign that she's filling up on solids and you may want to cut back. She needs to still be nursing 4 times a day for awhile yet, so it isn't time to replace breastmilk with solids. Give her a full nursing, then offer solids afterward. If she'll eat them right away, great, but lots of babies need to wait about an hr to build up a tiny appetite. It's up to you when you add additional meals in...we waited a couple of weeks, but if it's going well, you can certainly add in another. Just be sure to always introduce new foods early in the day so you can watch for reactions. After you've given a new food for 3-5 days, you can introduce a new one. Pear and avocado are great first foods, as are other cereals, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, and squash.

For consistency, it's really up to her how thick she'll take her food. You'll know it's too thick if she gags.

Poops do become less frequent and more solid once solid food is introduced, but normal varies a lot from baby to baby. You'll know soon enough...if she's uncomfortable trying to pass BMs or her poop looks like marbles, then she's constipated. The iron in infant cereal is notoriously constipating, so starting pears or prunes may help get things moving again.
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Offline evelyn

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Re: Starting solids and BFing... when and how?
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2006, 19:52:44 pm »
Tylersmommy has pretty much got it coverede! :D But i just wanted to add that rice really bungs lily up...and it is her favourite, we tried pears, prunes, boiled water etc etc.......eventually had to resort to suppositry.......but we have found that peaches mixed with her rice every 2nd evening keeps things flowing KWIM??!!!
Rice was her first food, followed by butternut squash, carrots, pear and apple.
HTH
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