Ideas of quantities please? 6 months and just starting. BF baby.

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Hi, I am just starting my DS on some solids. It's day 5 and he's doing pretty well and seems to like it. His milk feeds before solids were 3/4 times per day and he would still sleep through. I have been giving him the solids a bit after his second feed because he takes a huge breast feed first thing in the morning. If he's having one solid meal per day how much should I give him (today I gave a lot to see what would happen: 2 x small cubes of carrots and 3 x pear and a bit of baby rice - milk feeds were 3 because he slept ages due to the heat) or should I give him less and introduce a second meal. I don't want him cutting back on his milk but he only took 3 or 4 feeds before solids so I don't know how I can tell. I don't want him getting dehydrated.

Any views welcomed.

J

[tylersmommy]

It's hard to tell how much they're getting when you're nursing, but your best bet is to keep an eye on his nursing sessions. If he starts to lose interest or is nursing for less time, than that usually means you might consider cutting back on his solids to help his nursing appetite. Another cue can be if he starts waking at night out of hunger. Believe it or not, breastmilk is actually much more calorie-rich than any solids, so if he isn't getting enough during the day it can affect his nights. Chances are, he won't dehydrate, and you'll know if he starts to. Signs of dehydration can include fewer wet diapers, constipation, no tears when crying, or you notice the urine in his diaper is a dark yellow.

Most beginning solids eaters eat anywhere from 1 tsp to 1 tbsp at a meal, but some eat more (or less) than others. Keep an eye on his nursings and go from there!

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Thanks.

I've managed to get the routine a little better today thus far. I think one of the reasons I get so confused is that different books say different things and my little ones feeding is no where near text book some days.

I've done some more cooking today (so I don't feel I am putting in loads of effort the whole time for 2 tsps!) and I am going to stick to one meal and when I add the second I will go for 2 small meals but will look to increase the variety with the one meal as much as I can. Hopefully this is the right thing to do.

Your advice about nursings seems to make sense and will try and watch out for this. I was wondering if I should move the meal to after the 3rd feed (say about 5ish(breast feeds are about 730,1130/1200 (wont feed always if earlier) and 4pm and 7pm). That way I know he's got at least 3 larger feeds in. I dropped the cluster the other week because of him not taking full feeds. I understand the reasons for doing the solids earlier in the day but he's full on milk. What do you reckon?

Thanks again.

J

[tstasko]

Hey J -
Just wanted to chime in about the dehydration concerns....we always give dd a couple of sips of cooled boiled water after and in between meals.  not enough to take away from bfs, but to my mind at ease  and also so she can get used to drinking out of a cup.  we started with spooning her a teaspoon after her meal, and now she takes some sips from the cup - although a lot ends up on her bib it makes me feel better because of the heat, don't know if you express milk, but you can also put that in a little sippy cup as well (i just did that for my dd for lunch today), and mix it w/food so you know your lo is getting the milk there too.

have fun!
Tari

[tylersmommy]

You can move the solid meals wherever you want, but if he's still on one meal, there are some things to think about. It's usually best to introduce new foods earlier in the day so you can keep an eye out for allergic reactions and tummy problems...if a food he eats later in the day causes a tummy issue, you'll hear about it during the night. Not fun!