What is a good schedule for a nursing baby about to start solid foods?
adarcy1229 asked:
My daughter is 5 months old, in a month we are going to start to introduce her to solids and I am so confused as to how and when to do what foods. People and the doctor told me to start with rice cereal first, which is fine but I dont want my milk supply to go down and I dont want my daughter to get confused. Whats a good schedule to do with a nursing baby starting out on cereal, veggies and then fruits.
My daughter is 5 months old, in a month we are going to start to introduce her to solids and I am so confused as to how and when to do what foods. People and the doctor told me to start with rice cereal first, which is fine but I dont want my milk supply to go down and I dont want my daughter to get confused. Whats a good schedule to do with a nursing baby starting out on cereal, veggies and then fruits.
Your baby is ready to eat solid foods. But your baby should still continue ****** feeding up to 2 years old. About solid foods, try GERBER. hehehe. Taste great.
my sister got a lil spoon and put milk on it to get the baby used to the spoon and then yogurt on the spoon for him to get used to the solids :d hope this helps x
i would recommend yogurt mash potato and wetabix / porridge and soft things like this at first and then try more solid foods
Whatever works for you and your baby. (Every doctor and every book has a different ‘right’ order and method…)
You can start with rice cereal if you want. It’s cheap and convenient and, since it tastes mostly like the milk it’s mixed with, most babies like it.
But you don’t HAVE to start with rice cereal, and there are certainly down-sides to it. (It’s highly processed, some babies don’t like it, it doesn’t taste like much [so one of main benefits to solids in the early months -- introducing baby to new tastes/textures, isn't there], it contains no useful nutrients.)
If you start solids at 6 months+, you can start with any food you wish — cereal (rice or oatmeal), or fruits, veggies or meat. If you wait a bit longer, you can start with table foods.
To keep your supply from dropping, be sure to always breastfeed first and offer solids after she has nursed. And keep an eye on the amount of solids she takes, and your milk supply. She can normally have as much as she wants (1-2 meals a day to begin with.) But if you find she’s really filling on the solids and nursing less, ease off.
Solids ARE just for fun for the first few months, so whatever she enjoys as far as type of food and quantity is fine.
Your milk supply wont go down as the main source of food for her at this age is milk and your milk will come through whenever she needs it or whatever time she normally feeds. Offer her her normal milk feed in the morning when she wakes up, offer her a few teaspoons of baby rice mix with ****** milk in the afternoon topped up by ****** milk feed. You can then start introducing other foods like pureed vegetables in the evenings followed by a bedtime milk feed. As she is going to be on the move soon she will need more then ****** milk to grow. Once she is well established on solids, her milk feeds wont be the same as they were when she wasn’t on solids but she will still drink set amounts throughout the day. You can also introduce her to finger food like toast or baby rusks around 7 months this will help her teething but also encourage the teeth to cut through. I also breastfed and offering solids will not confuse the baby.
One thing you might want to consider is breastfeeding her BEFORE you give her solids. Most people do it the other way around, but the danger is that she gets too much to eat and doesn’t then want the ****** milk, which obviously, she still needs.
One of my girlfriends pumps milk to mix with the rice cereal – not a bad idea! Rice cereal first (make it soupy and only offer it once a day to start, gradually increasing over the course of a couple weeks), then onto mushed bananas (just a few slices – can also be mixed with ****** milk). Applesauce and pears can come next.
Fruits are best because babies are used to sweet tastes (your breastmilk is incredibly sweet). Remember to only introduce one new food at a time. Relax and have fun with it – baby will tell you when she wants more, but don’t expect her to eat more than a few teaspoons at first.
Good beginning veggies are pureed carrots (not too many!), squash, avocado, and mushy beans. Once she’s content with the fruits and you’re confident in your feedings, you can move on to the veggies. There’s no hurry.
Oh, and finally, I know a lot of people start solids at six months, but if she’s happy on the breast, she can stay there indefinitely. I’ve known people to breast-feed exclusively for nine months. Some babies need solids earlier. She’ll let you know!