Help with Baby Food

You've gotten some great answers so far. I just wanted to add that it is a good idea to try the new food in the morning. That way you can watch for any type of allergic reaction throughout the day. Babies don't really know that cereal is for breakfast and veggies are more of a noon or evening meal...it's fine to switch them around as you like. :)

This website is awesome! I asked for help and was referred to this site by a lot of mommas... It gives sample feeding charts for various ages, what fruits and veggies are best to introduce at different ages, and it even has recipes if you want to make your own.

wholesomebabyfoods.com

I started my son on veggies at six months. I never game him any kind of cereal. I also make the baby food and freeze in ice cube trays so each cube is about one ounce. I started with one cube veggies at dinner for a week then move to two cubes. Next I started fruits, one cube at a time, then two. He will be seven months next week and he eats two cubes fruits in the am and two veggies at night. I make sure not to feed him solids too close to nursing him. I have been giving him a sippy cup of water for a couple weeks now, but he probably drinks less than half an ounce per day since he is just learning. I plan to start making some combo foods soon.

Don't they grow up fast?
You're doing a great job.
I'd continue with cereal and add one vegetable at a time.
Consider starting with yams, maybe yellow squash, or carrots.
Yellow-red vegetables are good to start with
re flavor and nutrituve value.
Good luck!!

You can mix the cereals with breastmilk or formula or milk if water is too bland. You can also mix-in veggies or fruits for flavor. I've also put two foods in one bowl 1/2 and 1/2 and then dipped the spoon in a little of each so baby gets different flavors.

I always served cereal cold, but you can try warming them up too.

He is probably eating enough. My first daughter could never finish even one jar of food but her sister would eat a jar or two! Follow his cues. It's okay if he doesn't finish it.

You should def. give him water. especially now that he is getting foods. Water helps the body with digestion. It's okay if he drinks just a couple sips or much more. We offered water at meals. I put it in a sippy cup so they could learn how to use those.

i would say just keep following your instincts on this one. no need to feel forced to give him cereal especially because you are breastfeeding; he will continue to get most of his nutrition from your breastmilk as long as you nurse him! way to go mom! :)
but give him a small amount. nurse first, then give him the solids for "fun" as a good experience with texture and tastes. but dont stress about how much. if he has nursed first, he wont need too much.

you can give him water, but not a lot, again, nurse first.

if hes rejecting it (or in other words spitting the food out) just end the solids when he gets cranky. he will "tell" you, for lack of a better word, when hes done. :)

anyway, you've got it down mama, and just keep it up! :)

Take your feeding cues from your baby. If he's fussy, stop; if he's interested, keep going :)

I introduced new foods every 3 or 4 days, starting with root veggies, lentils and stuff like avacados, bananas, apples, etc. I also kept up with the previous foods I'd introduced, mixing up the 'menu' and usually giving 2 foods per meal. You could just stop the cereal, but if it's iron fortified, you may want to keep it up until baby is eating other iron-rich foods. Start with just a bit of the new food and follow it up with a previous food. Again, take cues from your baby. If he's interested, keep going.

The only time I gave my girls water before 12 months (I was exclusively breastfeeding) was during their solid-food meals. I boiled some water, cooled it and put it in a sippy cup. They needed help for the first few months and I don't think they actually drank all that much, BUT they were never on bottles because once they were weaned at a year they were quite proficient with the sippy.

Definitely check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com if you haven't already. You can find the answers to alot of questions there.

I started putting a little bit of water in a sippy cup at this age so my daughter would begin to learn how to use it.

Also, just take cues from your baby. Start out slow with a small amount and gradually build up. At this age I believe I was doing some rice or oatmeal cereal in the mornings and 1 or 2 ounces of veggies at night. Our pediatrician wanted our baby to be eating 3 meals a day (along with all the regular breastfeedings) at 9 months so that was sort of my scale and how I worked myself up as far as how many times a day and how much. This worked great for M. because then my daughter had 3 solid months of eating solids regularly and weaned great right at 12 months.

He doesn't need water at all unless you want to add it to his cereal instead of breast milk. You can do ceareal in the morning and veggies in the evening.

You can take away the cereal if it is bothering him. Sometimes, the thickness of it bothers babies. Are you using just plain rice or mixed, oatmeal? Well, I see you've tried both. Plain rice cereal is the easiest to digest. Maybe stray away from the oatmeal. If you are breastfeeding, you have to remember that breast milk is very thin, as opposed to the switch in textures between the cereals.