Preparing for Solids
Tags: Preparing, foods, for, introducting, solid
Views: 32
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Natalie H on -
OK so crazy that she is big enough for solids now!!
First thing is that for the first week or 2 she may not swallow any of the rice cereal (if thats what you choose to start her with) as she is just getting used to the texture.
Once she does get used to it and starts swallowing it, usually you just give her 2 oz of rice cereal (once per day to begin with) after nursing her. You dont need to cut a nursing meal at the beginning.
Here is a great discussion from last fall
http://www.ocmommies.com/forum/topics/how-to-start-with-a-feeding?c...
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer V on -
Thanks again for all the helpful info, so far solids are going great! Are you suppossed to keep a food log of how much/what they are eating? Its sort of hard to tell how much she actually swallows since she is still getting used to it haha.
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Permalink Reply by Karen on -
Hi Jennifer. I'm glad it's going well so far. Unless your baby has problems with feeding or weight gain, there is no reason to track how much she's actually eating. In the beginning, she is eating more to start learning how to eat, get used to different tastes, textures, and smells, practice swallowing and using a spoon, etc. The actual nutrition and calories isn't that important, and she is still getting the majority of her daily nutritional needs from breast milk or formula. So just have fun with it, offer a wide variety of foods, and watch out for any allergic reactions.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer V on
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Update:
So I found a great website with lots of great info that was way better than the baby food books I bought. Hope this saves someone some time/money!
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Permalink Reply by Samantha Brook on -
I never saw a need to track meals. As far as introducing solids goes, until they are 1 their main source of nutrition is going to be breastmilk/formula. Introducing solids is more to get them used to the various textures, tastes, etc not for nutritional purposes. Don't get me wrong, there is nutritional value, just keep in mind that it's not the main source of nutrition. As far as what to introduce and when, talk to your pediatrician. Mine was very relaxed with this. We started rice cereal at 4 months and while my LO liked the idea of it, she hated the taste. At 5 months she was on jars of food. Per our peds recommendations we started with green veggies (least sweet) moved to yellow/orange veggies (a little sweeter) to fruits (sweetest). Keep in mind, the BIGGEST thing to remember when you start jar food is to only feed one kind for a few days. You are testing allergies this way. It takes a few days for allergies to present so you want to feed one kind of solid for 3-5 days and then switch to a new one. Do this until you've worked through them and then you can mix & match. Also, keep in mind that bowel movements will change & you'll need to consider this when feeding various solids. Some will make them go more, some will constipate them. That was our biggest feat and sometimes still is (my LO is 2). I have to make sure to incorporate enough foods that balance things like yogurt with things like peaches (one that binds with one that loosens).
I have a great chart at home on my external drive & can send it when I get home in a few days. I referenced a link to it in the post mentioned before but it appears to not be at that link anymore. It basically gives you a quick idea of what your child needs in terms of servings of each food group and what food can be placed in the certain food groups.
Good luck on this new venture. It's not as intimidating as it may seem. :)
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