Food Needs for My 5-Mo-old Son

Like they said, I'd work my way up the line with the grains. Emme never took rice cereal- only oatmeal. When she was on that for a month or so I introduced veggies. I mixed her veggies with her cereal because it was too runny and thin. She loved it this way! Not to mention it was one less thing I had to mix up since she liked them together. Once she had all the veggies, I introduced fruit. Then the meat (around 9 months). Here's a sample of what she'd have:

Breakfast:
Cereal with fruit
bottle

Midmorning:
bottle

Lunch:
Cereal with veggie
bottle

Late afternoon:
bottle

Dinner:
Cereal with a little fruit juice
bottle

Once she was old enough, I just swapped out the dinner cereal with a meat.

Keep in mind that what you're aiming for is going from "formula-only" to a balanced diet of "solids" by about 12 months, so as you introduce new foods, you'll want to continue offering a balance of food groups through the course of a day. You don't need to offer every food every day, though!
We usually offered cereal (and maybe a fruit) at breakfast, introduced a new food at lunchtime along with cereal, and offered a "familiar" food or two and a little of the new food at dinner. As the baby's list of familiar foods grew, I would often prepare the baby food version of whatever the rest of the family was having. (Oatmeal was substituted when we had mashed potatoes, though!)
You want to be sure that he gets all of the nutrition he needs, as well as preparing him for "table" foods. You're also keeping an eye out for allergic reactions--which is why it's best to introduce only one new food every few days, as others have mentioned.
If you give him cereal in the morning and at lunchtime (with or without a veggie), you can probably skip the cereal and just give him the veggie at dinnertime. If he still seems hungry after the veggie and a bottle, you can always offer a little cereal then.
Continue to offer formula after he's finished a serving of baby food, and between meals at regular times. If he doesn't finish all of his formula (let him decide when he's full), you'll know to prepare a little less of it the next time.
Every child is different, so go with what works for you and your baby.
HTH!
--A. in MO

Yes, continue using the Cereal also with the veggies. As he gets older you will lessen the formula to make it thicker. Usually your doctor will tell you at your visits. Make sure that you try each new veggie for at least 5 days to make sure that he is not allergic.

I was told to go from single grain to double grain, basically rice cereal you start with then work up the line. You want to give him one food at a time so you will know if he has allergies to any food. Try one food for a few days then you can start on another food. You can always call your peditrician to find out what to feed him next, I think you start with the orange food first (carrots, peaches,) after the cereals.

There is a lot of great information here, but I wanted to emphasize a few things.

His nutrition should come from formula his first year. You are introducing solids to help him get used to different tastes and textures so after a year it's easier to transition, but for now make sure he's getting adequate formula to address his nutritional needs. Talk with your doctor about what is okay to introduce now and what isn't. You don't to rush things too much because you want to make sure your baby's little body is ready to digest what you're feeding.

Second thing is to remember to do at least five days between introducing new foods to make sure there are no allergies.

Finally, have fun with it!

Good luck. It's such an adventure!

it is necessary to keep them on cereal.as you add food he will decrease the amount of formula in a day but he will still need formula until he is a year old. next best thing is to as your doctor what is best for your child. T. t.

You're doing good!!
yes, continue cereal with the vegies. It is not going to hurt him and until he is to the point of eating meals, the cereal will help fill him up. Keep in mind, by the time he is 12 months (not far away at all) he will be on whole milk and solid foods. SO, you have 7 months to incorporate veggies, fruits, meats, whole milk, and "solid" food.
When he seems more interested in eating off the spoon than out of the bottle, then decrease the formula. Also, try and get him to eat at least half of his veggies or meats BEFORE you give him his fruits. Since fruits are sweeter, babys tend to want that and nothing else.

Give him cereal as long as he will eat it.My 2 year old nephew still eats the stuff! You should not have to decrease his formula. He should continue to take at least 32oz of formula during the day as well as eating his solids. He is still growing a lot and needs the vitamins from the formula untill he is ready for whole milk which is usually around 11 or 12 months depending on the child.Keep your doctor updated on how he is doing on his solids and they can usually answer questions for you as well. Try all the veggies first - 1 week at a time untill he has mastered these and then start with the fruits, then the meats - if you can get him to eat them (they smell pretty bad) my kids would only eat the meats that were mixed with something. Congratulations on being a mommy - its the hardest job you will ever have but you will love it! I have 2 and would not trade them for the world!!

I agree with everyone else :)
My doctor has said that the cereal is a great source of iron - keep going with it as long as you can!

From everything I have been told, or read, fruit is the next thing to start after cereal. You also continue with cereal usually for breakfast and if needed at night. (I have 6 kids) You should introduce one at a time, meaning keep the same thing for a couple days, then move on to another. After a couple weeks of fruits then start introducing veggies following the same pattern and introducing meats. Are you eligible for the WIC program in your area? They are great at helping with questions like this. Good Luck

I'm just curious ..... why don't you want to continue with the cereal and veggies ?

I think every one does things a little differently, but I always started with the cereals, one at a time. You give a new food for at least three days to be sure there is no allergic reaction before you introduce another new food. Too many new foods at once and you can't figure out which caused the reaction if you get one.

I know some people say introduce veggies one at a time after the cereals, but it seems like I started with a few fruits. Nothing acidic, like orange anything, but peaches, pears, and apples. Then I added some veggies. The yellow ones like squash and sweet potatoes first, then moving on to the green ones like peas and green beans. Meats are always last.

I always kept up with a little cereal and a little fruit or veggie at each meal (sometimes I mixed the fruit in with the cereal and had a veggie on the side) until my baby was eating all three (fruit, veggie and meat) at meals. At that point, I moved the cereal to mornings with a fruit, and offered a little of a fruit, veggie, and a meat at lunch and dinner. just like we would do it as adults.

Remember, these are very small amounts of food. If you are using prepared foods, it's just a spoon full from each jar at a time.
*side note* Please never feed directly from a jar if you intend to save the leftover and give it to baby later. The baby's saliva from the spoon will spoil the food in the jar in a very short period of time, even in the fridge. Always spoon the food out of the jar and into a bowl before feeding.

Follow up each meal with a formula bottle, and offer bottles at your regular times in-between the meals and at bed time.
The in-between bottles are a great time to offer juice or water when baby is ready for that sort of thing.
You will know when to start decreasing the bottle amounts, because baby will fill up faster and not be interested in finishing the bottle. Don't force baby to finish the bottle.

Some things that were highly recommended in my day, are frowned on now, and vice-versa. Yet kids in my day, as well as kids now, all seem to survive and thrive just fine, so personally, I think that most of the time you should just go with what seems to be working best for you and your baby. You know him/her better than anyone else. You can see if he is satisfied or not, you know if something appears to be bothering him, and you know his likes and dislikes. Continue to ask questions about what you are not sure about, but then sift through the answers. Weigh them, consider them, then choose what you think will work best for you and YOUR baby. Don't feel you have to apologise for NOT taking anyone's advice, no matter how sincere they are. What worked for them, may not work for you. That doesn't mean their advice was bad, it just doesn't fit for you right now. Don't stress over any of it ! Even though in some ways we are all the same, all moms are different, all babies are different and all circumstances vary.

Anyone who is a mom, was a "first time" mom once, and those of us who have a second (or more) soon learn that we stressed way too much the first time and wished we would have relaxed a lot more and enjoyed our first time babies a lot more.
You are smarter than you think you are, and more capable than you think you are. As long as you love the little angel, you will do the right thing because love always seeks what is best for the person we love. Even when you make the occasional mistake (and you will, because you are human) you can not feel too badly about it because you know that it was well intentioned and a decision made out of love and wanting to do the right thing.

i know you are a good Mom, and trust me ..... you are doing just fine. Keep up the good work.
:o)

hi there, I have heard to keep giving cereal because it has the most iron init and at his age he needs alot. Also the solids are just to get him accustomed and formula should be his largest part of his diet until his b-day. I think my son started drinking less formula around 10 mo. I looked up infant menus on line they helped me out a lot!!

I agree with what the first mom said. I also gave my babies fruit in there cereal too as well with giving them vegatables. After your baby is used to the friut and vegatables then intoduce meat. Any questions be sure to consult you peditrition