My son is 10 months old. I worry about how much solid foods vs. formula he should be consuming. He has fruit w/ cereal in the morning, a veggie for lunch, puffs for a snack, and a 1/2 meat (sometimes all) for dinner. All size 2 baby foods. He drinks about 25- 30 ou of formula. Does this sound right for a 10 month old? How/when/should I reduce the formula? Doc said he should be at 10-12 oz of milk by age 1. When should I try chunky foods (like Gerber size 3)?
THANKS:)
Wow - Thanks for all of the help! My son is small in weight for his age, so I worry a lot about his food. I'm going to stick to feeding him what I think he can handle and not worry that other baby's may eat more or less. So tricky:) I can't wait for table food...I tried some cut up toast and he gagged and spit it out. I'll keep trying. Thanks for all of the help!!!
Most of his nutrition should still be coming from the formula right now. As long as you are giving him a bottle BEFORE feeding him solids he is very unlikely to overeat. At this age Food is more experimental than nutritional.
If he's doing ok with the puffs I would nix the baby food all together and just give him soft cooked veggies and fruits and small amounts of whatever you are having for dinner (cut tiny)
It sounds like you're doing the right thing with the amount of formula and food at this point. Over the next 2 months you should start moving toward more solids and less formula to accomadate the smaller amount of milk at age one. Keep in mind that the milk can come from any dairy products. As far as chunky foods it depends on your son. If he's eating the Gerber puffs I think he should beable to handle the stage 3 foods. I think the recommended time is when they can feed them selves. Just watch close that he doesn't choke the first several times you offer them. You might even try giving him what the rest of the family is eating too. Baby food doesn't have much flavor and with my kids they didn't really want the stage 3, they wanted what I was eating. My kids were totally off jar food by a year, but all kids are different so just do what you think is right for your son and it will all work out. Good luck!!!
For my son who was also small for his height/age we kept him on Step 2 formula past the year mark until 18 months to help make sure he was getting the right amount of calories a day. You don't have to jump them right to milk at a year of age. My son was no problem to switch off formula and still loves his milk water and juice. Most formula companies have a stage 2 formula now too anyways. Usually 2 bottles a day will give them everything they need vitamin wise and you can still give him whatever solids he wants. As far as changing up stages on foods, go to the gerber.com website and they will give you signs of readiness to move on to the next level of food.
Good luck!
C.
First of all dont worry about your sons diet. He is fine and whether he gets a bit more milk or a bit more solid food is not a big deal.
Dont be afraid to try foods with him- Get a couple of jars of 3rd foods.. Try to feed him the 3rd foods. If he eats them- then he is ready- if he gags on the chunks - he is not ready- wait a week or two and try again.
3rd foods fruits and veggies do not have chunks - but the 3rd food dinners do have soft pieces like noodles or carrots.
Babies should get about 24 oz of formula until age 1- after age 1 they switch to whole milk and they shoudl get about 16 oz a day.
If your son can pick up gerber puffs- try cherios, my daughter started eating canned fruit cut into small pieces about this age. - try canned pears first- peaches are slippery.
Once he has the hand coordination-to pick up fruit pieces - try canned veggies. green beans, peas carrots.. you will be surprised with what he will eat if you offer it.
Babies move quickly through the baby food and on to table food.
S.: I have a 9 month old and we just had his well baby check up. The Dr. said that as long as it's soft and he can gum it we can give it to him. He also takes about 24 to 30 oz of formula a day and he is about average on his height and weight. One thing the Dr. told me is that at this age the baby won't over eat. They will eat until they are full and then they won't want anymore. I guess we must learn that when we are older :). Hope that info helps.
H.
S. -
I have a 10 month old son also, and he loves to eat. He has much the same diet as your son, but he is on 3rd foods. He has cereal w/ fruit in the morning, veggie for lunch, yogurt for a snack (yobaby - it's organic), and a gerber "dinner" with meat for dinner. He has puffs or Cheerios at every meal, and has just started the freeze-dried fruit. He's still breastfed, but probably has about 16-20 oz of breastmilk a day. His pediatrician said that most of his nutrients are coming from the solid foods now, so not to be worried if his interest in the bottle tapered off.
I think it just depends on your baby. If your son doesn't seem overly hungry and he's happy with the diet you have for him, that's good. My son started on solid foods at 4 months because he seemed hungry after nursing. (he's not overweight, either. He's in the 25th percentile for weight for his age). My goal is to have him switched over to table foods at a year, as he's starting to want what my husband and I are eating instead of his baby food.
Good luck, and stick with your instincts! :)
S.-
I have a 9 month old son, and he eats baby cereal with fruit for breakfast, a whole jar size 3 of baby food for lunch, and dinner, puffs for a snack, and about 4 8 oz bottles through the day!!! I asked my Dr. if that was too much solid food through out the day, and he said let him eat how much he wants, just make sure he is getting AT LEAST 4 8oz. bottles in the day!! Let your son eat what he wants, and I'm sure he will be fine if he is getting his formula too!!! Hope that helps!!
Hi S.,
It depends on the child. My now 16 month old son started eating table food at about 10 months. He wanted nothing to do with baby food. I made sure to cut everything up small and he loved it. If I remember correctly he should be having only 18 ounces of formula. Double check with your ped. on that though. If you are going to cut the formula and bottles at age one I would start doing less formula and more food. Good luck. Hope this helped.
Chris
I have a 11 month old. he has been off baby food since 9 1/2 months. he just refused to eat it. he wanted our food. my doc said it was fine.we have issues with eating certain foods. but he is normal for his weight. he drinks about 16 ounces of formula and about 8-14 ounces of whole milk.
one thing to watch with the size 3 foods. some babies get confused, they dont know if to swallow or chew it. and they choke. we skipped the 3s with both my kids,just went to table food.
your his mom, so whatever you decide is right for your child!
