Introducing Solids to a Breastfed Baby

Try rice cereal before you do other grains. You can use breast milk to mix it. Mashed bananas are good too. Don't go too fast. Introduce one at a time so if he has a reaction, you will know exactly what it was. I would also suggest that you get a baby food grinder or processor. I used this with my last son and it worked really well. He learned to eat the food we were eating from the table without the extra preservatives, etc. Try vegetables: peas, beans, carrots. Try peaches, applesauce, pears. You can used canned fruit and put it through the processor.
Enjoy you little son, they grow up too fast:)
H.

If I remember correctly, a tablespoon or two is what they typically start at... For the exact reason, to not deter them from the milk... Good luck

Breastfeeding is great for the first year. I usually breastfeed for two years. I am currently breastfeeding my three week old and have three other children. However, the first year I breastfeed then give solids if the baby is still hungry. I did it this way so my milk supply would not decrease. Usually one jar was enough but it all depends on how much breast milk he intakes. Good luck and hope this helps.

Check out the book, "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It is an excellent resource when introducing solids and will answer all you questions about what, when, and how much. Good luck!

Hi M.,

this book was a godsend for us: "Super Baby Food"

It had a month-by-month list of what foods to introduce when (which ones their tummies can handle), recipes for making your own baby food, and EASY EASY EASY strategies for making your own food. We never bought a single food jar (and we both worked then, so it had to be easy or we wouldn't have been able to do it). I loved that book.

A really good first food: mash either yams, avocados or bananas and mix them with breast milk.

You can throw vegetables in the cereal easily: take spinach or broccoli in some water and nuke it until it's cooked. Throw the whole mess (water too) into the blender. Dump ALL of it into an ice-cube tray and freeze. When you have hot cereal, throw a vegetable cube into it to cool it down. (I told you this was easy).

The book also has recipes for making your own cereal (grind grains/beans/legumes in the coffee grinder), and it's actually really easy too -- you can make it ahead.

As for how much; I'm having a hard time remembering (youngest is three [grin]) but I know the book had a schedule we followed.

Good luck!

Hi M.,

Congrats on the solid food stage. My little guy is a big eater and I nursed him as well. We actually started cereal at about 4 1/2 months. It wasn't much at first- just to get him used to swallowing and using a spoon. We have since built up by adding applesauce, then bananas, sweet potatoes, prunes, etc.. The basics. A wonderful book to get is called "Super Baby Foods" by Ruth Yaron. It describes what the baby should eat at what stage, how much (as a guideline, every baby is different) and when to introduce what types of food. It even has different recipes to make your own baby food (which is really simple!) I highly recommend getting a copy. Basicallly, food is not meant to replace the milk at this age- only to supplement for tastes and to get them use to eating/chewing/swallowing. My son has his morning breast/bottle upon awakening, around 9am we start with milk- then have a meal i.e. apples, bananas, some fruit mixed with a few tablespoons of cereal. He usually eats about a whole container of the step 2 size. Then you should give them some water or juice diluted with water right after they finish the food. This helps to digest the food so it is not so h*** o* the kidneys to break down. Then finish with the remainder of your nursing or bottle. Lunch time- bottle, late afternoon - meal again with bottle, evening bottle.
Basically- at that age- they should be getting about 32 ounces of milk. My doctor recommends 4-5 bottles (or nursings) per day with the two feedings. At 8 months you can add a 3rd feeding. You will know how much to feed your little guy- when they stop wanting it- or spit it out. They usually will let you know. Introduce a food for a few days on it's own to make sure they aren't allergic to it. Then you know that food is okay. Keep adding to the menu! Remember they won't always like something the first go around- keep trying, they say you might have to try a food 10 times! My guy doesn't like peas! But, then again, that's really the only veggie I never liked!

Good Luck!

Hi M.,

My pediatrician told me to feed my daughter what she wants three times a day (to make it like the three meals I get a day) and then to supplement with bottles - or in your case breast milk. My Chloe eats 3 tablespoons of oatmeal cereal and 3 tablespoons of fruit for breakfast. Then an hour later I give her a bottle. She has fruit or a veggie around 1 for her lunch and then cereal and a veggie at around 7 for her dinner. Every 3 waking hours she gets a bottle. We've only noticed a small decrease in her formula intake. The doctor told us that the intake would go down as she starts to eat more solids. Your little sweetie will let you know if he isn't getting enough. Good luck!

Hi M.,

My breastfed child has developed into an excellent eater too! Two rules that I followed: 1. Baby's stomach is the size of HIS fist, so keep portions about that size. If he still acts hungry after that amount, offer the breast, and then let the food digest a bit before you let him have more. 2. Introduce only one new food per week so you can monitor for allergic reactions. With those guidelines, you should really be able to watch him to see how much he likes to eat and what foods most appeal to him. My daughter is now 3 1/2 and eats just about everything. She only like a few vegetables (mushrooms, olives, corn (not technically a veggie), and lettuce aka "salad" with ranch dressing) but she will eat any fruit I put in front of her, along with a wide variety of other foods, including whole-grain breads, pasta, even hummus sometimes.

A couple of other quick things: you can introduce finger foods as soon as your son develops the "pincher grasp" where he uses his thumb and forefinger. I gave mine those dissolving little puffs from Gerber, though I tend to try to stay away from over processed foods in general. Later, when she had more teeth and could swallow better, we moved to Cheerios and fruit cut up into very tiny pieces. You could start him on mashed bananas any time, don't bother with the jarred baby food kind. Just mash up fresh banana really well with a fork. Gradually you can start cutting into it small pieces as well, and over time make the pieces larger. As your baby grows and is better able to digest food, feel free to experiment by giving him foods you eat. My daughter was off jarred baby food completely by a year. That's the other thing...get away from the jarred stuff as soon as you can. It's expensive, it's bland, the packaging is wasteful, and you'll want to introduce your baby to a variety of textures with "real" food.

I feel like we either got lucky with a good eater or we did something right...either way, feel free to email me with questions. :)

For my babies, I would use a couple tbsp of whole grain rice cereal, mixed with formula, and 1/2 jar of veggies or fruits for each meal (after liquid). They were pretty hefty babies and it didn't seem like a lot of food to me, but that was all they wanted. Since you are feeding him the solids after he nurses, I don't think he will miss out on the milk he needs. My babies would often eat every bite that I offered to them regardless of how much food it was - they didn't seem to know when they were full when they first began eating solids. But I learned some subtle hints they were giving, like slowing down, or not showing as much excitement for the next bite. When they started getting distracted more easily, then I learned they were done, and after several months I was able to teach them the sign for "all done."

my baby just started solids too. i chose the route of organic oats. i feed him 4 tbsp. 2x a day (10am and 6pm) i do this for two weeks, and then introduce a new vegetable. starting with yellows and working into greens. (i.e. squash, carrots, sweet
potato, green beans, peas, etc) Since I do oats for 2 weeks for the following two weeks, I start introducing a new vegetable every 3-4 days. After 1 month I can introduce fruits. Ideally you should feed your baby 1/4 cup or half a jar of food during this first month. It's also very important to feed him the same vegatable/fruit for at least 3 full days to see if the baby has any allergic reactions. Trust your gut, my baby wanted more than the
recommended 2-3 tablespoons which is why he's eating 4 tablespoons of oats. I mixed it w/bm first, but noticed he was very impatient. Almost as if the smell of my bm made him anxious. I then decided to mix the oats with water, and he's doing great. I will be introducing sweet potatoes next monday!

Oh, and to answer one of your main concerns, PUMP! If you pump during or after you feed him solids you'll have extra milk on hand, and you're also keeping your milk production up. Not to mention getting a bit of a relief. Good Luck! Oh! Also wanted to share a great website with you: www.weelicious.com. It's the cutest, most informative site for new mommies needing healthy and fast recipes for their wee ones.
All the best!
--A. SAHM to a wonderful 6 1/2 month beautiful boy.

He should be getting a tablespoon of cereal mixed with water or breastmilk (once a day.) When you give him fruits or veggies, give him a two ounce jar. You can add more as he gets bigger and has tried more food. Just a tip: give him veggies before fruits if you haven't already. If babies taste fruit first, they'll never want the veggies for obvious reasons. Happy feeding! :)

What an exciting time. You're doing everything perfect. Just remember to adhere to the 4 day rule when introducing new foods. I also recommend feeding your baby before giving a bottle so they're more likely to be hungry.-www.weelicious.com

my son is exact same age and we just had his six month "well" appointment last friday....
pediatrician gave me good advice: goal is to get them on solid foods.
during his solid feedings, give him as much as he seems interested in.
his milk intake will naturally reduce over time.
this is a helpful website that provides sample menus, and provides guidelines around how much milk your baby should be taking:
www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Hi M.,

I followed the 1/4 cup rice cerel with a little less than 1/2 amount of the plastic stage 1 baby food container twice a day to start and then all 3 meals. I never microwave these, just add a little bit of warm water.

My son was/is breast fed and that was great for him. I would also start working with him on his Sign Language now.

More, Eat, Drink and All Done (sign for finish) are the basic recommendations. By 9 months old my son would do one clap for More. It was a start and now is able to sign all 4 easily. I let him tell me when he needs more rather than forcing food on him.

Here is good link to get you started!
http://www.lifeprint.com/

Good luck,
H.

Right now all their nutrients are still coming from your milk. The food is just experience for texture... Go slow, give cereal until he loses interest, that's how you know he's 'full'. His milk intake shouldn't decrease at all, they play alot with their food. Just offer variety of healthy foods. You can mix the ceral with your milk like runny cream of wheat texture then slowly make it thicker or add apple sauce or a mooshed banana...

Hi M....congratulations on your little one. He sounds like my guy (who's now almost nine months). My son is a chow-hound and gobbles up whatever I give him. At six months I started with one meal a day (rice cereal) and introduce a new food every 5-7 days (to watch for an allergic reaction). I make my own baby food, but it is about 2oz, which is the size of a stage 1 baby food jar. At 7 months, I increased him to two meals a day (same size portions), and at 8 months I took him to 3 meals a day. These guys digestive tracts are still growing and developing so you've got to give them time to work up to this new stuff. Around 8 1/2 months I started increasing the portion size because when we were finished with the bowl he would cry for more. All during this time his nursing has never abated. I nurse him at all his regular times and then I usually nurse after he eats his meal. He has never refused me and sometimes makes me hurry up to give him "dessert" after the meal. The only meal that I don't nurse right after is dinner. I wait to nurse him after his bath/before bed. I'd take my cue from your son. As long as he's nursing the way he normally does, then if he's hungry I'd feed him more. If you're concerned, ask your pedi.

One more thing, a good snack to help them develop their pincher grasp is the Puffs by Gerber Graduates. They virtually melt in their mouth (once they get them in!) and don't get all gummy. They taste good and have lots of good flavors. My pedi recommended them over Cheerios.

Have fun!

Hi M.,

When I started solids with my baby I was worried about the same things. And as it turns out, she drinks more milk now than before! Feeding her solid food has not made her breastfeed less. I breastfeed her first and then feed her the solid food. And as for the amount-- I give her as much as she wants. I wait till she doesn't want anymore. Sometimes she eats 2 ounces of yams and sometimes 4 ounces! With the cereal I started out with mixing it with my breastmilk. I'd use 3 ounces and mix in the cereal till it was as thick as applesauce. After a few weeks I started mixing it with 3 ounces of water and she still loves it. I've even pureed bananas and used that as the liquid to mix with the cereal. She LOVES that! Hope this helps. Bon appetit!

I started giving my breast fed baby solids at 7 months. The more solids that I gave him the less milk I produced. Breast milk is the most important meal for you little baby. It's great that you are breast feeding before you give him solids, just keep an eye on your production. You can also pump after feeding him. Good luck to you.

Hi M.,

It sounds like you are doing what is right for your son. Remember that every baby is different, and in my experience, most boys tend to eat more than girls. If your son is energetic, you could probably give him as much as he will take (prepare ample from the get-go), and he will still be hungry for his next nursing time.

Generally, 1-2 ounces of whatever food is good enough, but your son will tell you when he is done. In a short time, you will just know how much he likes to eat. For a really good guide to feeding and food introductions, try reading the Super Baby Food Book. The author can be a bit overboard, but the information is really helpful. And my son now eats a great variety of super healthy foods.

Good luck!

Michelle,
I started my daughter on an 1/8th of a cup of rice (or any cereal you choose) mixed with breastmilk until the consistency of cream of wheat then once I knew what she liked I added in veggies. I fed her the same thing for 3/5 days to check for allergies then went on to the next one. I gave her a 1/2 a Gerber container of veggies which is (according to the label) 1/2 a serving size. When she was about your son's age I began feeding her fruit too. So she got rice, veggie, and a fruit. She is now 8 months old and still gets the same thing except she is up to a complete serving of rice (1/4th cup). Once I introduced veggies I stopped adding breastmilk and added purified water to it instead. She didn't know the difference. I just started feeding her 3 times a day and breastfeeding her (or grandma gives her breastmilk in a bottle when I'm working) 4 times a day. However, I differed from you in that when I started her on solid food I gave it her about an hr. before she was to eat again so she was kind of hungry but not starving. Then I would supplement with nursing. It worked for her but it doesn't work for everyone. I hope that helps.

M. P