My son is 8 months old and I am feeding him #2 foods. He just had a couple teeth pop through on the bottom. he doesn't do well with finger foods. What should he be eating and how much?? I usually give him one jar with cereal in the a.m., a fruit and veggie at lunch and a meat jar with a veggie and fruit at dinner. I breastfeed him in late a.m., late afternoon and right before bed. Is this enough? My pediatrician is no help to me........
Thank you so much for your help! Special thanks to Theresa for that chart, it was VERY helpful. I started giving him a little bread, banana, cheerios, etc to snack on throughout the day. Thanks again!
Sounds a lot like what my son ate at 8 months - the books all say a majority of his nutrition still comes from breastmilk at that age. One suggestion - continue to offer him finger foods. My son is 9 1/2 months, and he just started to LOVE to feed himself, and it happened really fast. Like one week it was me feeding him pureed foods, and the next week he was feeding himself complete meals.
I also breastfeed my son, and at that age I think he was eating as much of the jarred foods as he wanted and then supplementing with breastfeeding. I think what you are giving him is fine, as long as he is continuing to gain weight (and not loose it) and continuing to make milestones I think he is doing fine.
If he isn't getting enough to eat he will loose weight, be fussy, and may not have great attention for play, etc.
Good Luck!
The number of teeth has very little bearing on what they can eat. Some things may need a little more moisture, but they do VERY well with those gums. My daughter had only 2 teeth at about that age & loved raw apples & carrots. When the pieces got too small, I would take them away. It certainly wouldn't hurt at this point start adding in little things like Cherrios or such. My ped told me that we could start "big people" food at around 9 months. My daughter wouldn't eat baby food after getting a taste of "real" food. It's also not too early to at least start introducing a sippy cup. As for how much, I was also told that you can't over feed a baby. They will stop when they are full, we just have to watch the cues that they are giving.
First i want to ask if your son is crawling because if he is he can be on number 3 foods so it has more texture and its more filling he can also munch on crackers, pasta, beans etc.
Hi L.!
It sounds like your son is getting plenty enough to eat. It's pretty much exactly what my son ate at that age.
This site might be very helpful for you:
http://www.etch.com/sharinginfo/feed.pdf
I wouldn't worry if your baby isn't taking solids. I didn't introduce finger foods until 9 months. Also, my son's pediatrician always reminded me that my son was getting ALL his nutrients from the formula. Giving him solid food was basically teaching him how to eat and providing practice for him.
I hope you find the answers for which you're looking!
Hi L.,
My son is 10 months.
At 8 months I had a really ahrd time getting him to eat anything so if he's eating all that you describe I think it is great.
Sounds exactly like what my dd was eating at this age.
One way to know that they are full, is when you try to put food in their mouth, they turn away.
Also, I used to offer my daughter snacks also in between meals like cheerios, grapes peeled and cut in 4 pieces, they aren't hard to pick up and easy to chew. Like my son just got 2 bottom teeth and he's almost 11 months but has been eating pasta, cheerios, fruits etc for a while... ;)
If they don't eat them or throw them on the floor they're not hungry but it was a way to make sur ehe wasn't hungry ;)
Sounds like he is getting plenty of food. No need to worry about him not eating finger foods. My daughter took quite a while to get to that point. Stage 2 foods are fine. And, not that he has teeth and after he has had all the stage 2 options, you might switch him to stage 3. The difference is that stage 2 is still single ingredients (if I remember right) and stage 3 is a bit 'chunkier' than the other two stages. If he can handle those foods, then it will be ok to move to some softer finger foods like scrambled eggs (though some say to wait an extended period of time before offering eggs, but I don't remember how long).
Does he get anything else to drink? It sounds like he might need more fluids. At 8 months of age, my daughter was still breastfeeding several times a day. A pediatrician once told me to breastfeed first and then offer food so the baby is still getting plenty of nutrients from the breastmilk and then is supplemented with foods.
As long as he is gaining weight and reaching milestones, he is probably doing just fine. I'd just add some fluids in there.
God bless,
A.
Sounds like he's getting enough food to me. Keep trying the finger foods, he'll eventually get the hand of it. Just like everything else, it's a skill he had to develop. Puffs are great for kids just learning to self feed. They melt in the mouth, so they can't choke on them. Cheerios are a good food too. Does he get any kind of a snack? Maybe after he nurses, give him some puffs. Also, we started my dd on water in a sippy about that age. It helped her learn how to use a cup and she didn't get the sugar from juice.
Are the 2 teeth the only 2 he has? If he only has 2 teeth, there is a limited amount he can eat anyway. I started feeding my kids baby cereal mixed with a baby food fruit around 4-6 mo old. My middle child's teeth started coming in 1 right after the other at 3mo old, but the other 2 developed teeth later. He can probably mash some of softer finger type baby foods between his gums and those 2 teeth. The best advice my doc gave me regarding my kids is that they are all different. You know your kids better than anyone else, and only you can make the determination on what is right for them. Play it by ear. You will do fine.
