Wondering About Feeding My 6 Month Old

Updated on April 05, 2007
C.S. asks from Clifton Heights, PA
9 answers

I am a new mother and every new thing she goes through so do I. I just started her on baby food a few days ago. I have been doing orange veggies (carrotts, sweet potatoes, squash) but I am unsure as to how often I feed her the veggies a day and how her formula feedings fit in. Right now she eats like 6 oz of formula every 4 hours and one feeding of veggies during the day and a cereal feeding before bed. Is there a certain schedule for feedings I should have her on?

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So What Happened?

I just wanted to Thank everyone for all of your suggestions, they all really helped. I have noticed however now that I am giving her the veggies she doesnt seem to interested in her bottles during the day. She eats her bottle good before bed and when she wakes in the morning but during the day she doesnt want to be bothered with them. Is that normal??

More Answers

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C.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

what your doing is fine just make sure you only give her one for a couple of days to make sure she isn't allergic or anything. What i do with my six month old is in the morning when she wakes up i give her 6 oz of formula and like an hour to two hours later i give her a fruit or cereal and then four hours later she gets a bottle again and an hour later i give her a veg then four hours a bottle and i give her some more veg at dinner then another bottle before bed. that is how i feed my other two children also now 6 & 3 but go by what your child is telling you if she seems hungry feed her like my daughter (6monthold) is starving in the morning and will eat a whole jar but at lunch she just eats a few spoon fulls and at dinner will eat the rest of the jar I feed her the three times a day just to get her used to feeding it will make the transition from bottle to just food easier to me anyway...have fun

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R.R.

answers from Allentown on

Hi C.,
My son, who is now almost 8 months, was also drinking about 6oz. every 4 hours when we started solids. Sounds like you are doing fine, just make sure not to give up the formula before she is a year old (for the nutrition).

Here's what worked for me:
I give my son a 6oz. bottle around 7:30am (with his vitamins in it),
cereal mixed with formula (now with water and fruit) around 10:00,
4 oz. formula around noon,
veggies &/or fruit around 2:00,
4 oz. formula around 5:00,
jar of "baby dinner", some fruit, and finger food (zwieback works best for us) around 7:00,
then 6 oz. formula around 8:30 bedtime.

He doesn't always drink all of the 4oz bottles during the day, and I can probably cut out one and give him water (I'm not a fan of juice, even watered down, because of the fruit-sugar - he is already "high energy").
He also naps twice during the day, so the times shift a little.

I'm sure you'll figure out the best schedule for your daughter!

R.

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C.S.

answers from Philadelphia on

Dear friend, your doing great. Your feeding her veggies for lunch? Well, you could start with feeding her half a jar at lunch and then maybe the other half for dinner...then cereal for breakfast made with her formula. As far as the bottles...well you could feed her them before food or after her jar food. Remember, you may want to shy away from some of the sweeter veggies for a bit and try an d introduce some greens. That way she doesn't develop such a sweet tooth. In all reality your a mom...use your instincts. Good luch

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A.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

Hi,
I would check with your doctor to see what he/she thinks, but htis is what mine had me do with my daughter (now 91/2 months old). We did cereal in the morning mixed with a little fruit (just a few spoonfuls to give it flavor.) Then continued with formaul feedings as usual until lunchtime, when we did a 4 oz jar of food followed by a bottle. Continued with regular bottles until dinner time when she at the same food as at lunch, followed by a bottle. Every time she tried a new food the doc said to eat that exclusively for 3-5 days a week, twice a day. That way you'll know if she has an allergy, what caused it. So Megan's schedule was 6am cereal & bottle, 9am bottle, 12pm food & bottle, 3pm bottle, 6pm food & bottle, 8pm bottle before bed. As she got used to eating food, her appetite increased. Once she tried all the foods on the color spectrum we were allowed to mix it up. So she might have green beans plus sweet potatoes and wind up eating 6-8 oz at a time. In which case she usually drank less formula because she was getting full. I had the nurse practitioner write everything down for me as far as what foods to introduce & when, since I had Mommy brain and was having a hard time remembering anything since I got no sleep! Thankfully things are better now! Anwyay, I hope that helped a little, take care!
A.

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K.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

My pediatrician recommended starting to get my son on a 3 meal-a-day schedule when I started with the solid food. His feeding schedule was like this:

Breakfast (7 am):
2 tablespoons oatmeal
1/2 jar fruit (1st foods)
6 oz. formula

Lunch 11-11:30
1/2 jar of first foods veggie
1/2 jar of first foods fruit
6 oz formula

Dinner 4-4:30
same as dinner but different foods, plus 1 tablespoon rice + barley

Bedtime 7:30
6 oz bottle

This worked great for my son, who is now 18 months and is a great eater. By 7 months I moved onto the meats and blended 2nd foods & by 9 months I moved onto 3rd foods.

Good luck!

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T.A.

answers from Philadelphia on

Good Morning C.. I have 3 girls, 6yrs old and twins that are 2 1/2 yrs old. When I started my girls on baby food and cereal, I would do cereal in the morning and use the formula from their bottles to make the cereal, so that they would still get the same amount of formula that they are used to. In the morning I also gave them 1/2 a jar of fruit when they were able to start them. Around lunch time I would give just Vegi. To start I did 1/2 a jar and I put it in a bowl so that at dinner time I could give the rest of the jar. And that is when I gave cereal again.

Every child is different. After doing a couple of days on orange veggies you can start green veggies. If you feed your daughter right from the jar and she doesn't finish it you should throw it away because her saliva will break down the nutrients in the food. I always tried to put the jar food in a bowl, so that I wouldn't waste that much food.

Good Luck and enjoy this stepping stone. Before you know it she will be in school.

T.

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S.K.

answers from Philadelphia on

I don't know about giving her food right before bed as that may cause stomach irritations like gas. But if you haven't noticed anything different with her sleeping habits, then I guess it's okay.

When I started feeding my son baby food, (he is now 2) I began with two servings a day for a week or so then increased it to three. The food is to gradually decrease the baby's need for formula, especially from the bottle.

Try single ingredient foods for a few days and observe for anything unusual like rashes or an upset stomach. You'll be able to find out whether or not she's allergic to a certain food when it's not mixed with something else.

And if you're not doing that now, you should try to time some of her feedings during family mealtimes so that she can observe everyone eating around her. It may give her a little bit of encouragement.

Watch it though with the orange veggies...too much can give baby a yellow-orange tint to their skin color. Try googling carotenemia.

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H.

answers from Pittsburgh on

There's really no right or wrong way to do it as long as you give a few days between each new food to make it easy to identify any reactions to something new. Otherwise, whatever works for your schedule and makes her content is good. They should most of their nutrients from formula or breastmilk for the first year so the food portion is more for fun and learning to accept new textures and flavors. If she's acting like she's still hungry, you can add some cereal for breakfast or add in fruit too. Don't worry about the order you offer her foods either - anything works, just give those couple of days for any reaction and you're fine.

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S.L.

answers from Philadelphia on

its really up to you my kids I did the cereal before bedtime it made them sleep better with a full tummy one feeding of jar food in the afternoon was good for them that was also the time I gave them a little juice aas well then formula the rest of the day until bedtime I would put them on one kind of jar food for two weeks at a time to make sure they didnt have a reaction to it then move to the next thing hope this helped some

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