Feeding 6 1/2 Month Old

With my first son, I breastfed him until he was a year old. His pediatrician said to start him on cereal around 4-6 months. Since he was doing so well on my breastmilk, I waited until he was 6 months old. Start with a little bit of cereal - just like a tablespoon, mixed with enough breastmilk to make it pretty runny. Feed her before she is really hungry so she doesn't get frustrated. Start out with once a day - I fed my son around lunch time at first. Stick with cereal for a couple months gradually making it not so runny. Then introduce a vegetable. Just be sure to only introduce one new food at a time in case she has any allergic reactions, you will know what it's from. Hope this helps!

Hi there. I have a 19 week old girl (16.5 lbs, 26 in.) that I have been breastfeeding only, as well. Two days ago introduced rice cereal to her. I decided to start after reading "What to Expect the First Year" book. My child had shown many of the signs that it was ok to start her on cereal and our ped. also said it was ok to start her anytime now.

Now because she fusses at bottle usage (with pumped milk) I decided to use a little baby spoon to feed her. From my research the first few times of feeding she may only actually eat about a teaspoon or so of the cereal. Listen for that "swallow sound". You want to start out by only feeding her once a day. This way you can see how she handles digesting the cereal. I also plan to only offer this once a day for a couple weeks before I give her any other flavored cereal. I have read you want to introduce new flavors one week at a time. Not a bunch in one day/week.

I have been giving her the cereal in the late afternoon/ early evening. I also nursed her just a bit to take the hungry edge off before I give her spoon feedings.

Everything I have read is to go slow and not rush. Also keep nursing for that is still her main source of nourishment (sp).

Hope this helps some. I reccomend (sp) getting that book I mentioned. You can find it at WalMart or Target. It has been very handy and has great information.

Good Luck! - A.

My daughter is almost 6 months and I have had her eating cereal and baby food since she was 4 1/2 mos. I had to stop breast feeding her at 4 months because I had alot of probelms. My dr also said I should wait until 5 to 6 months but I let her try some rice cereal mixed with apple juice and water and she took right to it at first. About a week after I started her she seemed to lose interest so I tried her on some carrot baby food and a few days later applesauce. I think that the flavor of the rice cereal was too bland after she had gotten used to it, you may run into this since you are still breastfeeding and your baby gets many different tastes, especially if you only mix it with water. I mixed it with all different kinds of half the Gerber Baby Juices and half water. Talking to friends it seems that some babies go straight to baby food alot faster since it tastes better. My daughter has had no problems whatsoever so far with any baby food I have tried her on, she is eating pretty much all the veggies and fruits. Its best to try veggies first since they are not as sweet so she can get used to them, then fruits. Starting off I would always sit down to feed her right after her morning nap once a day, when she was not starving but probably close to being hungry and in a pretty good mood, you will know this by your nursing schedule. I am still doing that morning feeding and occasionally adding one at night before I get her ready for bed if there is time and she is not too tired. My dr told me a good rule to go by is only introduce one new food every couple of days to watch for any allergic reactions,and if the baby spits it out at first, try for a few more minutes, if still no success bring it back out in a few days. When I started her on cereal I mixed about a quarter cup of cereal with enough juice to make it soft enough to swallow easily. With the baby food I started with about a third of the container(plastic Gerber) and worked my way up to a half a container over the course of about 3 weeks. Also, remember when you start that you are only teaching her how to eat, and she may still want to nurse afterwards until you can get her used to eating enough that she is full from the food. Good luck and have fun!

P.S. IF YOU THINK THAT DIRTY DIAPER STINKS NOW, GET READY!!!

My daughter was exclusively breastfed until 9 months and I was quite worried about starting her out on food as well. Cereal is definitely the way to go. I would start with just a teaspoon of watered down cereal at a time, before he breastfeeds. Slowly add a tiny bit at a time. I started too fast with my daughter and her tummy really struggled. As far as adding solids in other than cereal, veggies are always better to start first and one at a time. I would go with cereal alone for at least a month or two. Everyone around me made me feel like she was too far behind the curve because I didn't start until she was about 7 months old with anything other than breastmilk and so I tried to rush her into solids and it was difficult on her tummy. Good luck!

Congrats on the baby and the bachelors degree. YOU go GIRL

Well what I did was started out giving my son a couple of teaspoonfuls of rice cereal make it a little watery cuz she wont be used to eating it, if she seems to finish that with no problem give her a little more, and mix it with either water or breastmilk, I did both with my son he ate fine, she will push it out with her tongue undtil she knows she is suppose to swallow it, just have patience and keep trying, I would start it first giving he cereal in the morning, see how she does with the, and when you start introducing new foods do every 3 days with something new, so you know if she has a food allergy you will know what caused it.

Good Luck

Hope that helps

G.

i have a 7 mo old girl, she was exclusively BF until we started on solids at about 4 months, per her dr. we started out with rice cereal in the evening, in addition to nursing not instead of, i started with a pretty small amount and it was pretty runny too, i didn't force it on her i just let her taste it at first then eventually she would start to suck it off the spoon. as she got better at eating from the spoon i gradually made the cereal thicker. we did that for about two months, then at her 6 month appt i got the go ahead to start on veggies, fruits and meats eventually. we now have baby oatmeal for breakfast and veggies for lunch and dinner and somtimes i give her a fruit for a snack if she seems fussy in between meals. we are still only breastfeeding, she refuses a bottle, which is fine by me. ever since we started on the veggies and fruits she has become on an almost perfect schedule. up at 730 to nurse, oatmeal at 900, nap, nurse at 1030 or so, veggies for lunch at 1200, nap then nurse at 200 or 300ish when ever she wakes and veggies for dinner at around 500 or 530. then she nurses once or twice before bed depending on her mood. i also offer her a sippy cup of water with meals and it took awhile but she is starting to master that and seems to like it.

my doctor said to go in this order when introducing new foods...the yellow (orange) veggies first, i.e. sweet potatos, carrots, then the green veggies second, i.e. green beans, peas, then meats (which i skipped cause it looks horrible in the jars almost like cat food, yuck), and last fruits. i asked my doc about the meats and she recommended using the meat and veggies combo jars instead of the straight meat.

you should serve one type of food for at least three days before instroducing a new kind...this will allow enough time to show if she has an allergy to the food.

good luck

HI! I was wondering if you've read the book "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" It's a La Leche League book and they have a great section in it about starting your breastfed baby on solids. It may give you an idea about what's good to start with and what to expect. Good Luck!

Hi W.. I thought this website might help. It's from a website I got information from starting when I was about 4 months pregnant...my son is 1 and a half and I still use it for information just about 3 times a week! This link is to the page on introducing baby to cereal and other foods.

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding/113.html

Hope this helps!
M.

My pediatrician told me to start with about a teaspoon of rice cereal mixed with breastmilf, water or formula, once a day. You want to start out by making pretty wattery, and graually increase the thickness. If they take to it well than you can increase the amount, or even give it to them twice a day. Once they have the rice cereal down well you can switch to another type of cereal, like oatmeal, and then gradually you can start introducing vegtables and fruits.

It's fun introducing new foods...

You want to start out a little at a time. Just a tbsp of the dry rice cereal mixed with a little warm water. I would use water at first, then if baby does well with that, add a little juice to the water too. And for variety, change the juices up, to give baby some variety.
You only need to give baby cereal a couple of times a day. I always fed my babies their cereal when I would sit down to eat. It helps the transition of incorporating them more into your routine.
Note: Apple juice is too strong for their teeth until they are two yrs. old. So dilute it 50/50 with water.