Hello everyone!! I have a 7 month old, who I can't quite get on a schedule. Just wondering if you have your baby on a schedule what is it like? & how much are they eating? Thank you very much!!
I guess I should have written previously-that as of right now he is strictly breastfed on demand! When I work,which is only 2 days a week, he gets breast milk that I have pumped and once in awhile will get some formula mixed in. Currently he has only been getting 1 tbsp of vegetables at night (started this 1 week ago). I know the rule to wait four days etc before introducing a new food!! Thanks everyone :)
Babies this age should still be getting 100% of their nutrition for their formula or breast milk. The eating food is only for teaching them to chew then swallow. In another month or two he'll be old enough to be eating very small amounts of regular food after having the formula. By 12 months when he moves off formula to regular whole milk he can be eating much more.
I remember 7 months quite well, because we went to an all inclusive with baby. He would wake at 7, nap at 10, 2pm, and be down for the count by 7:30/8pm. He would get 4 or more 8oz bottles of formula. He was also "eating" 2+ times a day. By "eating" I mean a couple of slices of soft fruit, some mashed potato, a jar of vegetables, crackers, cereal, those squeezy fruit pouches.
We started feeding at 4 months, and were clear to feed food combos at this time. Thinking back on it, the total volume at any one sitting was probably 4-6 ounces at that age.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
My son is 13 months now but I think at 7 months it was an unstructured time as well. A schedule is good for kids but also the parents too. You may be on a schedule more than you realize. Try taking a week to write down times of naps and meals/snacks/bottles/nursings. You might notice a pattern and can work off that. Otherwise, it's pretty typical for the day to look like: meal, nap, snack, meal, nap, snack, meal, final snack. But at 7 months some kids are hanging onto a short evening nap. Getting on a schedule takes time. I'm a pretty unscheduled person in general so it took a good few months for me to get a pretty solid schedule down. I don't look at the time constantly but pay attention more to how long it has been since either a nap or food.
When we first started solids, at 6 months, I was worried about when and how much but it just seemed to even out in a few months. He's 9 months now and on 3 meals a day, eating anywhere from an ounce to 5 ounces of food at a sitting.
At 7 months, he loved avocado, mashed sweet potato, pear sauce, banana, mashed peas. He ate twice a day. I would introduce a new food for a few days but early in the day -Iike after his first nap and he'd prob only eat an ounce or do. Then I started giving him a bit of cereal (he loves it) in the afternoon around 'dinner' or 5pm with a bit of mashed veggie. He'd eat a bit more like 2-4 ounces. He napped twice a day at 7 mths too. Usually 2 hours after he woke up, then about 3 hours after he woke up from his nap, and bed was at 6:30pm. There's no rush to feed them a certain amount right now, it's more just the act of learning how to eat and trying new foods. Introducing the new food during the day rather than at night is so if there's a reaction to the food you would know before you put them to bed.
Hope this helps!
For the 1st year of life, breastmilk or Formula is still a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition. Solids... is NOT as nutritionally dense, as breastmilk or Formula.
Still feed baby, breastmilk or Formula, on-demand. Not per a schedule.
Give baby breastmilk or Formula, BEFORE solids. Otherwise, a baby will be too full to drink their breastmilk or Formula, if given it after or with solids.
For the 1st year of life, "solids" is only an introduction to eating.
It is not their main course.
They do not have to, eat solids 3 times a day like adults.
It is only an introduction to "food."
At this age, "serving size" in only in terms of teaspoons or a tablespoon. Not in adult quantities and not in terms of how many jars, they eat. Nor does a baby have to eat an entire jar of baby food.
At that age, my kids as babies were only eating solids, one time a day. Just as an introduction. It was not their main meal. And they still breastfed on-demand 24/7, day and night.
All of this, is also per our Pediatrician.
Food - Gramma G - ditto.
Schedule - took us 4 days, he was 4mos. The hard part - sticking to the schedule (for the adult). But the results are fantastic - no unexplained or unexpected crying. Predictability. Good sleep - good attitude.
We used the Babywise series of books, but I'd also recommend Ferber.
Ok so I'll preface this by stating that I am a schedule nazi and it all revolves around solid, regular nap times. At 7 mo old both my kids took two naps a day -- one shorter one (1 hour) at around 10 and a longer one at around 1:00. Do you keep a schedule journal? I did that for both my kids so I could track their sleep and milk/food intake. If you haven't read Healthy Sleep Habits, get a used copy on Amazon. It's my sleep Bible. ;)
I can't help you out much with food b/c my kids were terrible eaters until they got older.
Best to you!
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