Feeding Schedule for 6 Month Old

I would try some rice cereal also if you are not doing that. Start off with some veggies. Start off with some carrotts for her. Put a teaspoon of sugar in when you cook them and then put it in the food processor with of the little of the water you cooked it in. try it for a few days,see how she does and then may be try some sweet potatoes. be careful with the sweet potatoes. they can make babies gassy if they get too much. next i would try some peas. next do the fruits for her. i made my own baby food and it was a lot cheaper and healthier.

carrots squash or bananas apples

doctors say different things some say vegetables so they don't get use to sweets just try 1 at a time for a week to make sure no allergy

Hi Lauren,

Contact your local La Leche League consultant at:

www.llli.org

Hope this helps. Good luck. Dona

check out the book "Mommie Made and Daddy Too". you can probably find it at the library. it's full of useful information on what foods to start with first, based on tolerability of a newborn. it tells you exactly how to prepare the foods and why!! i lived by it and just mixed and matched fruits and veggies once there was no known allergy! good luck. just be confident in your ability - you're a good mommy for even asking!

We started my son with banana first followed by avocado then fruits such as peaches. we then did sweet potato and carrots. If I had to do it over again, I would have done banana, avocado, and then the veggies as he had a very hard time liking the veggies. Now at 18 mos old we have no probs with veggies. I picked up the superbabyfood book which helped a bit in the beginning but then we just transitioned him to our food rather than make their recipes. I believe we did a tablespoon at a time of each food as we introduced them and did it just once per day but I really don't remember. I went to the breastfeeding resource center's lecture on starting solids in glenside which was very helpful. If you don't live in the area I'm sure you could call them for the info as they are very nice. good luck

I second the wholesomebabyfood website...i used it quite a bit. my son is 7 months. We started him with 1 tbsp apples (apples are quartered & cored, steamed, then scrape the fruit away from the peel, and puree the fruit in a food processor or blender) or about a 1/3 of a banana (just mashed up). Also, one ice cube from a tray is one ounce, and that's a good amount for his first meals. (lots of packaged baby foods are 3-4 oz).

Just start with little bits and don't worry too much about underfeeding him. As I understand it, it's more to learn about eating, and the breast feeding is his real nutrition at this point.

I had heard apples, sweet potatoes, pears, avacados, bananas, zuccini, and rice cereal as good first foods. We used all of those with no adverse reactions. I couldn't really get the avacados thin enough for him to be able to eat those. Also, he eats such a little amount that the rest turned brown and I felt like we were wasting most of the avacado, so we put those on hold for now.

Good luck!

avocado is a great first baby food. It has lots of Omega 3 fats in it, and most babies love it. I know my son does. I have also read on a lot of baby related health blogs that the store baby cereal can actually inhibit absorption of nutrients and to not give it. I'm not too sure about that though. My son does get cereal at the daycare, and occasionally will get 'other' food at home, but it still mainly breastfed at 8.5 months

Hi Lauren,
With my first born I did the by the book - start with green beans, then what ever the Dr. said next. We gardened and used no chemical - so what he ate was from the garden, cooked, pureed and frozen in ice cube trays.

When my daughter was born - I realized the family had no food allgeries - so when a friend gave me fresh asparagus - she got them. The Dr. was not happy when I told him what she had eaten.

Long and short - if there are food allergies in the family - that the caution road. As to amount - the food companies start with about 1/4 cup.

Relax! You are going to do a great job. She will let you know if she is still hungry and when she is full.

By the way - my two are parents of their own two. They both will eat almost anything! I am sure there is a website or baby book that list what is "the best" foods to start with.
But again, relax and enjoy!

Stay away from sweets, always always introduce veggies first..

Hi Lauren,
You could try adding some fruit with the oatmeal in the morning and add a veggie with it in the evening to start and see how that goes. Just introduce O. fruit or veggie at a time to see if there are any reactions, then you'll know the culprit!
Other than the stuff to avoid (peanut butter, egg whites, honey, etc) she can try stuff from your plate as long as it's not a choking hazard......good luck--get the camera ready for some interesting reactions!

Hi Lauren--My son is 7 months old and I started with veggies and fruits about the same time as you are beginning. I also make my own baby food (check out wholesomebabyfood.com for recipes). I'm not sure it really matters what you start with...our first was snap peas. We've progressed to green beans, squash, sweet potato, carrots, apples, bananas, peaches and he seems to be enjoying them all. As for portion size...I found freezing trays at Babies R Us that are already a perfect serving size. I've also heard that using an ice cube tray makes a good serving size. I'm not sure how often your daughter nurses but I'll give you the run down of my son's eating schedule just as a reference...all babies are different. 4:30am--Nurses, 7:00am--2 Tbs Cereal & 1 serving fruit, 8:30--5oz bottle, 11:30--2 Tbs Cereal and 1 serving veggie. 12:30--5oz bottle. 4:00-Nurses a little, 5:00--Either two veggies and one fruit or vice versa, 7:00--Nurses, 12:30am--Nurses. Wow! Writing it all down it seems like he is constantly eating!! Good luck!

hi lauren,

so docs and folks all say different things for a reason. there's no hard proof that there is any magic formula. i was taught "green then orange then fruits and meats" in that order - meaning, green veggies first then introduce orange veggies and finally, later, fruits. the thought behind that is to delay introducing the sweet stuff until after you know they take the not-so-sweet stuff. the delay in meats is just so that baby is used to eating.

that said, i work with pediatricians who roll their eyes at all this and call it hog wash and say, just introduce your kid to food. doesn't matter! use the stuff off your table!

good luck

Hi Lauren, Here's my suggestion, start with veggies first and pick a meal time that is easiest for you. Remember to go at least 5 days before adding another veggie; always looking for reactions. Don't be surprised when her poo changes (color, texture, smell) and make sure you alternate color families (don't start with carrots then add sweet potatoes, then squash make sure you add those green veggies inbetween). Also texture plays an important role with how a child accepts those first foods some kids don't like babyfood peas because they tend to be a bit grainy but they love them for first finger foods. Offer each veggie a number of times before you decide that she doesn't like them. Fruits are easy...almost every child loves the sweetness. Custard style yogurts are good first foods too. Don't be surprised if you find yourself with a little vegitarian...not one of my girls ate or enjoyed any kind of meat until they were over two years old. (Frankly I thought after trying the babyfood meats myself that they were just showing me they had good taste! LOL) If she only manages a few spoonfulls of her new foods at a time that's cool too. Don't be in a rush, they grow up so fast!! Have fun with your dinner time, make it a happy time not stressfull...you'll appreciate that habit as she gets older believe me. Best wishes.

I agree to give the rice cereal 1x a day for a week to 2 weeks, then you can move to 2x a day. For starting other foods, use the Gerber or whichever brand pureed foods (stage 1) OR, make your own (very easy and saves $$$) and freeze it.

I was always told to start veges first, otherwise the child might get "hooked" on the sweeter stuff and turn her nose up at veges. And introduce 1 a week, or every 4-5 days. I introduced peas, then carrots, then sweet potatoes, then green peas, squash, THEN moved to fruits (pears, prunes, avocado, applesauce, bananas, peaches, apricots, mango, etc.). I usually do my veges at lunch then fruits at dinner, so if veges didn't go over so well I wasn't completely out of patience at noon as I could be at 5pm. I also continued giving cereal until like 9 mos as I breastfed so the iron was important because she wasn't getting it through iron-fortified formula.

Check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com for ideas, or my friend recommended the book Super Baby Foods. She swears by it for a month by month "tutorial".

So, at 6 mos I did cereal and a vege, then at 7 month moved to cereal and pureed vege/fruits 2x/day and followed the 2 meal/day for 2 months (7th and 8th mos), then at 9 months of age I moved to 3 meals a day and adding lots of finger foods (and still doing 3-4 nursings/bottles a day: 7am, 11am, 3pm, 6pm). I also primarily breastfed up until 10 months then moved to bottles (she became too squirmy for nursings).

Good luck and be prepared for messiness -- it's her way of learning to eat!

Be careful on what foods you make on your own. I know that is not recommened that you make your own carrots into baby food becasue of nitrates or something like that that is processed out of store bought food. I am sure that your baby will eat up 'real' food, my 5 month old has been on fruits and veggies for about 3 weeks and loves them! We usually give him cereal in the morning and then baby food in the after noon and evening in addition to nursing. Have fun! -N. J