My son is almost 9 months old. He's been on solids for a few months now, but I'm wondering exactly how much to feed him. When I read things, it will say 2 servings fruit, 2-3 servings of veggies, 2 servings of protein, as well as like yogurt, cheese, bread or crackers. He's had an issue with spitting up since birth, and he's on a thickened formula (with rice cereal). Will he let me know if he's had too much? It's a bit more difficult to ask my "dr" questions having to go to an Army base clinic. So any suggestions would be wonderful. Also, what types of finger foods are good at this age? Thanks.
My daughter is also 9 months old. I found menus with serving size suggestions on the Gerber website. www.gerber.com
Look under menus and they separate them by stages.
I just offered whatever we were having at that age and let him feed himself. He stopped when he had enough. It was messy, but I knew he was getting the right amount for him. I also continued nursing when he wanted. I could just tell when he wanted food and when he wanted milk.
Your son should start to give you cues that he is full. For instance, he will keep his mouth closed, push spoon away, etc. Here is a sample of what I did with my son when he was about your son's age.
AM:
Bottle
Stage 2 Fruit
Rice/Oatmeal Cereal
Snack:
Puffs, Wagon Wheels, Zwieback toast
sippy cup water w/ little juice
LUNCH:
Bottle
1/2 Stage 2 Fruit
Stage 2 Veggie
Cherrios, Puffs, Soft cooked pasta, etc.
Snack:
See above or bottle
DINNER:
Bottle
Maybe some of what we are having (pasta, macaroni, soft veggies)
Stage 2 Veggie/Meat Combo
1/2 Stage 2 Veggie
1/2 Dessert/Fruit
BEDTIME:
Bottle
D.,
Hi my name is L. and I have 5 children. I have found that when spit up alot I check with the doctor to see if they are haveing problems digesting the milk. Also your baby will let you know when he is full. I have found that going to the grocery store and looking at the different finger foods for your child's age is a great idea and then just try some to see which ones he likes.
Here are some websites that helps me when I have questions about things www.parents.com and www.webmd.com
Contact me anytime you have questions ____@____.com, I also live in winston-salem
My son had a similar issue with the throwing up and issues as a baby. I did the same thing with the rice cereal to help keep it down. He was a little weird I thought, sometimes it seemed like he wouldn't stop eating and then the next feeding he wouldn't eat a bit. My pediatrician thought was just how he was regulating himself. They said the key is not to force feed. Let your baby eat, once they are distracted, let them stop eating. If they get hungrey again, give a small serving of something and go from there. Babies won't over eat like adults do, overeating is taught, usually by parents giving a child and adult size portion and telling them to finish it. The key is to give the portion your child should be eating (as they get older) and then not force feeding. That is to keep in mind if they dont' eat anything at dinner, you give them that back when they're hungry later and not sweets, which will prevent them from not eating dinner to get junk later.
Good Luck!!
We are not born overeaters. That is something we develop and are taught over the years (you know how your mom says eat all your veggies, clean your plate, etc). Well babies don't know how to overeat. They listen to their bodies. When they don't want anymore they show you i.e. pushing it away, playing with it, shaking their heads, etc. Your baby won't overeat, promise. It's not just my opinion, it's a fact.
Hi D.,
I have a boy that was born on Dec. 27, 2006. I sort of wonder how much to feed him as well. www.gerber.com has a really good website with menu suggestions based on whatever stage he's in, independent sitter, crawling, etc. It gives you a good jumping off point but I never want to force him to eat a certain amount because I want him to be able to identify when he's full. He turns his head away when he doesn't want anymore. So I go with that, as long as he's gaining enough weight and seems happy and healthy. I give him teething biscuits but I've read that they shouldn't have true finger foods until they crawl with their belly off the ground.
About a 1/2 cup is a serving. My son just turned one and he eats everything! Lots of fresh fruit(bananas, cantelope, pears, apples) cut into small pieces. Pasta is good, like spirals or other small pieces; they are easy to pick up. Chicken and turkey cut into small pieces. I buy chicken and cook one piece at a time and it wil last for a couple meals. Soft crackers like graham crackers, Ritz, Club butter crackers and goldfish are all easy to eat. I know it's hard but just keep trying different things to find out what he likes and soon it will habit!
They do let you know when they've had enough, my son always turned his head away. I never really followed with the proteins serving and all of that, I gave him his fruit mixed with some cereal for breakfast, for lunch he I'd give him both fruit and veggies (no cereal added), and for dinner I would just thicken it both up with some cereal (a little thicker in the evening to hold him over) and with his formula that has all the nutriants he needs right there. Great finger foods fo him would be the little zingers (sp?) it's inthe baby section, those all good for him to gum on, it feels really good when they're teething, and another one are the fruit and veggies puffs (disolves fast). Just be careful with the zingers, they are of good size, but once they've gummed on it for awhile, it becomes short, and you don't want them to stick it in their mouths and choke, that's something great if they're in a bouncy chair right in front of you.
Good luck
T.
I'm not sure exactly on how much they should be getting at that age but I do know some really good finger foods and some of the ones that I used for my children are:
the mini pancakes by aunt jemima (I know that's spelt wrong)
waffles, any brand
cherrios
fruit loops, I found my kids didn't like they cherrios so
these worked well for my kids.
toast
I recommend any of the gerber finger foods that you can find down the baby aisle with the baby food.
You can also buy one of those things that have a net thingy on the one end and they hold it and you can put whole fruit in there and they munch on it and you don't have to worry about them choking because only little bitty pieces come through. I really wish that I would have bought one of these for my twins that way you can give him fresh fruit instead of buying all baby foods for him.
And like one of the other women said we just basically gave our kids whatever we were having for dinner that night we just cut it into little pieces and we tried to minimize mess by undressing them and letting them eat naked and then we always wrinsed them off afterwards. Also as he gets older and you want him to be able to feed himself things like spaghetti o's and things like that with messy sauce you can pour the can of food into a strainer and then rinse the sauce off....yeah I know that sounds kind of weird but to be honest with you they still tasted the exact same as they do with the sauce just alot less messy! I really hope that helped a little and if you need anything else you can e-mail me at ____@____.com!
One of the best things to give him is Gerber's or Beechnut's 2nd foods, or even 3rd foods if he is starting to chew. You give him a jar of Oatmeal with apples or oatmeal with bananas, or any breakfast entree with fruit in the morning. I think that is equal to 1 or 2 servings. Then later give him some bananas pieces or any fruit that is soft and easy to swallow, and that would be his fruit servings for the day. Then give him a jar of food for his dinner, which would contain smashed green beans, peas, and/or carrots and meat. That would be his serving of a vegetable. Those jar foods, plus bite size fruits and veggies will be his daily fruit/veggie servings. As for finger foods, I gave my kids smashed up bananas and dried cereal for a snack. Beechnut even have finger foods for babies in those stages. Also cooked veggies are good. It's nutritious and delicious. I also had a problem with my daughter spitting up, that goes away. And he will let you know when he's had too much, usually by turning his head or not opening his mouth enthusuastically like he would if he was really hungry. I hope this helped.
he'll let you know when he is full, try not to worry too much about what he is 'supposed' to eat. as far as fingerfoods, cut up bananas, pears, bread, graham crackers, animal crackers, vanilla wafers, puffs, wagon wheels, cut up chicken and other meats (if he can handle them yet), etc. and with the spitting up, have you asked about acid reflux?
