My Baby's Menu

I know it could be hard wondering what to feed them. When my kids were that age i gave them a bowl of oatmeal cereal mixed with the formula for breakfast, a veg and fruit for lunch and for dinner a meat that was mixed either with a fruit or veg. If it was mixed with a veg then i would give another fruit. You dont have to always listen to doctors take it from a mom of 2 kids , they dont know themselves sometimes. Good Luck!

hi E., if you have time sometimes try giving your son pured, steamed and boiled fruits small cuts/mashed & veggies and fruits (not jared) its much healthier and you can think of different variaties, more nutritious. I started giving bolied chicken & meat to my daughter at around 8-9 months - she liked that better than fruits and veggies at the time. Also she did not like jar foods, so i always made food for her , experimented with new fruit, veg, meat etc - figured out what she ate. i think at almost 8 months he's ready for meat, try it and you'll see, if he does not eat , give it to him the next week... dont be afraid, just make sure to not give him allergetic foods (oranges, nuts, honey..)till he's 12 mns. also , you'll know if you give too little food, he will cry and wake up at night, if he's happy and content he's probably not hungry. All kids are different, my daughter ate probably half of what you described your son eats at that age and she was happy.

My baby is 6 months old and right now she's on an eating schedule. Don't know if this helps:

6:30am: Bottle 6 oz.
8am: Cereal 1/2 jar or more (sometimes whole jar)
9am: 6 oz. bottle
11:30- 12pm: fruits and veg. (1/2 jar each sometimes more)
1pm: 6oz. bottle
4pm: 6oz. bottle
5pm: dinner (1/2 jar dinner meals; ex. chix & apples, turkey & sweet potatoes) the mixed jars she will eat not the plain meat items. Plus 1 jar dessert
7pm: 6oz. bottle (last bottle of the night)
7:30pm: Good night little one

I had my older girl on the same schedule and it worked for me (she's 19months old now & eats everything)

I also give finger bite cookies to her. She doesn't sit on her own yet but does with some support.

Let me know if any of what I do helps!!! More variety now, less of a picky eater later.

*** My 6 month old is also on 2nd foods some 3rd cereals (jar) Helps keep belly fuller

E....each child is different. My daughter HATED jared food while my son had loved it. So I don't beat yourself up. My sister got me this great book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. There were menus and info on how to make your own foods (I did that once or twice). But the best part was a schedule of what to give and when. For me it was different too since I didn't start any foods until 8 months since I was breastfeeding. Like I sadi everyone does things as they feel they need them. You can offer your son another spoonful and see how it goes. ALOT of what you'll learn about being a mommy will be trial and error...you try it if it works :) if not...then you go on. When introducing a food don't get discouraged if he doesn't like it. It take something like 30 introductions to "like" something. TRY not to be so hard on yourself. YOU are doing the BEST you can with all the love you have. You will be fine. You are doing a GREAT job!

Don't be in a hurry to add meat to your son's diet if you don't want to. My son is 16 months old and still has not been given any meat, Not because we are vegetarian's but because I have not seen the need to add this too his diet. Your current menu is similar to what I am still feeding my son, including the two bottles. We just add in some snacks between meals, but this is because he is older and he eats fresh fruits and veges, not the baby food. As long as your feeding your son healthy foods is not bad for him.

I have used the Beechnut feeding guide for my last 2 kids to get an idea of portions and how much and what to feed them. Don't feel that you have to use Beechnut foods just because the guide comes from them... use Beechnut, Gerber or whatever brand you prefer, use the guide for the other information.

Info below copied from their "about 6 months" category... they also have an "about 8 months" category.

Variety at Feeding Time
Every baby is different. Yours will let you know how much she needs to eat and what she likes or doesn’t. She'll also eat different amounts on different days. This helpful guideline will help you plan her meals. Print it out and put it on your refrigerator for reference.

Feeding Guidelines (approximate amounts per day)

Breast milk or formula – 24 to 32 ounces in five to six feedings, fed with meals or in between

Beech-Nut® Stage 1® or Beech-Nut Stage 2® (with or without DHA and ARA and Good Morning or Good Evening):

Cereal (eight to 10 tablespoons dry, or one ounce)
Fruit (one half to one jar, or two to four ounces)
Vegetable (one half to one jar, or two to four ounces)
Meat (one half to one jar, or one to 1 ½ ounces)
Dinner (one half to one jar, or two to four ounces)
Dessert (one half to one jar, or two ounces)
Juice (optional) (one half to one serving, or two to four ounces)
Sample Menu

Morning
Prepared cereal (½ cup)
Fruit (2 ounces)

Mid-Day
Meat (1 to 1-½ ounces)
Vegetable (2 to 4 ounces)
Fruit (2 ounces)

Mid Afternoon
1 serving fruit or juice (4 ounces)(Juice is optional)

Evening
Dinner (one jar or 4 ounces)
Fruit (2 ounces)

Here is a link for you. http://beechnut.com/ after you get to the home page click on Feeding by age, then click on the age range and then on suggested menus... there's lots more info there that you can browse through.

Good Luck,
K.

hi E.,

I too am a first time mom, my daughter is older than Josh though. You just have to give him how much he wants to eat, no on knows him better than you do. You just have to judge it for yourself. You will know what he likes and doesn't and how much he wants to eat. Don't worry, he'll tell you

If you are giving him stage 2 foods then you can introduce meats to his diet. just the same as any other food intorduce one at a time for a few days and watch for allergies (which to meat is rare) you can introduce it through the stage 2 combo foods as long as he has had all other ingredents. By 7 months my daughter was eatting stage 2 foods of turk, chick, and beef all mixed with veg, mac, or fruit. I never gave her plain meats cuz to me they are just nasty tasting and it may turn them off of meats all together if you give the combo foods he will learn to like the meats and then when you introduce it as table food when older it will be a familar taste that he will enjoy.

my daughter gets 2oz of formula and 3 tablespoons of cereal mixed and a stage 2 (4oz) jar of fruit for breakfast. Then for lunch she get a stage 2 fruit and stage 2 meat and veg combo and then the same for dinner. She eats everything. somedays she doesnt want it all and you never force them to eat. Some of the stage 2 combos include a meat and fruit and then i give her that and a stage 2 veg (either mixed veg or plain veg like sweet pot and or carrots). She is 9 months old now and this is still her diet. She also get a bottle at 5-7am, breakfast around 9am when she wakes up and another bottle 1 hr later, and then lunch around noon or 1pm with a bottle to follow an hour later. Then she will have another bottle between 4 and 5pm. Then dinner at 7 or 730pm, and the a final bottle at 830 or 9pm. Every baby is different as although mine is older she is tiny for her size and your 7 month old is probly bigger. try to introduce a little more food at each feeding gradually and see how he does. If he refuses then dont worry if he is still hungry he will eat. as for the late and early bottles that is still normal. my daughter ate a bottle every 2 hours till she was 5 months old. If you have any other questions feel free to email me.

most importantly - is your son gaining weight steadily (meaning is he at the same or almost percentile all the time?) if so - he is getting enough food. However I would suggest that you give hime 5 meals a day . This will help him keep the insulin level without significant drops. How many teeth does your son have? I assume that when your doctor said finger foods he meant cheerios (first finger foods!) rather than anything else (definitely not a steak!). You want to be very careful with finger foods at this age - they can't bite yet and are not very good at it so there is a high risk of choking hazard. Let him practice on cheerios only.
If your are concerned with the amount of food you are giving to your son - just let HIM decide when he has had enough. He will let you know. Don't stop just because you gave him 5 spoons of whatever and this was all you prepared. Let him tell you whether he wants to eat and when he is done.
One more think - I assume that by "milk" you meant formula since babies should not be given cow's milk until they are 1 year old. Finally with meats - if you feel it's time to introduce meats because you have introduced already all the vegetables and friuts, you can do it, but don't do it just because somebody else does it. I believe that there are second food jars (dinner type) with meats added. Otherwise you can try Gerber jars - they have separate meats as 2nd foods. Just remember to add a little bit every day and one new food per week in case the child turns out to be allergic to certain type of food.
Last but not least a bottle. He also has to drink. Are you giving him any water? If not, the formula is not only food but also fluids his body needs in summer more than ever, not to ignore the fact that the bottle serves as comfort to him as well. So don't worry about giving him a bottle, as long as it is not his exclisive or main food.... Also keep in mind that your son is very young. Breastfed babies are not getting solids for 6 months!!! And only then you gradually introduce cereal (all types), vegetables, fruits. That means that for example my children at your son's age were only getting cereal and vegetables (plus breast milk of course). Remember that every child is different.
Also I can highly recommend some reading to you - "Caring for your baby and young child. Birth to Age 5" by The American Academy of Pediatrics" and "What to expect the first year" Heidi Eisenberg Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway, both available at Barnes&Noble, shipping for orders above 25 dollars is free. I am sure you are a wonderful and caring mother. Good luck!!!!