by Liz | All Things Kids
We’ve been exploring the brave new world of solids with gusto, watching Lena enjoy each new food as she’s introduced to it. So far…she hasn’t said no to anything.
As we progress from one food to the next, I’ve done my fair share of research on the topic. There is a wealth of information out there, but very little in the way of guidelines for appropriate quantities and balancing milk intake vs. solid food. Most helpful guides simply say to keep the spoon moving until the child refuses it. Well, what if the child NEVER refuses it?!
I think the lack of specifics are mostly due to the fact that every child is SO different. We have an eater and while she’s not overly chubby, she’s well above average for height and weight. We’re tall people so it’s to be expected, but I’m sure our food estimates are far above what many other babies her age are eating. I’m still breastfeeding so it’s difficult to estimate milk quantities, but here are our best guesses.
Also…be sure you read up on which foods are appropriate, especially if you’re making your own food. Babycenter.com has some great advice and you want to be sure to give age appropriate foods that won’t create any allergy risk for your child. If you’re buying food, most baby foods also come labeled with the stage so it’s pretty easy to figure out what to start with.
Warning signs your child is ready:
- Huge milk intake – we just couldn’t keep up with her. She was drinking 9-12 ounce bottles at certain times of the day.
- Sitting fairly well in a reclined position – she couldn’t sit up but could recline fairly upright in a bouncy chair and hold her head steady.
- Tongue reflex disappears – If you tried to put something in her mouth (toy, finger or otherwise) she’d push it right out again. One day, she just wasn’t doing it any more.
- Food tracking – if we ate around her, she’d follow our hands, fork, food with rapt attention.
First introduction (4-5 months):
- Oatmeal, fruit or veg: 2-3 tablespoons.
- Milk intake: shouldn’t alter too drastically just yet, we kept the same schedule and just reduced the quantities a bit. Her 10:30 feeding went from 9 oz down to 7 oz and her night bottle before bed went from 9-12 oz down to about 8 oz. Roughly, 35-40 oz total per day.
- Start with single ingredients with a very smooth consistency, on the verge of being a liquid. Cereals (we opted for oatmeal, best to choose iron fortified), sweet potatoes, peas, squash, apricots, pears, apples, prunes, bananas (beware of constipation), carrots (beware of gas) have all been contenders. Wait about 3-4 days between the introduction of each new food.
- Try a tablespoon or two at the beginning. Lena very quickly ramped up to 2-3 tablespoons of food, but like I said…she never refused any of it. Rather than waiting for her to refuse…we quit when she wouldn’t complain mightily if we stopped feeding her.
- We started with oatmeal and then added the veggies or fruits to it with each new introduction. This worked out great because we could simply spoon a little more of the fruit or veg into her bowl if she was still hungry. At least this way, we didn’t have to scramble to mix up some more oatmeal.
- One feeding per day after her 5 pm milk feeding quickly became two feedings per day (the second added after her 10:30 am milk feeding).
Solid Food Pro (5-6 months):
- Oatmeal: 2-3 tablespoons, veg/fruit: 2-3 teaspoons plus an extra spoonful or two if she’s still hungry.
- Milk intake: bedtime bottle is down to about 6 oz and her afternoon bottle (2 pm) went from about 8 oz down to 6 oz as well. Roughly, 30-35 oz per day.
- Once the child has a bit of practice and relishes eating as much as Lena, thicken up the consistency a bit. Lena never really took to the runny version of things, so we combine everything with oatmeal to give it a bit more texture but still very smooth. She loves it.
- Move on to the highchair. We stuck our Bebe pod in the highchair and quickly realized she’s a much happier (and less messy!) eater when she’s sitting upright. She still can’t quite do it on her own but having the Bebe pod for support and the arms and tray of the highchair to hold onto…she’s a happy baby.
- Watch those hands! Now that she’s upright and able to look around, she’ll try to grab anything that comes within reach. That includes a full bowl of baby food if we’re not careful!
- We haven’t moved to three feedings per day yet simply because we’re still a bit rushed in the morning, but that will likely come very soon and will be after her 7:30 am milk feeding.
Stage 2 (6-8 months):
- Oatmeal: 3-4 tablespoons, veg/fruit: 3-4 teaspoons, meat: 2-3 teaspoons (just a best guess at this point!)
- Milk intake: to be determined! I’m guessing we’ll likely lose one of the milk feedings during the day which will land us around 25 oz per day.
- Now that she’s handling solids so well, we want to be prepared for the next stage. I’m planning to make a lot more of this stage of foods. She’ll be sixth months old in a few weeks so we’ll get the go-ahead from her pediatrician at her next appointment.
- By most accounts, once you’ve gone through the stage 1 foods with no reaction…it’s definitely ok to start on the next stage.
Feel free to weigh in with any other tips and tricks you’ve found! There seems to be such a wide range of suggestions so I’d love to hear what others have found to work for them.
by Liz | All Things Kids, Chaos Hacks
Now that Lena has started eating solid foods, there’s a been a scramble to dig up or buy all the accoutrements that are necessary to manage this new endeavor. In our infinite wisdom (and total lack of space) we opted not to buy a highchair since we had absolutely nowhere to put it. My husband’s aunt kindly loaned us their traditional wooden highchair that was much smaller than its modern counterparts and we were very happy for this addition. We prepared for the fact that we wouldn’t be able to use the highchair until Lena was sitting up and thought we’d cross that bridge when we came to it.
Cut to the present day…
Lena has taken to solid foods with a vengeance and is absurdly happy whenever there is a colorful spoon traveling toward her mouth. She proves this point again and again by exhibiting the same open-mouthed grasping as a baby chick and humming a contented ‘mmm’ sound all the while. Any pauses in the spoon’s trajectory are met with squawks of protest until she is satisfied the last mouthful has been scraped from her bowl.
A dear friend had kindly loaned us a bouncy chair which was pinch hitting for the highchair until Lena was good and ready to upgrade to a sitting position. At the very least, we thought we’d be able to sub in her Bebe pod (similar to a Bumbo seat). Well, our bouncy chair loan expired and we were forced to consider our options. The Bebe pod was a good one…except for the fact that our child’s love of food had landed us with a 20 pound baby at the tender age of five months. She was quickly learning muscle control but her efforts in the Bebe pod might lead some to suspect we were spiking her milk.
My crafty husband devised a plan! He quickly realized the Bebe pod could be strapped into the wooden highchair, lending Lena the added support she needed to remain upright. Eureka!
If needed, we can even tuck a pillow behind her for added support. The relatively small size of the highchair is ideal as it hugs the Bebe pod and allows the baby to hang on to the arms or tray. The modified highchair takes up much less room than most of the more modern, reclining highchairs. Lo and behold…Lena actually prefers sitting upright while eating and has managed to create a good deal less mess while she’s at it.
Finding creative solutions is the name of the game with parenting as we’re quickly coming to realize. My next step will be recovering the original seat cushions so that we’re ready to transition again once she’s sitting up on her own.
For now, we’ll count this as one of our small victories toward raising a baby on a budget!
by Liz | Life Snapshot
It’s that time of year again…cold and flu season. With the mild weather we’d been having, we were really hoping to hold off the germs for a little longer but no such luck! Between daycare and my husband’s job at an elementary school, we were bound to get hit by the cold bug eventually. Head colds are the absolute pits for anyone involved, but it seems particularly unfair to infants as they battle through without the aid of decongestants or even a little throat lozenge.
The unfortunate truth is…no amount of medicine will make a virus go away any faster. So, the best way to cope with a cold is for your babe to tough it out. There are a few ways to provide some relief and help them endure their symptoms a bit more easily.
Saline spray ~ There’s nothing worse than trying to drink while having a stuffy nose! A little saline spray will help to loosen their little nose.
Nasal aspirator ~ Applying a little suction after using the saline spray can do wonders to clear a clogged nose. I do advise caution though, most babies tend to rebel when you go after their nose too often. I try to limit this tactic unless absolutely necessary. I found that first thing in the morning and after long naps are the best times to tackle the stuffed up nose. This has the added benefit of easing their discomfort shortly before they get a bottle so they are a bit more free to drink comfortably.
Push the fluids ~ At 5 months old, our babe is well on her way to exploring solids. But while she’s got a cold, I try to push the bottle more than the spoon. While her nose is running, it’s easier to eat from a spoon but I want to be sure she’s hydrated. I’ve resorted to splitting up her bottle feedings because she gets so exhausted battling her stuffy nose while drinking.
Humidify ~ Having a humidifier definitely helps to ease the crusty nose syndrome and lets her sleep a little more peacefully. She’s also loved having her bath every night as it relaxes her and adds to the benefits of having some humidity in the air. We almost skipped her bath a few nights but she was so happy in there we couldn’t bear to deprive her!
Cuddle time ~ The most effective treatment is likely lots of love and attention for your little one. While it may not seem to help right away, rest assured they’ll know you’re looking out for them and will definitely appreciate the extra snuggles.
Five days later and the baby is making a great recovery. She’s gotten through the worst of it and come out smiling! Of course…now we’re all coming down with the symptoms. Here’s hoping that it’ll pass a bit more quickly for us…
by Liz | Life Snapshot
Just when you think you’ve finally got it all figured out…life throws a great big wrench in the works!
Many people told me that being home for three months can get tough and that I would be itching to get out of the house and back to work. The transition might be a little rough, but in the end I’d be glad for the change of pace. Well…that just simply wasn’t the case with me!
I’ve been back at work for almost a month now and I can’t say that it’s getting any easier. I can completely rationalize the necessity but there’s a large part of me that feels like I’m doing something wrong. My precious baby girl is a joy and has made the transition for herself very well. She has two days of daycare and three days of being doted on by adoring grandparents. Life couldn’t be better! Meanwhile… as I still struggle to come to grips with it all, here are some things that helped along the way.
- Pumping is NOT easy. If you’ve been doing it all along like I had been, that’s great. But pumping every day, multiple times a day, five days a week is rough. I’ve kept it up thus far and will continue to do so. But it definitely impacted my milk supply and overall just isn’t fun. If you’re pumping at work, you have to remember a million things every day before you leave including the bump, bottles, a cooler etc.
- Plan ahead! Try to get everything you need and baby needs together the night before. I set aside everything from bottles and cereal to my outfit, and whatever else I might need for the day.
- Laundry just doesn’t stop! I use every spare minute in the morning to throw on a wash or transfer clothes to the drier. No matter how many bibs, socks or outfits you have for the babe…they get spat up on within seconds and you’re left with nothing. The best method to combat this is just constant cycling of the washer/dryer. It’s a pain, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been about to walk out the door only to experience a spit-up catastrophe.
- Time to grow up. While you and your significant other may have played the “replace the toilet roll” or “throw out the trash” game one too many times in the past, all bets are off! There simply isn’t time in the day and the bottom line is, if you notice something needs addressing…no one else will get to it before you do! By taking the initiative and being one step ahead, you’re saving a whole lot of frustration later on when you reach for the baby wipe container only to find it’s STILL empty. No kidding!
- Take advantage of the time you have. It is frustrating that you spend more time at work than you do with your child (when they’re awake at least). It’s difficult to cope with but learning to appreciate the time you DO have makes it just a little bit easier. Weekends and evenings are devoted to family time and you can make up for a lot of lost moments then. Seeing that great big grin when you walk in the door is just priceless.
Hang in there…it’s almost Friday!
