Hi All, My DD is seven months old now. I have started giving her solids from sixth month and as doctor suggested I was giving her two scoops of Ragi cereal from First bites in morning and two spoons of rice cereal in evening.Just two days back I started giving her boiled rice and dal in morning instead of Ragi and Ragi cereal in evening.I am BFing my baby on demand when she is hungry other times. Am I giving her less food for her age?I was planning to start giving her solids three times a day only after she is 8 months old , is it fine.I am sticking to two times a day solid because she has already started taking less milk and I wish to BF her till she is one.When I tried giving her banana she got cold and with steamed Apple purree she got constipated so I am not able to add fruits to her diet.Please help me with your suggestions, how did you overcome these issues .
I did baby led weaning with my son starting at 6 months which means I started with soft, nutrient dense foods that he could pick up and eat himself like avocado, roasted sweet potato, scrambled eggs, banana, steamed broccoli etc. At 7 months, I offered food only once or twice a day and from 9 months I offered 3 times a day. So I think you are doing good so far with frequency of her meals. Until they finish one year, breast milk or formula is their primary source of nutrition and you want them to drink the same amount and not have it replaced by food. So for your baby, how about doing cereal/ragi/rice and dal once a day and for baby's second meal, offer softly cooked vegetables. It could be vegetables that you have already cooked for your lunch or dinner so you don't have to make something separate for baby. It's good to offer your baby a variety of flavor and textures earlier on so they are less likely to be picky eaters when they reach the toddler stage Fruits, you could put in a feeder and offer your LO. I used a silicon feeder that had holes in them that baby could bite and get the pulp out of, like this one Amazon.com : Boon Pulp Silicone Feeder, Blue/Orange (Discontinued by Manufacturer) : Baby Eating Utensils : Baby My son ate grapes, cherries, peaches, plums and banana out of it at 6-9 months. Not sure, if its available where you are located, if not, puréed fruit should work as well
I think what you are doing is good. When I started with solids did same as you OP! Stick to the routine. If your baby is active, wetting and dirtying diapers and gaining weight nothing to worry. Good advice by preesmiles. I started giving solids 3 times a day at about 8-9 months and slowly introduced cows milk one feed at a time around 10.5 months. You can try feeding her steamed veggies like spinach, carrots, broccoli, snake-gourd, ridge gourd, lauki, baked potato, etc I never gave store bought rice cereal and started with home made kanji / moong dal-rice khichadi. you can add veggies to the khichadi.
Thank you preesmiles and aspha for your valuable inputs.Really liked your idea and thanks for relieving me from tension that I might be doing some injustice to my baby unknowingly.
In my opinion, you are doing good and feed her on demand. Don't remember clearly but I think my Lo was taking 4 time/5 times - 6 oz = 32 oz by that age. Also check online charts for diet. BTw, applesauce is supposed to be good and works opposite to constipation. My Lo now is consiptated all the time, and I am suggested applesauce all the times. But who knows. So feed her if she wants as once they turn, they change overnight and start showing varied colors.