How confusing can it be to feed your LO. In the beginning you just breastfed or give the bottle when they cry. Eventually you get into a schedule and then add in baby cereal and purées. This is where a lot of parents get confused. When do I give the baby food before or after? How much do I give? How many times a day? There are no real clear cut answers because as you’ve heard all babies are different. What is clear cut is that in the beginning baby food is really just an addition to the main form of nutrition/hydration which is breast milk or formula. The main reasons for the intake of baby food is to expose your infant to new tastes and textures, to prepare for table food, to develop more mature oral motor skills and to slowly introduce other sources of nutrition to the gut.
The main thing to remember is that the breast milk or formula is still number one. With that piece of information it only makes sense that you would give your baby the breast or bottle first and then give tastes of baby food in between. Take your babies cues if he/she is interested. Starting purées can be anywhere from 4-6 months. If you start on the earlier end and your baby isn’t into it then just wait until he/she is. Keep trying small tastes even if he/she only accepts a few bites, eventually this will increase. Try two feedings each day and increase to three as accepted. It’s important to never force feed your child especially at the this important milestone. You want to create a positive feeding experience for you and your child. Force feeding can only leave to the development of food aversions later on. It is also important not to over feed with baby food to early because you don’t want to transition off of breast milk or formula to early. Your baby should continue breast milk or formula until his/her first birthday. After that typically you would introduce milk in place of the breast milk or formula.
A typical feeding schedule for an infant just starting purée baby food would be.
8 am breast/bottle
8:30 am breakfast purée (rice or oatmeal cereal mixed with breast milk or formula)
11 am nap
12 pm breast/bottle
12:30 pm lunch puréed sweet potatoes
3 pm nap
4 pm breast/bottle
5 pm dinner puréed butternut squash
8pm breast/bottle
Sleep!!!
Most babies will still wake up for one or two night feedings depending on how much baby food is accepted throughout the day.
Check out the beaba babycook, a must have for the savvy mom. Also check out some great purée recipes in one of my favorite baby cook books.
http://www.beabausa.com/products-babycook.php
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cooking-for-baby-lisa-recipes-by-barnes/1105028020
DS
The above is the opinion of this writer. This should not take the place of your pediatrician. You should always consult your pediatrician for medical advise regarding introduction of feedings and related issues. Tinyseedsfeeding was not compensated for this post.