I have recently started weaning my 7 month old. He is a big boy and loves his food. I cook all his meals at the weekend & freeze them for the week ahead. I'm not sure what portion sizes he should be having?? How much puree/mash should he be eating??
Sounds similar to us and DD is nearly 9 months. I don't always give a desert but otherwise spot on with what we are doing. I have been trying to introduce snacks too but they are getting a little repetitve!
I am doing BLW and a bit of puree feeding and sometimes just skip breakfaast as he doesn't seem interested. Other meals are usually just a few spoons of something and then some fruit/veg to chew on. I am just going by the 'food is fun until you are one' thing.
My little one is7 1/2 months and follows a similar feeding routine. I normally give about 6 ice cubes tray portions for lunch and 8 for dinner ( both followed by yoghurt/fruit pudding) His weight gain is spot on, he doesn't always finish it and always has finger foods to munch on too, which he finds more fun than the purees and mashed food!
Ah, i've reduced the milk feeds too as I stopped b/f when he reached 7 months. He now has four bottles throughout the day, water at mealtimes and no more night feeds!
I'm worried he's not getting enough milk now! The advice on weaning is so conflicting...I've just purchased a book that says he should be on 5 bottles a day - as well as his breakfast, lunch & dinner!! Surely thats too much??
Breakfast: Bowl of porridge / wheatabix with youghurt and sometimes fruit pot 9am - bottle (7-8 oz) 12 ish Lunch - Same size bowl as breakfast - about 5 heaped tablespoons, fruit (half banana, pile or strawberries etc) 1ish - 7 oz bottle 3ish - snacks (rice cakes, fruit, yoghurt) and sometimes another 5oz milk Dinner - same size as lunch, plus fruit and yoghut (he only eats natural yoghurt, not keen on anything that's not tangy!) Bed - 6-7oz bottle.
Cripes, he eats LOADS!!! Still just above 25th for weight though (born between 9th and 25th, went up to 25th when exclusively breastfeeding). He's on 91st for height though so I figure has a way to go before we need to worry about him being in proportion!
to add - I think go with whatever and however much he'll eat and don't worry too much about it provided his weight doesn't jumpo or drop by too much :-)
HV has advised min 20 floz a day but that includes cheeses and yoghurts. My DS has 3, 5 oz bottles and one 3 oz in afternoon, just water with his meals. I agree with inflames, as long as their weight is ok and he's happy don't worry!
she has bottle at 7am generally drinks about 4oz, then porridge made with 3oz milk.
lunch another 4oz bottle, tho sometimes she will only drink 3oz. then she has four/five ice cubes of mashed veg/meat/fish and then one ice cube of nat yog with one ice cube of fruit.
dinner same as lunch.
then i offer her another 4oz at bed, she generally only has 2 or 3oz, so she has about 16oz of milk a day and then the yog and cheese in food or to chew on along with other finger foods with meals, ie toast, rice cakes, bits fo fruit/veg etc.
my boys were all milk monsters at this age and not into food, but they are all different, hv said all you can do is offer milk and a healthy balanced diet, if they eat it they eat it, you have done your bit by offering!
oh and she is on the 90th percentile for weight (just gone up a bit) and the very top of the chart for length
oh and i always make up a 5oz bottle so she can have more if she wants, she just doesnt want to, never has been a fan of milk, even when only on milk she never took more than 5-6oz and always had less than recomended but has always been big!
Now I'm confused about whether 8 month DS is having too much milk. He was on 5 FF a day, about 6.5 ounces each.
We've been BLW since 6 months and he's definitely into now. Still on two meals a day, something like this:
7am - 5-7 ounces milk 8.15 - breakfast - toast or porridge and fruit or an egg 11am - 5-7 ounces milk 3pm - same 5pm - dinner (protein, veg, carb + fruit) 7pm - 5-7 ounces milk + dreamfeed (in process of dropping) - 2 ounces
His milk taking varies a fair bit. he can do the whole bottle and he can also reject a fair bit. We offer water with every meal and he likes water and he eats a lot of summer fruits which are very juicy.
I've been worried about his milk dropping - but is this too much? He's not a big baby...well, he wasn't LOL
they recomend about a pint of milk or 500-650ml/20oz a day but this can be in food and included cheese/yog.
if you are doing blw then just judge by him, he will eat what he wants/needs.
i vaguely remember reading somewhere that a portion size for about 8mths should be 120g of food? but basically a portion for them is what will fit in the palm of their hand, remember their tummies are still very little and for the first year most calories do come from milk, tho obviously some babies prefer solids and this become their main food.
all babies are different and the guidlines are for an average baby, so anything a bit above or below is also going to be within the normal range
like i said my dd has always had less milk than she 'should' and now she is on solids her appetite isnt huge, but she is!
conversely my friends ds always had LOADS of milk and has been the same with solids, he has a huge appetite, i am amazed by it! but he is dinky!
i am guessing metabolisms etc are diff in babies as they are in adults? as long as your baby is happy, gaining weight, weeing, pooing and seems content you are fine
I'm really chilled about it (now!) and figure that as long as weight isn't wildly off you can't go far wrong :-) Thunk it's 5-600mls milk / day - though 120g portion sounds tiny - I went by the size if 7month jars / pouches which are 210-250g and make up his portion to that rough size in bowl three time a day :-)
how much milk does he have? he will cut it down of his own accord, honestly my boys had LOADS of milk until they were over one. the 20oz is just a guildine its fine if he has more than this.
and i have never weighed ANY food that my kids have had, i have 5! they have all been different.
ds1 was a gannet! ds2 loves bmilk and hardly ate till he was 18mths, you cant fill him up now (he is 9)
ds3 like ds2 and ds4 a bit of a mix, but now hardly eats at all but is thriving!
Don't get too worried about milk unless he's suddenly on the (mythical) 150% centile :-) maybe just add lunch in and see what little man wants? We didn't consciously reduce milk, let him lead it and, at almost 32 weeks, he's just wanting less now - and more fruit midafternoon!!
Actually, I feel quite stressed about the whole thing...having gone over to the BLW forum and here - someone says I should be only giving DS the amount of food that can be 'measured' in his palm...? I never thought of any of this before. I just cut up food and gave it to him. If he ate it, great. If it landed on the floor and he wouldn't take it back, then no problem.
Measure in palm? That's .... a tiny amount! With BLW I'd say go with whatever he wants to have, and don;t worry about measuring or weighing. It may be that he's happier to fill up on milk just now and will gradually start eating more as he goes on and gets more used to different foods and textures.
Honest - You sound as though you are doing it ALL right, in in YOUR way, which is fab - unless he;s turned into a giant child in 18month clothes, or shrunk back to newborn size, you're not going far wrong :-)
he will eat what he needs to, just offer! honestly you are overthinking it.
yes a portion is the palm of his hand, but that of each food, so he could have a portion of a few types of veg, fruit and meat iyswim?
some days he will eat more, others less, he will have growth spurts and be ill etc all will affect what and how much he eats but aslong as he is happy and growing well its fine !!
and remember not to worry if he has a few days just eating one food etc, look at his intake over a week or a fortnight for a more balanced picture if you are worried
