how much food should a 7mo be eating in a day?

[titferbrains]

sorry I've been posting everywhere trying to crack my dd's night waking. She's been waking up earlier and earlier for night feeds over past few days and I think it's because she's not eating enough during the day. She is very little,below 0.4th centile and generally takes about 5-6 oz as a full milk feed but not really that interested in solids, mostly likes things with banana, fruit etc. Am going on a mission to start introducing more protein, made lentil stew last night. But am concerned that her portions aren't big enough. Any guidance on this? Bowl of baby porridge made with milk for extra calories is usually 3-4 heaped tbs of powder, then maybe 1/3 pk ella's fruit. When I've given banana and avo puree in the past, she'll take 1-2 oz.

also could you tell me what times you feed your 7mo? I haven't got my head around supper/tea, she goes down about 6.45pm at the mo. ie begins her milk feed at about this time. I have been giving her 1oz formula with baby rice to fill her up about 1 hr before bedtime but want to start doing a proper supper.

I have no idea how BLWers do it?? doesn't it take hours for them to eat anything and how do you know if they're full enough? DD eats the odd rice cake and roasted root veg stick but alway spits out the big bits that break off, so essentially very little goes in.

Wanted to BLW but she doesn't like lumps and I'm dreadful about salt, used to be a chef so I fling the stuff everywhere.

sorry for ramble but am desperate to get feeding and sleep on track. home and life in chaos because I can't function properly in day because am deeply overtired.

im sure my ds at this age had small breakfast porridge and bottle of milk but i gave milk when he first woke then porridge around 8 he used to getup at 5.30

10am small piece of fruit

12 small amount of pasta with some home made sauce

he used to nap until 2 after lunch

2-3 fruit again mashed banana or stewed apple

5-6 small amount of mash and meat or fish only needs to be table spoon or 2

then i gave milk directly before bed

when i went to bed at around 11-12 i would give a dream feed and used to see him through to about 5

my ds at this age was a really big eater could eat big bowls of every thing but food guideline is 1 tablespoon per portion per year of age so 3 table spoons for 1 yr old etc my ds appetite decreased by 1 and i was worried as he would eat so much befoe but was reassured this was an ok amount to eat and have followed it ever since

i used to buy small freezable tubs and make up the food for him so must have had 3-4 tablespoons
ds could easily eat alot so dont be worried if appetite decreases just be reassured even though it doesnt look much it is perfectly ok portion size

at 7 months our day went like this:

7am - milk
8am - breakfast (weetabix, ready brek with fruit, etc)
11am - milk
12pm - lunch
2.30pm - milk
5pm - dinner (included meat and/or pasta, potatoes, etc)
7.15pm - milk
ds woke in the night for 1 feed until 8 months

7ths is still young where solids are concerned if you waited until 6mths to wean. If first foods consist of things like veg and fruit etc then there will be more calories in the milk. My DS was definitley still having mainly milk at this age. I would offer breakfast, lunch and dinner but made a pact with myself to NEVER get anxious about food. The idea is that they associate meal times with fun thereby eliminating food issues later on.

Does she seem interested in your food?

well she basically rejected my lentils tonight but I see this as success because she did actually taste them. ALso she sucked on green beans for a bit which was very exciting, and she put broccoli in her mouth for a moment. What more can a mother ask for, eh? (p'raps for another thread...)

will stick with offering lentils this week and maybe pasta with cheese, and then chicken next week. Think she is very much a do it herself baby, she always takes more off the spoon and opens mouth more eagerly when she does it herself. Amazing.

AM obviously still going ahead with lots of milk, I just wanted to understand what other babies do at this stage. My gut feeling is that she's always going to be a bit behind the rest of the world but she'll turn out to be brilliant at everything in the end.

My 7 month old has the following routine:

7am - wake up and 5oz bottle
8.30-9am - breakfast usually porridge or weetabix
10.30 ish - 5 oz bottle
12-12.30 lunch of meat and veg or pasta
2.30 ish - 5 oz bottle
3.30 - 4 - team - again, meat and veg or pasta type meal
6-6.30 6oz bottle

My dd was breastfed until 6 months and only began sleeping through once formula was introduced. She also only started on solids at 6 months but has moved quite quickly with her food. However, she is a good size baby (9lb 1oz at birth) and is over 19lb now. I do a mixture - some purees, some BLW and she amazes me at the amount she eats. No-one is going to beat you over the head if you don't do BLW - my first daughter was a puree baby and she has always had a fabulous appetite and loves a whole variety of food.

Remember at this point, food complements milk - milk should be the main part of babies' diet until 12 months old. Try not to get to bogged down with what she 'should' be eating, she will do what she wants when she wants to.

What an interesting thread. I am curious about what other babies of the same age are eating My little fella appears to have a big appetite compared to the ones on here so far.

0730 8oz milk
1030 Porridge (2 scoops as found in formula box)made with 1 scoop of milk, table spoon tahini, teaspoon black strap molasses, one small banana, 3 dried figs, dash of orange juice and a sprinkling of cinammon.

1330 small bowl of vegetable and bean or lentil soup followed by 80z milk

1700 an iron based meal such as boiled egg with mashed sweet potato and spinach or salmon, quinoa and beetroot followed by a pot of "plum" dessert

1930 8oz milk feed

He is 8months now but this has been his diet since 6 & half months - started weaning and 4months.

i forgot, and will snack on dry rice-cakes, toast or finely sliced fresh fruit such as strawberries and melon.

Hello. It is great reading this. I have no idea whether my dd is eating the right amount but here is our vague schedule:

7am - 7oz milk
8am - baby rice mixed with pureed fruit
12pm - lunch of pureed veg with baby rice and/or fish or cheese and a yoghurt for pudding
3pm - 7oz milk
5.30p - dinner of meat/fish/lentils and veg and then a pudding of yoghurt or fruit

DUring the day she also snacks on rice cakes, fruit, bread etc

I can see that she is having a lot less milk than most the other babies but I thought I was folowing the instructions on the aptamil pack that they should only have 4-500 mils at this age? What do people think? How much milk should they still be drinking?

Hi, my DD routine fairly similar to everymum:
7am 7 oz milk
9am breakfast (weetabix)
12pm lunch, generally meat/fish with veg plus a fruit puree
3pm 7oz milk
4pm dinner (similar to lunch)
6.30pm 7oz milk before bed

i think guidance is a pint of formula a day until they are 1, which is 560 mls, which is 20 ounces

hope this helps!!

DD is 8 months and is also very small - 2nd percentile. Her routine is the following (she's allergic to lactose so no dairy, eggs or seafood):

06:00 I offer her 7oz milk - she'll often only have half of it
08:30 breakfast of porridge (at home it's 100ml water plus enough powder to make it quite thick as this is how she likes it)
10:00 she's offered 4oz milk but often has none at all
11:30 lunch which is lumpy stuff like pasta and tom sauce, cottage pie, fish etc.
14:00 she's offered 4oz milk again but often takes none
15:30 dinner which is things like lunch or couscous, mashed sweet potato etc, with a banana or Frutapura for dessert
18:30 7oz milk which she usually finishes
22:00 4oz milk dreamfeed which we force her to finish

She's really gone off milk since she started her food. DP and I are going to start giving her a snack in the evening as well as we think she's ravenous when she gets home from nursery.

gosh DD has not tried enough new things I think. She is not really up for green veg except sucking on green beans, and I've been v knackered/lazy about going onto lumpier things like couscous or pasta. Hope to get more sleep this weekend and make another good go at variety of foods this week.

I also find that she is very tired about 2 hrs after she wakes up so it's hard to fit in milk and solids in the morning. But she'll generally take porridge and fruit. Just wish she was more interested in protein - she still hates lumps.

Going back to bed now I think. I can barely think straight from tiredness. Hubby reminded me that she'll get there eventually and unlikely to be living on fruit and porridge age 20.

my ds2 is still fed on demand and at this age was just tasting some things like banana, soft fruit, steamed veg etc
he certainly wasn't eating a great deal
you can be sure they are getting 'enough' by offering plenty of milk which is the main source of calories and nutrition at this age
night waking is a complex issue and IME not solved by foods other than milk!
7 months is still quite young for things like lentils so go easy
stick to mostly fruit and veg and cereals, with the odd taste of things like beans and lentils, and it will all be completely different in a month or two!

fandz thanks for posting, just what I needed to hear. HAving a bad day re food with her, she just assumes a blank stare everytime I put her in her chair and is not up for eating anything today. I find the downs of parenting so hard, everytime something goes wrong like her not eating much in a day, I feel like things will NEVER get better. very hard to maintain perspective when over-tired I guess. WAsn't expecting solids to make much difference, but have got fed up of reading/hearing that they need to eat as much as possible during the day. Can't figure out how to get much more in when she needs time to bloody digest what she's getting! Ugh I find this really tough and have no desire to puree more food to throw away in a few hours. Anyone got another cheering story to tell?

yes i know exactly what you mean
they have a bad day with food and you think "this is it - she will never eat a decent meal, ever"
i bet you in a month or two you will be worrying about something totally different
these are just phases and rarely last long
can you find other ways to get yourself more sleep? do you sleep with her nearby so you can get to her quickly before she's fully awake? sometimes babies sleep better right next to you? can you have a lie in at the weekends? go to bed earlier?

my ds1 was very keen on eating and i shovelled loads of purees into him and it made NO difference to his nights! with ds2 i am just resigned to it (knowing it does pass helps a lot)