how much food for 6month old

[jinna]

just a quick query. my son is 6 mth old and i am breastfeeding him - i feel i am not giving him enough solids - is there any one else with a 6mth old - how much solid are you giving? he is 16lbs - and seems small for his age - this makes me more worried

jinna is he happy? Is he healthy looking?
Is he reaching his developmental milestones?
If he gets unrestricted access to breastmilk ( several feeds a day) and you offer him some solids two or three times a day ( which he may or may not be interested in) he'll be fine .
Some babies don't take too well to solids at first, and who can blame them if what they have been used to is "a nice warm bosomful of milk" - that's a quote from the Nanny knows best book that always makes me smile.
I offer this reassurance only in my capacity as a fellow mum,(who has not since the first few weeks taken her baby to be weighed) as I am no expert on infant nutrition, but if I am wrong (won't be the first time) one of the mumsnetters who actually know what they are talking about will advise.
Isn't 6m a lovely age?

thanks for your reply - you are right 6mth is a lovely age - but i just cannot seem to stop worrying about him - i wish i could and could enjoy this time - i have another child of 4 and feel i a mrushing about so much that i am not enjoying them.

Oh, Jasper, you're the only other person I've ever come across who has read that book. I like it to. A co-sleeping, non-punishing, let-babies-play-with -their-food nanny who trained in the 1930s - how unusual is that? Actually, she's the childcare guru whose approach is closest to mine. I think she sounds a lovely old dear - though sadly dead now, I think. And I agree, offer him food two or three times a day alongside his b/fs and let him eat until he refuses. Banana, mashed potato with cheese, pureed carrot with a dash of butter, mushed lentils with onion and tomato were all popular I think. My ds is only 14 months but six months seems an age ago. I gave breakfast and lunch and some tea at that age, I think, but sometimes he'd eat very little, sometimes more. As for milk he had a first thing in the morning feed, mid-morning, afternoon and bedtime.

I didn't start any solids at all till my dd was 6 months. 16lbs sounds like a good weight. Don't worry

aloha it's a lovely book isn't it? So sensible yet loving in her approach.

Jinna - I totally agree with Jasper. Milk is more important than solids even at this age. A friend of mine's baby would not entertain solids until 8 months. I have 4 children and they all vary in size. Try and stay away from the scales if you can, they only cause unnecessary anxiety.

I have no idea how much my 6 mth old eats (oh god i feel such a bad mother wriitng this)...she eats until she blows it back out or hits the spoon or tries to play with the spoon and the food goes everywhere..she has about 3 smallish meals a day and is agian sleeping through the night (HORRAH!!!!!) ANd as much breastmilk as she wants.

Yes, exactly the same as crazybabs almost word for word. As Mears suggests, I stopped going to have him weighed when the HVs said he was slowing down. He looks great, so I've stopped worrying.

my dd is also 6 mths and 16lbs she is putting on weight rapidly since I introduced food, she now has 3 meals a day mainly which I make and sometimes from a jar (baby organix) also Sainsburys do a new range called Babylicious which are frozen but made fresh with no additives just the ingredients, sweet and savoury and she loves them. Mashed avocado is a good one and I boil any root veg, swede, parsnip, butternut squash and carrots altogether then liquidise with some of the cooking water and this goes down a treat. As long as food is fun and tasty your ds will thrive and with breast milk sounds like you have nothing to worry about.