Comments on: Ask Judy: How Much Food Should I Be Giving My Baby?

By: Darla @ Lemon Trees

Darla @ Lemon Trees — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:54:19 +0000

Neat! I’m pregnant with my second child and can’t wait for the due date, even though I know a few things there’s plenty I don’t. Thanks for the information, you don’t know how much I appreciate it.Thanks!Darla

By: lynessence

lynessence — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:50:48 +0000

Thanks for writing this post! My son is 10 months old, and i’m the only one in my family who has breastfed besides a few of my aunts but they weened before toddlerhood. Anyway, my son hated baby food, and I thought I was doing something wrong. I was worried he would become malnourished. Then, one day, he started eating, and I realized he isn’t stupid…he won’t let himself starve. Some days he will eat lots of solids, other days he wants to exclusively nurse. I wish i had found this post three or four months ago when I was confused and didn’t know what to do, but I know now to just go with the flow.
.-= lynessence´s last blog .. =-.

By: Tiffany (As For My House)

Tiffany (As For My House) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:23:48 +0000

Great post, Judy!

I’m on baby #3, who is currently not quite two years old.

With all three I had very similar feeding experiences. They were very eager to have the food I was eating, beginning around 6-7 months. I fed them real food, consistent with their stage of development – smooth first foods like smashed banans or avocados, etc.

I never bought baby food, nor ever fed them according to a schedule or program.

For well past the first year mark, food was purely recreational. I would estimate that it was around age 2 before food made up more than 50% of their daily calorie intake… obviously that’s for the older 2 – hasn’t happened yet with #3.

Like a lot of developmental issues, my conviction has been proven out that they will get there, each in their own good time. We don’t need to pressure them or rush them.
.-= Tiffany (As For My House)´s last blog ..Top Green Tips =-.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:02:55 +0000

Thanks for this post. I am currently breastfeeding my 8-month-old baby. I feed her solids every day, but not a lot – just little bits of what we are eating. Avocados, bananas, steamed carrots, noodles, etc.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Disneyland with a baby and preschooler : Part II =-.

By: Lauren @ Hobo Mama

Lauren @ Hobo Mama — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:20:09 +0000

We followed a modified practice of baby-led weaning, with “weaning” meaning switching from exclusively breastfed to introducing solid foods (not in the typical US sense of stopping breastfeeding). The idea is that you offer your baby a variety of safe and healthful choices and let him choose what he wants to eat. The foods can just be small pieces of whatever you’re eating, or fresh fruit and steamed veggies. Orthodox baby-led weaning uses no spoons, purees, or parent-led feeding, though sometimes we do help him spoon up yogurt or remind him to try something, and we did try a couple jars of baby food, but they weren’t a hit!

Mikko was interested in solids about 5 months, but didn’t start chewing and swallowing any until a couple months after that. We did let him start to explore with textures and tastes when he was ready. I think maybe our baby was a little unusual but not out of the norm in that he really preferred breastfeeding over solids for quite a long time. He ate very few solids until ~14 months & then gradually added them in. Even now at 2.5, he sometimes chows down & is sometimes indifferent. It’s helped me to remember that baby stomachs are very small. As I trusted him to know how much breastmilk he needed, I’m now trusting him to know how much food and what kind. I have a lot of hangups around food so am trying not to pass them on. By the way, our son was 30 lbs at 6 months & 35 lbs now, so he was absolutely thriving on breastfeeding! It sounds like yours definitely is, too.

Here are some sites that are helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby-led_weaning
http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/
http://www.baby-led.com/
Sorry to be long-winded; it’s just something that really worked well for us!
.-= Lauren @ Hobo Mama´s last blog ..Reasons to get behind elimination communication =-.

By: Whozat

Whozat — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:28:33 +0000

We did “baby-led solids” (known in Britian, where most of the literature comes from, as “baby-led weaning” – referring to weaning onto solids, not off of breastfeeding) and have been very pleased.

Basically, the idea is that by six months, babies are quite capable of picking up solid food and putting it in their mouths, so there’s no need for purees, lumps, etc.

The baby learns to chew and manipulate the food in his mouth before he learns to swallow it, is in control of the type (with what you offer, of course) and amount of food he eats (learning to read his body’s own fullness cues, not being encouraged to finish up a jar) and gets used to a wide variety of tastes and textures.

More info here: http://www.babyledweaning.com
.-= Whozat´s last blog ..Daily Peep: Target! =-.