starting baby food question?

Question

My baby is 4 and a half months and her ped okay'd her Monday for baby food. I kno im suppose to stick with one kind for about a week so my question is do I feed her the whole jar, half, or wait until she shes full and doesnt want to eat anymore?

shes been eting cereal since 3 months and does great with it

Answer 1

My son was about the same age when he started on baby food. At first he would only eat a few spoonfuls. Every day that went by he would eat a little bit more. I would say what ever your baby eats is fine. If he or she eats the whole jar then give it to them if not that is fine also. If he or she doesnt eat a lot at first it is no big deal because formula is there main source anyway. Good luck to you and your little one.

Answer 2

The first year is really an introduction to food they need most of their nutrition from breastmilk or formula. Make sure she's not too full from solids, so if you notice that she's not finishing her bottles or not nursing very long I would cut back on the solids. Feed her as much as she wants. You shouldn't nor willyou be able to force feed her anyway. Babies take what they need and no more. Try with 1/2 a jar. I'm not sure if you know this but don't feed her straight from the jar then refrigerate for the next feeding, put 1/2 in another container. Her saliva will break down the food and could cause bacteria really quickly.

Answer 3

My son is also four and a half months old. I started him on fruits first, which he loves!! What I did was prepared a small bowl of infant cereal, about one tablespoon(mixed with formula/breast milk). I then added about 1/2 tablespoon of fruit to the cereal to first introduce it. This way the texture of the food is closer to what he was used to with the cereal, with a new added flavor. You don't want to feed her too much of the new food at once for a couple of reasons. First, if she has an allergy to the food, you don't want it hanging around in her system for too long. Second, if she really likes the flavor, she may not want to stop eating and therefore overeat and make herself sick. Definately stick to one new food per week to keep an eye on any possible allergies. And remember that all of this new to her, and she may reject it completely at first. Keep trying the new food a few times to see if she acquires a taste for it or gets used to the new textures. Chances are that if your baby eats normally for her age, then she will not eat a whole jar of food for atleast another couple of months. One other tip...Never feed her out of the jar!!! If you do and she only eats some of it, throw the rest away. The bacteria in her mouth can cause very harmfull bacteria to grow in the food which can cause a seriously dangerous infection in the intestins. Always feed her from a bowl and then you can refrigerate the rest of the food for her next couple of feedings. Good Luck!! I think this was the most fun stage for both of my children!! For more feeding tips check out gerber.com.

Answer 4

My son at 3 months was not gaining weight he would eat 6-8oz at a feeding every 2-3hrs and not gain weight. This was going on for almost 1month. The ped said we should add a little rice cereal to his diet. He started to gain weight again at that point so we continued with the cereal for 1.5 mos. and then moved on to veggies he was about 4.5mos. My son loved cereal and babyfood we would just get a spoon in his mouth and he was screaming for more.
Take 1/2 of the jar of babyfood out and put it in a bowl so you don't have to throw rest away if she doesn't want the whole thing (bacteria can get into jar from spoon after being in her mouth). My son is still a bit underweight at age almost 6 but is very tall for his age as well, so even with the cereal early like that didn't cause him to be overweight like I was told would happen by friends.

"While babies develop at their own pace -- for example, one baby might be ready for solids at 4 months, another at 6 months -- even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says there are no rigid rules on expanding your child's diet.
By 3 or 4 Months Baby will lose his tongue-thrust reflex, nature's way of keeping everything but liquids from entering a young infant's mouth. Next, he'll show interest in table food by drooling, opening his mouth, or leaning forward. By this point, he should have head control and be able to sit up with help. And more isn't always best: Don't jump into serving baby three meals a day. Gradually work up to it"

Good luck
Katrina

Answer 5

When I started feeding my two boys, I started with Stage 1 foods. They're single foods (plain peas instead of peas and carrots, for example) and completely pureed. I started with vegetables so they'd actually eat them and like them. I know several people who started with fruits, then when it was time to move on to vegetables, their babies didn't want the veggies...they weren't sweet enough like applesauce, bananas, etc. Start with about a tablespoon per serving, and gradually work your way up from there. Right now, the bulk of your baby's diet should still be formula/breastmilk, with cereal coming in a close second. You can either mix the jarred food in with the cereal or feed it separately in a separate bowl. You should try the same food for at least three days to make sure your baby doesn't have a reaction to it. (That's why Stage 1 foods are single foods. If you gave your baby a jar of mixed vegetables, for example, and she had a reaction, you wouldn't know what caused it...was it the carrots? The peas? The corn?

After three days of being on a new food, move to the next one for three days until she's tried them all.

Both of my little guys had big appetites, and when they were six months old, it was about time to start them on Stage 2 foods. At that point, they were usually eating a whole jar of Stage 1 vegetables/fruits with their cereal.

Answer 6

We skipped baby food without kids. We ground up normal food into a puree.

I didn't follow the rules. Bad mom. I started mine on veggies and fruits at the same time. They got bored with just one. Then I added meats in a short time. I listened to my kids instead of following the rules. I got yelled at alot by the doctors.

Each kid is different and will let you know what they want. They will tell you when they are full. My oldest refused formula at 4 months old and went to cows milk since she would rather starve than have formula. With her heart condition that wasn't a possibility.

When we tried baby food on the twins, they ate 3 jars at each meal. See why we switched to regular food? They just did not get full on the baby foods. They are five now and still eat like there is no tomorrow.

Answer 7

She should be starting out with rice cereal actually, and for more than a week. About 1/8th cup of dry rice cereal mixed with formula at first. Just feed her until she doesn't want anymore, she will let you know. After a couple of weeks you can "progress" to stuff like mashed bananas, (my daughter like the bananas mixed with her cereal), you can also try cream of wheat cereal and oatmeal. After a couple of weeks slowly introduce other fruits, applesauce and if she tolerates these foods then progress to others.

Answer 8

ufff to early to start as for babies there is nothing better than breast milk till they reach 6 mo after that you can start giving cereals with infant formula or breast milk is the beast choice, they start with abt 1-2Tbs dont be disapointed if you have made the complete bowl as they eat less in the begining then after trying diferent kind of cereals for a week (to track any allergenic food) the best choice is to start with vegetables and then with fruits dont forget the gap od 5-7 days when introducing a new food. If you give cereal try to buy the one that you have to mix canned food is ok ok buy our sons deserves the best and our full attention! God will reward you

Answer 9

I would start out feeding her and go according to how she acts...if she is spitting it out more towards half way through it, I would stop...or if she turns her head away from you, I would stop...I would allow her to eat the whole jar if she allows you to feed her...but I would cut the milk down to 4 ounces...but of course it is a touch and go faze...if she doesn't go long between her meals like was doing before..she made need the whole bottle of milk..it really is a trail and error thing...good luck

Answer 10

I gave at first just a little bit to get use the fact that they eating food and then you can see how it goes from there. They normal will spite out if they had enough. But you will know by the why your baby takes to the idea of eating food and believe me they love it. My one opens his mouth for any food.