Progressing through Solids

My little boy has been going through his "first foods" for about a month now, he'll be 6 mths old next week. I am wondering if it's better to introduce the 2nd solids meal in add'l to the "lunch" he is on now.


All the books on weaning seem to assume that baby is on 5-6 meals per day, which allows a normal milk feed first thing in the morning and before bed. My baby however has been on a feeding schedule of only 4x7-oz formula at 7 a.m, 11, 3 pm and 7 pm.


Questions : Do I feed solids at 7 and then at 3 pm so that we can keep his last feeding as milk? OR should I feed solids at 11 and then at 7? If latter, how should I control the eventual increase in the solids' qty vs. the reduction of milk, without risking him not being full and waking in the night?


Also, since it is recommended a min of 20-oz be maintained, I will have to feed formula after his solids. Can I give the milk right after he's had his solids or wait an hour or so?


Very confused, any advice would be appreciated.

Hi I'm about a month ahead of you and on the exact same milk feeding schedule. My baby is on 3 solid meals a day in addition to the bottles. Here's what I do:

7-8am- bottle

9am- rice cereal + fruit

11am - bottle

12pm-1pm- lunch

3pm- bottle

5-6pm- dinner

7:15pm- bottle


I will gradually combine the 7am bottle with the 9am breakfast and the 11am bottle with the 12pm lunch so that I don't have so many different feedings to do. Regardless, I've read that you need to always give the baby the bottle first, before the solids, as milk is still the baby's main source of nutrition- you don't want him filling up on solids then not have room for his milk. Based on this schedule, my baby does not seem hungry through the night. We introduced breakfast, dinner, then a lunch when it seemed she was getting a bit hungry during the day. I have reduced her milk a bit since introduction of solids- a bit of trial and error to get the right balance. My doctor told me that babies need a min of 15oz/ day, which is different from what you've been told though... From what I understand the point of solids now (6-8 mths) is to get baby used to tastes/ textures other than milk and to orient her feedings towards the family's mealtimes.


I hope this helps a bit.

Kilwinning, thanks a lot. Seems like a very sensible and organised feeding schedule, I think I'll definitely try it. May I ask how much solids your little one is taking at each meal? Mine seems to eat up everything we give him + his regular milk! He is currently on 1.5 ice cubes' of fruit/veg mixed with milk & 1 tablespoon of baby rice. It seems like a lot of food for such a small stomach when you increase to 2-3 x daily? Am I being paranoid or should I just let baby take the lead?

That one I'm not sure about either. We started off with 1 tablespoon of rice and a little banana. Now she eats 2 tablespoons of multigrain baby cereal and 1 fruit cube for breakfast. Lunch and dinner consist of 4 cubes each- usually 1 fruit, 2 veg and 1 meat/chicken. Sometimes, I replace the meat cube with a carb- like potato, parsnip, butternut squash. I do wonder if it's too much but she eats it no problem and would probably eat more given the chance! Plus, the recipe book I have says I should end up with XX cubes, but I always end up with a lot more- I'm not sure if my ice trays produce smaller cubes than those in the US (where the book was published). Anyway, I'll leave it like this for a while- at least until 8 months and experiment again. once again, my doctor says you really can't feed a baby too many solids as long as she has her milk first and you are feeding her healthy solids (she wrote the recipe book I'm using) so she's done tons of research on healthy eating for children. If baby loses interest, pushes the spoon out of his mouth, etc. then he is probably full.

Hi mommies, my son is 7mths and he's eating like this:


9am Breakfast 1cube oats (or rice cereal or pasta) + 140 milk


1pm Lunch 2cube 'oats', 2cube veggie1, 2cube veggie2, 1cube fruit + 30-50ml milk


4pm Snack 100-120ml milk


645pm Dinner 3cubes 'oats, 2cube veggie1, 2cube veggie2, 1cube fruit + 60-90ml milk


He falls asleep between 730pm-830pm and is up at 9pm or 930pm for milk 120-140ml and then is ok until breakfast.



Each cube should be around 25ml so i just poured some water i measured out into the cube to see where i need to fill it to (approx. only)


I mix the 'oats' with formula and mix into the veggies to make sure he's getting the nurishment from the milk so that adds 25-50ml of milk to each meal.


I also let him have 100-120ml of water every day (spread out throughout the day,usually after he's been playing for a while). he's teething so losing lots of fluids from his saliva. If i try to replace the water with milk, he won't drink it...


I'm starting him on meats this weekend...not really sure how to cook it!! Kilwinning, are you using the Baby's Table Book?


He likes solids more than milk so i feed him solids first and top him up with milk, he's almost 20lbs now so i think he's ok...

Yes, I'm using the Baby's Table book. I started feeding my daughter the Middle Eastern Beef Stew and Chicken Noodle Stew (including seasonings) last week and she likes them. Milk Monster, how much formula do you think your baby is getting in total (including the amounts mixed into the solids?) My baby also weighs almost 20 lbs and I was a bit worried about her weight, so I cut back a bit on formula (lots of calories) and went to 3 solid meals a day (2 tablespoons multigrain baby cereal + 1 fruit cube) and (1 meat cube, 2 veg, 1 fruit for lunch and dinner). However, she's waking up a lot through the night- I can't tell if it's teething or hunger or she's just going through a phase. (Also, my parents in law are visiting and the dad keeps saying she's eating an awful lot of solids at lunch and dinner, plus he makes comments about her weight, so I'm getting paranoid.) She doesn't seem hungry in the morning- ie. not fussing when she wakes up. However, she gulps her milk and cereal down once it's in front of her- can't tell if it's hunger or she just likes the taste! We do also give her water, but she'll only drink about 50ml on a good day. Thanks for the tip about the size of the cubes, I'll go check my ice trays out- never thought I'd say that in my lifetime!

Hahaha laughing at your last comment.


Total formula for the day including the stuff mixed in with meals...around 550-600ml (21oz)


Haha, people tell me MM is big too and i just say he's healthy. He's not considered an obese baby, like he doesn't have excessive rolls and rolls of fat - in which case i would discuss with dr. to modify his diet or increase exercise. having said that, he is an eating machine!! Also keep in mind that muscles weight more than fat so if your MM is active then that could be a reason too.


I’m not sure where your in-laws are from but in HK there is this silly focus on weight, even babies! For me, as long as MM is eating healthy stuff (not filling up on biscuits and processed foods - which i have not offered yet) then he can eat/drink as much as he wants DURING meal times. I never offer more than he wants himself. I was actually worrying that he's not getting enough formula b/c that is where he will get most his nutrition, right now the veggies and fruit are not enough to sustain him i think especially since we didn't start meats yet and he's so active...i keep thinking, where is he getting his protein if he's not drinking enough milk!?? (haha sorry i'm totally rambling) But I also find that some days he eats more and some days less depending on how much activity he’s had. i.e. he’s hungrier after swimming and not so much if we have a lazy day at home.


If he is waking up early (before his normal wake up time) or in the night, i take it as a sign that he is hungry, especially if he takes a full meal the first time. i of course will not offer a feed every night, but the first time it happens i always offer milk to check to see if it's b/c he's hungry. if he takes a full feed (over 90ml) then the next day i will offer him more food. the following night if he wakes up i then only offer water and a shush pat until he is back to sleep so he is hungry and will eat more the next day and not continue to wake up at night for a feed. (MM is teething too and in a lot of discomfort but usually if he wakes up out of discomfort he won't finish a bottle so i know the next night to just offer comfort and support in the form of shush pat or just resting my hand on his tummy until he falls back asleep) This has worked for us really well in determining when to introduce more solids. a few days ago MM started waking up at 645am instead of his usual 830am or 9am so i added the cereal to his morning feed (before that he was on 2 solid meals/day) since we've introduced the 'breakfast' he's back to sleeping 12hrs, no wake ups :)


usually after solids i feed milk to top him up and make sure he is full, if it seems he is still hungry, i always offer more milk until he turns away or pushes the bottle from his mouth... I never feed past this point which would be considered over-feeding.


It’s funny b/c babies grow and change so quickly that it’s hard for moms to keep up sometimes. I try to remind myself than every month he is making huge leaps in his development and I have to keep up nutrition wise. Satiated baby = happy baby so I would say if she seems hungry, let her eat more . I practice the same thing for myself, If I’m hungry I eat more ‘dinner’ and try not to fill up on junk food…


If you have a moment, check out my blog http://milkmonsterlaughs.blogspot.com/

Thanks Milk Monster, baby has been finishing all her meals / formula no problem lately, so maybe it's time to up her food intake. I offered her more formula and solids today, so it will be interesting to see what happens tonight. I was wondering if the teething should be waking her up. Last night, she woke up every hour between 3:30am and 7:30am. Other nights, she wakes every hour between 9:30 and 3:30am, and I just assumed teething. However, i recently read that the worst part is about 2 days before the tooth breaks the skin and that isn't happening in her case. Will check out your blog. (Parents in law are from Holland and frankly, I am getting fed up with the comparisons b/w my husband when he was a baby and my baby- their baby boy was "perfect", if you know what I mean! Goes for sleeping, temperment, eating, etc.)

Hi Kilwinning how is she sleeping now? Did you feed her more? my mm is teething pretty badly too but it's not really waking him up at night. he is waking up with nightmares...i think...is that even possible?? I was using the blender yesterday and it really scared him and last night he seemed to be having a fitful sleep, whimpering, etc...


Also, it wonder if i am feeding him too much oats and should be offering more of veggies and fruits...


hang in there, luckly they are only visiting!!