Life seemed so much easier back in the day when Noob Baby was subsisting only on milk. For about two months now, NB has been dabbling in solids. She’s in that purgatory transition period now where she thinks those Gerber Puffs are cardboard, can’t eat anything off our plates, and is basically condemned to a life of bland old people food – primarily, purees.
The diaper bag just got two times more ginormous – bottles, formula, one-meellllion pacifiers, bib, prison food in weapon-proof container, prison spoon with rubber tip, etc.
It’ll be so nice when she can just eat the things I don’t like off my plate (peas… blehhh). Or what I mean is, we can share our meal in tasteful harmony 
I’ve mostly been making her baby food a la blender. It’s actually really easy and not too time consuming. Perhaps I’ll have a future post on this if you’re interested in serving up homemade baby food. Or, if you just wanna pretend you’re cool like good old Ronco (as I always do when I use machinery in the kitchen):
The two questions that keep coming to mind as she’s eating more is, “How much do I feed this noob?” and “How much milk does (insert endearing fatty baby name)
Birth to 2 Weeks
Formula: 18-24 oz (2-3 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 8 to 12 nursings
Solids: None
2 Weeks to 2 months
Formula: 20-32 oz (4 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 6 to 10 nursings
Solids: None
2 to 4 months
Formula: 30-36 oz (5 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 6-8 nursings
Solids: None
4 to 6 months
Formula: 32-40 oz (6 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 5-6 nursings
Solids: 1 meal/day (optional – consult your Ped.)
Servings per meal: 2-4 Tbsp* of cereal or pureed Stage 1 baby food
6 to 9 months
Formula: 24-32 oz (7 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 4-5 nursings
Solids: 1-3 meals/day
Servings per meal: 2-4 Tbsp* of 2 foods or up to a whole jar of Stage 2 baby food.
9 to 12 months
Formula: 20-32 oz (8 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 3-4 nursings
Solids: 3 meals/day
Servings per meal: 3-4 Tbsp of 3 foods (including finger/table foods) or up to a whole jar of Stage 3 baby food.
12 to 15 months
Formula: 16-20 oz (8 oz per bottle)
Breast Milk: 2-3 nursings
Solids: 3 meals/day and 2 snacks/day
Servings per meal: 1/4 of an adult serving size.
*2 Tbsp. of solid = 1 oz. of liquid
Now, if you’re wondering how to work these feedings into a schedule, this is an example from The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems (p. 96):
7:00 – liquid
8:30 – solids “breakfast”
11:00 – liquid
12:30 – solids “lunch”
3:00 – liquid
5:30 – solids “dinner”
7:30 – liquid before bed
I hope this answers some of your solid-feeding questions! Happy eating
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Thank you so much. I have just spent 20 minutes trying to look up correct portion sizes but was getting more confused by the minute – everyone seems to have their own opinion. That was really clear and helpful.Thanks again.
Thanks for posting this…my 1 yr old was a slow solids eater..just started eating baby food regularly at 9 months! (2 x packs a day of Gerber stage 2 fruit or veggie). Now that I am following the above feeding guide (posted above)- how much at each feeding of “solids”? she does stage 2 packs and some of the gerber puffs…also taking four 6 oz bottles of milk a day…just cut it from four 8oz of whole milk (too much milk!) My Dr gave me no guidelines as her height and weight are in the 95th percentile.
My son is 16 months old and he eats small solids but still has 2 jars of baby food (one dinner and one fruit) at dinner time. I am trying to break the habit but otherwise it doesn’t seem like he’s eating enough…Is this okay??
Thanks,
J.
Anon- I've looked into some of my baby food cookbooks for feeding guidelines for babies 12-24 months. It seems that the consensus is that after 1-yr, growth and appetite slows down significantly until about 2 yrs. So, since we're used to feeding our noobs so much in the first year, we can actually relax a bit. Toddlers may be picky and not want to eat at regular mealtimes. They may get a significant amount of calories from snack time during the day. It's ok to start feeding them what you're eating (just be wary of food allergens). Chunky soups, stews, chicken & rice, soft veggies, yogurts and cheese, etc. are all healthy options. In my opinion, it sounds ok for your son to be eating the baby food, but definitely continue to wean him off so he gets used to self-feeding and different textures. Maybe just offer one jar at dinnertime and replace the jarred fruit with fresh fruit chunks. Good luck and email me if you have more questions!
Just looking for a bit of clarification – for the 6-9 month range, the chart says 2-4 Tbsp of 2 foods or up to one Stage 2 jar. Does this mean 2-4 Tbsp total or 2-4 Tbsp of each food (so, 4-8 Tbsp total)? 4 Tbsp is only about 2 oz, and the Stage 2 Gerber packs are 3.5 oz, so I think you mean the latter, but I just want to clarify. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this post. Can you tell me if the Baby Whisperer book has schedules for each stage? My baby is currently 4 months old and just started rice cereal after getting the okay from our Ped.
Margaret – TBW has a general guideline for feeding by age, but not stage of food… if that’s what you’re referring to (Stage 1, 2, 3 Gerber etc). It is similar to what I’ve posted here. She doesn’t really offer any time schedule except for what I have as well. Email me if you need to know more
My friends baby is 6 1/2 months old and won't eat solids. She spits it right back out no matter what it is. If you even put an empty spoon her mouth she spits "it" out. Any tips on how to get her to eat? Her dr said just to keep offering it and if she's not eating by 8mo then she will need speech therapy.
Anon – I just posted in response to your question about your friend's baby spitting the solids out. Please check out my latest post – Getting Baby to Eat Solids.
any advice on a baby only wanting to take 10 oz of formula a day. he eats fine but doesnt seem to like his milk. i offer his bottle first then solids. i've taken him to the dr. twice but they dont seem too worried but as his mom…i am. he's 1.5 week shy of being 9 months. still very active…normal amt. of wet diapers.
Anon- Wow 10 oz does seem quite meager! Does DS snack a lot during the day? What kind of solids is he eating now? The main thing is to make sure he's getting those nutrients in somewhere, especially the Iron and other fortified vitamins they add to the Formula. Try mixing more formula into his cereal, oatmeal, etc. You can also try making fruit smoothies using formula and/or yogurt. I haven't given Noob Baby any smoothies yet, but I've read many healthy and yummy sounding recipes that seem delicious. Other than that, just make sure he is getting enough other forms of calcium (and nutrients) in his diet. Maybe see if he'll take more milk in the morning and before bed as well. Noob Baby doesn't drink much at lunch, but will chug like a Frat brother in the mornings. Good luck!
Thanks for the schedule. I just started Kai on rice cereal about a week ago. He took right to it. But I didn't know how much he should be eating. The Doctor just said I could start solids and stage 1 foods. You referred to baby cook books in some of the posts. Do you have any favorites? I would like to try making my own baby food…any suggestions?
Carrie – In my Noob Parents 101 section, there are some of my favorite books listed, including some baby food cookbooks. The two I refer to most often are Blender Baby Food by Nicole Young and The Petit Appetit Cookbook by Lisa Barnes. Also try wholesomebabyfood.com I'd definitely get some ice trays (with lids are good too) for freezing all the baby food you'll make. It's sooo convenient and saves a ton of money. Plus, you can mix and match your frozen food to create a meal your baby enjoys. Good luck!
Hello helpful moms…my second baby is 8 months and 1 week. He eats solids and drinks only breast milk. My problem is that he wants to jump at all the adult food, not always very fond of his own food. He doesnt drink much milk either. I am not sure how much he gets at each feed coz when I have never been able to express much but when i check his mouth he seems to be getting enough milk and he swallows frequently. By the way a baby cook book that I use a lot is Baby's First Foods by Annabel Karmel. Hope that's helpful.
Have a good day mummies
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Great info. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi my son is 5 1/2 months and is a very big boy 23 lbs. My doc had me put him on solids at 4 months and he is now eating 3 meals a day + 5 8oz bottles, and he gets up for 3 night feedings. This seems like alot to me! He is happy and healthy. Only gets upset when he wants food. So here is my question when can he have cherios? or other finger food. He has been able to pick up stuff in his fingers for a month now and can transfer things from one hand to the other!!!
Hi,
My babygirl is 5.5 months and doesn't like the fruit juice, puree or solids. She used to open her mouth when I first introduced them at 4 months, but gradually she started to close her lips tightly to the spoon.I am worried that she won't accept solids.
Plus we started to have sleeping problems lately. She used to sleep until 7 am with nursing every 2 hours. Nowadays she is frequent wake ups. She goes back to sleep as soon as I start nursing her but doesn't fall back to sleep by herself.Also wide awake at 4 am not doesn't wanna go back to sleep:(
Is this a phase like my doc said? Is she going to go back to be the good babygirl like the first 3 months, or is it gonna get worse?
tired mom
Anon – It sounds like your son is ready to have some beginning stage finger foods. I would start out with the Gerber puff type foods first, or some teething biscuit types (Gerber has some wheels in apple, carrot, sweet potato, etc.) that will dissolve easily. I'd wait to see how he takes the dissolving finger foods first before you move on to Cheerios. But it sounds like he should be pretty excited to try it. As far as the 3 night feedings go, I'm surprised he's still that hungry! You could try feeding him some little snacks in between meals to see if he feels fuller. Such as some pureed fruits and veggies, yogurt, smoothies. Good luck!
Hi Tired Mom – I'm sorry to hear about the change in your schedule and lack of sleep! I know how frustrating and draining that can be. Is there any chance your LO is teething? You may want to stick your finger in her mouth and feel around for some budding teeth. That could be one explanation for the loss of appetite and disrupted sleep schedule. I have heard of some babies taking solids initially, and for whatever reason, rejecting them later on. You could keep trying with a variety of tastes and textures (lumpier, watery, fruits, yogurt, smoothies, finger foods, Gerber puffs, etc) or you can just wait a few weeks and try again. Babies can be extremely picky about what they want and don't. For example, oatmeal vs rice cereal was the case for Noob Baby. My next concern would be the sleep schedule. 5 1/2 months is old enough to start some sort of sleep training, whether it be Cry It Out or some other form of self-soothing. She's certainly old enough now to be sleeping through the night and not needing to be nursed every 2 hours. That sounds like habitual waking. If you want more info on what we did, email me or scroll through my sleep training posts. Good luck!
Hi, I’m a mother of 18 months old daughter who is hyper-active and cheeky. My daughter cannot sit still for her meal. She don’t want to open her mouth to eat the food served or don’t want to swallow down her food and just “gaging” for a long time. Feeding can be up to 1 hour for lunch or dinner. Sometimes she only wants to drink milk. Seeking for advice…..
JC – Thanks for the comment. I feel I may not be the expert on this, but my suggestion would be to try different types of foods and see which she tolerates best. I know that isn’t a great answer. Definitely talk to your pediatrician and find out what they have to say. I’m a little concerned about the gagging too. You just want to make sure everything is ok with that too. Some babies are adverse to some textures of food, while others, may have trouble swallowing or eating due to the shape of their mouth/palate. So, in extreme cases… some doctors may recommend seeing a feeding therapist. However, it’s possible you may have a pickier eater
In which case, experiment with what she likes to eat. Let her try feeding herself so she can enjoy mealtime a bit. Also, try mixing up the texture of foods. Some like chunky foods, porridge, soups, or solids. Good luck!
Thank you for this! I had yet to find something so straightforward.