Category: Baby Whisperer

Jan 05

A Solids Feeding Guide

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) need?” I think this is probably a common question for other noob parents out there. So, I’ve searched through several parenting books and favorite websites, and they all seem to be in range of this table, which I believe I found in Parents Magazine:

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 :)

Related Post

Feeding 101 – from the Baby Whisperer

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Dec 02

E.A.S.Y. for 4-9 Months

I recently blogged about the Baby Whisperer’s E.A.S.Y. baby plan as one option to get your LO on a reasonable routine. This “schedule” works well for babies under 4 months of age.

However, by 4 months, babies are gradually able to transition into longer wake/activity periods, as well as eat less frequently – around every 4 hours. Eventually, by getting baby used to eating every 4 hours, you’re also setting her up for an easier transition to sleep through the night.

Noob Baby, also known as Her Chunkiness, didn’t exactly appreciate a sudden transition into eating every 4 hours vs. every 3. Silly me. I forgot to reveal my plans to her. So, we called together a G4 type summit, and came to an agreement.

We would slowly drag out the time between her feedings each day (tacking on a few extra minutes). After she *dinged* the big 4 (months that is), we began the transition. 3 hours became 3 hrs. 10 min. Then 3 1/4 hrs. 3 1/2 hrs. etc.

At last, she was eating approx. every 4 hours (give or take a few days where I assume she was going through a growth spurt). Her E.A.S.Y. routine looked similar to this example from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer:

4-Hour E.A.S.Y.

E – 7:00 – Wake up and feed
A – 7:30
S – 9:00 (1 1/2-2 hr nap)
Y – Blog Time (I mean … your time!)

E – 11:00
A – 11:30
S – 1:00 (1 1/2-2 hrs)
Y – Party (I mean … take a shower and get out of jammies!)

E – 3:00
A – 3:30
S – Catnap between 5 -6 pm
Y – Really, peel yourself off the computer now so Noob Daddy doesn’t think you’ve been web surfing all day!

E – 7:00 (cluster feed at 7 and 9 pm if going through a growth spurt)
A – Bath
S – 7:30 Bedtime
Y – Chest bump Noob Daddy. Then, catch up on Google Reader, CNN, Facebook, Twitter and a little thing called WoW

E – 11:00 Dream Feed (until 7 or 8 months, or whenever solids are firmly established)

As for us, the Dream Feed never really worked. Noob Baby seemed to wake up at least once at night despite our efforts to pull a fast one on her. Luckily, that changed with our sleep training efforts.

A Ferber follow up post to come soon!

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