Baby Talk :: Starting Solids

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As I mentioned yesterday, Kenley hit a major milestone over the weekend - Starting Solids! 

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months, so after committing to breastfeed I knew that I didn't want to start Kenley on solid foods before then. I was reassured after Kenley's 4 month check up when she was gaining weight and growing as she should - our doctor told me there was no reason to start her on solids unless we wanted to.

Over the past few weeks it's become clear that Kenley is not satisfied on milk alone. She has been waking up earlier that normal and is quite angry when she polishes off a bottle, so we decided that it was most definitely time to start our little one on something more substantial. 

Once it came time to start thinking about solid foods, I did my research. Our pediatrician gave me some great resources and I also found this fabulous website: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ 

I had decided a while ago that I wanted to make my own baby food, and this site really put my mind at ease in terms of the time and commitment that it takes. Being that I am only a few days in to solids, I can't say much more on the subject but I definitely plan on doing a post down the road on how it works for us {whether it works or not}. 

So after learning all I needed to learn, I devised a plan for introducing Kenley to solids:

While it's possible to start babies on foods other than Rice Cereal, I decided to stick with the tried and true to start. I also listed out all of the "first foods" and then created a schedule of when we would try each of the foods alternating between fruits and veggies and also adding in the Rice and Oatmeal Cereals. It's important to wait at least three days after introducing a new food so that if your baby has an allergic reaction you are able to pinpoint which food is causing it. So, with that in mind, here's what I came up with:

This first month will allow us to introduce Kenley to the first foods and then next month we can start experimenting with different combinations and recipes. We'll stick to these foods until Kenley turns 8 months and then we'll start to introduce the second foods.

While Kenley adjusts to these new foods as well as eating with a spoon we are keeping her menu and feeding schedule simple. Her diet is still mostly comprised of breast milk and formula {more on that later} and will continue to for the next several months. For now her daily menu looks like this:

Wake Up :: Nurse
9:00am :: 5oz formula
12:00pm :: 5oz formula & 2tbsp Rice or Oatmeal Cereal mixed with 1oz breast milk
3:00pm :: 5oz Formula
6:00pm :: 5oz Formula & New Fruit or Veggie
Bedtime :: 5oz formula

Do any of you mamas have any words of wisdom on starting solids OR making your own baby food?