The ped. has told me that Josiah should eat three meals of solid food a day..is this too much for a six month old? She also said he should be drinking 8oz. at a time :shock: yeah, right! I've only recently gotten him to hold down 6oz. without puking it all up! That is why I am questioning this 3x a day solids. On good days, I feed him two meals of solids a day...Just wondering what is normal in the real world of babies.:snowman:

At 11mo, Catherine is offered three 4oz meals. She generally does not eat all of any meal. She still takes 4oz bottle as well. None of her many doctors have ever stressed her needing to take larger bottles.

Maybe in an ideal world, six month old children would be eating like that, but, geez, don't they even want you to wait til five months before even starting cereal? To go from that to three solid meals a day in a month sounds like a dream come true. And then you have GERDlings.... We just want our kids to eat.

That sounds like alot to me but I haven't experienced a "normal" child. sarah who is 6 months takes about 20-22 oz a day(alot of sleep feeding) and maybe takes a few bites of solids which I offer to her twice a day inbetween bottles. But she also has delayed emtpying so I think this is interfering with her taking solids. If he is growing well then he is probably taking enough.
karie

In the real world of non-refluxing babies, an 8oz bottle is a breeze by 6 months old. For refluxers, not a chance. Some do it, but many do not. My older guys (non reflux) could down 11 oz without blinking... Ian, otoh, is *just* now, at 14 months, able to down 8oz. And he has to be really hungry to do it. Until now, I was shoving 2-4 oz down that little gullet every 2-3 hours, seemingly around the clock. It's been HARD to get him to 8oz bottles - and even now he doesn't always drink it.

The solids... well, that's different for each baby, regardless of GERD. Some kids hate baby food with a passion. As soon as they see/taste table food, they go crazy and eat, eat, eat. Some babies don't care. *Offering* solids 3x/day is reasonable, though.:-D

I think he would eat 3x a day if I offered it....I just never have as this sounded like a lot to me. He seems to love to eat and will eat a 4oz jar of baby food at one time. His gerd has only affected his appetite when it flares up really bad, so we have been fortunate that he has remained a good eater. Not good enough to eat 3 meals a day and down 8oz bottles though....

Cady was eating three small meals a day at 6 mos.,but many babies don't eat three meals a day at that age. As far as formula, yes lots of babies are able to stomach 8 ozs. at a pop. My older one was like that, but Cady is 11.5 months old and took her first 8 oz. bottle on Monday, but hasn't had another since. Shoot, we didn't even get to 6 oz. bottles until a month ago. Before then, she would take lots of 4 oz. bottles.

If he wants it feed him it. Parker was only introduced to solids at 61/2 months and he ate and ate and within a month was on 3 meals a day BUT by 10 months I was lucky to get 1 bottle and 2 small meals into him. I think this inital wanting of food kept him at a reasonable weight for when he didn't eat- so as long as he is happy with it let him.

Three meals a day seems like a lot of solids for a 6 month old. My first two boys were GREAT eaters and they didnt take 3 meals until they were closer to 8 months. Their main source of nutrition was from breast feeding. I dont think I will ever see a day where Noah will take an 8 oz bottle. I'm as happy as a fly on crap if he takes a 4 oz bottle.

3 meals of solids seems an awful lot to me. The boys didn't start eating 3 meals until about 8 or so months. By then we were down to 3 bottles a day- of around 6oz each. Maybe an 8oz bottle is the "norm" but we NEVER drank that much in 1 sitting- ever!

Ben who was always a great eater was eating 3 meals by 6 months, but I also started solids early with him--about 4 months. He started out at 9lbs 9oz--he was born to eat. I think every child is different and you have to take cues from them as to what they need/want.

My GI told me I should offer Noah three solid meals per day for habitual reasons, so I do, but I'm considering cutting one out. On the days that I miss a solid meal due to family function...illness...shopping:oops:...I think I'm noticing an improvement in his tummy issues.

I offer a good size breakfast, which might be one YoBaby. Then, around lunchtime, I offer a jar of fruit or cereal, but he doesn't eat much. I also give him a few saltines and Gerber puffs with lunch. Then, I have been giving some cereal mixed with juice for supper, hoping it will fill him up for nighttime, but he picks and plays with it and might eat 1/2 of it. If he's low on ounces, I take that time to offer another YoBaby, since he rarely turns them down.

I think 3 meals per day is a good habit, but you can make those meals nice and small if you're worried about him eating too much. Start with little ones, then build up if he's handling them well!

You really should read his cues, I think. Primarily for solids...I know we are all trying to get more food in our babies, but solids can be a real issue and I feel it should just be fun/practice at this age. I don't think offering him 3 meals a day is a big deal if you say he would eat it. If he likes it then why not? But if he gets grumpy, irritable, cries when you put him in the highchair (or where ever you feed him) then you know it was too much.

I just started PJ on rice from a spoon yesterday at 5 months and if he takes to it I will probably have him at 3 meals a day by six months. If he doesn't I will just stick with where we are now. One time a day, play time. I do put him in the chair at dinner time with us so he gets a sense of family dinner time. And I think I might put him in it other times for a little play so he finds it a fun place to be.

Maybe I am living in a dream world, but I am hoping it will make meals easier for us.

Good luck