Advice pls: Starting on Solids

ixorarred,
there can be 2 reasons why your bbb demands for milk after the meal. either she reeeeally loves her milk, or she is still hungry. can i know what her daily feeding schedule (solids and milk) is like (timings, etc) so that i can maybe give an estimated guess as to what the likely reason may be?

enya,
is your bb the one with history of ezcema? if so then i guess you need to listen to your PD's advice. my dd eats cheese on a regular basis, and yoghurt once in a while, but so far no allergies at all. most mummies on this forum i know also started feeding their babies cheese and yoghurt from about 6mths already.
 


Hi Enya,

Where can i find Healthy Times? the brown rice must cook or just mix with water/FM? thanks!
 
hi ladies,
may I know how whether I can only give my bb the leaves of spinach? I don't have a blender. Should I steam only the leaves and put it through the sieve? Also consulted my pd today, he mentioned that peas may cause allergies. So should only start at 9 months. do the rest of you have similar experiences?
 
Hi mummies,
I hv a book to recommend. Feed Your Child Right by Lynn Alexander & Yeong Boon Yee - it is the first nutrition guide for Asian parents. The recipes given are based on local food habits & customs. Bought this fm popular bkshop.

Have started my dd on breakfast, Heinz multi-grain cereal, she likes it, me too... smell good.
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However, she still want her night feed at ard 12am. And sometimes, she only drinks 3oz and stop. Hv tried giving water instead, but doesn't work
 
i'm a mummy,
you can find healthy times products at Brown Rice Paradise at Tanglin Mall. It's just next to the Kindermuzik outlet there. The Healthy Times brown rice cereal no need to cook one - just add FM or water can already.

tuffy,
i starting feeding my dd the leaves of spinach i think around 6 or 7 mths. but i blend after cooking. you can try straining thru a sieve, but make sure you steam till well-cooked and very soft then chop-chop till very fine 1st. you don't want to have big pieces cause when you feed bb they can choke on spinach leaves very very easily.

if you wanna feed spinach, i advice you give it with another sweet veggie, eg carrot or sweet potato, cause the taste of spinach is quite bitter and most babies don't really like it on its own.

as for peas, i started feeding at 6mths-plus, and so far no problems for my dd. but if your PD advices otherwise then i guess you should heed his advice - better be safe than sorry.

weiwei,
if water doesn't work then can continue to give milk, but not too much. 3oz is quite good. once she stops drinking quickly burp her and put her back to bed, without any talking, eye contact, changing of diapers, turning on the lights, etc. in fact when my dd was still having night feedings we used to do it in the dark, so basically she was drinking half asleep! haha. then once she stopped drinking we quickly burp her and put her back in her cot and she will continue her sleep. slowly over time the amount she drank got lesser, then when she was ard 3mths old she stopped waking up for night feeds completely.
 
tuffy,
can try sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, zuchinni, brocolli, cauliflower, peas, green beans, sweet corn.
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lani,
where can I get butternut squash? what does it look like? also for zuchinni, can only get at places like cold storage? is there a chinese name?

as for sweet corn, do I buy the frozen ones to steam and strain?

sorry.. million and one questions...
 
hi mummies,
where can i buy cheese and yoghurt for bb below 1 yr old? i am sure not all cheese and yoghurt can do right? TIA
 
Hi all,
I'm new on this thread. My dd is coming to 7 months. I've been feeding her solid when she was 5 and half months. But she seems underweight to me. I weigh her and she's still bout 6kg+.

I'm still bf her and she's having two solids a day. She having cereal/porridge with two cubes of veg for each meal. Havent started on fruits n meats. But will start fruits by this week.

Well, any advice on my meal plan for her? Do I've to change her meal plans so that she can put on weight. Btw, her milk feed is 4-5 times a day.
 
hi ladies
can give me some advise?

i tried to give some nestle rice cereal to my 4.5 mth old baby gal yesterday. one tablespoon of rice cereal with 5 tablespoons of milk...at first try, she finished it all..

however my pd have been telling me to start her after 6 mths, but i very anxious to let her try cereal leh

do i continue to let her have a feed everyday or should i wait?

and btw, after cereal, she continued to drink the milk, is that the right way? or should wait for half an hour before she drink the milk?

thanks
 
tuffy,
actually butternut squash very hard to find in s'pore, so i also never feed my dd that! heehee! forgot to add you can also feed turnip - very tasty!

i usually buy zuchinni from NTUC. it's in the fridge section (where they put all the perishable veggies). they usually weigh and pack it already - comes 2pcs in a pack. it looks just like cucumber, only thr skin is quite dark green. sorry i don't know the chinese name for it - i am not chinese leh...heehee. Chua is my married name.

jas,
yoghurt you buy the petit miam yoghurt for babies. can find at cold storage. comes in a 4 pack. they have pear, apple, banana and vanilla flavour. or you can feed regular plain FULL-FAT yoghurt (just add in your own fruits). as for cheese, mild cheddar or cottage cheese are the best to feed babies, but they are very hard to find, so i usually just give those kraft/chesdale slices (cheddar). some moms also like to give the laughing cow brand.

jennise,
your meal plan seems fine to me. if you are worried that your bb is underweight, then talk to your PD about this, as this is not really my area of expertise. if you want more secialised advice, can go see a nutritionist at KKH. another mom i know personally from another thread has seen a nutritionist there. if you want i can get the contact details from her.

bortei,
now the general medical advice is to wean at 6mths (esp if bb is on total BF). however, most medical practitioners say that some babies are ready to be weaned earlier (ie from 4-6mths), so the key is you MUST look out for signs that your bb is ready to be weaned onto solids. my dd started showing signs when she was 4mths plus, so i introduced solids when she turned 5mths. the signs to look out for are:

she is still hungry after her milk feeds (ie give a full bottle of 6-8oz and still hungry), or
she gets hungry way before her next fedding, or
she is constantly chewing on her hands, or
she starts showing a strong interest in the foods we eat, or
she wakes up earlier and earlier from her naps

when you first start weaning, you need to feed her all her milk first (ie finish the milk), then give the solids. then in the 2nd mth of weaning, you can use the tier method of feeding, ie give half milk, followed by solids, then finish the remaining half of milk.
 
Hi Lani,

When can we eliminate the milk feed and just feed solid? ie. for the lunch feed, don't give milk, just give semi-solids?

As mentioned previously, my girl's pattern is:
6 or 7am plus - 180ml FM
10 or 11am plus - 160ml FM + semi-solid (4 tsp rice cereal + 20ml FM + 3tsp carrot puree)
3 or 4pm plus - 180ml FM
7 or 8pm plus - 180ml FM

seems like she is eating a lot for the lunch feed leh..and if i intro another semi solid during the dinner feed, is that overfeeding? or should i reduce the amount of FM during the lunch and dinner feed? ie. instead of 180ml (160ml + 20ml in the cereal), i cut down to like 150ml?
 
tuffy,
i got my butternut squash from ntuc (ponggol).
sometimes cold storage also have.
it is sometimes called butternut pumpkin
 
i'm a mummy,
you usually drop the milk feeds at lunch and dinner when you start to introduce meats or fish into the meal. that's because milk slows down iron absorption, so it's best to let your bb drink water after the meal. my dd started taking chicken and fish at 7mths, so that's when she dropped the milk at lunch and dinner.

actually, looking at your meal plans, i don't think introducing a solid meal at dinner time is overfeeding. of course you don't give too much solids lah. start with just 1tsp rice cereal then every 3 days increase by 1/2 tsp. must always do it slowly as you don't want her to drop her milk intake too much.

btw, your dd's daily total milk intake is very good. i would say 24oz for a 4mth-plus bb is good, so keep it up. for now don't cut down the FM amount. i would say she will naturally drop her milk intake when she hits around 6-7mths old when you start to introduce meat/fish in her diet and you drop the lunch and dinner milk feeds.
 
Lani
Thanks for the advice. I did went to the GP for general check-up on her and the doc was saying that her weight was still on the normal side. So, at least i'm not too worried about it now. Btw, how old is your dd now? She must be doin fine wiv such a wonderful mummy like you.

I'm thinking of adding fruits to her diet this week. Maybe I'll start off with apples. Is ok to feed without steaming for a 7 mths old? Btw, as carrot is high in beta-c, so two cubes a day should be orite or would you think juz one cube is ok for each day. Heard that it will coz baby to turn orange too if overdose.
 
jennise,
thanks. my dd is now 10mths old. if your GP says her weight is normal then no need to worry lah. different babies develop at different rates lah. some are just naturally more petite than others. so long as she is eating well and healthily ok liao.

once 7mths can feed fruits uncooked already. but you would still need to scrape/grate apples/pears before feeding. fruits like banana, papaya, peach can just mash-mash and feed. give you a tip for pears - if you wanna feed mashed up pears then wait until the fruit is very very ripe, then can just mash-mash and feed. it's actually also very juicy and delicious when very ripe. my dd and hubby LOVES it like that.

as for carrots, i think also not advisable to feed everyday. maybe just a few times a week can. trust me, too much your bb's skin will turn yellowish or orangey. my dd's was like that when i fed her too much papaya (ie. for 4 consecutive days)! LOL!!
 
hi hi Lani
Tks for your advise ya

in that case i better let my mum know to start with the milk first instead of the cereal. Do i have to wait like 20 mins betw before i start the cereal?

She has the above-mentioned symptoms except the first one, she can't really seem to finish her milk nowadays. she's drinking between 150 - 200 ml.
 
Lani
Thanx for the advice. OKie.. Few times a week. Understood! hehe.. Luckily I asked for your advice or else poor dd will look like orange on CNY.
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BTw, is veg like spinach, peas, sweet potatoes can be given everyday?
 
hi tuffy, got butternut pumpkin at carrefour. actually like normal pumpkin lah, but taste less strong.

hi jennise,
can....but good to change lah. everyday eat same thing also bit boring. hehe...
 
thanks lani and orchid! I tried giving my gal potatoes just now. hai.. screwed up her face and refused the rest of the rice cereal. sigh...

my pd mentioned I should start introducing meat. what first meat did you gals give to your bbs? how is it prepared? hmm.. think I have to get a blender soon. What brand and model are you gals using now?
 
hi ladies,
I started freezing some papaya and potatoes. After defrosting it, how do you all heat it up? so far, I have been warming it up like how I would warm ebm - put in a bowl of hot water. is that good enough or must I reheat it properly?
 
hi tuffy,

you gave her plain potato? did u mix with milk? maybe too dry. i normally mix with milk & carrot or some veg.

actually should heat until piping hot then cool down for bb. i think bowl of hot water maybe not hot enough. but for fruits maybe ok?? i normally microwave 30-45 sec.
 
Tuffy
Gave my gal potatoes as well today but mixed wiv spinach. I actually pureed them together and freeze it. My gal likes it.

Lani
Hi again. I'm thinking of introducing meat to my gal when she's 8 months. So, how do you normally do it? Do you blend the chicken/fish as well then freeze it? And juz add it to the porridge/cereals?
 
Re - follow on milk

Hi mummies,
Can i just check, when should we start introducing our babies with follow on milk?sixmonths? my girl is now 5mths old on nanha1premium. And when introducing follow on milk initially, do i use nanha1premium for mixing her semisolids or do i use the follow-on (nanha2premium)? thanks!
 
bortei,
you can feed the cereal immed after the milk, there's no need to wait 20mins. i think 150-200ml per feeding for a 4.5mth old is very good, so no need to worry if she's taking enuf milk or not.

jennise,
fish is easier to prepare. you just cook it (make sure all bones are taken out 1st before you cook) and then mash-mash until very fine then can add to porridge/cereal. or if you cook porridge everyday then about 30mins before the porridge fully cooks you can add in sliced uncooked fish, and once the porridge is fully cooked, you just make sure the fish is fully mashed. a very good fish to start with is cod fish. but price wise very expensive lah...

if you wanna give chicken, then you will need to cook first then blend till very fine, before adding to porridge/cereal. you can freeze the pureed chicken (in ice cube trays), and they can be kept in the freezer for up to 1mth.

btw, spinach, peas and sweet potato all can give everyday if you want. of course if your bb gets bored w/ food easily then it's best to have variety in her diet lah.

tuffy,
you can start off with either fish or chicken. i find both are suitable when 1st introducing meats. i started my dd on fish at 7mths, then chicken about 3 wks later. now she eats mostly chicken everyday (much cheaper than cod fish! heehee!).

and after defrosting the veggies/fruits, i usually heat up in microwave. i find heating up food in hot water not good enough.
 
Hi Lani,

check with you..When you say heating up food in hot water not good enough, means not hot enough or not 'cooked' enough? if I only need to heat up one cube how? cause my girl now only taking one cube of puree mixed with cereal.. still must use microwave? or can i heat up the thawed cube with hot water? thks
 
i'm a mummy,
i find it's not hot enough, and takes too long. previously when i was heating up just 1 cube, i would microwave for 10secs for fruits (until about room temperature) and about 15secs for veggie (until warm but not piping hot). then once microwaved make sure you stir thoroughly to make sure the heat is evenly distributed.

however, having said all that, if it's just heating up 1 cube i guess you can do it in hot water, but just make sure you heat up till it is sufficiently warm - must stir to make sure there are no cold pockets in the food. but once the amount increases to 3 cubes or more it's better to heat up in microwave.
 
Hi,

My bb is 5 mths old & i hv juz started him on plain rice cereals. I wish to introduce him to more variety/favours but hv no idea how to go abt it. Can somebody enlighten me? Can i give him fruits & vegetables already?

Also his intake of milk is only 4oz which seems to be too little for him wt at 7kg. How?? I'm afraid he may not be getting enough nutrients...
 
everafter,
yes, you can already introduce fruits and veggies (preferably more veggies than fruits). it's really difficult to go thru in detail a feeding plan. perhaps you want to buy Gina Ford's book "The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning"? It has a very detailed 2mth feeding plan in there. I saw some copies of the book at Times Tampines Mall on Thursday.

i'm a mummy,
i think can give diluted unsweetened baby juice from ard 7mths onwards, usually after lunch and dinner. of course if your bb prefers water that would be better lah, so she won't develop a sweet tooth.
 
Hi Lani,

Since i started introducing solids to my baby, her poo is getting harder and she is poo=ing less (in terms of quantity) during each poo session. She doesn't like to drink water, and everytime i have to 'force' her to drink water or mix with some gripe water to 'sweeten' it up a bit. but recently, she doesn't even want the gripe water mixture. i'm worried if this goes on, she might get constipation..any advice on how to aid her digestion/relieve constipation?
 
hi mummies,
do you give your bb prune juice for constipation? can I dilute the adult prune juice? what proportion do you all use?
 
After blending potatoes, I expected the puree to resemble KFC mashed potatoes but the texture turns out to be very starchy, unlike the other veg. Is it supposed to be like that?
 
hi i'm a mummy,
can intro fruit into your bb's meals. or give water together with meal. my bb didn't like drinking water from bottle. but she's ok drinking water from spoon. i'll feed her water while having her meals.

hi passing guest,
don't blend potatoes with blender - they get starchy.
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i learnt that too. cook until soft then mash with fork. add milk while mashing. it will become abit KFC-looking.

hi everafter,
can also get Annabel Karmel's Feeding your Baby & Toddler. or go to her website: www.annabelkarmel.com
 
i'm a mummy,
once bb starts weaning onto solid foods, they tend to get constipated, so you need to feed some pears everyday. try to give your bb some cooked pureed pear once a day (either 1 or 2 cubes), either after lunch or after dinner. when she is older you can give papaya - it's also very good in preventing constipation. my dd now eats papaya almost every morning after b'fast (not too much, maybe 4 cubes), then she will poo-poo! hee!
 
i'm a mummy,
forgot to mention - the papaya cubes i give my dd are those bite-sized cubes we cut ourselves, so portion is about 2tbsp. it's not those frozen cube sized ones. actually i don't freeze papaya cause i find it very convenient to just buy fresh ones and slice/dice up and feed her immed. i usually keep in fridge for 2-3days, and any leftovers the rest of the family will eat.
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Hi orchid, Lani,
thanks for the tips on preventing constipation.

Re- si sen brown rice
the rice has some taste right?can we still add puree to the rice?also, is this brown rice heaty?
 
Hi i'm a Mummy,
my PD told me that brown rice can cause constipation, i gave my dd brown rice 2-3 times a wk, and rice cereal or veg puree on other days. Hope this info helps
happy.gif
 
Hi mummies,

Since my last posting, both my bbs have tried plain cereal, carrot and apple. Like to start potato next. Do I add formula milk to the puree then freeze or freeze the puree first and add milk only when ready to feed? Was reading Annabel Karmel's book and she mentioned to add milk then freeze but I remember reading somewhere that formula milk is not suitable for freezing. Confused now...
 
Hi mummies,

can i check, have you all faced any 'opposition' from your parents or parents with regards to preparing/pureeing large batches of baby food and storing in the freezer?

sorry, but i need to vent haha


My mother in law keeps grumbling, saying that its not fresh, not good for the baby, eat already stomach will have air...why would i want to do something like that? i prepared sweet potato puree and stored inthe freezer in cubes. when i was about to feed my baby the first cube after heating up, she say like that not good, each time want to feed baby, should cut one slice and steam. then i told her we are all doing it this way, and experts advise also like that. then nevermind, about six hours after her feed (with another milk feed in between), my baby girl regurgitated out some milk with a teeny bit of sweet potato bits. Me and my husband suspect that my mother in law bounce her or move her around too much (but we didn't say it out), but no...immediately she said, "oh, something wrong with your baby, she must have eaten something wrong, that doesn't agree with her stomach...must be the sweet potato, see? got sweet potato come out...she cannot take this type of sweet potato.."

i was like Hallo? nothing to do with the sweet potato, but i didn't say anything, didn't want to start an argument. i mean, i agree that freezing food is of course not as fresh as compared to freshly prepared food eachtime. But how to do it for every meal? no time! also, if i cut a slice of sweet potato,then what happens to the restofthe sweet potato? also must put in the fridge right? sigh..
 
i'm a mummy,
i have never faced any objections from my mum or MIL, but then again they all know me and my hubby very well - we will do things OUR way and nobody can interfere...heehee!! we've been like this since the day we got married.

my advice is just ignore lor...the regurgitation is DEFINITELY not due to frozen sweet potato, but due to bouncing bb too much immed after a feed or she drank the milk too fast, that's all. besides, all baby food experts (even those that promote organic foods) also teach us how to freeze veggies, etc, so of course it is ok right? i mean, in this day and age it is not practical to cook/steam fresh ones everyday if you don't have time. that means everyday gotta go market liao!!
 
I'm a Mummy
Hi! juz wanna share with you that I'm facing similar situation as you. Hehe.. But I do agree with Lani as well that freezing food is definitely ok. I freeze all my baby food.

My relatives ( of older generation) always tell me it's not good to freeze veg for bb and that fresh is good. But hey.., even breast milk can be freezed for 3 months and it's still ok. But, I'm kinda lucky coz I dont stay with my MIL.
 
HI Lani, Jennise,

Sob, that's the thing. I stay with my Parents in Law...sigh,what to do, no choice..actually, when my SIL did the same thing about 1.5 yrs ago for her baby son, my MIL already grumbling and bad-mouthing her behind her back to me. I guess she must be doing the same thing to/about me now huh? haha..anyway, i defrosted about half the sweet potato (about 10 cubes) and microwaved them just now and i ate all of it. guess next time i just make a few cubes can liao.. Burp!
 
My mum also objected when I freeze the veg. I don't eat overnight food/dishes normally everything cook just nice or cannot finish discard. So my mum ask me don't I think by freezing the food for a week is like giving my bb overnight overnight overnight food. And I felt guilty so now I prepare fresh veg and fruits daily since I've not started working. But sometimes you are left with no choice and new generation everyone is also doing the same way. Just have to do our best.
 
hi everyone,
do you know if it is ok to eat sweet potatoes every day? afraid kiddo may turn red/orange... but I can't think of other sweet food to mask the taste of new food...
 
bbrooster,
actually there is a big difference b/w leftover food and freshly cooked food that is allowed to cool down and then frozen immediately. leftover food is food that was cooked much earlier, was probably left out at room temperature for some time, and then it's been eaten by people already. that is very different from cooked, pureed and frozen baby food/veggies/fruits. of course i never refrigerate and then feed my dd leftover food lah as there will be bacteria growth already.

tuffy,
i'm not too sure if sweet potato will cause bb skin to turn orange/yellow, but i do feed it to my dd everyday (2 cubes a day), and so far she seems fine, her skin colour is normal. heehee...
 


Lani guru ah..i ask you hor..if i wanna let my gal take the porridge twice a day..can i cook 2 portion and keep the 2nd portion in the slow cooker for the 2nd feed in the evening? the swtich can be off till is abt the feeding time then on to make it warm again?
 
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