Does my baby eat enough???

Hi, my little girl Ella is now 6months old. I started her on solids at 4months on the advise of our pediatrician. She's never been a big eater and the pediatrician said so long as she keeps putting on weight and is acting happy etc not to worry. But i cant help it, i do worry.
She's bottle fed, the formula tin says that she should be drinking 250mls per feed 3-4 times a day. Generally she has 4 feeds (occassionaly 5) of 100-150mls plus 1tbsp of rice cereal for breakfast, 1/3tin of fruit at lunch and 3cubes (frozen ice cubes) of vegies at dinner... lately its a battle to get her to take the solids (except the fruit) she just doesnt seem interested. She's a happy baby and is putting on weight (all be it very very slowly)
Is this enough food??? any one got any thoughts???

Bel

Hi Belinda,

My twins are 5 months old and also started solids at 4 months. One of them loves the rice cereal but not his bottle, the other does not like the rice cereal but loves his bottle. We are also going on the advice of our nurse and that as long as they are putting on weight then it is OK. With two babies, we only feed them solids after one feed at the moment and just increase the amount of food. Our heaviest twin born 7lb 2oz is now lighter than our little one born 5lb 13oz. As long as they are happy and putting on weight, just be guided by your Doctor. One thing I have learnt in a very short period of time is that babies will do what they want in their own time. It sounds like you are doing a great job, keep it up.

Hi Belinda,
I agree with everything Vicoria said. You are doing a great job. This eating thing is new to babies, and some take longer then others to pick up the habit of eating regulary and trying new foods. Don't worry, as long as your baby is happy, having 6-8 wet nappies each day, and gaining weight, (be it a little bit or lot), then your baby is fine. If fruit is all she wants, then let her go for a while, the try re-introducing the vegies again. You may find she will be ready for a new taste by then. Good luck, and let me know how she goes.
Tracey

Hello Belinda,

My little girl Paige is also six months. It sounds to me that you are doing every thing correctly and if Ella is putting on weight and seems happy, then I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

Paige is also on formula and only has 4 bottles a day. Yes the tin of formula does say about 240mls per bottle but Paige is also only drinking about 160mls per bottle. I have stopped making up such large bottles as she is just not drinking it and it is a waste. I now make up two 240mls (for morning and night) and two 180 mls........she seems quite content with that.

I have now put Paige on the Heinz multigrain cereal that is for 6 months and over. I give her 4 tablespoons of that(as per box instructions) after she has her morning nap (about 10am). She also has about 2 ice cubes of vege or fruit for lunch(1-2pm) and 2 ice cubes of vege for dinner (about 6pm). I am very lucky that Paige just loves her veges but the maternal nurse did tell me that once baby gets a taste of fruit, sometimes they go off the veges for a little while but its nothing to worry about.

Keep up the good work Belinda, I think you are doing great. What is Ella's weight now. Paige is just a littly bubby and weighs about 15-15.5 pounds.

I hope I was able to help.
Cherie and Paige

Hi Victoria,

Thanks for the reply and the encouragement! Its scary being a first time mum and hard to knw when to worry and when not too.

Twins... that must be hard work, how do you keep up??
Bel

hi Tracey

Thanks for the reply. She does have regular wet nappies, and is slowly putting on weight so i guess i'll just let that be the judge. I'm hoping to book in to get her weighed on thursday so hopefully she'll have put on a bit more weight. Will let you know.

Bel

Hi Cherie.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm also making up smaller bottles, I make up one 200ml at night which she's started to drink most if not all of but the others are only 150ml because she just wont drink any more than that. I have just bought a pack of the Heinz multigrain cereal to try after the plain stuff runs out... does Paige like it? Is the texture much different?

Ella started off loving her vegies absolutely loved pumpkin and potato, but just seems to have slowed right down again now.

I'm hoping to get Ella weighed again on thursday, last weigh on 17/12 she was 7.420kg (i think thats about 16pound)and 67cm long.

What date was Paige born? How much did she weigh born? Ella was born on 30/6 and weighed 3.795kg(8lb4oz).
Bel

Hi Belinda,

My baby went off her vegies around 6 mths too. She lost interest so I just offered every night at dinner until it got so frustrating that I went back to the start - one vegie at a time. After one week of no interest we have been back on track for several weeks now and she even eats fork mashed food and I have introduced some beef and lamb in the last week or two and now has 3 meals a day with dinner being her biggest meal of the day. I also give her the heinz multigrain for breakfast now and she loves it. It is the same consitency as the rice cereal. I started a post called won't eat vegies and it seems that others experienced the same thing around this age.
Keep up the good work, don't force food as the baby will let you know when they are ready to eat again.
hope this helps.

Hey Bel,

Lovely chatting to you with bubbys around the same age. Paige was born 20th June and weighed about 7 pound(2.9kg). Well must say your Ella is doing great guns, Paige was weighed 12/12 and was about 6.5kg and 63 cm long. Paige is doing really well and is starting to fill out (those chubby cheeks and legs..he he).

I can tell she is still going to be a petite little thing as there are babies bigger than her that are only 3 months old. I am not bothered though, just as long as she is a thriving happy..............and that she is.

Paige also probably only drinks about 160mls of the 180ml. Sometimes I give her a little break and try her again just to make sure she has had enough. Last night she only drank about 150ml of her night bottle(240ml) but still slept through the night, so she must have just had enough.

Gosh I hope Paige doesn't go off her veges but by the sounds of everyones advice, that just might be the case. As they have all said though, not to worry, they will go back on track eventually. Paige just loves her multigrain cereal, she even starts waving her hands about when she sees the bowl. Yes it is the same texture as the rice cereal, so Ella wont know the difference, will probably like it more for that matter. I'm not sure how runny you had the rice cereal but the consistency of the multigrain cereal is kind of like porridge.

Bye for now.
Cherie and Paige
jinkers@bigpond.com

Hi Cherie,
It sure is good talking to you, its great that our babies are so close in age.

I'll just battle on with Ella and her vegies, i guess she'll eventually go back on them... well hopefully. I might try her on the multigrain cereal in the next few days and see how she goes with that.

I gave her a milk arrowroot biscuit today just to see what she thought (first actual hard thing i've given her other than the odd rusk) she only ate about 1/4 of it but she loved it! I dont know about you but i find it a bit nerve racking giving her things like that, i just keep worrying that she'll choke but i guess she's got to start at some point, right? do you give Paige any finger foods yet?

Bel

Hi Belinda,

It is scary being a first time mum, you just want to do the very best you can. Twins are hard work, but what isn't hard about having and raising a baby whether it be one or two. I just need to be super organised and really think about my time management. We bath the boys at the same time and try to feed them at the same time where possible. They are just so different thought which just reinforces the fact that they will do things in their own time. Our last "weigh in" was 2 weeks ago, the boys are 7kg and 7.5kg at 5 months of age. We met another couple whose twins were six months old, they were born weighing 800g and 900g. They are thriving now and the parents are ecstatic. For me it reminds me to be thankful for two beautiful healthy boys every day - even if they will eventually eat us out of house and home!!! Remember ask ask and ask if you want to know something - that old cliche is true - babies do not come with an instruction manual.

Hi everyone,

I think that as long as your baby is happy and is gaining weight that's all that matters.
My son Will be 6 months on the 15th of Jan and he has been on solids since he was 4 months old. I started him on farex rice cereal and now he is eating so many different foods i can't keep track of them.
He has a 210 ml bottle in the early morning and then after about 3 hours he has breakfast which is usually either cereal or fruit puree he has aprox 150grams and he also has a 105 ml bottle after his solids. Then about 4 hours later he has his lunch which is vegies (another 150gram portion) and another 105 ml bottle. Then for afternoon tea he will have fruit with a 105 ml bottle. And he has a 210 ml bottle beofre bed at night. Because of the heat lately i have been giving him water between all of his feeds aswell.
Foods he has tried so far, mango, banana, apricot, apple,apple with cinimon, pears, coliflour, sweet potato, brocoli, carrot, zuchini, beetroot i'm sure there is prolly more but i can't remember them all. I try to alternate the different foods all the time so he has a chance to try lot's of different foods.