Help in What a Six Month Old Should Be Eating

My suggestion is have the babysitter give her a sippy cup in one of her meals. She may not drink it at first but always offer her something. I don't know about you but I am always thirsty when I eat. Another thing is try and giver her water for that meal instead of milk. That way she is getting used to something other than milk. Start her early with Water and she will love it all the time. Remember also when she gets to 10 month old start with stage 3 foods and start with people food. I have a boy in my room that I watch that is 10 months already and if I did not say anything to the parent he would still be eating stage 2. Hope this helps.

Hi,
My 6 month old's schedule looks like this:
Between 7:00-7:30 7 oz bottle or eat from me
Between 8:00-8:30 cereal with fruit (stage 2 jar)
Nap at 9:30-11:30
Between 11:30-12:00 another bottle
Between 12:30-1:00 fruit and vegi (sometimes she eats both complete, but other times she does 1 1/2 jars)
Nap again from 1:30-3:30
Bottle at 4-4:30 (trying to wean this one out within the next couple of months)
Dinner at 5:30
Bath and bottle at 6:15 then off to bed.

Hope that gives you a better idea. My daughter is 17 pounds. I put "between" because it really all depends on when she wakes up and gets her first feeding.
J.

I know doctors mean well, but listen to your daughter...she will tell you what she needs & if she isn't ready to give up a bottle, I wouldn't stress it! Sucking is a sense of comfort to babies! When my son was 6 months, he followed the Similac menu:

Breakfast -
2-3 T baby cereal
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

Midmorning -
2-4 T strained or pureed fruit

Lunch
2-4 T strained veggies
1-2 T cereal
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

Mid afternoon
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

Dinner
2-4 T veggies
1-2 T cereal
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

I remember for him dinner was HUGE, so we would do veggies & cereal, then bath, then bottle right before bed.

The 8-12 month menu was:

Breakfast
3-5 T cereal
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

Midmorning:
2-4oz unsweetend 100% fruit juice
-diluted 1/2 with water
- given in a cup only
- limited to 4-6 ounces per day
dry toast strips

Lunch
3-4 T cooked veggies
3-4 T pureed meat or mashed beans
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

Mid afternoon
2-4 oz breast milk / formula
2-4 servings pureed fruit
3-5 T cereal

Dinner
3-4 T cooked veggies
3-4 T cooked fruit
3-4 T pureed meat
6-8 oz breast milk / formula

Of course, he wouldn't always eat all of it, but we'd try. Don't worry about her getting too big -- she won't eat if she's not hungry. She needs the calories / protein etc from food to help her grow & be healthy!

My son never did stage 3 -- I thought it was a waste of money. We went straight from stage 2 to regular food in baby sized portions!

All this info is from www.welcomeaddition.com (from about 2 years ago, so I don't know if they still have it posted. I have never taken it off my fridge, so I'll have it to go by for the next one!)

I don't currently have a six-month-old, but I can tell you what I've done with those I did have, including those I provided childcare to.

I'm a fan of bottle-fed babies that age having a bottle when they wake up, kind of a snuggly welcome to the day.

An hour or so later, breakfast. I'd offer mashed banana or another mashed fruit, and oatmeal or another mushy grain cereal, and a sippy cup of water to wash down the food between bites. (I never use baby food, but you can buy in baby-food form everything I'm suggesting, so whichever way is better for you.)

Lunch and supper, I'd offer mashed fruit or vegetable, and a mushy grain (like rice with formula or juice blended smooth). Again, a sippy cup of water just to wash down bites.

Depending on the child, I'd offer formula either just before they took naps or just when they woke up, whichever seemed to make the child more comfortable.

As far as the amounts I fed them, well, I fed them formula based completely on what amount the doctor said to offer. With the other food, I let the child choose how much to eat. It's not easy to overfeed a six-month old as long as you offer only healthy foods and follow the doctor's instructions regarding how much formula to offer.

A baby's little body knows when it's time to eat more than normal because of an upcoming growth spurt, or eat less than normal for some reason. I've never once raised or provided child-care for a baby who became overweight or underweight, and I fed them all the way I just described.

Oh, two things - when I write "doctor" I mean whatever health care professional is the baby's primary. And the reason for the sippy cup of water is because it's an easy way to introduce a new skill, and it gets the baby used to the taste (or lack thereof) of water, so that a year from now, s/he'll be comfortable drinking water instead of juice or something sugary on summer days.

You don't want her to get big?!?! Your precious little baby is only six months old - please, please, please don't start projecting body-image issues onto her now. I'm hoping you meant something entirely different with that comment. In any case, doctors give moms what they ask for - you asked about a feeding schedule and your doctor gave you one. The truth is that healthy babies will eat when they are hungry (so continue to offer food at a meal until she appears bored or "done"). Healthy babies will not eat if not hungry. And once you get on a schedule - expect it to change. Your baby's development occurs in such rapid spurts that she might appear to eat so much for a few weeks, then show much less interest in food suddenly, then go back to needing more at each feeding.
Good luck!

T., When my son was born he was 9 lbs. and at 6 months he weighed 19 lbs. 15 oz. and was 28 1/2" long. He was in the 90th percentile for height and weight til he was at least 3 years old. He is now 13 and super skinny! He's in something like the 10th percentile now and yes, he's perfectly healthy, he's just thin like his mom and uncle were when they were his age! Please don't worry at this stage about your daughter getting too big. As long as she's eating good foods and getting plenty of exercise (as she gets older) she'll be fine. If she's hungry she'll eat and she'll stop when she's satisfied. My son is living proof that having a big baby does not mean you'll have an over-size teenager. The same holds true for small babies and preemies. Most of the ones I know have grown up to be huge men!

I have a little girl that just turned 7 mos. At her 6 mo. checkup she was pretty close to yours (17lbs. 11oz., 26 3/4in.). My little girl is with my mom 1 day/wk. and my best friend 2 day/wk., since I work part-time. I know her schedule varies some when she's with them, but it hasn't hurt at all how I feed her at home. They basically stick with the same as me. I also know I've probably been an overly cautious new mom, because we haven't switched to 2nd stage foods yet (but we will as soon as what I have runs out). Here's our schedule:

8:00am - just started 7oz. w/ stage 2 nipple (instead of 6oz. w/ stage 1)

9:30am - 1oz. formula mixed w/1 tbsp. oatmeal mixed w/ 1/2 jar of fruit. Then, she eats the other half w/o cereal. I also give her little drinks of water from a bottle while she's eating.

11:00 - nap time

12:00-12:30 - she wakes up, and I give her a 7oz. bottle.

2:00 - feed her a jar of vegetables w/ drinks of water from a bottle.

4:00 - 6oz. bottle

7:00 - 1oz. formula mixed w/ 1tbsp. rice cereal mixed w/ 1/2 jar of veggies. After that, 1/2 jar of fruit.

8:00-8:30 - bedtime...sometimes I'll give her a little water in a bottle before bed.

I also give her a bottle w/ 2oz. fruit juice and 2oz. water at some point in the day.

There you go! That's what works for us. Hope it helps.

T.,
My daughter is 6 months and this is what her schedule is:

5AM-Breastfed
10AM-Breastfed
3PM-Breastfed
630PM-2 jars stage 1 and a few T. of cereal
9PM-Breastfed

So far, this is keeping her satisfied. She doesn't appear hungry for solids in the AM or around lunch time yet. When she shows signs that she needs more solids than I will give it to her. Remember, every kid is different. My daughter doesn't eat as much as my sons did. It sounds like your daughter is just hungry so that's good that you are meeting her needs. If she turns away or appears to be getting too full then stop, or if she spits up her food that could be a sign that she overate. It doesn't sound like it so I think you are doing just fine!

*Edited to say- Just because your doctor suggested taking a bottle away doesn't mean you have too. If she likes her bottle with her solids than just give it to her.

I am concerned that you are worried about your baby's weight! Also, Why don't you steam some veggies and puree them, I alway used what ever I was cooking for us and before seasoning for the adult palate I would puree for baby. You can freeze the extra in an ice cube tray, transfer to a freezer bag or container for later use. Much more economical too. Babies will stop eating when they are full. Your baby is not fat so don't worry about that. Once she is mobile you will worry that she doesn't eat enough.