I'm not sure when I should cut out formula and only feed my baby stage1 baby food?

Question

SHE'S 7 1/2 MONTHS OLD. I FEED HER 1/2 A JAR OF VEG. AN 1/2 A JAR OF FRUIT AROUND 11 AM. AND THEN THE HALF OF THE JARS AROUND 3PM. SHE HAS 4 OZ. BOTTLES IN BETWEEN THROUGH OUT THE DAY. SHE ALSO REFUSES TO EAT CEAREAL!! IS THAT BAD? DOES SHE REALLY NEED TO EAT IT?

Answer 1

You should keep her on formula until she's one year old and then can switch her over to regular milk. Baby's don't eat much, they still rely on the formula for most of the nutrients they need. Baby cereal kind of tastes like glue - my daughter didn't like it out of a bowl but I mixed it in with her formula and got larger nipples for her bottles. It kept her full longer than plain formula and she got what she needed from the cereal without eating it from a spoon.

Answer 2

Ask your pediatrician what they recommend next, give them a call if you don't want to make an appointment, but you should have a 9 month wellness checkup appointment coming up, right? From my experience doctors recommend starting with rice cereal because it's easily digested, but it's flavorless and my daughter hated it too. I would mix a jar of fruit and a few tablespoons of rice cereal for her and she'd eat that happily.

If she's already eating fruits and veggies and is fine, maybe just start introducing more of them and variety, one at a time, 4-5 days apart, and watch for allergy symptoms. As for formula feeding, I breast fed so I don't have experience on that, but I'm assuming the same stands for formula that the more you increase solid foods the less milk the baby will want.

I started at solids in addition to milk for breakfast and lunch, and then milk for the rest of the day, and then added dinner and moved up to larger jars by 9 months, but I kept feeding milk on demand. If she eats less and seems satisfied and eager for solids then prepare less formula next time. I continued to breast feed until she was 13 months old and she self-weaned, and the American Pediatrics Association recommends extending formula or breast feeding until 12 months of age, so don't cut out formula yet.

Answer 3

Ask the paediatrician or your family doctor. They should be guiding the baby's diet based on what they know about the child.

The Muse

Answer 4

My understanding is that babies need formula or breatsmilk till they are at least 1 yr of age. At this point, the only thing she REALLY needs to eat is formula. Food is just an experiment until after 1, that's what I was told by my pediatrician.