How To Introduce Solids To Your Baby

This post is sponsored by Gerber, however, all opinions are my own.

Once Brooke turned 4 months old, she started waking up in the middle of night and, as new parents, it took us a few days to figure it out. We quickly realized that she was getting hungry in the middle of the night again. After consulting our pediatrician, he suggested that we start cereal, so I headed to Walmart to pick some up. I remember standing in the baby food aisle feeling so overwhelmed. I had no idea their were so many different choices. I ended up choosing Gerber^® cereals because just two servings of infant cereal meet 90% of your baby’s daily iron.

Now, the second time around I feel really prepared in terms of knowing what to introduce to Baby Kevin and when. As a second time parent now, I wanted to share my month by month feeding schedule about How To Introduce Solids To Your Baby so that no new mom has to feel overwhelmed like I did.

0 -4 Months

From 0-4 months, we only feed our babies Breast Milk or Formula. At this young of an age, that is really all they need. I have received a lot of questions about how much and how often I feed Baby Kevin, so here is my feeding schedule breakdown.

0 – 1 Months: 2-4 oz of milk, 6 to 8 times a day

1 – 2 Months: 3-5 oz of milk, 5 to 7 times a day

2 – 4 Months: 4-8oz of milk, 4 to 6 times a day

4-6 Months

At 4-6 months is when the real fun starts. We started Brooke on Oatmeal Cereal at 4 months old when she stopped sleeping through the night due to hunger. She immediately went back to sleeping through the night and all was good again when we introduced cereal. We have let Baby Kevin try it since he is 4 months old, but we probably won’t fully start until he seems to need it.

When you start your infant on cereals, we found it best to start with single-grain cereals to check for food sensitivities. Another great option besides Oatmeal Cereal is Barley Cereal. And, Gerber makes it easy for you by labeling all of their products for appropriate ages.

We started with 1-2 tbsp once a day then slowly moved to twice a day. Your baby also still needs normal milk intake. We feed Baby Kevin 4-6 times a day, 6-8oz.

Breastmilk or Formula: 4-6 times a day, 6-8oz

Cereal: 1-2 times a day, 1-2 tbsp.

6-8 Months

Around 6-8 months, it gets even better. On top of feeding your baby a variety of cereal like Multigrain, Whole Wheat or Oatmeal, you can start introducing fruits and vegetables to your baby as well. Again, I recommend starting one at a time to watch for any food allergies or sensitivities. Here is the breakdown we used for Brooke:

Breastmilk or Formula: 3 – 5 times a day, 6-8 oz

Cereal: 3 times a day, 2-4 tbsp.

Fruits and Veggies: 2-3 times a day, 2-3 tbsp.

8-12 Months

You can really start to open their food palette up even more at around 8 months. Gerber Lil Bits Cereal is great for this season. We fed Brooke a wide variety of things at this age including: Breastmilk/formula, Dairy foods, Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Meat. By this time, Brooke ate the normal three meals a day and an afternoon snack. Her portions varied by the type a lot but we just watched to make sure she was getting a good balance.

I hope this guide helps you navigate How To Introduce Solids To Your Baby. I would of course consult your pediatrician on what is best for your baby in terms of when to start what foods, but this is just the guide that we used!