Questions About Feeding Solids

My son just turned 5 months and he is a big eater! He weighed 16 pounds 11 ounces at his last appointment. He is drinking between 36 -40 oz of formula a day. We started giving him oatmeal on Friday. I think that I am making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I have so many questions. Any help you can give would be appreciated!

- I skipped over rice (because I heard that it can constipate, etc.) and went straight to oatmeal. Can we stick with oatmeal, or am I also suppose to try barley?
- How many times a day did you give cereal at the beginning? I have been doing it twice a day.
- What did you do first, fruits or vegetables? I know the cons of doing fruit first, but are there any downsides to doing veggies first?
- Once you add fruits/veggies, do you serve with cereal or a separate time of day?

Re: Questions About Feeding Solids

This isn't the "right" answer. But I didn't really follow any rules. I actually skipped oatmeal and went straight to fruits and vegetables. I skipped back and forth between fruits, vegetables and oatmeal -- one meal a day.

I followed the three day rule for each new food. After a while I went up to two meals and eventually three.

I followed the charts from wholesomebabyfood.com to see what was safe to give each month.

Re: Questions About Feeding Solids

Mine is 7 months old.

We started with rice: it did not constipate him. We then did oatmeal & then barley (good for ? preventing celiac disease... which my pediatrician thought was important).

Cereal twice a day is enough & you work up the portions with your kid. Ours quickly wanted more than 2 oz per feeding.

Next, we did fruits. He liked it. Apples, pears, ect. One at a time times three days. I gave it in the AM because he is the best eater then.

The upside of fruits are that they are tasty & the kid gets used to the consistency of canned foods.

Veggies were no problem. DS's VERY favorite meal is summer veggies.

We do canned foods and cereal separate. Just because he eats a whole jar & I don't have to be putting it in the fridge and then warming it up.

PS: Save some money and get the 4 oz, not 2 oz jars of baby food fruits... same food, larger container, so cheaper.

Re: Questions About Feeding Solids

Thank you for your answers ladies!!