Question for EBF moms re starting solids

If you ebf, what did you do about thinning cereal? Did you always use pumped milk? Did anyone use formula? Did you just avoid cereal?

I hate pumping so this is stressing me out. DD will be 6 months in a few weeks so I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do. If I only use pumped milk I'll have to pump every day and won't get enough to actually save any for when I do need a bottle. I wouldn't really have an issue using formula but I don't want to have to constantly buy it just for a small amount. I'm thinking about maybe just avoiding cereal so I don't have to deal with this. Any advice? Is there a simple solution that I'm missing here?

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

I don't put anything in it for my 6 month old and didn't for my older guy either, I hated pumping. I put a stage one pouch in a bowl with a scoop or two of oatmeal cereal so it just made the fruit or veggies thicker.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

i did for my first bec i did more pumping...but this one i just pump when needed and put it in the freezer for future outings..so i didnt want to defrost 5 oz for an oz or two tops...

so since i was never really replacing a nursing session with a solid meal - I didnt feel like it needed to have bm bec she was getting that in an hr anyway KWIM?!?! so i started with water when that was all she was having then when i introduced veggies and fruits - I just put it in there to thicken it up...

I still put it in the "watery" veggies and fruits ESP the carrots (at almost 10 mo) bec I feel like it is so watery and therefore messy

Message edited 10/1/2012 11:13:10 AM.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

We skipped baby foods all together. Went straight to table foods when each baby was ready. Between 7-9 months. Baby food is completely unnecessary.

Message edited 10/1/2012 11:41:38 AM.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

I used pumped milk in the beginning but you can use stage 1/thinly pureed fruits to thicken the cereal. Or you can skip the cereal all together. I considered this as well but spoke with my ped about it first. The cereals are fortified with iron so they decided to write DS an RX for vitamins with iron just in case I decided to skip cereals.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

We skipped cereals and went to purees.

I thin them with the steaming liquid (for most - certain ones you aren't supposed to, like carrots)

Question for EBF moms re starting solids

I have always used either breastmilk, water, or just mix it with a puree.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

I always used pumped milk, but I was pumping at work during the day for her bottles for the next day at daycare and made sure to have enough.

We did not start any kind of solids until she was 6 months on the dot, and when we did, we started with oatmeal, and skipped rice cereal completely. When we gave her vegetables a few weeks later, I made them straight and did not add any BM. I made all of her baby food from scratch, so not sure if others who used jarred food added BM or not, but I didn't feel the need to since I knew exactly what she was eating/ingesting with each bite.

Question for EBF moms re starting solids

Thanks for all the ideas...although I'm still confused! I guess I'll just figure it out as we go and ask the ped. his advice. I'm thinking I'll suck it up for a few days using pumped milk and then start to add in purees instead.

Question for EBF moms re starting solids

i used pumped milk at first, but was going through my supply rather quickly. we started using water after that.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

My Ped said to mix with bm until applesauce cpnsistency. He did say if I didn't have enough bm, formula is fine.

I might skip cereals all together as pp mentioned. Dd is 6 months in about a week so I have to decide quick!

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

I use pumped milk. DD has her last feeding at around 7:30/8P so I do a pumping session around 10:30/11. I usually get 5 or 6 oz so I take 3 of it to save for the next days cereal and then freeze the rest. DD gets 1.5 oz cereal w/1.5 oz milk twice a day. I don't like pumping either but I am actually building quite the supply with the leftovers.

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

With DD I did BM because I had the spare milk and the time to pump more.

With DS-- I started giving him a bottle of pumped milk at 4 months, and I pumped THREE times a day to get that 8 oz. With cereal, I was not wasting the milk or pumping more- so I mized with water. After giving fruits, I started mixing a little fruit in there to give it a bit more flavor. DOn't stress-- just do a little water!

Re: Question for EBF moms re starting solids

I used pumped milk or water.