starting solids

Isaac started eating solids (oatmeal and purees) at not quite 4.5 months. I thought it was going to be fun and was so excited to get started. It was fun, and he loved eating. He definitely chunked up a little in the first few months of solids, before he started crawling. It was a battle to get him to drink formula from 8-12 months, and looking back, I think it was because he was eating too much real food.

I really wanted to wait until Levi was 6 months old to start solids, and that was actually recommended by his pediatrician due to his eczema. Well, she recommended we wait until "closer to 6 months". She said he would be fine on only liquid nutrition until then. I asked when I should space his bottles from 3 hours to 4 hours and she said at that point (he was eating 5-6 ounces per bottle) he should be able to go closer to 4 hours. That was at 4 months. Now, almost 6 weeks later, he is drinking 6-7 ounces per bottle and can barely make it 3 hours between bottles, and only gets closer to 4 if he takes a long nap. He's a hungry boy, so I'm thinking of starting solids soon. I knew I wanted to try about a week before his 6 month appointment so I could bring up any issues that we encountered, but I think we'll be starting in the next few days (his appointment isn't til the end of the month). I'm not sure that one small meal a day will make much difference, but I'm willing to try.

I have a feeling he will love food. I think he'll be the type that acts like he can't believe we've been holding out on him for 5.5 months, the type that leans into the spoon and will get mad when the meal is over. I just hope we don't run into the formula issues with him like we did with Isaac. I know formula needs to be the main source of calories through 12 months.

A few days Levi held his own bottle, and does every now and then now. I always called Isaac 'lazy' because he pretty much never held his own bottle the whole 12 months he drank from them. We had the hardest time getting him to drink enough milk after 12 months because he didn't even like to tip the sippy cup back for a while.