Hi Lisa;

This one is for you!

    I have published several articles on weaning and feeding babies.  Whilst I can claim the wit and humor, I don't own the intellectual rights to the information. When to wean wasn't your questions so I won't go into that.

    How much is enough more to the point, is.

    Gina Ford (Bless her little blue books) subscribes that an infant and toddler will eat exactly as much as they need, not a spoonful more or less. Force-feeding infants or toddlers changes the whole mood of a happy social interaction into a battle of wills and much like Iraq, nobody really wins!

    Dr. Howard Chilton, a noted paediatrician at Prince of Wales Private and published author on babies, insists that a child will eat until it is full, and if it gets overfull, it will posset or vomit. He tells this advice in his baby post-natal classes he teaches on the ward in maternity as  to allay concerns from new mothers who are breast feeding and have no idea how much their baby is consuming.

    I am neither a dietician nor a medico (although I used to be married to surgeon I don't think it counts for brownie points here) I can only speak from experience. My son showed signs of being hungry very early on (4-5 months) we began with rice cereal and slowly moved to purees. (See my article 'What color is your vegetable' for more food tips for weaning) How we knew how much he was having is that we made food in batches and froze it in ice trays. We measured each frozen cube for defrosting purposes. On average he would eat 4 cubes or about  200gm frozen puree from 6 months, and have 200ml milk as part of that. Since the tummy is pretty small at that age, we offered the milk before and after the feeds, and began moving to sippy cups with assistance.  The average feeding interval was 45 minutes to get through milk and solids. We had very few instances of posseting or vomiting so it is same to assume that he was never overfed.

    During months 7 and 8, we had a few growth spurts and he ate more. He also started reaching for my linseed and wholegrain breads which he could not get enough of. He had no reaction so he has been on bread since then. A piece of bread with each meal has also become the standard accoutrement in addition to proteins and vegetables.  When he was old enough to sit in a high chair he was spoon fed. When he began rejecting food (turning his head away, spitting it out) we knew that he was finished, and lengthy meal times have reduced dramatically.

    I guess a practical rule of thumb is that if your baby looks interested in food, and still accepts food, she must be still hungry. When she turns her head, spits it out, or acts disinterested, it is a fair bet that she has had enough and 'would like to be excused please'.

    If you have any other questions about feeding or weaning, feel free to ask and I will answer here in this public forum so that everyone can share the info. Cheers - Stephenie   www.stephenierodriguez.com

     A tired baby isn't easy to feed, so time your solids feeds when you and your baby are most rested.