[kila33]

I am going down to foster in 10 days and wondered if anyone knew if I needed bottles or baby food? I have always brought the bottles with the liners (easier cleaning) with me. Do I still need them? Should I bring baby food and spoons? If you have any other advice on what to bring , I am open to advice.
Thanks ,
Amy

[IloveDJ]

I'm also curious about this! We just brought our 8-month-old home and he's heavily favoring bottles. There are very few solids he'll consider and he's adamant about not using a spoon. I'm sure a lot of this is the transition, but I'm hoping to read advice from others that can help us, too.

How exciting that you're headed down to foster, Amy!

[Hopingsoon]

At 8 months, John was eating 3 stage-2 tubs of baby food each day (one fruit mixed with oatmeal, one veggie mixed with rice cereal, and a meat dish & veggie puffs). He'd drink anywhere from 20-28 oz of formula each day.

[Quesita]

My last update said that beautiful little Liana just started eating fruit and 7 months. And apparently she really likes bananas and peaches.

[SisterBear]

Definitely still lots of formula. I would guess 27 to 32 ounces per day of formula. Maybe 3 meals a day (8 oz. of purreed veggies/fruits and 4 Tablespoons of rice cereal total per day). Remember, you don't want them to eat so much solids at 8 months that they cut too far back on formula. They need formula for the fat/protein and brain development.

With my bio daughter, she didn't start eating solids until 8 months. She absolutely refused up until then. Someone wise told me that in the first year solids are for practice. I was so stressed and looked back, I had nothing to worry about. She eventually decided food was ok! (She has no food aversions/problems.)

My almost 10 month old Guatemalan babe is eating 3 meals per day and 27 ounces of formula. She is a VERY different eater than her older sister! I regularly feed her purreed spinach for breakfast and she loves it.

Maybe the foster mom will give you info on how much your child is currently eating. Otherwise, I would give formula and then start with a couple of meals per day and see how it goes.

[CEB]

When we picked Curtis up at 8.5 months - he was still using a bottle (and in fact still is at almost 12 months -its actually good for attachment so bring bottles with you); eating rice cereal, stage 2 baby food (so bring the spoon) and some table food (shredded chicken, pasta and soup).

[dgens]

We just picked up our 11 month old - we don't think she was not on any solids (even though the FM said she was) because even a single Cheerio was new to her...two would cause her to choke as would any other solids.
She turns a year this weekend and she is on Stage 2 Baby Food, Baby Cereal, and 3-4 bottles a day (4-6 oz). The doctor said it was a good way to transition her to our food and to keep her on the bottle with formula.
We had taken lots of baby food with us when we went to Guat so all worked out well.
We have never given any of our kids meat until they turn at least a year.

[WVUMom418]

We visited Mia the first time at 7 months old and I carried jars of baby food with me and she eat it really well. I didn't carry rice cereal with me and had a really hard time finding it at the grocery store in Antigua so you might want to carry a box of that with you.

[Disneycrazed]

When we picked up Malea at 7 months she was only on formula. When she was home we started her on stage 1 and by 8 months she was on stage two fruits and veggies and still drinking 24-30 oz of formula a day.

[jeannecr]

Yes, mainly still bottles. She may eat a few soft foods as people have mentioned. Take your own baby cereals from here--there they have lots of sugar added.

[CEB]

Sorry - forgot to mention that my guy had 6 teeth already at 8.5 months which was helpful for the table food part of his diet. Also ate fresh fruit (bananas and papayas cut up)