Hi Hetal,

Was trying to reach u badly, but as the site was under construction, could not make it.

Any ways my daughter of 8 mths old does' t take any semi solid foods, she is either coughing or omitting it. Hence I can not give her Kichadi sort of stuff. Currently I' m giving her paste(very much flowing) of rice, moongdal & ragi, grinded finely & boiled in the water adding little salt & sugar. But I think she is not gaining much weight because of not having proper food. Also she is crying in during the night very often & does' t sleep for longer hrs. During day time also she is hardly sleeping. But she is very active otherwise, she has started walking by taking help of sofa,etc. And one more thing she has a habit of sleeping in the cradle, I don' t understand how to make her slip outside now as during the day she is not sleeping without cradle & it creats lot of problem if I' m going somewhere.

Please help me with yr great suggestions.


With best regards,

SMITA Hetal replied. what are the total no of hours she sleeps, in 24hours ? an 8month old is expected to sleep around 13-15hours, depnding on its sleepng habits.
can you try as below :

1. instead of flowy paste, can you start your dd with a bit thicker paste,,(only one spoon) and see how she reacts. if she accepts it, continue with the consistency and after she is able to eat it properly, start with much more thicker paste and throw in some pieces of bread, roti, etc, and it might help her to lumpier foods.

2. i read she is not gaining much wght,,so what her wght, bw and current, both ? texture of food has nothing to do with intake of food, unless you are forcing your child to eat the texture of the food that she DOESNT like or accepts !

3. if her sleeping hours are less thn 13hours, you can increase her activity levels,she walks,,so place her fav toys at distant places on the furniture and stand there,,call her and let her walk around,,increase her mobility.,,esp after evenings...

4. new to standing,walking, makes kids overstimulatd and sometimes they tend to get overtired. overtired child doesnt sleep well ! so as and when her time of sleepng is nearby, start settlng her, read some book to her, dim the lights, give her a good soothing bath, a massage if she allows, and thn freshen her up and make her sleep ! it might settle her. and then offer her a full feed of bm or formula...it might help.massage her legs, esp the feet and the just below kness,,she will like it.

5. if the child doesnt eat well, he seems to be hungry,,and hunger brings restlessness or lack of sleep or sometimes irritates thr behaviour. so make sure she eats what she is supposed to, in total 24hours.

an 8month old is expected to eat/drink as below :

7-8months total serving requirements of various foods:

?8 months Breast milk: 3?5 feedings, or on demand OR Iron-fortified formula: 3?5 feedings of 6?8 ounces each.
Infant cereal: 4?6 tablespoons
Infant juice: 2?4 ounces (from cup only)
Fruit: 1?2 tablespoons
Vegetables: 5?7 tablespoons
Meats: 1?2 tablespoons
Finger food: One small serving (toast, crackers, teething biscuits, plain dry cereal)
Start with single grain cereals: rice first, then oats and barley.
Wait until your baby is six months old to try other kinds of cereal.
Start by making the cereal thin, mix one tablespoon of dry cereal with 2?3 tablespoons of breast milk or iron-fortified formula.
As baby gets older, make it thicker, mix one tablespoon dry cereal with 2?3 tablespoons of breast milk or iron-fortified formula.

Meat Use plain, strained meats when starting. If meat is too thick, thin with breast milk, iron-fortified formula or meat juices.
Avoid meat and vegetable combinations or high protein meat dinners. atleast until 9months.
You can use cooked egg yolk,once your baby has completed 8months, but don' t give egg whites until your baby is one year old.

Fruits and vegetables Start with pureed fruits and vegetables..slowly graduate them to finger foods.
Start with single, plain choices without tapioca added.
Don' t serve fruit \" desserts.\" from any baby good company.

Juice Offer juice from the cup, not the bottle.
Start with infant juice. Mix once ounce of water with one ounce of juice(after 8months). Gradually cut back the water until giving straight juice.,,thats at 1 year.
Start with single flavored juices. Wait until your baby is older to give mixed juices.
Use only 100% juice ( for babies below 1 year,mix fruit pulp:water = 1:4,or juice:water=1:4 or less for babies below 8months.,
never use flavored fruit drink such as Kool-aid, punch, or soda (pop).
To protect teeth and begin weaning, always offer juice from a cup.
To prevent choking, always hold your baby when feeding from a bottle.


--leme know if you need ne clear thoughts on ne of above things in there,,

6.about cradle problem : you can try rocking her outside and see if it makes her sleep. during daytime stop making her sleep in cradle.other things you can try to avoid cradle is, try to put her in lap and then rock her once a while only when she cries really badly to sleep. i underrstand that it will take time for her to accept this, but after all you want her to help herself go without these things,,you cant give comforts that makes them get habituated..
when she is about to sleep, stop the cradle and see if that works. and let her sleep, pat her gently by making herr sleep on alternate side and thn try to make her sleep. make sure her activity levels thru out the day are really good..a good physical activity thru out the day, is needed in order to make body come to resting position(sleeping) without ne hard efforts.
thats all i can help you with..start makng her sleep without cradle, or putin cradle but stop the motion of it, and pat her, rock her, if required put some good music and continue doing that,,,if she leaves the cradle before 1 year or so,,it be will better, or else she will get attached to it and it will harder for you in future to make her sleep...
good luck.