Are you a parent and wondering how much Gerber should your baby eat? This post will serve as a guide on everything you need to know about Gerber baby food, how much your baby should eat, signs your baby is ready to eat Gerber, how many months a baby can take Gerber, and also know whether Gerber is healthy for your baby.
Gerber is a popular baby food brand and one of the firsts (they have been in operation since 1927). This baby food brand is designed for infants from 0 months to 1 year of age.
Irrespective of what you are doing, whether breastfeeding, using formula, or doing a combination of both, Gerber baby food will boost your little one’s nutrition.
What Is Gerber Baby Food?
Gerber baby food is a popular and one of the most trusted brands of baby food. Gerber is a subsidiary of Nestle, and their products are worldwide.
Gerber is the world’s largest producer of baby foods.
Apart from baby food, this company also makes breastfeeding supplies such as manual massaging pumps, nipples, and baby bottles.
How Much Gerber Should A 7-Month Old Baby Eat?
At 7 months of age, your little one is preparing to crawl and you need to get your home ready. Remove all hazards and also get his/her nutrition right.
As your 7 months old baby grows and gets stronger daily, you become faced with a lot of questions and concern. You start asking yourself questions like; “What can a 7 months old eat?” “What can I give my 7 months old for meals?”, etc.
Well, at 7 months old, the primary source of nutrition is still breastmilk or formula but they can eat some solid foods. So you should introduce Gerber to your 7 months old baby when he/she is ready to start eating solids.
Your baby can have three meals of Gerber each day. However, this depends on the baby. A meal of solid food for a 7 months old baby can be as little as a tablespoon or 2 tablespoons.
And it can also be as much as 4 to six ounces, this is between 8 to 12 tablespoons of Gerber. So study your baby well and know what he or she can consume.
But to answer this question, a 7 months old baby can consume between 1 to 12 tablespoons of Gerber.
Parents mostly ask what they can feed their 7 months old baby with? Well this depends on you. There are no strict guidelines regarding feeding a 7 months old baby but pediatricians advise that you should stick to nutritious and unprocessed foods.
Purees are great for your baby, you can never go wrong with pureed or mashed fruits, veggies, and whole grain baby cereals.
However, here are some foods you should never give your 7 months old baby yet; they are cow’s milk, honey, whole nuts, hard veggies, and anything that can cause choking.
Also Read: Best Foods to Eat When Breastfeeding a Gassy Baby
Signs Your Baby Is Ready To Eat Gerber
It may just seem like yesterday you welcomed your little one into the world and right now, he is ready to eat solids. This is an exciting time for new parents as they start exploring new foods and checking out tastes and textures.
Gerber, like we’ve stated above is one of the most popular brands of baby foods and the one of the most trusted. It is an ideal starter food for your little baby.
The age at which little children are ready to eat Gerber varies. Also, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that parents wait until 6 months before introducing solids (Gerber inclusive) to their little ones.
However, some pediatricians say you can also start at 4 months.
So watch out for this signs to know if your baby is ready to eat Gerber.
1. Can your baby hold his/her head up and turn it smoothly from side to side? If yes, your little one can now take solid foods. Babies need good head and neck control to eat, and this happens between 4 to 6 months old.
2. Does he/she seem interested in food? If yes, you can introduce Gerber to your baby.
3. Does he/she grab your fork or seems eager to take a bite if you are eating near them? If yes, your little one is ready to dig into some new tastes.
4. Does your baby swallow any food given to them? If yes, he/she is ready to try her own food. Babies are born with a natural tongue-thrusting reflex which makes them push food out of their mouth as quickly as you put it in. They start to lose this reflex between the ages of 4 months to 6 months and it makes it easier for them to start solid foods like Gerber.
5. Does your baby like watching others eat? Does she reach for food or open her mouth when food approaches? If yes, you can give your baby Gerber.
6. Can your baby sit down comfortably on a chair? If yes, they can take solids.
7. Does he/she weight twice their birth weight or close to it? If yes, they are ready to be introduced to solids like Gerber.
All these mentioned above are skills needed to eat and if your baby has developed some of them, you are free to introduce Gerber to your baby. So watch out until you see these signs of readiness before introducing solids like Gerber to your baby.
Read Also: Food to Avoid When Breastfeeding a Sick Baby
How to Introduce Gerber And Solids To Your baby
When the time is right, your baby is the right age (4 to 6 months old) and have showed some of the signs above, you can start with a single grain iron-fortified Gerber baby cereal.
Rice cereal is the most preferred choice to start with but you can start with anyone of your choice. Mix 1 or 2 tablespoons of Gerber with water, formula, or breast milk.
You can also feed your baby with a small baby spoon of iron-rich pureed meat. At this stage (7 months), Gerber should be given to your baby after nursing (breastfeeding) and not before it.
Breastfeeding still remains your baby’s main source of nutrition until the age of 1.
When your baby has gotten used to Gerber, you can now introduce other solid foods like pureed fruits, veggies, lentils, yogurt, or beans. Ensure you wait a few days between introducing these foods to make sure your baby does not have an allergy to any of them.
How Many Months Can A Baby Eat Gerber?
Like we’ve stated above, this depends on a lot of factors other than age. Some babies can be ready at 4 months old while others can be ready at six months old.
So the best thing to do is to watch out for those signs listed above. Or you wait till at least 4 months before giving your baby Gerber.
Introducing Gerber to your babies before they are ready will increase their risks of complications like obesity. They can choke on the food or inhale it through their lungs because they are not well coordinated enough to swallow solid foods.
Are Gerber Baby Meals Healthy?
Gerber baby meals are absolutely safe and healthy for your baby. 100% of Gerber baby foods meet FDA standards and requirement. The company also has strict standards they follow when producing these baby foods.
The standards followed by Gerber are based on the very latest health information and safety guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
In fact, Gerber company is said to have one of the strictest standards in the world, hence the trust and popularity of the brand.
They have nutrition experts on their team that recommend feeding a variety of nutrient dense foods like veggies, fruits, and whole grains from the age of 6.
Another reason why you should trust Gerber is that they have been around for more than 90 years. Millions of babies have taken Gerber foods and they have been no report of any hazard or complications.
Some parents worry about heavy metals in baby’s food but you don’t have that worry with Gerber baby food. Like we said above, Gerber complies with all the standards and regulations of the FDA thereby making their foods safe and healthy for your baby.
Also, heavy metals are naturally found in water and soil where they can easily get into plants and become one with them. This is true irrespective of whether you grow your own food yourself or buy from an organic store.
But Gerber goes extra miles to keep these heavy metals to their lowest levels possible. They get their raw materials from trusted farmers who grow their crops organically and in soils less contaminated by heavy metals.
During production, Gerber baby foods must pass more than 100 individual quality checks before they are sold for consumption. These checks are in five different stages and these stages range from growing the crops to cooking and jarring.
Apart from this, Gerber also follows an annual testing plan that features regular safety tests of finished products.
According to Gerber, “If the baby foods don’t pass our quality and safety checks, we don’t sell them.”
“This is why parents have an extra boost of trust on our products.”
Conclusion
We hope you have learned enough from this post regarding Gerber, when to introduce Gerber to your baby, and how to do it.