How much solid food for babies?

As most of you know, I'm currently fostering 3 litters and all are doing very well - gaining weight, very active, litter box, etc.
Problem is 2 of the litters (taken care of by one mom) are eating some solid foods already (and still nursing), but I"m wondering how much and how often to feed them. I've been putting down solids 3 times a day that has a combination of some wet food (kitten), some baby food, some dry food mixed with a tiny bit of water to make it easier, and occasionally some KMR (only cause I have no idea what they are suppose to be eating). Problem is I think I might be overdoing it with all these things because a couple of them have a bit of diarrea. I know that can happen when they start eating and start using their litter box, but I want to make sure they are getting exactly what they need and when they need it. They are acting 100% fine - very playful, alert, active, eating, drinking, etc and weights are all increasing, but still I know that diarrea can be a problem and I'd like to "nip" it before we get to that point.
So:
3-4 week old kittens:
1) How many times a day should they get solids?
2) what should the solids I"m giving them consist of?
3) how much?

Thanks!

I just did some research on the web to try to find the answer to my question - which I didn't find, but I did find out (in numerous websites) that the diarrea I'm seeing (based on the color) IS a sign of mild over feeding. That's what I thought, so I hope someone can tell me what these little tikes are suppose to be getting.
They really don't show much interest in the KMR and mom's still nursing so I'd like to drop that out. I think mom is the only one who touches it which isn't good for her. So should they be getting just baby food? Baby food mixed with something? Dry food? Canned food? Should I stay away from canned?

i woudnt worry 2 much abt the canned as long as u dont overfeed with it. cos wet food in excess can sometimes cause runny stools as it is 80% water. i think its a good idea 2 feed a little canned if u want 2, but keep going with the dry food moistened with a little water 2 make it softer. and feed this twice a day, leaving it out 4 a set period of time each time. gradually increase this time frame every 2 days so they can get used to eating more solids. only increase the time by about 5 mins each time. do this untill they stop nursing...n obviously as they grow stronger n bigger, stop using water on the dry food. Then when they r on all solid, start introducing wet as well as dry food and they should be about weaned!

I'm not an expert with babies, but I have mixed canned kitten food with KMR to make a mush/slurry for them. If they don't seem to care for the KMR just change the ratio a little, more food less liquid. It will still be soupy/soft enough for them to eat. That's what I like to do...maybe just back off on the quantity/frequency a bit. I've never used human baby food for kittens...unless they just refuse to eat/nurse otherwise.

I'm not too big on serving moistened dry food. It's just as messy, or messier...plus at some point mine have always shown an interest in the dry anyway, without prompting by wetting it down.

I would think that whatever mix like this that you're serving the kittens would be good for mom too.

I would of course leave dry good quality kitten food out for them all the time. A lot of it because the momma needs to eat as much as she wants too and she will teach the babies how and what to eat. Just make sure they are all getting fed, weigh them everyday or every few days. Keep some KMR and a bottle or two handy in case one needs a little boost.

When they are really at the weaning stage, you can offer wet kitten food for them, water it down or add KMR to it. But plain dry food should be fine. They will learn.

all i did when lillys were ready to start eating solids was this, mum always had kitten dry food down at all times , i had a shallow bowl of water at all times and she had wet kitten food 2-3 times a day. the kittens started to drink the water first , this was why it was always left shallow , then they started on the wet food on there own , taking in a small bite every now and again. they used to attempt the dry food , but would normally spit it out , this is when i just took a little amount of the dry and added a small amount of warm boild water . when they seemed to be eating fine , i would have to shut mamma out of the room when it was feeding time for the kittens at about 5 weeks old just for 15 mins as she would eat all the wet food in sight no matter how much i put down, she just didnt seem to allow the kittens to touch the wet food.
kmr will not harm the mum , in fact its a good source of protine for her and will do her good not harm.

Here is what I did for mommy and babies. I mad a MUSH yes MUSH looks so bad but they loved it.

I took wet food and mixed 2 scoops of KMR in it and mixed it all up. The canned food has liquid to it so I made sure it wasn't to dry and I put it down 2x a day for mom and babies. Mom let the babies eat and then she eat. then they went to nurse and all dosed off quietly With full tummy's. I have to say I had a few hefty ones there LOL. And Skittles was back to her trim figure in 3 weeks but very healthy.

Originally Posted by XxtashaxX

all i did when lillys were ready to start eating solids was this, mum always had kitten dry food down at all times , i had a shallow bowl of water at all times and she had wet kitten food 2-3 times a day. the kittens started to drink the water first , this was why it was always left shallow , then they started on the wet food on there own , taking in a small bite every now and again. they used to attempt the dry food , but would normally spit it out , this is when i just took a little amount of the dry and added a small amount of warm boild water . when they seemed to be eating fine , i would have to shut mamma out of the room when it was feeding time for the kittens at about 5 weeks old just for 15 mins as she would eat all the wet food in sight no matter how much i put down, she just didnt seem to allow the kittens to touch the wet food.
kmr will not harm the mum , in fact its a good source of protine for her and will do her good not harm.

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This is actually what I'm doing. 2-3 times a day - wet food and also some dry food mixed with water on the side. Dry food is down all day for mom and in case the kittens get brave. Thing is I've been adding in some baby food as well and maybe I shouldn't be.
Seems like the diarrea has slowed down a bit. There was a lot of it yesterday (had to be more than one kitten) and only 2 little bombs today so I think it's better. I took out the KMR a couple days ago and I'm thinking that was what was doing it. A vet I talked to said KMR can give them a bit of diarrea and since they are all nursing fine and some are eating the other food, I stopped giving them the KMR.
The shelter lady is bringing a bit of dewormer with her tonite to one of our meetings so I'll deworm the older ones for now just to make sure (they're 4 weeks old about so I should be all set doing that). She also has some Albon?? I guess it's to help with diarrea, so I might have to use that, but she said I'll have to figure out which ones have it first cause we don't want to constipate the others.

I think just the wet with a little dry is fine if they dont like the KMR I agree take the baby food away and see how it goes.

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

I think just the wet with a little dry is fine if they dont like the KMR I agree take the baby food away and see how it goes.

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Actually we didn't have ANY little diarrea bombs today! I'm pretty sure now that it was the KMR. Just in case though, I have slimmed down the baby food. I'm just putting down two bowls now 3 times a day. One with wetfood mixed with a bit of baby food and the other dry food mixed with water.

That is great. I used the KMR never had runs but every batch (kittens) is different. Send pics when ya can