4 Month Old Wants Baby Food, but Fusses

Have you tried to see if he has colic or maybe acid reflux? My nephew was diagnoised with acid reflux when he was a little over a year old, he is now 4 and still deals with it every day. But m y son had colic when he was born and he would fuss no matter how much he ate or drank from a bottle.

I think that the food you are giving him, while he may really like it, is too strong for his age. I have always been told to wait until the child is at least six month before introducing cereal. I was told you are to start with rice cereal, and then go to the different ones with two wk of separation for each. I think the real food stuff is supposed to wait until they are a year. I would really suggest backing off on the real food and just going to cereals if the little guy is hungry. You may also want to buy stock in the anti gas drops for babies, as that will help with some of the upset stomach problems he may be having.

I have a 4 year old and a 6 month old and I was told by my pediatrician and everything I've read says to wait until 6 months to start solids. Mainly because their digestion system isn't ready yet. So maybe he's fussing because it's causing him discomfort. Try to just give rice or oatmeal cereals if you want to give solids this early becasue they are very easily digested.

ahhh. . .the transition to solids is a hard time.

First I am hoping you are starting the solids under the instruction of your pediatrician. Solid foods are introduced between the age of 4-6 months depending on who you ask.

Second, one food group at a time. Most doctors ask you to start with soupy rice cereal, diluted in breast milk or formula.

Then progressing slowly to the orange colored food group- squash, sweet potatoes, and such. Doctors ask that you introduce one color food group a week. If your baby tolerates you can progress to other food groups.

This will help you detect any allergies or reactions, which will be harder to determine if you give fruits, rice, squash and green beans all in one week.

The first link here should be the most helpful, it is a chart that is for birth-24 months on what to feed and when.

At this age you pediatrician should be giving you printed information on every visit that has direction and suggestions on what to do between visits and what milestones and feeding advances should be made.

This site (see the first link below) also gives a great list of choking hazards and such. I think it could be a really great resource for first time moms that have a lot of questions.

Here are some helpful sites:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030500.asp

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/infant/startingsolids.html

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding/113.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp

As far as portion size. It depends on your child. My son was a big eater because he is a big boy so sometimes he surprised me by how much more he wanted to eat than I thought he would be able to take. I asked other moms and my pediatrician what was normal. I got the same answer from everyone.

Babies don't over eat. I was told by countless moms and medical staff, children will stop eating when they are full.

With babies this means spitting out the nipple of the bottle or breast. With older babies and toddlers this means turning their head away when food is offered or spitting out what you just spooned in. With older toddlers this means throwing the food on the floor or starting to really play with it.

But look at your own childs cue. Your baby might be fussy from gas if he is actually full. When my son transitioned to solids he was much harder to burp.

Try patting him on the back more vigorously to get some burps, or lay him on his stomach across your legs and pat him firmly, or lay him on a soft but solid surface on his stomach (face turned to the side) and pat his back firmly, or lay him on his back- hold one foot in each hand and push his knees toward his stomach. Or you can lay him on his back and massage his stomach area gently.

All these tricks get the gas out and may make him less fussy.

Good luck, and you are not clueless, just new to this and there is no instruction manual.

I have an 16 month old little boy. I started him on baby food at 4 months. The daycare that I started him in started the babies on cereal with fruit for breakfast in the morning and vegetables and fruits for lunch time they still got about a 5 or 6 ounce bottle in between meals also. My son did not have any problems with it and for those of you that think she is crazy it does say on the baby food websites that the stage one food is for baby's starting from 4 months up. My son ate a full jar of stage one fruit and and a full jar of vegetables at lunch and dinner. Not sure why he is fussing maybe he wants a little more. My son always let me know when he was finished eating he would keep his mouth closed or turn his head away when he was full. Good luck and do what you think is best. Oh his doctor also told me to start him on baby food at 4 months.

I am a 32 year old first time mom with a 7 1/2 month old. When my daughter was 4 months old, she would usually take 1/2 of jar of food, but sometimes wanted more and also liked variety. Maybe if you try 2 different kinds of food and 1/4-1/2 jar of each at each feeding(followed by a smaller bottle), it will help satisfy him. I have also found that if I take her out of the high chair and divert her attention to toys or to something else, she instantly stops fussing, b/c she does the exact same thing your son does sometimes, too, and I know she cannot still be hungry!

Are you sure the baby food agrees with his stomach? He may be fussy from discomfort. 4 months "may" be early to start such a variety. Maybe cut back on the variety and only give him 1 selection of baby food with cereal for a couple of days to see if that works. I know I had to do that with my first child. Good Luck.

Hello D.,

My name is A. and I'm a mother a an 18mon old and 3 yo. Have you ever considered that introducing him to baby food before 6 months old could be the problem? His stomache may be upset and you may think that he his still hungry but not. Also there is an over-the-counter medicine called Mylacon, it's a gas relief medicine for babies. I have used it many of times and the results are almost instance. You may also want to try giving him an ounce of water before you feed him as well and giving him a nice warm bath after his feeding in Johnson & Johnson baby wash (the purple one)...I forget the name but I know it's in a purple container, but he/she will definitely be well relaxed.

I hope my advice will help for your little one.

Do you offer him another helping of a different food after his bottle? Could possibly be he's just tired of that taste & wants something different only to find "he's done" when his tummy says "no I'm not"!?!
My daughter & most small children I've been around will eat til they are full, & not anymore. I never worried about feeding her too much. Mine was like a little human vacuum cleaner...when the bag(tummy) was full, she quit picking up (eating).
Maybe smaller more frequent feedings, maybe he doesnt like the too full feeling after a full feeding...& remember-- kids LOVE to burp & its the only time in life that they can get away with letting go with a big ol belch & not have it be embarrassing to themselves or those around them!!! Gentle patting or back & belly rubs would usually get a good one out& she'd quit fussing, then sometimes be ready to eat some more, sometimes not. Sometimes it would take quite awhile- 1/2 or more before that big ol burp would work its self out. Occasionally, a few sips of 7-Up or Sprite would help when it was becoming clear that the burp was "stuck".
Gentle tummy & back rubs & pats always helped my daughter, & usually put her to sleep soon after she ate. A warm bath, rocking chair time & just being held, these all worked like magic too.
Perhaps experiment a little, see if maybe something he loves bothers his tummy, is the fussing worse on certain foods than others? Poor thing maybe has luck like me-- loves something that bites back after I eat it!!
Good luck, you maybe are raising the next great chef of the world & hes just not happy with the way anyone cooks but him!!
Bon Appitite!!! Dont worry, it'll all work out in the end

My goodness you have gotten some seriously insulting responses. It is just fine to be introducing baby to solid foods now. And don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Everyone has their own opinions and ideas but you have to take all that advice with a grain of salt. You're MOM and you know best.

I would say that the reason baby is fussing is because of gas. It might be a bit different for his body to digest the baby food and this time in his life is very normal for him to get gassy. My German OB (we lived in Germany when my daughter was small) said that if babies could stay inside the womb for a full year they would be better off & complete their growing cycles. Something about their stomach changes significantly around 3-4 months and tends to create a world of gas. Another Mommy told you about Mylicon -- I prefer the generic brand b/c of cost differences, but it is fantastic. The only thing I suggest differently that what the bottle suggests, is give it to him before he eats-- not after. I was so worried about my daughter and her gas that I called friends in England, went to the doctor on base & the german doctor-- the only difference between the advice from the various doctors was that both the German doctor & British doctors said to give the medicine before eating and I swear to you it made a huge difference! I hope this helps you sweetie. And don't let other's make you feel guilty for not knowing anything -- or for feeding your baby when he's hungry! Mom's know best and every Mom has their own learning curve & their own way of doing things. More power to you Momma!

Oh, and the reason he continues to want to eat, is because eating is what soothes infants-- the desire to suck-- and when they're gassy, they want the comfort of sucking & will continue to do it to their own detriment-b/c the more food they take in the more full their little tummies are & the more gassy they get!

Hi, D.! I have a 17-month-old daughter and am also a first time mother. Have you tried mixing rice cereal with his bottle? My daughter's pediatrician suggested mixing a tablespoon of rice cereal with her milk between the ages of 4-6 months before introducing other solid foods. Around 6 months or so, you can begin introducing fruits and vegetables, but make sure you do one at a time to make sure he can tolerate it. It's also a good idea to ask the pediatrician about reflux because my daughter also suffered from it but she outgrew it at about 6 months of age. If your baby is on breastmilk and he does indeed have reflux, foods that you eat, such as spicy foods or green leafy foods, may aggravate it. Hope this helps and good luck!

T.

I have one word for you: Mylacon! it is a gas medicine that Mylanta makes and it is a life saver! your little guy might just get gassey! Try that, it is in the pharmacy's infant aisle. good luck!

My son was a big eater, too. If your son wants more I'd give him more formula rather than food. The formula has more nutrients for little ones. However, keep the baby food coming. You'll have an easier transition once the bottle disappears.

Hi D.. I have a 6mo old boy and we just recently went through this. I started him on solids one meal a day at his mid day feeding at 4 months. It was 1:30 for us. Here is what worked:

I would breast feed him on one side for 10-15 minutes first. Which is about the equivelant to 2 oz of formula. Then I would give him 4 tsp of pureed bananas mixed with 1/4 cup of oatmeal & water. (Bananas are the easiest non-cooked fruit for a baby to digest). I puree my own and freeze them in ice cube trays, but I am pretty sure you can buy them jarred. This equals about a 1/2 a jar of baby food + 1/4 cup of whatever cereal he likes. Then I would offer the 2nd breast/bottle again. Sometimes he would eat for another 10-15 minutes and other times he wouldn't at all. It's normal both ways.

At 5 1/2 months I switched him to two meals a day. One at 10am and one at 5pm. At 10 we do the banana oatmeal with breast/bottle before and after, and at 5 we do 6 tsp of a veggie with the breast/bottle before and after. It seems that at the 5pm feeding he doesn't require as much food. But every kid is different. We have milk only at 6:30 am, 1:30 pm, and 8:30pm. (Every 3 1/2 hours he eats.)

Foods that are easiest to digest are bananas, avacados, and sweet potatoes for 4 month olds. I use the super baby food "food cube" meathod, but not everyone has that much time. Do what works for you! The Super Baby food book has a lot of great info besides pureeing your own. They give you a food schedule by age of what the baby should be eating and how much. I have found it to be very helpful. We are a little ahead of their schedule, but it is definately adjustable to the child. My son loves to eat too! And he is not overweight by any means... he is just tall! :-)

Good luck, and feel free to email me if you need any more help on this subject.
K.

Hello, D..

My first thought was that perhaps your baby is fussy because he is having a hard time digesting baby food. In my opinion he is too young for baby food. At 4 months all my babies were only on breast milk. I started a little bit of rice ceral around 4 1/2 months. It was not necessary for their nutrition but I gave them a little rice ceral to begin a slow introduction to solid food. I didn't start veggies until around 6 months. Perhaps your little one is just not ready for that much heavy food. Take your time. Don't push the food. Your baby is getting all the nutrition he needs right now from formula or breast milk. When I was a baby, the doctors had mothers pushing baby food very early on. My mom enlarged the whole on my bottle so I could drink soupy rice. However, now adays doctors don't recommend that. There may be some doctors that still push to start solids early; however, I think most no longer do. Just my 2 cents.

D....what you described is very normal,I myself tend to go on the light side on feeding. I was overweight for many ,many years until Gastric bypass 5 1/2 years ago,since then I had a daughter and she is now 3 years old.,so I try very hard not to overfeed. I try to let her give me hints. when she was your sons age,I just gave her exactly as Peditrician instructions,now when she eats,fine,when she does'nt fine....I just do not give her alot of junk food.....I think when your son fusses maybe it's more being tired than hungry...Lord knows we all tend to overfeed....thats just being a mommy. I will say that I had 3 sons prior to Having Grace and my oldest did eat alot of food compared to the other 2 boys and he nor the others are overweight. So with your son being so young and just starting out eating solids,I would just stick with the peditricians recommendations for a few more months....Hope I helped,G.

I think he still wants to eat. My son now 26 months weighs 38 pounds and weighed 26 pounds at a year old. He would eat two or three jars of baby food at a time sometimes but for him that was normal. Both my husband and I are very tall and the doctor said if our son grows up to be less than six feet tall she would be shocked. All kids are different. Boys usually grow up to be larger than girls and they need to food and energy to get there. If he spits out what you are feeding him he is obviously done but if he is still crying I would be concerned he may not be getting enough to eat.

Hi D.!
I started my daughter, who is now 7 months, on baby food at 4 months at pediatricians direction. My pediatrician said that she would probably only want about about a half a jar at first. Wrong! She wanted the whole jar, which her doctor said was fine. And she is not overweight.
As long as he is not acting disinterested in the feeding: pushing the spoon away with his tongue, turning his head, etc; I would try to give him more.
Best wishes to you!

I know that everychild is different, and you can take or disregard this advice obviously. I don't know if you son is on the low end of the weight chart or high, but I am surprised that you pediatrician suggested food at such and early age. My family too has always fought weight, so I kept solid food until after 6 months, and just woke during the night to feed a little longer. I wonder if you tried a pacifier that is approved by dentists. He may just be an orally pacified child mine was. We took the pacifier away at 2 1/2, after many tries before I might add. I also feed him mostly fruits, veg, and meat and try to only give whole wheat or carb balanced starches. I don't want him to have the weight issues I grew up with, and still fight.

I have a 6 almost 7 month old and when she started eating babyfood at 4 months I only gave her half the jar. Well withing a week or two she was eating a full jar and 6 oz. of formula. I thought this would be too much but the doctor and several other moms told me that they will let you know when they are full. My daughter will either not open her mouth for the food or will pull the bottle out of her mouth when she is done. I don't know if this will help but I know I had the same worry when I started her on babyfood. Good Luck!!!
M. and Kaitlyn

Hey D.,
I'm a first time (clueless) mom too! My daughter fussed a lot even before I put her on solids (which was around 7-8 months)... We finally determined she was suffering from acid reflux, but not the kind where they projectile vomit, she had silent reflux, so she just cried all the time and I didn't know why. My pediatrician put her on Zantac which worked for a while and then we changed her over to Prevacid which she stayed on until she was around 10-11 months old. She's almost 15 months old now and is doing fine (no more reflux). The only other thing I can think of is that maybe the food is too hard for his little tummy to digest just yet, you could try stopping the solids and see if he still fusses. If it goes away, wait a month or two and try the solids again. Good luck!

does he show any signs of acid reflux (throwing up alot, coming out his nose sometimes) because my daughter (22mo.) had it for months and they said they eat and drink a lot because swallowing is what comforts them, then they end up taking too much and throwing up. also, 4 mo. is pretty early for all those foods, usually just rice cereal w/ formula or small amount of juice is plenty until about 6 months so his system might just not be ready or used to it yet and maybe it's hurting him although he is liking the taste of it.

Has he been having regular BMs? He is kinda of young to already be having food. His little tummy my have a hard time digesting it. On the other hand if that is all going well. My kids all fused as soon as I started making dinner untill bath time. I think they are just adjusting to the sleeping patterens and everyday life is just a lot to take in for them. It will adventually stop. Good Luck.

D. B,
This sounds like an awful lot of food for a 4 month old. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't even recommend solid food until around 6 months so maybe your baby's tummy is too full. Did your doctor tell you to start giving him food so soon? Since I nursed all of mine, I am not sure about ounces taken at that age but it seems like alot.

Babies do fuss for reasons other than hunger, especially in the evening hours. Maybe some rocking or the swing might help.
The DVD "The Happiest Baby on the Block" has some good comfort techniques that might help. It is available online or at most book stores.

DebiM