Starting 4 Month Old on Solids--please Advise on Schedule

I have a 5 year old boy and a 5 month old girl. I started my daughter on solids a couple of weeks ago. I usually give her her "real food" in the late morning (around 11am) because that works best with my schedule right now. I usually give her a second feeding if solids right before we eat dinner. Then she can play in her high chair while we eat. I hope that helps!

I would start her with a little cereal and mix in some veg. Once she gets some of that sweet fruit she may not want to go back. Even when they are 6yrs. and 8yrs. Also I would give her a little ceral just before the last feeding, she may go down longer.

Did your Ped recommend starting solids so soon?? The current recommendation from the Academy of Pediatrics is 6 months! Also, some pediatricians don't follow the guidelines, but food should only supplement your baby's nursing. Meaning, your child should only have a little food, and still mostly nurse or take a bottle. Here is a great link with some information for you on early feeding

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/solids.html

Good luck, we started solids a little early since my daughter was taking food from my hand and sticking it in her mouth! but we kept it small, fruits and veggies once a day for a while

this site give month by month recommendations
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html#...

Before the first year, solids really should replace nursing or bottle feeding!

At this age, she really only needs one jar at a time; three is way too much. Veggies, fruits and/or cereal is fine. No meats for a few months. I feed my baby her first "meal" first thing in the morning, before nursing. She eats, then awhile later "drinks" and takes a nap. I feed her dinner at about 6:30, give her a bath, nurse her and put her to bed. Remember when introducing new foods, you need to wait at least 3 days before introducing another one; this way you can tell she has any allergies. High allergy foods: apricots, strawberries. If she starts getting constapated, prunes are great. Mine likes the prunes mixed with pears. You can also give her apple or pear juice. Dilute two ounces of juice with two ounces of water. They sale the baby juices that do not contain all the sugar and corn syrup found in "fruit" juices.

try the fruits, then go to the veggies and then the meats and deserts. estabilish a meal time schedule, remember breakfast, lunch and dinner and small snack about an hour before bed time.please dont forget that they need water also, it helps cleanse the system and keep the kidneys working on track. you set the schedule not the child. they are great, they will conform to what is best for them, but mommy you have to lead the way.from a mom and grand mother and great grand mother, thats a lot to type so im going to start signing GMAJ (GRANDMA J.)

My son is 4 1/2 months and we started him on solids about 2 weeks ago. We were already adding rice cereal to his bottles due to him having reflux. Our GI doctor told us to start twice a day with MILD foods, such as sweet potatoes, carrots and peas. I mix a couple of small spoon fulls with some oat cereal and add some water or juice to thin it out. We worked our way up to a jar and a couple teaspoons or cereal twice a day, usually 9am & 7pm. I feed him the solids, wait 30-45 minutes and give him 1/2 bottle (usually 3 oz or so instead of his usual 5-6 oz) with 1/2 the amount of rice cereal after his solid feedings. I usually do fruit in the morning and a veggie at night. Not all babies are ready at 4 months. We have had a lot of problems with formula and my milk never came in due to pregnancy complications, so, the less formula he has in a day, the better for him. The solid feeding has cut back on his bottles by about 1 1/2 each day, which has made a big difference. You need to do what feels right and what your daughter seems to be interested in and able to handle.

First off there really isn't any reason even to introduce solids until 6 months if you are breast feeding. Baby gets everything he needs from you. But is you are going to feed baby solids two times a day then it's first thing in the am and before bedtime. Now once you introduce solids baby will begin the weaning process and you will produce less milk. The more you feed baby solids the less he will nurse. It all depends on your situation. I nursed until 9 months with both of mine and they didn't have solids until 6 months. The first thing you introduce is rice cereal, then fruit one at a time for a week then go on to another. Hope this helps some.

M.

Good day H.,

My advise to you is when your daughter gets up at 7am, feed her first rice cereal (you can put a little fruit)and then nurse, that should hold her until noon. Since its lunch time feed her first veggies and then nurse her some milk and then she is down for a nap. That is how I starting with my little girl and she now 6 years old. :)

I hope this helps!
Y.

I too started at 4 months with no problems. However, I strictly did cereal for the first month or so. It isn't about nutrition now, it is about getting them adjusted to taking food in through another form, spoon. If she isn't taking to it and doesn't like it, you can wait for another month. I didn't start introducing other things until he was a pro at eating the cereal(which slowly got thicker in consistancy). Even then, 3 at a time is a bit much. You don't have to worry about getting a full meal yet, this is just practice. I agree with nursing and then waiting 30-60 minutes and trying the cereal. Nursing is the most important right now, make sure she gets as much as possible. You also don't want to wait until right before a nursing because she will be TOO hungry and cranky!
There is no rule at this point and solids aren't needed for nutrition yet. So relax and just let her practice them once or twice a day.

As for starting out with solids,you should start with one solid at a time for a few days to see if she any type of reaction to it,if she does tell her Dr next time she goes to them.
As for the times I would do it at her 2nd feedingfeed her some solids and them her milk. Then feed her the solid at her last feeding.
Hope this helps you.
K.

I had a really great book called "Super Baby Food", I highly recommend getting it. Can't remember the author, but it is purple. It offers lots of advice on when to introduce certain foods. For example, it suggests avocados as one of the first food because the fat it contains is great for brain development. I bought organic avocados at Publix and still have an avocado tree I started from one of the seeds.

I started at 4 months, but my daughter really spit more out than she took in. It was really challenging, so I stopped and started again at 6 months.

Only give her one food at a time and do it for a few days to make sure she has no reaction to it. When she's ready to try a new food, introduce it earlier in the day so if she does have a reaction, it isn't at night while she is sleeping.

She probably doesn't need more than a tablespoon per meal in the beginning. If she eats rice and sweet potatoes, you can give her one at one meal and the other during the other meal.

Hope this helps. I remember the feeling of never knowing quite what to do. Try not to worry too much. At this point, eating solids is probably more of a learning experience for her than nutritional. My friend has a son that turned 1 in Feb and she just started feeding him solids in the last month or so. She nursed him exclusively for the first year and he is a very healthy 25-30 pound baby.

I started mine at 4 months too because she had reflux and the more solids she had, the better she kept it down. I also was putting rice cereal in her bottles to help keep it down. But the first food to get them used to eating solids is the rice cereal only. Once they get used to eating that, I gave mine some fruit (either mixed w/ cereal or alone) in the morning and veggies once in the afternoon/evening hours. It's up to you/your baby as far as if she wants it w/ nursing time or alone. I had to do mine alone a while after the bottle because she had reflux and couldn't take that much at once. I think it's easier for them also. I mean if little meals frequently are good for us, I think it's better for them too. So I would (and still do at one year old) give a bottle, then food a couple of hours later, then bottle a couple of hours after that, then repeat. Since yours is twice a day though at first, again I would do one morning and one late afternoon/evening - both just in between nursings. Or you can try it together if you like - each baby is different, so don't let anyone tell you there is a right or wrong way. Just take everyone's advice in and do things by trial/error with your baby. And be patient - each phase of feeding more or different solids takes time and I felt frustrated/behind (still do right now) but each step of the way, she eventually got used to it and eats. As long as your baby's gaining weight, let her be your guide as to how much she needs. Offer it and if she wants it, she'll eat. If not, don't worry. Don't ever try to force it or you'll get a mind game like mine has a little bit where at a certain age she wants to be in control - not eating because we're trying to feed her but because SHE wants it! It starts SO early!! It's my first baby too, so we all just keep learning as we go. Best wishes!!

i wonder why he has you starting her so early?
she doesnt need the foods yet, especially of she is nursing. she also wont have the ability to correctly swallow, her tongue isnt ready yet.
but, if you feel she isnt eating enough, i would add cereal to her daily routine, like pump into a bottle and add to bottle. if you supplement formula, add to her formula bottle.
good luck.

How much are you feeding your LO? Our ped said it was ok to start at 4months but only 1 Tbsp per day of cereal and that is it.

What worked for us was to give her the bottle (boob in your case) and then we waited a half hour and gave her the cereal. Like I said, we started with once a day. I started with dinner time since I worked during the day and I wanted to be the one to start feeding her solids.

After a few weeks we moved to 2 Tbsp a day (1 in the morning and 1 at dinner). Then after a few weeks of that we switched to vegetables and fruit.

There is a big debate/argument/whatever you want to call it about starting solids at 4 months. We started it and I have no regrets and we have no feeding issues. I believe the AAP says not to start until 6 months. I say follow your mommy instinct. There isn't one specific thing that works for ALL parents.

H., I believe you should try a feeding NOT with nursing. One, you don't want to provide too much food and two, the baby is just learning the texture and the swallowing concept, etc, so it is really just to get her used to it, not for full nutrition and a 'well rounded meal' yet. So, do it when she is in a good frame of mind to learn something new. Maybe an hour or so after nursing or enough time before nursing.

Also, they say to start with cereal and try that for several days to a week before going on to the next item. At this young age and first trials it is about learning different textures and getting the tongue in the mouth to work a different way and swallow food. If rice cereal doesn't work, most babies can try oatmeal. then in another week or so you can introduce fruit or veggies. But they do say to try one food at a time and introduce slowly to watch for allergies.

Good luck! Just remember not to put too much 'pressure' on yourself to do it 'right' and know that there will be more food on the baby and the bib than actually get in her mouth and tummy!! :<)

You should feed when you nurse. Definitely in the evening for one time and probably in the morning as well. If you are introducing a vegetable first, you should probably mix it with the cereal until the baby adjusts to eating food. You should really only introduce one new food at a time in case there is a food allergy. You would want to know which food is causing the allergy. That is just my suggestion, it is not a definite science. Every child is different. I am a mom of three and each of mine were different.

I'm surprised your daughter's doctor didn't advise you more, since you don't seem to know where to begin. The doctor SHOULD remind you that when you are beginning solids you are looking for food allergies. If your daughter throws up, gets gassy, gets a bad diaper rash, etc. then she may have problem with the food.

Simply, you should start with getting her used to eating by giving her rice cereal. I started mine at 3 months or so in the evenings on that. Then, by month 5 ONE veggie or fruit at a time, and feed that one for a couple days straight. Then check it off the list of stage ones as you go once you see it isn't a problem for her. Her primary source of nutrients is still breast/formula at her age, so don't concern yourself with the child/adult 5+ veggie/fruit servings a day.
I don't really understand your "feeding between nursings" comment. It sounds like you're letting your daughter snack between getting down to business. I think your mom's advice is right on. If she needs to snack on you, then that's when she should get her solids. As she gets closer to one, then she should be on a three solid meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) like you, with breast/bottle as needed.
Hope this helps you!

I remember how throwing something new into my daughter's nursing/sleeping/playing schedule had me confused, too. Your doctor is probably right about offering solids 2X a day. 9am and 5pm seem like logical times since those are relatively traditional meal times. My experience was that if I fed solids with nursing meals, she was either too full for breast milk or too full for solids. Stopping in the middle of nursing to feed her solids just seemed to upset her since it was such a peaceful, relaxing thing for her.

When you introduce the next foods, make sure you wait at least 3 full days between introductions. It's the only way to determine food allergies which can range from uncomfortable to downright dangerous. I made the mistake of not waiting the prescribed amount of time with my son who is now a teenager. He developed an allergy to something and we're still not entirely sure to what. Once you've established what's safe, one veggie and one fruit is plenty to offer per meal.

Also, by the time my daughter (who is now 3/12) was eating a variety of solids (at around 10 months old) she totally lost interest in nursing. I was pretty bummed out about it, but she was done with the rocking chair and not being able to see what was going on in the world. Every child is different, but be prepared for that :-(. Good luck!

The best advise I can give you is to feed her on a schedule that is convenient for you. For me, since I was a working mother, the first meal that both my boys (now 2 & 4) ate was dinner. I would sit and eat my dinner the same time as I was feeding them. The second meal was breakfast and not more than a week or two later I had all 3 going. As for nursing - I did not nurse, but they obviously had a bottle. Feed them the food first and then nurse/bottle - if she driks first, she wont eat well. I had both boys on all three meals by about 5 or 6 months (my oldest was premature so I started a little later with him). Let her tell you. If she doesn't want it, she will spit it out - don't worry. They have a way of telling you what they like and don't like. :-)

As for the types of food - start with things that are less likely to cause food allergies. Cereals, yellow vegis, fruits. I will caution you on this - anything that is really sweet, save until after she has eaten the majority of the first type of food. Meaning feed her some sweet potatoes (maybe only half at first) and then give her half of the fruit. If she is still hungry, then give her more of the vegi. I made the mistake of giving my oldest fruits at first and he wanted nothing to do with the vegis - he just wanted something sweet.

Hope this helps - Good luck!!

Give her solids with her nursing meal so she is not eating all day. I would make one of those feedings right before bed so she sleeps a little longer at night (solids will keep her full a longer). Give her the solids first then let her nurse. Some babies will be fussy and may not take the solids until they nurse a little while though. Try it and see. Eventually, your daughter will be nursing less and eating more solids.

Most Dr.'s do not reccommend solids until 6 months. But if you are going to do it I would feed her the sweet potatoes then let her nurse. Do the a "lunch" and a "dinner" and try to get in sync with what the rest family eats. This is what worked for us. hope this helps
N.