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EAT => Feeding Solid Food => Topic started by: Avery3 on January 29, 2012, 08:58:20 am

Title: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: Avery3 on January 29, 2012, 08:58:20 am
DS2 is 6 months old, we started with rice cereal and pears pureed, he acts so hungry about 1.5 hours after his bottle so I was giving him solids but when I go to give him his bottle 4 hours after the first one hes hungry but not hungry enough to eat all of it, so I tried giving it to him later instead and it just gets all messed up, he ends up hungry again after only 2 hours and it just keeps going like this till we are all messed up. I also tried giving him more solids later on to help him to the next bottle feed but its just all messy and I cant work this out. i dont think his gut is ready for solids but boy HE is, he just wants to eat it when i give it to him, in fact he cries if i stop early. he seems to also want more in the night now, picking up an extra half feed but im not sure if its because the solids are upsetting his tummy and hes feeding to ease the pain?

can someone please help me?

heres what weve been doing so far

bottle 6.30/7am
1Tbsp rice cereal 7.30/8am

attempt at a bottle at 10.30/11am where he only takes about 140mls, if hold out till about 11.30 then hes more eager to drink but still not as much as I would like him to eat
cries and wont be happy no matter what i do (i tried distraction etc but figured if hes hungry then hes hungry and I should feed him) at around 1.30/2pm ish so I either give him another bottle (where he still only does about 120mls) or yesterday i offered him some pears to tie him over.

It gets tricky here because of naps, I may have to feed him his bottle earlier or he will short nap and wake up hungry... I cant even begin to explain how messy it gets here because its just SO messy i cant type it out.

he usually naps at 9am for about 1.5 hours and so then is ready for antoehr nap at around 1.45-2pm but that nap doesnt work with solids or his erratic feeding
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: amayzie on January 29, 2012, 11:35:32 am
At 6 months i'd wonder if you should be looking a little closer at the milk intake rather than the solids. A tablespoon of rice cereal isn't providing him with much in the way of nutrition when compared with the formula. The formula is also what needs to be the main thing for him at this age- so you need to time your solid foods so that they don't interfere with the milk feeds.

Can you post up tomorrows (or todays) EASY including amounts of food and milk intake? I know you said it's messy- but if you can try to just put up one days worth then we can see a little more clearly?

It's hard fitting it all in and working out what's upsetting your LO at night!!
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: Avery3 on January 29, 2012, 13:05:24 pm
Ok well I'm wondering now if it IS hunger, he woke at 9pm and ate all his bottle, woke again at 1.30am and I could not get him backto sleep so fed him and he drained the bottle!

Ok yesterday was this: after two NWs where he fed but only took half a bottle atthe second feed

Awake at 6.15am
Meds at 6.30am for reflux needed on empty stomach
E 6.55am bottle
7.45 am 1 Tbsp rice cereal with remaining formula
A 6.15 - 8.50am
S 8.50 - 10.50am
E 11.45am bottle (we were out and I was waiting for him to tell me he was hungry due to previous days of him not eating at the 4 hour mark) 160mls
2.20pm bottle (fed him early as I thought he would wake from hunger if I didnt) 110mls
A 10.50- 2.30 (long A time due to being out) fell asleep on bottle!
S 2.30- 3pm (he never sleeps this short and couldnt get him back to sleep even after he burped)
E 4.30pm 4 steam softened carrot sticks (an attempt at BLW) which he just chewed on, didnt really swallow any, pureed the carrots up and offered it to him, he ate maybe 2 teaspoons
5.45 140mls
A 3 - 5.50 (dealing with ds1 meant this was the only time I could get ds2 to bed)
S - 5.50pm with bedtime bottle

9pm waking 170mls
1.30am waking 200mls (which is where I am right now)

So what do you make of that??


S
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: amayzie on January 29, 2012, 13:20:02 pm
hmm- He really seems on this day to be taking more overnight- I think you should try moving that 2.30pm bottle later- so like this:

E: 6.55
E: 11:45
E: 3:45- or on waking from his nap
E: 6pm- or whenever BT is....

I think that then he might take more at that third bottle, and he might be happier to have his solids too- I think that at this age babies don't get that solid food can fill their tummies- so if they are hungry they can just get grumpy and frustrated with solids. some people suggest milk feed then solids an hour later- we aren't that strict, but we go milk then solids in that order.

you can see from this that he CAN go for a long time between bottles (almost 5 hours)- so he should be able to manage a 4 hour stretch no problem.

Also- is there a reason that BT is so early? You say it's to fit in with what else is going on- it seems a little early to me- the only thing is that if BT was later i wonder if he might want to take more again at BT?

Also- is his reflux controlled with the meds?
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: ~*Nicole*~ on January 29, 2012, 16:33:37 pm
Just wanted to add that sometimes rice cereal can be constipating and/or cause some tummy discomfort. I've been learning more and more recently that grains are fairly hard to digest. If he is having any trouble with the cereals it could be partially why he is having trouble and acting hungry but then not eating a lot. He may be trying to deal with the sensations going on inside his belly. Can you try only the pears or something very mild and easy to digest like that? At this point it's just to practice eating and what to do with food and a spoon and all of that...not for nutrition...so for example, my DS didn't do that well with rice at first at all, was up all night screaming....so we just stuck to simple foods to start and only once a day, a small amount and went slowly. We did pears, apples, squash and sweet potatoes to begin with. Be aware, also, that reflux flares up with certain foods and also with the introduction of new things as they adjust to them.

Also, I can't tell if you've introduced one food at a time or not. Based on the above it looks like he has had rice and pears (at the same time?) to start and then the carrots, but seems (correct me if I am wrong) that you've given the carrots when things weren't sorted with the rice and pears completely and I am wondering if you need to go a bit slower at first and stick with one food until you find a rhythm/routine that works and then introduce other foods once that is all set and going well?

And the short nap after being out a long time was likely an OT nap as it was right around that 30 min. mark. And I actually think the really early BT was a perfect choice after a short nap that happened after a long A time TBH otherwise he may have been OT to bed and woken more in the night anyway.
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: Avery3 on January 29, 2012, 17:54:24 pm
He's been on pears since 1 month old as he has to take
His reflux meds with it, but only a teaspoon. He's been on rice cereal since we started and have had minimal problems but he has been unsettled so I might stop them.

The carrots were new last night because he was hungry and I thought it was a safe option.

He was up at 5.30am and I could tell he had an upset tummy, plus he's been farting and pooping heaps. I gave him his bottle at 6.30am after his meds and he drank nearly the whole thing, that's after two night bottles! I usually struggle toget him to finish one after only a dreamfeed!

So do you think today we should do no solids and give him a break? Or just only do pear all day?
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: ~*Nicole*~ on January 29, 2012, 18:38:23 pm
I'd do the pear as he is used to it and you can use it to work on establishing a routine and then work from there.
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: Avery3 on January 29, 2012, 19:03:16 pm
Ok so if I do the bottle routine above where do I stick in the pear feeds?
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: amayzie on January 29, 2012, 20:27:19 pm
I'd offer the pears in the morning- for breakfast- you can add the formula to them as well if you like.. Then he has all day to digest them and deal with any problems. You could still offer something like sweet potato or even carrots BLW style later when you are eating- but don't worry if he doesn't eat any, it's all about being a part of the meal and exploring food rather than calories.
Title: Re: Im struggling here and its only been a week!
Post by: ~*Nicole*~ on January 29, 2012, 23:14:16 pm
I agree, after his morning milk feed...as a breakfast of sorts. Then see how that "mealtime" works for him over the course of a few days to a week. If you want to try another simple food after a couple of days (since he's had the pear before) you can try bananas or apples or something like that. Once "breakfast" is going well, you can try having "breakfast" and "lunch" playing with the times until you are doing well with two meals per day. And so on and so forth. Follow his lead, but just make sure he doesn't drop his amount of formula as it is still more important than taking in the solids.

Let us know how you get on!