Problem with baby rice??

[Wayne's World]

Help! I live in a country that does not have baby rice (Germany).  I tried to make it on my own (a recipe I found) by cooking brown rice until really soft and then blending it.  I have fed this to my 6 1/2 month old baby but now he seems to have constipation trouble and wakes up all through the night.  I have been following a weaning plan that seemed to help at first, but now he doesn't take that much breastmilk on his other feedings and with the night waking, I am not sure if something is wrong or if he has just adapted to solids quickly.  This is his eating plan:

7am - both breasts to feed (seems to only want one)
10:30-11am a little breast milk then 3 cubes of sweet potato with 1 cube of carrots
2:30 - both breasts to feed (varies from wanting to both to only one)
6:00 - one breast then 4 teaspoons of baby rice with breast milk and pear puree
6:30 - second breast (usually does not want very much milk)
10:30 - has been waking to take one breast and sometimes a second

* lately has been waking every 3 hours, but not to eat - just wakes up.  When I offer him the breast he suckles - does not eat and then goes back to sleep. 

Should I cut down on the solids or is this a natural progression for a baby to stop taking as much breastmilk and start taking more solids?  Also, does anyone have a recipe for homemade baby rice??  I am not sure if the night waking is due to this or a teething issue or something else, but I wonder if I made his rice wrong. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do?
   

[Mimi 2]

Hi Tracy

I would stop the rice for a few days to see if the nightwakings stops.  Solids can cause nightwakings and constipations to some babies as their little stomach has not matured enough to digest it.  Also may try giving bananas, applesauce, pears or avocadoes or even yams.  Some moms have found that their babies take to these much better as a first introduction to solids.  Are you thinking of making your own food?  Check these out to give you some ideas.

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=10.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=49757.0
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/   (my favorite)
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=144869.0;all

Remember that solids in the first year is just for taste and fun.  BM is still more important as it provides all the nutrients, fats and calories Wayne needs to grow.

[Wayne's World]

I am making my own baby food.  I have been feeding him homemade yams (3 cubes) and just started adding 1 cube of carrots to that.  Because I cannot find baby rice here already made, I found one recipe to make my own, but I am not sure if it is the correct way to make it. 

I will cut out the baby rice I made and just give him the pears and my milk and see if this helps.  He does not have a strong stomach (something he inherited from his father) so I have been extra cautious with his foods and only introducing new foods after one week rather than 3 days.

[Mimi 2]

Sounds like a good plan.  Also, if he doesn't like a particular food now, try again in a few weeks or even months.  It took both of mine until 12/14 mos to like rice (not the cereal type) but they did eat rice cakes at around 7/8 mos.  Babies are funny. 

[Wayne's World]

Do you have a recipe for baby rice? They don't sell it here so I would have to make it homemade when I feed it to Wayne.

[Mimi 2]

I don't have a recipe for baby rice cereal but you could post a new thread in the Baby Recipe board for some ideas.  Is there a reason why you want to feed him baby rice cereal?  Some moms just skip the rice cereal and jump into the other grains (oatmeal, barley, etc.)

[Wayne's World]

I guess it's because the books I have on weaning all have baby rice cereal listed as the first food and it's listed in the book I am using as the bedtime meal along with fruit puree so I wasn't sure if and what I could substitute it with.

[Mimi 2]

Rice cereal is often suggested because it is a single grain food, iron fortified, and is considered to be gentle on babies stomach.  However some babies didn't get the memo.     Don't worry about introducing rice cereal as it can cause more trouble than its worth.  I started with rice cereal with dd but it didn't sit well with her so I went straight to oatmeal until she gave up on spoon feeding and we did BLW.  With ds, I didn't do any of the baby cereal but went straight to fruits & veggies (BLW and purees). 

Relax and just have fun with introducing new food to Wayne.  Don't worry too much about the order of foods you should be introducing.  Every baby is different and will have certain preferences over the course of this exciting phase.  Also, don't get personal when he refuses to eat.  It has nothing to do with your cooking skills.  I also make my own food and what my los like one week can totally take a 180 degree the following month.

 

[Wayne's World]

Thank you for the advice.  It is hard for me because I am in a different country with a language I am not fluent in (originally from the U.S.) so I am relying heavily on books for advice on how to structure his routine with introducing solids.  I am one of those that does better with instructions in this matter, so I am not sure how to structure his meals and what to give him to eat and when in relation to his routine.  Did you give your LO food two times a day and introduce new foods around 11am or did you do it differently?  If I try oatmeal, do I just grind it to a powder like baby rice?

[Mimi 2]

With oatmeal, I just cooked the quick oats really well and for a long time to so I can mash/blend it.  DD tolerated it as it was something new until I gave her bananas and avocadoes, then she didn't want it anymore.  lol

I usually give solids about 30-60 min after a milk feed in the the morning.  Then a few weeks after I introduced a second meal and then after that dinner.  The meals are small (just a few tablespoons) as I want the milk feeds to be their main source of nutrition. 

Check out threads in the FAQs section or even the SAMPLE EASY routines in the EASY Board to give you some ideas what other moms did.  There is really no right or wrong way of introducing food.  Like I say, every baby is different.  DD was not much of a solids eater (just didn't like eating much) until closer to 11 mos when she went straight to eating real meals with the family.  Whereas ds LOVES food right from the start.

[Wayne's World]

I guess I am trying to find the right balance of introducing him to solids (because my milk is no longer enough to fill him up with calories) and without being too much, with it being organic and healthy as well as not irritating to his senstive stomach - all of that coupled with the right blend into his routine.  I looked at others' routines and I think I need to introduce a solid at breakfast and then reduce the amount of rice (or replace it with oats or barley) - I am trying this today so we will see how it goes.

I thought I read in the book though that it was recommended to give the solid first and then the milk - is that once he is more advanced??

[Mimi 2]

Tracy, bm is actually better for him than solids.  Ounce for ounce, bm provides more nutrition than solids.  Solids will make his little stomach seems full (as it is slower to digest) but it doesn't provide what his body and brain need which is the right balance of vitamins, minerals, fats and nutrients.  If you think that your bm is not filling him up, then you may want to visit the Breastfeeding Board to get suggestions to get him to feed efficiently.  I know that with ds, he got distracted very easily so I had to nurse him in a quiet room.  I made sure that despite his eagerness to eat solids, I wanted him to fill up on bm. 

Usually around 9/10 mos the order of solids is switched with milk feeds.  I didn't switch till closer to 11 mos.

[Wayne's World]

Our pediatrician and midwife both have evaluated him and his eating and recommended us starting solids.  I have only been doing 2 tablespoons at lunch and 1 tablespoon at night - everything else is breastmilk.  I am just trying to find the right balance so that I am not advancing him too quickly.  He is an efficient eater and empties each breast when on breastmilk alone, the problem was that he was eating all night and day every 3 hours and emptying each breast each time.  This is why he was recommended to be on solids.  I think the balance I tried today may work because he emptied each breast and took the solids after.  We'll see how it is after a few more days.

[Jbrooks]

I know this is a little late for a reply, but my daughter was also constipated on rice, and i had to switch to baby oatmeal. That did the trick. Now I only use rice when she is sick with diarhea, binds her right up.