Am I doing solids right?

[Missy Lou]

Everyone keeps telling me that my lo is hungry.  She was sleeping pretty much from 7-7, waking up once at some time but going back down after getting pacifier.  There have been several things occurring in the past 3 weeks - vacation, growth spurt, teething, sitting up, rolling over, wanting to stand.  I don't know which, if any, is the reason for her now taking an hour to put to sleep at night, waking up every hour or two starting about 2 in the morning and now only sleeping 11 hours a night. 
Last night, I noticed that she woke up 4 hours after the DF.  Plus she spent the rest of the night tossing and turning after every sleep cycle.  So I started to wonder if everyone is right and she's hungry.  I'm really desparate and tired so I'll try anything I guess.

We had tried putting cereal in her bottle several months ago and it upset her tummy a lot.  ALthough I know she was much younger, I'm hesitant to try it again.  I did pears this morning.  She was all excited about it.  So, the relevant questions. 

#1:  She took about 2 teaspoons of pears this morning.  I think that's almost an ounce according to Tracy.  So since she normally takes 6 ounces of formula, I have her the pears plus about 5 ounces of formula.  Then formula the rest of the day.  Is that the right way to calculate how much formula to feed?  Subtract out the amount of solids? 

#2:  How do you cook the squash before blending it up to feed her?  That is going to be second food next week. 

#3:  Should I also up her formula during the day at the other times?

Thanks for any help.

[Mum-of-Two]

My LO changed everything right around 6 months, sounds very much like your 5 month old!
First, BE HAPPY SHE IS SLEEPING 11 HOURS at night!!  You are very very lucky to have a LO who sleeps so well, don't fret over an hour difference.

Second, since formula is baby's main source of nutritian during the first 12 months of their life, most suggest to make sure the introduction of solids does not affect the amount of formula baby eats at least until (I think?) 9 months or older.  Solids should be in addition to not in replace of formula.

Can you post your day schedule?  Like I said, at about 6 months my LO finally switched from the 3 hour EASY to the 4 hour EASY and we had a sleepless week or more as we worked out the kinks.  Even now, we struggle to get her to nap during the day because she is so into her surroundings she's not interested in sleeping.  The result is she sleeps better at night but 1. not as long as she did on the 3 hour EASY and 2. she's tired during the day.  We're just lucky she still sleeps at night.  Usually, over tired babies have trouble at night too.

So, if you could post your schedule, I think that would help.  I'm pretty new around here but if anything, I just wanted to say I feel your pain. 

[Missy Lou]

Things are definitely crazy here.  I have no idea why she is waking up so much during the night - teething, still out of sorts from a vacation, ear infection?  I have no idea.  But hunger was it because even though I started pears a week ago, she's still waking up every hour or two starting about one in the morning.

So even if she eats a 1/2 ounce of solids, she should still take as much formula as usual?  How does that work because it would be more than she's used to eating?

My lo is on 4 hours EASY. 
She's been waking at 6:30 or 6:45 but I let her play in the crib until 7.
E:  7
A:  7-8:30/8:45 since she had been up since 6:30/6:45
S:  8:45-10:15

A:  10:15-11
E:  11
A:  11-12:15
S:  12:15-2:30

A:  2:30-3
E:  3
A:  3-5
S:  5-5:45

A:  5:45-6:30
E:  6:30
bed

It's off  because she's up for about 2 hours at a time but in the morning only sleep about 1.5 hours.  So she's up about 45 minutes before she's supposed to eat.  Plus in the late afternoon, she ends up being up for 2.5 hours or so.  So it's weird and I don't know how to fix it.  Also, she sleep for about 11 or 11.5 hours a night but like I said above, she is now waking up more than she ever has and it's been that way for a week now. 

I am just really confused about solids.  I pureed pears and she's been eating them for a week as of tomorrow.  I plan on doing pears for another week and then trying something else but I don't know what that should be.  Any suggestions on the second food?

Thanks for the sympathy.  I have no idea what's going on or how to help her sleep better.  She also gets bored super fast now and I have no idea how to entertain her anymore.   

[Zoey]

I don't know if I'll be much help but...

The rec age for solid foods is 6 months, there are a million reasons why that is and there are also tons of pedi docs that rec solid foods earlier.  That said... Owen with reflux started solids early.  Formula or BM should be the main source of nourishment in LO's ages birth to 1 year.  At 5 months, solids are merely for taste and fun, and experimentation.  They should in no way take the place of, or get it the way of formula or BM consumption.  Also, the solids should be in addition to what she is getting for BM or formula.  The calories, fat, vitamins, and protein in pears or any fruit or veg PALES in comparison to what is in formula or BM. 

My example is this...
A while back - I, on the advice of my pedi cut my son's formula intake back from 40oz a day to 30oz a day and added solids.  Well suddenly my son who we had done so much sleep training with to get him to sleep through the night started waking in the early hours of the morning.  I couldn't figure out what was going on - but my friend Stacy knew what the trouble was - My dude was starving.  Well, we fixed it by taking away the supper 'meal' and giving him 8oz at the 7pm bottle and DF bottle.  He stopped waking up in the early AM. 

My advice is, give her all the formula she wants per feeding.  If she is sucking a bottle dry, she may need more - try more in the next one and get an idea of how much she wants.  If you want to do the solids, give her an ounce of pears 30 mins after she had her bottle in the AM.  That way, you will be less likely to have her too full for the next bottle cause she has 3h and 30m to digest the pears. 

Owen did rice cereal (you can try baby oatmeal and or barley too) pears, apples, sweet potato, avocado, banana to start with.  Go slow, give the new foods at least 3-4 days before giving a new one.  Don't let it get in the way of her bottles and give her as much formula as she wants to take at feedings (if she has had a growth spurt she may need more then she had before), and I bet her night wakings will stop.  Also, about your routine - 630am may be her internal wake up time and you may wanna move everything up to that time if she always wakes then, that may make your routine go smoother.  But if its recent, it may just be that she is hungry. 

Squash, I cut up into small pieces and put it in a microwave safe dish with a bit of water, put plastic wrap on it and let it steam for about 4-5 mins til soft and then pt it through the food mill.

I hope this helps some. 
Zoe

[Missy Lou]

Zoe:

I started solids this early because I caved to everyone's suggestions.  I didn't want to but I listened to my family and friends who kept telling me my lo was hungry and that's why she was waking up so much.  I knew that wasn't true but I had no idea what else to do.  So we did pears and it's been 8 days now and I don't see any adverse reactions.  I'm waiting for another week before introducing anything else since she is so little. 

I was doing it wrong and giving her pears first and then bottle right after.  The past three mornings though (since reading the replies to this post), I give her the bottle first and then pears about 45 minutes later.  I will try doing pears about 30 minutes later like you suggested because I did notice that lo wasn't as hungry at her lunchtime bottle. 

She's hard to read on how much formula to give recently (before starting solids) because she'll drain a 6 oz bottle but then her dinner and DF bottle, she'll only take maybe 4 ounces.  But, I'll try giving her a little more than 6 ounces during the day. 

Thanks for the other solids suggestions.  I was thinking of sweet potatoes next.  I will definitely keep giving formula as her main source of nutrition. 

Also, she seems to be gaining a lot of weight to me.  I'm not complaining because she was really tiny when she was born because she was several weeks early.  She was 5 pounds, 13 ounces when born and now, at 22 weeks, she's about 15 pounds.  Isn't there an average that baby gain each month?  I know they're supposed to double their birth weight by 4 months and every baby gains differently but I thought I'd read an average somewhere.