Question about the timing of BF and solids

[rochellep]

At ds 4mos. shots about a week and a half ago(he got them towards the end of his 4th month) he turned  5mos. on Dec. 5, I talked to his dr. about his reflex and if we should increase the dose now that he weighs more and she said that is normal for him to spit up a lot if he is taking huge feeds which he was because he was acting not hungry at 3 hrs or even sometimes at at 3.5 hrs, so sometimes I would push him to 4hrs. feeds then he would take a bigger feed. She suggested since he was almost 5mos. to start giving him cereal to control the reflux a little bit. I also thought he was ready because he is already sitting up with his hands supporting himself (started that a couple of days ago) rolling and trying to grab my spoon while I am eating and put it in his mouth. So I started him on some oatmeal because I read that rice cereal could be constipating. I later read that he shouldnt have oatmeal until 6 mos. because his digestive system is not ready for it so rice is better? Anyway, when I fed it to him he wanted it so bad but it was too runny  so he would get frustrated so I made it really thick and he ate it like a little piggy and wanted more! I gave him 2 tablespoons and I refused to give him anymore even tho he protested.I gave him more at his next BF.He got constipated...surprise surprise!. At night he would grunt and make noises like he was uncomfortable. We gave in a baby suppository and he pooped later and seemed more comfortable. I stuck to giving him pears instead of cereal because I was afraid that he would get constipated again. That was about a week and a half ago, now he seems constipated again. I'm not sure how many BM'S he is supposed to have now that he is on solids.
So this leads me to my first question:

Why does Tracy say in her book to BF then feed solids and hour later. All the websites and books I have says to BF then offer solids right after. What I am afraid I will run into is that if I BF at 7am then offer solids at 8am then will he be hungry enough at 11:00 on a 4hr EASY to take a full feed or will he snack. It would seem that if my lo BF and then eats solids right after, then he will be getting the milk he needs instead of too much solids.I am currently feeding him solids 2x a day since he is 5 mos.

We were doing this:
wake 6:30
E- 6:30 BF
E-7:30 solids 3-4 tablespoons (I feed him untill he turns away, if I don't give it to him fast enough he will take the spoon and shove it in his mouth) 
A- 2HRS. 22 MIN.
S- 8:52-11:18 2HRS. 26 MIN I let him sleep longer because of the NW the night before, a mistake I think...
E-11:18 BF
E-12:30 solids 3-4 tablespoons
A-
S- 1:43-4:03 2HRS. 20 MIN
E-4:03 BF
A
Bed at 7:00pm

DF- 10:30
NF-between 1:30 AND 2
NF-5AM I try to make this one a light feed, I am really having a hard time doing a light feed because I have a fast let down and he protests if I stop early. His 6:30 feed is a light feed because of this

But now I changed to feeding solids immed ietly following bf instead of waiting an hour because I was concerned that he would start snacking on his 4hr. bf because of the solids. Is this wrong ?  Also i didn't think that there was a 5 mos. GS, but after reading another post that her lo was hitting one around 5 mos, I guess I  was wrong. If he does hit a GS how do I fit that into his routine with the solids also? Should I bf then 1hr. later solids and follow up with bf right after solids? for example:
7am-bf
8am solids then bf
11am bf
12pm solids then bf
3pm bf
7pm bf

or should I go back to a 3.5hr easy? If he doesn't seem to have a GS should I continue to give solids right after bf or wait an hour?
Sorry for the long post 

[becj86]

The reason rice cereal constipates it the added iron (and most baby oatmeals have added iron too).

Anyhow, I don't see why solids straight after BF is an issue. It is recommended to wait an hour - not sure why an hour (maybe to break it up so LO doesn't hold out for solids) but I wait an hour and its never affected DS' appetite at his next BF. He ate solids like your DS at that age, too - screamed when it was finished and whenever I was too slow getting it in his mouth. What is important is that milk is before solids.

Growth spurts typically happen at certain ages, but babies don't read the books and some just have spurts at different times.

[Erin M]

With the amount of solids that you're offering, it shouldn't effect his milk feeds.  I've typically done my solids anywhere between an hour and two hours after milk (on a 4 hour EASY) and it's never changed the milk intake of my kids.  Like PP said, babies don't read our books and know when they're supposed to have growth spurts - the one at 5 months isn't typical, but some LOs have one (mine did, perhaps you were reading one of my posts  ) -- at any rate the timing of your solids shouldn't matter, if he's hungry because of a growth spurt, he'll still take more milk. 

Babies have different numbers of bowel movements, both with and without the added complication of solids.  If he seems uncomfortable then he could be constipated, if he's going less frequently and seems content, I wouldn't worry about it.  I think their bodies just have to get used to it. 

If he's lasting ok between feeds, I would stay with a 4 hour EASY, but if he seems like it's hard to get him there, or you think it might help stretch him out longer at night, you could go back to a 3.5 hour one.

[rochellep]

Thanks that helps a lot! 
I guess I was curious of the difference between feeding solids immedietly after bf or waiting an hour like Tracy suggests and I was hoping I wasn't making a mistake by offering it right after bf. Thank you for clearing that up. These forums are priceless for so many reasons. 

[Erin M]