Introducing fruit at 3.5 month

[Sarachan]

Hi everyone!
My LO is 3.5 month, she's on a 4 hours EASY practically since birth. In the last month she also started sleeping through the night, so now she's eating 4 times a day. In the last 2 weeks she's a bit constipated, she poops every other day and this morning the pediatrician said to start introducing fruit to help her ! I was a bit surprised, because I thought to continue EBF for other 2 months...  The pediatrician said to continue BF as usual and to add fruit at midmorning.
This is our routine:

E 6:30
A
S 7:50
E 11
A
S 12:20
E 15:00
A
S 16:20
E 18:00
A
S 19:00

When do you think I should give her the fruit? Just after she finishes eating at 11?    And how can she learn to swallow with the spoon?
The pediatrician also said that with the summer I can give her some water, but when should I give it? And how I can understand if she's thirsty?

Many thanks! 

[michaeljacknnugg]

Fruit, at 3.5 months 

I would probably go with your gut on this one, which seems from your post to be against it. It's not at all unusual for bf babies to go without a poo for up to 4 days, because breast milk is so well absorbed by the body. If she is not waking at night then it is very unlikely that she needs solids.

As for water, a soft spouted sippy might work - but I am out of touch as my ds is 5 now. If you do decide to offer it, ensure the water is boiled and cooled first.

[jessmum46]

Too young, IMO.  Here the earliest recommended age is 17 weeks, with the best recommendation to EBF for the first six months.  Agreed that EBF babies can go a long time between poops - our record here was 12 days! Constipation in EBF babies is unusual and refers to hard poops that are difficult to pass, not infrequent normal poops.  I would stay off the fruit (and the water to be honest - just feed her more if she wants it when it's hot) until she is closer to six months x

[creations]

I echo pps. I wouldn't give fruit or water now either. Even formula fed babies don't need anything else for 6 months, BF babies certainly don't need anything else.

I don't always follow the docs advice if I am confident that the information I have is reliable and well informed.  You must do what you feel is right.

[Shiv52]

I think that is really poor advice. My BF babies certainly didn't poo everyday and I definately wouldn't give solids yet xx

[Fiver]

Agreeing with all other PPs - your breast milk is all she needs for the first 6 months or so and contains more calories and fat (nutrition) than any fruit.  If she's thirsty, just feed more often and don't worry if that's closer together than 4 hours.

[Charlene.b]

I had the same problem with my baby and my doctor thought it might have been constipation and had me try things that made me really uncomfortable.  I kept reading about it that it's normal and it's NOT constipation.  My baby only pooped once a week on average for awhile.  Once he went 9 days.  He's totally fine and it was never constipation.  Apparently some babies are just growing and absorb all the milk into their system and have very little left to poop.  My doctor agreed and said to let her know if he looked like he was in pain.  He never was.

Don't worry - it's totally normal

[Sarachan]

Thanks a lot and sorry for the delay in my answer, we're in the middle of the 3 month growth spurt  .
I really didn't know that it's normal that babies didn't poo everyday and I think I misunderstood the doctor, because he never said that the fruit was for the constipation, I think I did this association because I was a bit afraid  .
I esteem our pediatrician a lot and I'm sure he knows the importance of BF, because in the first 2 weeks I had a lot of problems with milk supply caused by anemia, and when I finally had enough milk to do EBF he was really happy and explained me how wonderful our milk is. Asking to some friends of mine, I've seen that it's not unusual here in Italy to start fruit at 4 month. In any case I'd prefer to wait the 6 month, so I've decided to wait some weeks and than try with a small quantity and see if my DD appreciates or not .
Thanks a lot to everyone!