Starting solids 4.5 months

[Chloevalentine]

Hi my 4.5 month old was given the green light from pediatrician to start solids. He's a big baby already 20+ lbs. so we've started slowly and he took ok to the cereal but not so much fruit. Even with the cereal i try to give a little everyday but somedays he's not interested. What ive been  doing is about 30 mins prior to when he's ready for the bottle I'll warm his bottle and use some of it to make cereal then I  put him in highchair and feed him about 2 tbsps of cereal then we will finish the bottle. But lately his naps fall where he's hungry when he wakes and if I try to give cereal first he gets upset looking for bottle. Any tips? Thanks

[creations]

I'd give him the bottle first if he's hungry and looking for it. He's so young and his milk is important to him.
If the nap falls between the bottle and the solids that's fine. An hour or so after the bottle is a good time for solids anyway, and if he sleeps 1.5hrs then that's also fine. He will be less hungry and better rested so more likely to have patience for trying the solid foods.  If anything needed to be moved or dropped though I'd personally drop the solids out of the routine until he's older.

hth

[Chloevalentine]

That's what I'm doing. I'm really just trying out the cereal at this time and some days it just doesn't work. But i guess moving forward I should have more of a routine as to when I'm feeding solids right?

[creations]

I think many people avoid grains until 6 months anyway due to the immature gut... so perhaps if you really want to offer solids now maybe look at pureed vegetables?
A usual routine is to offer solids 1hr after a milk feed. Once per day initially, about 2 tsp is classed as a "meal", and to build up to 3 meals at 8 months (the meals then would be larger too if LO is interested in solids, not all are).

[michaeljacknnugg]

Can I ask why you've started this early? Here the advice is to wait until 6 months to establish gut maturity, and to avoid anything but fruit and veg if you do start early. There's a great explanation in the Baby Led Weaning book which helped it all make sense to me.

[stuckunderhere]

I agree with MJ&N

[michaeljacknnugg]

Also look up arsenic in rice cereal...pretty scary stuff, not to mention the other stuff associated with baby rice.

Anything you feed him before 6 months (and for a while afterwards) will contain less calories than milk and likely disrupt sleep, so will probably be counterproductive.

[creations]

Whilst many of us would agree with the UK guidance to introduce solids at around 6 months, OP has clearly said that she has the support of her paediatrician to begin solids earlier than 6 months - she should not feel the need to explain or justify this.

OP has also not said she is using baby rice, but cereal, which may be a different cereal. Either way, there are many foods judged safe for infant consumption whether home made or shop bought.  Let's please not scare monger over any product which has been an established baby food for many years and which meets food regulations.  The Food Standards Agency has put in place strict limits for rice products intended as infant food.

[Chloevalentine]

The pediatrician told me I could try because he's such a big baby (20 lbs at 4 months) and he was topping out on amount of formula he should be fed she said. He's now 5 months and I just started up trying again because i felt after trying he just wasn't ready. I did start with organic oatmeal baby cereal as I only eat organic and make my own baby food.
Now that we are starting up again I was just looking for a good feeding schedule. Looks like bottle first solids an hour later which sonetimes doesn't always work with school picks up etc. should I be doing two meals a day ? 2-4 tablespoons ? Both cereal and fruits/veggies ? Will the formula intake go down?

[creations]

I would just fit the solids around school pick  up s etc. It isn't vital that it is exactly 1hr, that's a guide, it's just that you want LO a little hungry to take some solids but not so hungry that he fills on solids and then doesn't take his proper milk feed.  If it's 30 mins or 1hr 30 after milk it's okay, just fit it into your routine.

The guidance amount is in tea spoons rather than tables spoons. It is very small, however so long as his milk intake doesn't drop you can follow his cue on how much he wants to eat.

Most advice is to avoid grains until after 6 months so perhaps you might prefer to stick with other foods for now - it's your choice.  LOs can also have meat and fish so long as there are no bones.

No the formula intake shouldn't drop.  The solids are in addition to milk rather than instead of milk. Milk intake doesn't really drop for a good while, around 11 months you might drop to 3 milk feeds instead of 4 in the day (and replace that milk feed with a solids snack) but even after 12 months LO will still have 2 milks each day, usually WU and BT and at this time it's advised to switch from bottles to another cup (or straw).

1 or 2 meals per day is fine.  Again the advice is to start with just 1. Then build up to 2. Then 3 meals at 8 months. You are still a few months off the 3 meals so there is no hurry.  Again though you can follow LOs lead.  It will be easier to fit in just 1 solid meal for you right now, around milks, naps and school runs you might be glad to only do the one meal per day for a month or two.

Hope this helps.
Do let us know if you have any more questions

[Chloevalentine]

I'm finding he's eating better but having trouble sleeping with gas wondering if he's just not ready for solids yet and I should just hold off another 2 weeks until he's 6 months

[creations]

Maybe. Some LOs get gas anyway, they are not very mobile to help the gas work through. Gentle leg cycling might help.

[Chloevalentine]

We've started up solids again and he seems to be so much more interested. We are still doing just one meal usually early in the day of about 2 tbsp organic oatmeal cereal 2 tbsp fruit or veggie. Going to work up to two and see if he might seem interested for more later in the day. But we are doing about an hour after bottle. He was up to sometimes 5 8 oz bottles a day at almost 6 months but he's a large baby prob near 25 lbs now very tall and big boy.

[Chloevalentine]

I'm finding he's dropping a lot of formula with just the two meals. What's the standard amount of formula and solids they should be getting at 6 months? Keep in mind he's in the 99% for height and weight.  The second meal I've started giving at night per my drs suggestion in regards to his nws and last night was the first night he slept through !

[stuckunderhere]

Food should not replace formula until 12mo. So he needs his 24oz a day at least.

[creations]

The guidelines on how much per day vary a little from country to country but Sarah is absolutely right that formula should not drop at this point at all.  The "minimum" really depends on what is normal for your own LO to take.
There is also some information here:
Milk intake - what you can expect between 6 months to 12months +
LO would be on 4 milk feeds in the day and possibly one at night. Any night feed might drop between now and 8 months-ish.  You wouldn't be looking to drop a day bottle for several months yet.

[Chloevalentine]

Thank you! What about introducing nuts. They now recommend it as early as 6 months but with lo on purred fruits and veggies how do you give them nuts?

[creations]

Whole nuts are a choke hazard so shouldn't be given to babies or young children.
You can find information about nuts and foods which should be avoided on this NHS weaning guide:
http://www.nhs.uk/ipgmedia/national/british%20nutrition%20foundation/assets/weaningyourbaby.pdf

ground nuts can be used in cooking - eg ground almonds used in sugar free pancakes, muffins and cupcakes or used in savoury dishes such as curries or used in a crumb coating for home made fish fingers or chicken bites
nut butters such as smooth peanut butter, smooth cashew butter, smooth almond butter can be included in cooking (sugar free pancakes, muffins or savoury dishes) or spread on toast fingers.

You can grind nuts in some of the more powerful blenders if you want to try other nuts and can't find them ground or as a nut butter in the shops.

[Chloevalentine]

But do I just mix it into his puréed fruit?

[creations]

So long as you follow the guidance on not serving whole nuts it's really up to you how you serve food.
I'd probably wait until finger foods were introduced personally but then I never made purees.
Finger foods are advised to be introduced from 6 months.

[Chloevalentine]

So should he be having about 4oz of food at each meal 2-3 meals per day? I usually do 2 meals sometimes offer just some fruit while big lo and I have lunch. But I usually do 4 tbsp cereal and 4 tbsp fruit or veggie in the morning and same at night. He doesn't always eat that much. It's a whole 4 oz jar in total which is 8 tbsp. When do I add more food as well as proteins meats yogurts? There's no guideline that I can get my hands on.

[Lindsay27]

Protein and meat are (in Canada at least) recommended to start right away at 6 months.  I would just make a stew with either stew beef/chicken/turkey and no-sodium broth (or water), and veggies (sweet potato, carrots, peas etc.) and then I would cook it until it was all super soft and puree.

I think the recommendation for yogurt is 9 months.

As for the nuts, my doctor just told me to smear peanut butter on a MumMum/baby cookie and let them suck it off.  It's a mess, and no joke the dog was chasing DD around for the rest of the day trying to lick her because she had peanut butter smeared in her hair lol

[creations]

Guides for 6 month olds are more like 2-4 TEA SPOONS of solids not 4 tablespoons.
There is some information from the BW book here:
Weaning Guidelines from Secrets of the Baby Whisperer
and further information here:
Solids for 6-12months very useful Information
note in this information guidance amounts increase between 7-9 months so that by the end of this period the amount is between 2 table spoons and half a cup.

Guide lines all vary depending on where you are and which route you take towards weaning, whether the more traditional purée method or the BLW method.  In the UK guidance is to introduce finger foods at 6 months even if offering purees, also as pp said to introduce meat, fish, eggs (so long as there are no known allergies).
Some LOs eat more than others. With BLW especially the amount is guided by what LO wants to take.  other guidance on weaning also advises this though for example the UK NHS website says to follow babies lead on amounts so long as milk intake doesn't drop and with one meal at 6 months increasing to three meals around 8 months.  Yoghurt and other dairy products such as cheese can be introduced from 6 months but should be full fat, no low fat or reduced fat milks, yoghurt, or butter type spreads.

Where are you CV?  There must be some guides available for your country.  They do vary from country to country - really it is your decision on which you follow.

[Chloevalentine]

I'm in the US and what I've read is between 6-8 months some babies will be eating up to 8 oz between 2-3 meals with is 16 tbsps!

[Lindsay27]

For me I didn't really over analyze how many teaspoons or tablespoons mine were getting, I just fed them their solids and if it started to affect their milk intake, then I would scale back.  If not, then keep that same amount, yk?

[Chloevalentine]

I agree but sometimes he just keeps eating lol and his milk intake is still in guidelines. So I just max out at 8 tbsp 2 times a day although today he ate 5

[Lindsay27]

Sounds like he just has a nice healthy appetite!   If his milk is still within guidelines, then like you said, maybe just set a daily max. 

[Chloevalentine]

 We are having such trouble with constipation. I'm giving him prunes to help.  He's doing two meals and one snack about 5 tablespoons at the two meals and maybe three at the other.  Are usually give cereal with fruit and veggies at the two meals and just fruits or veggies at the third snack.  With the constipation he doesn't want to eat as much.

[creations]

I would take him to see a doctor if the constipation isn't easily cleared with prunes. you don't want it going on long.

[Lindsay27]

I would probably cut the cereal too and just gives fruits and veggies...it is known to cause constipation.  And then you can maybe slowly re-introduce it once things get moving.