help on solids for 4 1/2 month old

[Tasha, Ryan and Hollie]

hi , i have just started my daughter on solids well baby rice she isnt very impressed lol, shes 4 1/2 months,
what types of food shall i start her off on once shes got the hang of baby rice?

also when do i drop a feed at the moment shes taking 5 bottles of 4-5 oz, she isnt a very big eater... she has a bottle at 8 am bottle at 12 pm bottle at 4pm and bottle at 8pm and a little bottle at 4 am . but shes been off milk lately because its so hot ive been offering her water in sippy cup she hasnt quite got the hang of it but shes trying, so i just give it her in bottle instead.

she also isnt sleeping at night she sleeps 8 30 till 4 then has a bottle, i would like to try and cut that feed out and possibly try getting her to drink 5-6 oz but she doesnt want to, so im struggling and i worried because she gets 24 or 25 oz a day and i heard its not enough so i need some advice and some guides to routines would be very helpful

thanks

[Colin Macs Mom]

hi , i have just started my daughter on solids well baby rice she isnt very impressed lol, shes 4 1/2 months,
what types of food shall i start her off on once shes got the hang of baby rice?

My DS also started at 4.5 months. I would suggest sticking with the baby rice only for at least a couple of weeks to give her system a chance to adjust. Good things to start with after that are pear, avocado, potato/sweet potato or banana in my opinion.

also when do i drop a feed at the moment shes taking 5 bottles of 4-5 oz, she isnt a very big eater... she has a bottle at 8 am bottle at 12 pm bottle at 4pm and bottle at 8pm and a little bottle at 4 am . but shes been off milk lately because its so hot ive been offering her water in sippy cup she hasnt quite got the hang of it but shes trying, so i just give it her in bottle instead.

At 4.5 months she's quite young yet to be ready to drop a bottle or to grasp what to do with a sippy. Most LOs drop a bottle around 7-8 months. Some people do believe that if you have a LO that takes less oz more often like yours, dropping a bottle will increase their intake at the other feeds. I never tried it myself as my DS is quite a piggy, so I can't really say whether that's a good thing to try or not. Just an FYI.

she also isnt sleeping at night she sleeps 8 30 till 4 then has a bottle, i would like to try and cut that feed out and possibly try getting her to drink 5-6 oz but she doesnt want to, so im struggling and i worried because she gets 24 or 25 oz a day and i heard its not enough so i need some advice and some guides to routines would be very helpful

Actually sleeping 8:30 - 4 for a 4.5 month old is quite good! Most would call that sleeping through in fact. Most LOs need at least one night feed until they're older, even up to a year so I would urge you to not try and cut that feed for a while yet. There are example routines posted by age in the EASY forum if you'd like to check that out and get some ideas.

[summersusu]

I started my DS at the same time on solids but he was taking atleast 4 8oz bottles and sometimes 10 oz that is why I started him on solids, 1st breakfast only for about 3 weeks or so and always an hour after his bottle. 
Your LO is only drinking 4 to 5 oz?? Right?
Curious why you are starting on solids so soon then?  Maybe you should work on getting in more milk because that will be her main source of nutrition for a long time even after starting solids.  My DS still drinks 4 8oz bottles and eats 3 meals a day 2-3 oz.
I would work on the milk intake 1st and worry about solids around 6 months.
Also, why are you giving water? Most babies get all the water they need through their milk.  Is she filling up on water?
And the sippy cup, which one are you using.  I think Nuby makes one that the sippy part is the same material as a nipple so they can use it easier, but my DS still hasn't got the hang of it so don't worry about it.  Just practice. 
The 4am thing was a problem too.  If she is hungry feed her and put her back down and then make sure you feed her at the time you want her day to start 7 or whatever even if she only takes a few ounces.  This helped my LO to start eating at that time but I am afraid he still wakes at 5am, not to eat but just wants a changed diaper and put back down.  Not sure how to solve that problem yet but we are working on it.
HTH 
 

[Tasha, Ryan and Hollie]

hi, i only was given her some water because its been really hot here past couple of weeks, yeah i was going too stick with cereal for a few weeks because thats what it says to do.
and health visitor said it was ok for me to start solids also i dont think she was getting enough from her milk, i was worried she was taking less than what she should, i still know its her number 1 nutrition but solids make her fill up a bit better. im only given her 1 teaspoon a morning at the mo.

[Tabitha's Mum]

Hi

Just to say that I did manage to drop a 4am feed with my 4 1/2 month old. But she was cruising a 4 hour feeding routine with a dreamfeed so I was pretty confident that she was getting enough during more reasonable hours and that this was habitual waking (you could set a clock by her). 

Getting her on to a 4 hour routine really helped to up her intake of milk - being that much hungrier for each feed made a real difference.  Took us about a week to switch from 3-4 hours and it was quite hard work keeping her going, but I persevered as she was waking more at night and wanting to feed more often (which are said to be symptoms of needing to move to a 4 hour routine).  Once we were established on a 4 hour routine, each night when she woke up I fed her for a few minutes less (she's BF) until I was down to about 4 minutes.  Then I picked her up but didn't feed her.  Did PU/PD with her from 4.15 - 6am this first day, 4.15 - 5.30 the second and then she started sleeping through.  Just for your info, her day looks like this:

6.30am - Wake up (sometimes a bit earlier but I leave her to play in her cot and never get her up before 6.30 unless she's in total meltdown because of a dirty nappy or suchlike)
6.45 - BF
9 - 9.40 nap
11 - BF
12.15 - 1.45 or longer sleep (still wakes up a bit during this sleep but just pat her and she goes back off)
3 - BF
5.45 - BF
7pm - Bottle in bed, then left to go to sleep on her own.  She drinks about 8oz of formula at this time.  I gave her a bottle and formula from 3 months at this time so that she got used to them both long before she would be weaned from the breast, because my milk was always so low at this time, and so someone else could put her to bed if I needed them to)
10.30 - Dream BF

As to water, we live in East Africa and it's pretty hot.  I have offered her water a few times to check she's not thirsty, but she's never taken it and seems to be fine on just milk.  And solids, I'm not going there quite yet as she's happy right now.  As she's 90% BF and I'm English (where we're advised to BF exclusively until 6 months), I'm thinking I'll only introduce solids if she shows me she needs it.  One thing she has taught me is to follow her cues, she wasn't an easy baby the first few months and we've learnt a lot together!

Best of luck