my baby was born 10pound1oz he is always hungry should i feed solids?

Question

he is now 3mths old and definetly big for his age is it ok to feed him tinned foods for 4mth olds etc.

Answer 1

Always check with your pediatrician first but..when my son was about 2 months old, the pediatrician mentioned that boys have more muscle and he may want to eat earlier than my girls did (one girl started at 4 mos, the second at 6). She was right, he was about 3 to 3 1/2 mos old.

Start with cereal and feed just one kind for 3 or 4 days at a minimum before introducing another. This is so you can spot allergies. I started with barley, then added oatmeal and rice last. I don't think the order is important.

Feed him with a spoon and mix it with a little formula or breast milk. Putting it in the bottle is a bad idea.

In a few weeks or a month you can start vegetables, then fruits or meats. I think fruits are best last because it can minimize the development of a sweet tooth, but every doc recommends something different. Fruit juice is a waste, though a little diluted prune juice is good if he gets constipated.

Baby food is a hassle so I wouldn't rush it but go with his appetite. Around 7 mos or so, he'll begin to use his hands and you can feed him small bits of real food which is a lot easier.

The nutritionist who posted gave great information but even she suggests there are no hard and fast rules. I had to feed the two that started earlier because they were so hungry that they'd drink a whole bottle of milk, still want more and end up spitting up the extra because they couldn't hold it all!

I didn't start the one daughter that early because she didn't need it. In other words, I used my own instinct as a guide. No one knows your baby better than you do. Not even the doctor.

Your baby won't choke. Millions of babies have been fed baby food early.

Another poster mentioned the 3 mos growth spurt. I forgot about that one but it IS a reality. If you are breastfeeding baby will want to nurse more for a few days to beef up your supply. That's normal and usually fades in a few days.

So...talk to your doctor and maybe give it a few days to see what happens. Also one sign of readiness to eat is when they stop sleeping through the night (though this can be caused by other things like ear infections).

Answer 2

Its always important to look at WHY certain recommendations are made, rather than take the advice of someone who is screaming at you militantly to do it one way or the other.

The truth is, the AAP does recommend all babies wait until 6 months of age. Why? Because nearly all babies should have the ability to tolerate solid foods at 6 months. But we KNOW for a fact from experience that some babies can certainly tolerate it sooner. Its not NECESSARY to start solids before 6 months, but for some babies it is perfectly fine.

The reason your doctor made that recommendation is because medical studies are very clear that waiting until at least 4 months greatly reduces the risk of food allergies, certain bowel conditions, and even diabetes. We don't really understand the mechanism for this, but waiting another 2 months doesn't seem to make a great deal of difference with this regard. But again this isn't the reason for the 6 month recommendation.

So some doctors will say wait 6 months, but most would agree waiting until at least 4 months is best. So this is where common sense comes in. If you wait until at least 4 months you avoid the major health risks associated with early solids. If you WANT to wait until 6 months, great. If the baby seems interested and tolerates the food, then its perfectly fine. We have to remember that these are "guidelines" and not laws, so if we understand the reasons WHY certain recommendations are made, we can make an informed decision as to how to proceed.

Your doctor obviously understands the risks because he wanted you to wait until at least 4 months. Between 4 and 6 months is is basically an issue of whether the baby wants solid food and can tolerate it. If everyone waits until 6 months, then all babies will be ready for it. If you start between 4 and 6 months, you just have to be prepared stop and wait a few more weeks or months if the baby isn't ready.

But the bottom line is that it is really best to wait until *at least* 4 months of age.

Answer 3

Babies have a reflex that causes them to spit out anything solid put into their mouth. It's nature's safety precaution, I guess.

What I did (with my dr's blessing) was mix some cereal into the bottle with the breast milk/formula. You will have to buy fast flow nipples for the bottles, and possibly have to make the holes slightly larger to allow the cereal through. The milk should be a drinking consistency. This will give the little one something more in the tummy so they can go longer between feedings.

As for the feeding thing. . . When your baby is ready, you will know. Try some level 1 food. Buy a jar and allow him to try it. If he eats it, and doesn't spit it back out, he is ready for some foods. You shouldn't give up the formula/breast milk at all because they still get their nutrients from it. Just go with your gut. You are his mom. You know what is best - you and your doctor can decide what is the best.

Answer 4

NO--only start solids when the doctor says it is time! This will be anywhere between 4 and 6 months so be pstient--it is almost here!
As for right now, there is a 3 month growth spurt so just keep up with the milk/formula for now--
having food too early will hurt the baby's development so take all instruction from your doctor!

Answer 5

My baby boy is 6 months old....I started him on baby cereal 2 times a day at 4 month b/c he was eating every 2 hrs. It was pretty thinned out so that he could tolerate it, but it moved his every 2 hr feeding to every 3-4 hrs. Ask your doctor though....my doctor is old school, she said "If he's hungry....FEED HIM!" Now he is 6 months eats 6 jars of food a day and only has 4 bottles. He's happy and he's healthy!

Answer 6

My son was 10lbs 4oz at birth and I know what you're going through. At 13 months, he's 28lbs! It's crazy! Don't give him solids yet but do put that rice cereal in his bottles. First just use the plain rice one and when he gets used to it you can use the banana and the strawberry, and so on. You can also give him baby food. My son never went for those tiny stage one jars, he started at stage 2. Get used to this, my little one has yet to slow down. The thing is, he was never fat, he's just ver solid. That boy is all muscle! Good luck!

Answer 7

All the experts say feeding a baby younger than six months solids is bad. I have four children and started giving them really thin baby cereeal at 4 months. they were not screamming for food all the time and have no health problems from this. it all depends on what you feel is best for your baby. noone can tell you exactly how to feed your child. good luck. try alittle cereal and if he does not get a tummy ache from it, i say go for it.

Answer 8

The very best person to ask, is your doctor. For myself; my daughter was born weighing 8lbs 9 oz. and from 3 month on we feed her a teaspoon of rice cereal, mixed with formula. The formula alone didn't fill her up enough and she was drinking almost 30oz. a day. When I started to feed her a little cereal, she dropped to 22 - 24 oz. a day, which is alot better. When you do start him the first little while, stick with rice cereal for the first couple of weeks and let him get use to it in his system. Most importantly, talk to your doctor about it first. Good luck.

Answer 9

Ask your pediatrician. I will say that at that age I started putting rice cereal in my daughters bottle, only a small amount, then at 4 months I started feeding her the rice cereal. It isn't until usualyl 6 months that you started with the gerbers baby food, or any other brand.

Answer 10

Most Dr's recommend waiting until at least 4 months to begin anything other than breast milk or formula. Even though your "little" one may be hungry, it doesn't mean that his digestive system is ready for that drastic of a change. The longer you are able to wait before adding things to his diet, the better chance he has of not having asthma, allergic reaction, digestive problems, etc.