Did I start feeding my baby solids too soon?

Question

My baby girl is over 4 months old. She is off the charts in height and in the 95 percentile in weight. She's about the size of a 6 month old. We started feeding her solids more consistantly now. After some trial runs with baby food once or twice a day, we noticed that she quit sleeping as good at night. So we decided to just feed her cereal (thick enough to spoon feed easily) twice a day. Well her sleep pattern at night has gotten so much worse than it was before just feeding her the bottle. She used to sleep the whole night. Should I feed her less solids a day or just quit all together for awhile? She drinks quite a few bottles a day.

Answer 1

Try a small amount, like just for chewing purpose and se how she react.

Answer 2

I would suggest that you cut the solids out. Obviously her tummy isn't handling them too well if it is making her sleep patterns more disrupted. Wait until closer to 6 months and try again when her body is more likely to be ready to handle them.

The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend introducing solids until around 6 months of age. Babies don't have the enzymes in their tummies to digest anything other than breastmilk or formula prior to the middle of the first year. Starting solids too early can lead to allergies, diabetes and obesity.

ETA:
You DO NOT want to replace bottles with solids. Solids should be *in addition to* the formula/mother's milk she is already getting. Breastmilk or formula should continue to make up most of her diet for the entire first year. Solids in the first year are mostly for fun and practice and should not be a major part of her diet.

And DO NOT give her oranges or orange juice as someone mentioned. NO citrus until after 12 months of age. It is too acidic and can cause problems including upset tummies and diaper rash. She is not ready to handle citrus at only 4 months!

Answer 3

Balance is the key. I would not eliminate solids at this point, but I would make sure what you are feeding her more consistently. At 4 months my baby was having spoon fed cereal in the morning, bottles throughout the day (6oz every 3 to 4 hours, but she has reflux) and some baby food at the family dinner table. Then a bottle with cereal at bedtime.
She was in the 75th for weight and the 95th for height, but I am 5'8" and my hubby is 5'11" so that is to be expected. at 6 months we started three meals of baby food, and three bottles during the day, and a bedtime bottle.
By 9 months she is three meals, 2 snacks (still with bottles at snacks) and bedtime bottle. she is now 75th for height and weight, so she is balancing herself out. But it was not due to how she was fed......she is just a tall baby.

I would not eliminate anything at this point. now that the baby has had solids, I would keep them. But just make sure you are balancing things out okay. 4 months need about 30 to 35 ounces of formula per day. You can add solid foods into her day (like when the family eats or for breakfast, or both) but be careful not to over do it. 4 months is a time to begin introducing solid foods, and getting the baby used to other tastes. but solid foods do not start to become essential until closer to the 6 month mark, and they do not start to take over formula until 9 months..

Answer 4

I am a nutritionist
yes it's too early

you also may be overfeeding her if she is in or above the 95th percentile for weight

cut out all solids, and go back to formula only.

guidelines for how much would be
infants weight in kg X 108 = total calories needed
total calories / 20 = total ounces baby should be eating daily

also incorrectly mixed formula is a common problem in the US, check that you are mixing formula according to the directions on the package.

Answer 5

i began my son on solids at 17 weeks, first with toddler rice, then a selection of pureed fruit and veg. he's 20 weeks now and so far has had apple, pear, carrot, candy potato and courgette and troughed the lot! that's not stated to grant protein or wheat until 6 months. Introduce wheat unfastened, gluten unfastened cereal (toddler porridge, waiting brek) from approximately 5 months with a sprint bit his milk and a sprint bit fruit puree. attempt to ward off banana this early because it could reason constipation if that's mixed with toddler rice. wish this helps!

Answer 6

The trend these days is exclusive breast feeding or formula until 6 m,onths but sometimes you can start introducing fruits mostly apple and oranges as juice or puree and 5 years ago when i had my daughter baby cereal like wheat was ok at 4 mobnths but only 1 meal a day and the rest is milk. Guess she can be having an upset stomach that worsens at night. Try adjusting her eating patterns and all will be ok again

Answer 7

You don't tell us what you put in the bottle. Cows milk is designed to grow a calf from 100 pounds at birth to about 600 pounds at 9 months (at weaning time). Human milk is designed for human babies. Food wise you are missing the mark rather badly. I would suggest cereal at night (rice, I am told is best) and fruits and vegetables. At least these foods were formed by the Creator to be food for humans. It would be best to let an all food diet wait until considerably later, but I believe it would be better than the un-natural things that are available. If you do go to a food diet you can expect the child to loose a little weight, which in your case sounds like it might be good.

Answer 8

The solid food may be to much for her to digest just yet. If you want to give her rice cereal try it in the morning so she doesn't have stomach upset in the evening. Be careful what you introduce to early. If her digestive system isn't ready it could see the food as an allergy. Be wary of the common * food allergins: Whole milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, shellfish, soy, nuts

Answer 9

no keep giving her her food u just need 2 cut her bottles down a bit.

Answer 10

if you are still feeding her the same amount of bottles aday then she will have way to much energy so she needs to get rid of it i.e. staying awake at night.
what you need to do is carry on feeding her solids and phse out the bottles and also maybe try playing with her more about 1-1/2 hrs before bedtime to tire her out.
hope this helps good luck.

Answer 11

Talk to her doc. The cereal may be upsetting her tummy. Maybe she has a sensitive tummy.