Is she saying she wants solids?

Question

My Daughter is 4 months old. Lately she has been fussy about eating. She still eats 4 oz and wont eat any more than that. For a few weeks now she has been eating 1-2 1/2 oz waits 4-5 hours and half the time she will eat 5 oz but mostly chews the nipple and pushes out before realizing thats all she can have. She is always looking at my food and acts like she wants a bite when i show her it. I'm losiong my mind from this. She is waisting formula left and right. She will eat only after figuring out that is all she is getting.

Please someone help me. She has her 4 month Shots/ check up on Valentine's Day and I'll also be asking the doctor then if he dont blow me off like last time. I live on an Army base so im stuck with them. Off base no one will take you if you have Tri Care for imunization shots

Answer 1

I'm assuming you're on Tricare Prime? If you're on Standard, I can show you how to find doctors who accept Tricare for immunization shots.

Otherwise....some sources say six months for solids, others say four months. The best way to go about it (in my opinion), is baby-led feeding. If there's something on your plate that the baby could possibly eat, let her grab for it. If she's ready to eat, she'll do it. My baby was grabbing food at just over 4 mos. Of course, I only let her have things she could easily mash and swallow (well-cooked peas, mashed sweet potatoes, slivers of white meat chicken). If she's not ready, she won't be able to get it to her mouth (it'll be messy, but if she's ready, it'll get there). If she's ready, she also won't choke...babies can't put "real" food in their mouths until they lose the tongue-thrust reflex;by the time they lose this, they've learned to hold food and then push it back with their tongue, so they don't choke. However, "baby" food is enough like a liquid that they may try to suck it down like milk/formula and end up choking.

HOWEVER, solid foods should NOT replace milk/formula at this age. They are mostly for practice, and, nutritionally, all her needs will be met by milk/formula. If she's not getting adequate amounts of milk/formula, she won't be able to get everything she needs from solids.

My baby is 7 1/2 and gets one "full" meal a day (breakfast), although she'll sometimes take another and/or steal from my plate. If you do baby-led feeding, you don't have to bother with "baby food", which is cheaper and more satisfying in the long run. (My baby eats EVERYTHING and is very adventurous....after all, "real" sweet potato tastes a LOT better than sweet potato watered down).

I know some people will say "no solids before six months", but, baby generally knows best...I'd say see if she grabs (don't give it to her) for your green beans or carrots or whatever, and go from there

Answer 2

All babies put things in their mouth. Mostly people see that the baby is reaching for food so they think that they are ready for it, but they also reach for your dirty shoe and put it in their mouth. ;)

The WHO and APA suggests waiting for 6 months because babies have something called "open gut syndrom" and their stomach lining is still developing. Babies have an increased risk of later developing food alergies by early introduction of solids.

You will find though, that through out time, they have changed their ideas numerous times... from 2 weeks, to a year... I would ask your doctor, take what they tell you about your childs developement and then follow what you feel.

I do not introduce any solids the entire first year. We start right on table foods, minus the seasoning. But that works for my family. Breastfeeding and formula feeding contain all the nutrition that a growing baby needs for the first year.

If she is not eating a lot right now it may be that she is distracted, not hungry, too tired, too stimulated, you never know.

Babies will not starve themselves. :)

Good luck.

Answer 3

I think 4 months old is too early for cereal, but you can ask the doctor.

Start slowly with rice cereal, but do not mix it with other foods until 6 months old.

Formula/breast milk should be the only food a baby needs until month 6.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

She is definately ready for ceral. Start her out on that before anything else. You might want to try gerber rice first, you can mix it with milk, or water too. she should be drinking 6oz at this age every four hours. When you start giving her ceral give it to her once a day in the mornings for a week or two then you can add other things like baby food stage 1 fruit, and so on. but only try a new thing twice a week. that way if she has a allergic reaction to something you know what it is. I started both mine on ceral at four months, i knew they were ready when they started not to be satisfied when i nursed them or bottle feed them

Answer 6

sounds more like she is teething. try some baby orajel or a frozen teether or wash cloth right before a feed. i understand your plight with the military doctors i get blown off too

Answer 7

Babies system isn't ready for digestion until 6 mos. but my sons both started eating fruits, apples , peaches, pears. There is also the baby cereal you can choose from and add fruit to it, it'll satifiy her.

Answer 8

Yes she is ready for solids. Go for it. All mine started at 4 months and are fantastic, non-picky eaters; also all were good sleepers.

Answer 9

It sounds like it too me.at 4 months they start on cereal.. try baby cereal... start with rice , and then do oatmeal, and then barley... after she had them, you can add yellow veggies(squash, carrots, sweet potatoes) and then green(peas, greenbeans, etc)... and then do fruits...etc
Good luck and congrats!

Answer 10

What if my 4-5 month old seems developmentally ready for solids?
Four- to five-month-old babies are sometimes very eager to participate at mealtime, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are ready to eat solids - more often it's just the normal developmental urge to do what everyone else is doing. Research studies tell us that there are many health advantages to delaying solids for about 6 months for all babies, not just the babies who are not yet interested in mealtime.

There are a number of things you can do to let baby participate in mealtimes without starting solids:

Let baby sit with the family at mealtime - in a lap, booster seat or high chair.
Give baby a cup of water or expressed milk. Your baby can entertain himself at mealtime while learning to use a cup. 1-3 ounces of water in the cup should be plenty (often for the entire day). Many moms choose to use only water or a small amount of breastmilk to avoid wasting the "liquid gold" while baby learns to use the cup.
Offer baby sips of water from your cup or straw. Even if baby hasn't figured out how to use a straw yet, you can put your straw in water, block the top end of the straw with your finger to trap a little water in the straw, then let baby drink the water from the lower end of the straw (unblock the top end once it's in baby's mouth).
Offer baby spoons, cups, bowls and other baby-safe eating utensils to play with during mealtime.
Give baby an ice cube (if it's a baby-safe size & shape) or ice chips to play with.
Offer baby a momsicle (popsicle made from breastmilk) or slushy frozen breastmilk to eat with a spoon.



Developmental signs that baby is ready for solids
Solids readiness depends on both the maturity of baby’s digestive tract and baby’s developmental readiness for solids. Although the maturity of baby’s digestive system is not something that we can readily observe, research indicates that 6 months appears to be ideal for avoiding the allergies and other health risks of too-early solids. After this point, different babies are ready for solids at different times -- developmental readiness for solids cannot be determined using a calendar. Most babies are developmentally ready for solids somewhere between 6 and 8 months.

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:
Baby can sit up well without support.
Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
Baby is ready and willing to chew.
Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.
We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.

More on developmental readiness...
In April 2001, a literature review () "of the developmental readiness of normal full term infants to progress from exclusive breastfeeding to the introduction of complementary foods" was jointly published by Wellstart International and the LINKAGES Project. Per the authors, "The review does not focus on health outcomes associated with discontinuing exclusive breastfeeding at a particular age but rather on the biologic/developmental readiness for this complex experience. Four processes or functions were selected for inclusion: gastrointestinal, immunologic, oral motor and the maternal reproductive processes that relate to the continuation of lactation and the provision of breastmilk."
Following are some of the conclusions of this review:

"Thus, exclusive breastfeeding to about six months allows the infant to have greater immunologic protection and limit the exposure to pathogens at a vulnerable age. This in turn permits the energy and nutrients that might otherwise be diverted to provide for immunologic responses to be available and utilized for other growth and developmental processes."
"These clinical reports indicate that the majority of normal full term infants are not developmentally ready for the transition from suckling to sucking or for managing semi-solids and solid foods in addition to liquids until between 6 and 8 months of age."
"Using this available information on the development of oral motor function, maternal reproductive physiology and development of the infant’s immunologic and gastrointestinal function, the expert review team concluded that the probable age of readiness for most full term infants to discontinue exclusive breastfeeding and begin complementary foods appears to be near six months or perhaps a little beyond. The also felt that there is probable convergence of such readiness across the several relevant processes."
"The consensus opinion of the expert review group was that given the available information and the lack of evidence of significant harm to either normal mothers or normal infants, there is no reason to conclude that exclusive breastfeeding should not continue to six months."


http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html#earlyreadiness