Starting solids & dropping feeds

Hi ladies
It seems that Miss Caitlin wants to drop a feed and start solids - I think?!?!
She is currently on 5 feeds a day (6-10-2-6-10) and has been "mucking around/refusing" one/two feeds a day (random feeds, no pattern at all!). She's been either
(a) only taking 100-120mls (stops after half time burp and doesn't want anymore)
or (b) turns her head away from the bottle at the start of the feed
or (c) gets grizzley when I put the bottle to her mouth
or (d) puts her hands up to knock the bottle out of her mouth
or (e) gulps the whole 200mls in record time!

We have been trying tasters with her (Stage 1 fruit puree) to see if this will help with her constipation prob (would like to wean her off the brown sugar water). That end seems to be working better and she loves the pears. We have gradually increased the amount to 4 teaspoons of food.

Here is the confusing bit (for me anyways) we don't give her food daily, more like every 3rd day and at different times too as they are "just tasters", otherwise I would have thought the food was replacing the bottle of formula so she wouldn't be as hungry.

She's doing all the "ready for food" signs (according to the Plunket vid we were sent) and our Plunket Nurse is happy for us to start her on solids due to the fact that she is a "large baby" (just over 6kg).

What I need to know is...
1. Should I drop one of her feeds and replace it with food?
2. If so, which feed?
3. Should I switch to feeding her with the bottle every five hours?
4. If not, how should I space out the bottle feeds?
5. Should I up her formula to 250mls (when currently draining ALL 200ml feeds, but not unsettled afterwards)

My Mum says that she had my sister and I weaned off the bottle by 6 months – I know our Mum’s are always right, but I’m not totally convinced on this one as there are formulas for 6 months+ and onwards to toddlers etc.

Our Plunket Nurse is a bit - and I'm being polite here - vague! and told me that as long as she is getting a minimum of 600mls of formula a day then not to worry and feed her when she wants   This just doesn’t seem right to me as I know that “normally” Caitlin would be on 1000mls a day! And besides that, anyone who knows anything about me, knows that I NEED a routine for her, and to be honest, so does Caitlin so that she stays happy and settled

What do I do?!?!? *scratches head*

Sorry chick cant really help with this one im still bfing.... feed her on solids and then top her up with formula i guess but i really dont know which meal maybe lunch??

I don't know, but definately do NOT wean her off the bottle completely!
Babies need the goodness of milk until they are at least one, but should be having it as a drink after that too. Have you tried ringing Plunketline? If you get a bad plunket nurse, just ring back and talk to another until you get the answer you want

Just thought I would add that I'm curious about this topic too, as Erin's appetite has started to increase a fair bit, to the point now where three of her five feeds are 200mls, and the other two are slowly but steadily coming up - but are around the 150mls mark at the moment. Our Plunket nurse said that we should be very careful with introducing solids - I rang her up the other day to see what her thoughts were, as Erin is about a week ahead of Caitlin and also showing a lot of "hungry signs". She suggested we just start out on a teeny tiny bit of baby rice (like Farex) and see whether she likes it or not, before we make it regular. She also mentioned that it would be as a top up to her milk feeds and not to worry about whether Erin wants to drop another feed or not until at least another month or so. I'm just going to leave her routine as it is for the time being and just see what happens - we are on basically the same timings Toni (with feeds anyway).

I can't believe it is only a tiny bit more than a week before my little girl is four months old - where does the time go !?

Toni_akl wrote: Hi ladies It seems that Miss Caitlin wants to drop a feed and start solids - I think?!?! She is currently on 5 feeds a day (6-10-2-6-10) and has been "mucking around/refusing" one/two feeds a day (random feeds, no pattern at all!). She's been either (a) only taking 100-120mls (stops after half time burp and doesn't want anymore) or (b) turns her head away from the bottle at the start of the feed or (c) gets grizzley when I put the bottle to her mouth or (d) puts her hands up to knock the bottle out of her mouth or (e) gulps the whole 200mls in record time! Olivia did this at this age as well, mucking about with feeds, it could be that because she is extending out her times between feeds much better We have been trying tasters with her (Stage 1 fruit puree) to see if this will help with her constipation prob (would like to wean her off the brown sugar water). That end seems to be working better and she loves the pears. We have gradually increased the amount to 4 teaspoons of food. Here is the confusing bit (for me anyways) we don't give her food daily, more like every 3rd day and at different times too as they are "just tasters", otherwise I would have thought the food was replacing the bottle of formula so she wouldn't be as hungry. She's doing all the "ready for food" signs (according to the Plunket vid we were sent) and our Plunket Nurse is happy for us to start her on solids due to the fact that she is a "large baby" (just over 6kg). Fruit will probably be a lot less harsh for her little system than the sugar as well, don't be afraid to give it to her on a daily basis if you think it helps, in reality 4 tsp is a lot for a baby to eat she sounds like she is hungry! Forget all that you have been told is "uniform" for a child to have and behave like, in reality every child is different. My sister had her son on solids at 3 months as he just wasn't getting enough from the bottle. He was a HUGE baby but he was very happy which is the desireable end result. As soon as he hit walking it all fell off him. What I need to know is... 1. Should I drop one of her feeds and replace it with food? 2. If so, which feed? 3. Should I switch to feeding her with the bottle every five hours? 4. If not, how should I space out the bottle feeds? 5. Should I up her formula to 250mls (when currently draining ALL 200ml feeds, but not unsettled afterwards) I wouldn't worry about dropping a feed, if you have a hungry baby, you have a hungry baby! If you think that altering her routine in anyway like 4 250mls a day would be optimal for her then do it, what about dropping the 10pm feed? My Mum says that she had my sister and I weaned off the bottle by 6 months – I know our Mum’s are always right, but I’m not totally convinced on this one as there are formulas for 6 months+ and onwards to toddlers etc. Sorry but my mum told me the same thing (load of BS*!) and child rearing is much different, now they want you to keep on offering formula/breastmilk before and after a feed till the child is 8 months and offering maybe water with meals from 6 months onwards Our Plunket Nurse is a bit - and I'm being polite here - vague! and told me that as long as she is getting a minimum of 600mls of formula a day then not to worry and feed her when she wants   This just doesn’t seem right to me as I know that “normally” Caitlin would be on 1000mls a day! And besides that, anyone who knows anything about me, knows that I NEED a routine for her, and to be honest, so does Caitlin so that she stays happy and settled I was concerned that Olivia was only getting 600mls a day at 3 months old and not long after she turned 3 months she upped her intake to 750mls a day. I was staring at the back of my formula tin and scratching my head (as she should have been on 1000mls according to the Karicare guide)and when I went to my Dr (for something unrelated) and told him this he said that every baby is different and that the minimum is 600mls (which the local Karitane nurse echoed not 5 weeks later) and Olivia was doing very well on 750mls a day. If you are worried that Caitlin will stop drinking her regluar 1000mls and decline all fluid it wont happen, it really does sound like you have a hungry baby. What do I do?!?!? *scratches head* Be like Chili Palmer!

Edited by Peace

I would give it a try and see how she goes. Bear in mind that most babies have a growth spurt around 3 1/2mos and again at 4 1/2 mos. I have tried introducing solids at that 3 1/2 mo mark (as my babies were waking every 2 hours at night for feeding over the growth spurt ugh!) and I found that they went for them for a couple of days and then (after the growth spurt settled), back to just b/f until the 4 1/2 mo growth spurt - after which solids started and didn't stop.

I like to feed until 10mos+ before swapping drinks with water, but bear in mind that at that age your baby may only be feeding 3x a day.

mummy_becks wrote: OK solids should not be given before 4 months no matter how hungry they seem. The earlier they are introduced the more likely they are to pick up allergies and all sorts.

My sister was told to go with the solids by her Plunket nurse and Chaise has no allergies at all and is now 6... I think it really does depend on the child, but good on you for sticking to your guns

Good luck! Some babies don't sleep through the night all the time - but most people will tell you they do anyway! Mine still doesn't all the time - but for different reasons now!

If the child is hungry, the child is hungry. You can't NOT feed him/her solids just because people say you shouldn't before 4 months. That's ridiculous...

Anyway Toni, if your Caitlin was told she was a big baby at just over 6kgs, then Ashlee must be a monster!!! hahahaha

Edited by baalamb

IMHO, don;t even go there with solids before four months, the later the better. I had a 'big' baby, who was hungry all the time on breast milk, and the Plunket nurse told me to start solids at 16 weeks as her weight gain had slowed right down. I started the right way with a bit of farex mixed with b/milk then progressed to plain fruits and veges.

Long story short I ended up with a very sick little girl. Turns out her weight gain had slowed because her digestive system was packing up because of the dairy I was eating passing thru the breastmilk, and the solids certainly didn't help, they probably made her sicker. By 10 mth she had been in Starship twice, one time for over a week, trying to get her to grow properly, and I was having to get up and feed her hourly to try and get her to gain weight. She had dropped from the 97th weight percentile at birth to below the 3rd percentile and the skin was hanging off her. I have horrible, horrible photos of her in the bath in hospital, she looked emaciated. At one stage I had to hold her down while they put in a naso gastric tube as she oculdn't keep anything down. Then we had the next 2 years of avoiding all dairy, egg and soy.

Not that I'm saying starting solids young caused the problem,but it certainly didn't help. And Maya's paediatrician has been insistent that the twins arenot to start solids till 6 mths no matter how hungry they seem.

Sorry for the spiel, it's just something I feel really strongly about having watched my little girl suffer so much. Even now she is still in the mid percentile for weight despite being born in th 97th.