To think my baby might need food sooner than 6 months?

[Flamingoflamangos]

First baby so I’m a bit clueless.

DD is 16 weeks on Monday. She’s a very happy little soul and I’ve been so lucky this far in that she sleeps all night, every night and naps well during the day.

Over the past 4 days she’s been really difficult to feed. I couldn’t breastfeed very well due to medication I take but she’s thrived on formula and has been exclusively formula fed since 6weeks of age.

She usually has 6 oz every 3-4 hours or so but over the past few days she’s been impossible to feed and will have an ounce or so and get bored, then take some more a bit later until she’s had about 3oz.

She’s definitely not unwell and I can’t see any signs of teeth coming through. She drank 10oz before bed last night so it’s very inconsistent.

She seems to be very interested in my food so I’m wondering if she might not be far off needing some solid food. We’re on holiday next week so I’m wondering if it’s worth taking stuff just incase? I’m aware that baby porridge etc is fewer calories than formula though but obviously not if made with formula.

She weighs 13lb 4oz sonshes not underweight and has been hitting so called 3 month milestones for quite a few weeks now.

I first gave purées at around 17 weeks, just a few spoonfuls alongside milk. My child was delighted.

I would say she's too young. If u do decide speak to your health visitor first.

My kids stayed at that age. They were both very big babies (around 10lbs) and I exclusively breast fed until 4 months but they were definitely needing more by then. Sounds like the signs are there for your baby. The six months thing is a guideline, not a law!

Started! Not ‘stayed’ 🙄

If she's gaining weight, plenty of wet nappies and she sleeps don't change what you're doing. Giving food stunt make a difference at this age add your restricted as to what you can give her. The only time I've known a doctor suggest early weaning is with severe reflux

She's too young. NHS advice is 6 months.

I started my LG on small amounts at a similar age. Also worth checking if you can up the bottle test size any more. Good luck

It's normal for them to get bored around that age and not be interested for a few days on and off. Try with a sippy cup instead of a bottle.

As long as she's still getting wet and dirty nappies don't worry though. She will eat/drink when she's hungry and she's due a growth spurt in thr next few weeks so will probably guzzle it down.

If she has been formula fed then her gut biome will already be different than a bf baby so introducing some solids wouldn't be too much of an issue for it. But it would be allergen free purrees etc not blw.

The 6m guideline is to give baby's gut the best chance to create a healthy biome as they finally realised your gut is behind most childhood allergies, eczema etc.

Also by that point we had started snipping small 'X's in the bottle tops as the flow was way too slow even with the biggest flow teats. Could also be that/teething.

4 month regression - give it a few weeks and she’ll Be back to normal. As long as she’s having wet and dirty nappies she’s having enough milk

When DD got like this is was because the teat wasn't big enough for her - we'd not bought the next size up in time.

Not saying she could wean earlier but 16 weeks is far too early.

If she is just being fussy then no I don't think the answer is food. Filling her up with things that are very low calorie isn't a good idea. I would wait until she can sit up and guide things to her mouth. (That used to be the NHS guideline although I think it now just says 6 months.)

I don’t think they’re interested in food at that age - they don’t know it’s food or what food even is - they’re just interested in everything and want to grab anything they can. It doesn’t mean they’re hungry for it necessarily but it can look like it.

That is also a classic age for the baby becoming super distracted. My first was virtually impossible to BF at that age during the day or when out and about. He’d seemingly make up for it on the night feeds because he stayed on the same centile. It’s just a tricky age for feeding.

I started food at 16 weeks with my dd.

She took to it like a duck to water.

I would have to make sure she had some milk before giving her food other wise she wouldn’t drink her milk.

I had the HV approval so it was ok.

She used to have baby porridge or rusks mixed with formula in the morning with a bottle straight after.

Then she would have milk followed by a yoghurt at lunch time and then maybe milk and an Ella’s pouch for tea time. This is addition to bottles in the day time too.

She still got what she needed milk wise, but she just had a bit of added food which she adored.

She’s 6 now, a healthy weight and loves eating different foods.

Compared to her brother who wasn’t weaned till 8 months and is now fussy as hell

Maybe you need to change the teat size?

Growth spurt. General fussiness due to sleep regression. Teething. All normal things that out baby off feeding as usual.

Puréed veg/fruit/porridge doesn’t have anywhere near the calories or nutrients to satisfy a baby compared to milk. Weaning this early is a ridiculous idea (unless under strict instructions by paediatrician). Baby needs milk. Their little guts aren’t mature enough yet for food.

I don’t think every baby needs to be exactly 6 months, babies can be ready sooner.

Signs of readiness are able to sit up holding their head up on their own (no slouching/flopping in a high chair) the tongue thrust reflex has stopped, they can pick items up and move them to their mouths without help. Being interested in food isn’t a sign, babies are interested in keys and hands, they don’t eat those.

Don’t rush your baby, just keep giving milk and wait.

Can she sit up unaided? She's not even four months. I'd say she's too young for solids.

All babies are interested in food, doesn’t mean their gut is ready. To be honest I found weaning a faff, milk is so much easier. Babies go through spurts of not being interested in feeds, can be teeth, they might have a bug or it’s just a phase. At 16 weeks she’s still very young. Baby porridge is just a filler, there’s nothing in it. If she’s happy why not just leave her be. I certainly wouldn’t worry about taking stuff on holiday, why make work for yourself.

I started all 3 of my children with baby rice etc at 16 weeks and they all loved it.

Also milk has more nutritional value than watery veg purees. Plus fruit's high in sugar. So anything you feed is not as suitable as milk so why bother?

6 months is a guideline not set in stone, over the years it’s been 4 mths, 5mths, every baby is different.
You could try some porridge or purée, see if she’s interested, I had a large hungry DS who was eating at this age, never hurt him, he’s now a strapping 6’4” teenager never had as much as a cold.
Do what suits your child.

I’d wait till you see teeth coming through, then you know her gut is matured enough to start food.

Baby rice has as much nutritional value as sawdust. I certainly wouldn’t be giving any baby that.

We started DS on solids at 5 months. He was a rubbish sleeper, like really rubbish, search my previous posts to see how desperate I was for a while!

He was showing all the signs he was ready and could sit up unaided as well. We found it really helped his sleep too, but it could just be a coincidence!

My daughter is 19 weeks and she’s been having baby porridge with fruit purée for about a week or so. She loves it!

She can sit up and she is ha OMG 6 bottles of hungry baby formula with 9oz in! She drains them! She’s always slept through from birth so when she started waking in the night for an extra bottle I knew it was time.

She now sleeps 7 til 6!

I would say 16 weeks is slightly too young, the guidelines say 6 months but before is ok if needed as long as it’s not before 17 weeks.

Could you wait another couple of weeks?