3.5 month old, wanting food?

[StepSideways]

Hi, please give advice!

My DS is about 3.5 months old (born 12th Jan), normally he takes his bedtime feed very well, but last night he seemed disinterested and didn't drink as much as normal, kept turning away and refusing to drink, but then biting his hands and 'looking hungry', he was still chewing his gloves when I put him to bed.

That said he has slept right through the night so I guess he wasn't that hungry, a lot of these baby foods like baby porridge etc say from 4m+, and since he's getting closer to that, is the disinterest in milk combined with hand chewing (and staring fixatedly at my sandwich) a sign he's starting to want that kind of thing? Or is he just bring nosy and discovering his hands?

Lucky you with DS sleeping through so well. Sounds like he just wasn't so hungry last night, and possibly beginning to feel his teeth moving around.

Speak to your health visitor before starting on solids, as the true signs of readiness are not the ones you've mentioned.

In other words, yes, he's just being nosy and discovering his hands .

he sounds like he's just discovering his hands tbh.
Current recommendations for weaning are 26 weeks when he's able to sit up, has lost the tongue thrust reflex, begins to chew and can pass food from hand to mouth, not just because he looks hungry. At this age, if he's looking hungry- and given he refused the milk, it's unlikely- he should have extra milk feeds.

I know it sounds early, but there is the possibility he could be starting to get his teeth come in, hence the biting? Any other signs of teething? Give it another few weeks and see if he's getting more developmentally able to wean.

Thanks for your help

Not sure if any other signs of teething, apart from he's dribbling more and trying to chew things, I'll go look at his gums later and see if they look red..

Damn I just burned the last two bits of toast while making this post!

My DD id 17 weeks. She's constantly chewing her hands and anything else she can get hold of, dribbling everywhere and yesterday her cheeks turned red - definite teething. A squeeze of Bonjela made her feel better.

I would say the staring at your food is just interest in the world around him. For weaning he should be able to sit up, hold food and bring it to his mouth and have lost the tongue thrust reflex.

Weaning to early is thought to be able to put a baby at risk of food allergies so is recommended not to start until 6 months - especially if there are allergies such as hayfever, eczema or asthma in the family. At 3.5 months, he's just over halfway.

If he's sleeping through () then he's getting everything he needs from his milk. No need to rush things

"too early". Sorry

ta, sorry to make you ! lol, he's been sleeping like a rock all night from 8 weeks..

StepSideways, all the signs you describe are signs of being 3.5 mths old

'Looking at food' is particularly misleading. A baby of this age does not look at food and understand that it assuages hunger - he does not have the understanding of the world to make that connection. He gets excited when he sees his bottle, of course, but that's because he knows from experience he enjoys being fed.

tiktok makes an important point about babies not making the link between solid food and assuaging hunger for some time. We did baby-led weaning with DS starting at 6mo and it was probably a couple of months before he really got into it and realised it would fill him up.

chewing on hands, not settling= teething??