Advice on giving frozen fruit to 4 month old

[mkwar]

My baby's is 4 months on Wednesday and I am a ftm, he is an early teether and we have tried pretty much everything to soothe him at this point but he is still uncomfortable, so I have a teether that you can freeze fruits milk ect, I am thinking about introducing him to a little bit of frozen mashed up fruit in a teether when he is teething bad, just to give him something to chew on that he may enjoy more as he doesn't really like teething toys but he really enjoys this one, however I don't want to start properly weaning until he is 6 months, I am 50/50 and unsure if I am making the right choice and I'm nervous to give him a bad belly, he is a big drinker and has 6/7 ounces every 3 hours he's always been a hungry baby, I formula feed so I can't freeze that so any advice, anyone else done the same xx

Thanks in advance.

I'm afraid I think this is a bad idea.

Milk and fruit both contain natural sugars. Sucking these will coat your baby's teeth with sugar. It will also give them a taste for sweet things before you've introduced them to bitter tastes. You could be setting them up to refuse to eat vegetables which will be really really tough to undo.

If he likes the teether, maybe frozen cooled boiled water would be worth a try. Teething is a short phase though so I'd just try to distract and get through it and use Nurofen if necessary if the pain is waking him up at night.

I'd start with banana, quite a mild fruit, I have it in my head it's good for settling bad stomachs. And try low sugar fruits and vegetables too. You could make puree with all sorts of vegetables.

I don't think you're going to hurt him by trying a tiny bit of fruits or vegetables, advice used to be to wean at 4 months I believe

What signs does he have of teething? Are his gums very red and sore? Has he got teeth? I say this because if his symptoms are mainly of drooling I wouldn't necessarily say he is teething yet. In any case I wouldn't disrupt the weaning plan you have in mind for this. Most people are not freezing fruits for babies and they all get through it ... it seems overcomplicating to me. A robust good feeding baby generally doesn't need to start food early as they can glug down what they need in terms of calories so it might be quite some time yet before you will be going down the solids route. In other words I would wait.

You can get plastic/rubber teethers that you chill. I think these would be a lot better for him to gnaw on and are reusable. It also means he's not getting the fruit and veg before he is ready.

I wouldn't be introducing sugar heavy foods at the teething stage, teeth are most vulnerable as they are erupting.
Just freeze some boiled water in it instead, he doesn't need to 'enjoy' it, he'll use it if it helps

I have tried the plastic teethers and cooled them in the fridge, he doesn't have any teeth yet but he's starting to cut his first already, he has rosy cheeks drooling, chewing everything gets annoyed with anything he does chew and chucks it, irritable and crying a lot while chewing his hands so I'm pretty sure he's in the thick of it! I'm just worried about giving him foods too early but I don't plan on making it a regular thing just something to soothe and comfort him when he's having a bad time xx

Have you tried the teething gels?
Teething granules (these worked best for both of mine)?
Calpol if he is really bad?

I wouldn't leap to early weaning. I wouldn't have thought frozen fruit to be the best option anyway - frozen chunks could break off which could easily choke him!

I strongly advise against giving any solid food to a 4 month old baby. Weaning should start at 6 months. This advice is evidence based - see the NHS website for further details. As other posters have mentioned, fruit is full of (natural) sugars, acidic and can be corrosive. Try a teething ring that can be cooled, teething granules or a teething liquid that can be rubbed on to the gums to numb them a little. All these items are available at a chemist. If your baby is very unsettled with teething pain you can also give the odd dose of baby paracetamol liquid. These tactics worked for my DS who really suffered when he was teething. This is a normal phase of development, it will pass and your baby will be more settled again!

@mkwar he is just teething, there are plenty of other methods you can try but he will get through it, he's just going to be grumpy because it hurts. The only thing that will take the actual pain away is a bit of Calpol.

Thank you for all your advice everyone I think I will wait my anxiety is telling me to wait aswell and everyone has just solidified that lol xx

It's advised to not give a baby water under 6 months xx

He becomes inconsolable and I don't want to give him calpol all the time, I have tried every teether out there lol and powders and gels x

I've done that but instead of fruit I froze some breast milk (he's ebf) and popped them into the pacificier/dummy bit.

Could you do that with whatever milk he is currently on?

The best thing I found was Ashton & Parsons teething granules. Worked like some sort of wonder drug. When my first was teething, there was a shortage of supply and all the mums at the baby group I went to were passing their spares around like we were all doing illicit drug deals.

I would try those before freezing fruit. The baby isn't looking for interesting new tastes, just something to bash their gums against.

It is actually called baby cocaine in this house 🤣

@mkwar I started off not entering tongue lots of calpol (don’t know why by hey?!) and found the powders an absolute godsend!

Also a cheap (As in not all singing and dancing branded) personalised teeter someone got her has been her go to after trying lots!!

Hi op, it's awful when they're teething and you just want to offer some relief!

I agree with others to wait, there's some evidence to suggest that early introduction to solids can contribute to some allergies (as can late introduction so the guidance of when to introduce solids is based on that sweet spot in the middle).

I would have used a clean cloth tied up into a rope and soaked it in cooled boiled water and then put it in the fridge and let ds chew on it when his were really bad. It's not really introducing water the same way you would give it in a cup to drink, its just getting something cold on those gums that they can chew against.

We also got some teething rings that had water inside and I kept a bag of them in our fridge and ds liked chewing on those. We also had a little silicone mitten that he wore because he teethed quite early and it was easier for him than having to hold something.

Calpol is fine to give if they're sore as long as you're giving it sparingly and as prescribed. If you're breastfeeding I second the frozen breast milk in the teether suggestion, ds loved that. I'm not sure how or if it would work with formula, maybe someone else has tried?

I mainly found that distraction and lots of cuddles was the best overall though. Its tough but it doesn't last forever, hopefully your wee one will get a break from those teeth soon! Ds is currently cutting 4 molars at the same time and we've just been giving calpol as needed because he's been miserable!

It's advised to not give a baby water under 6 months xx

It's advised not to start weaning until 6 months either, but yet here you are asking about it. I'd think water would be preferable to puréed fruit myself, but you're best off getting some teething gels and powders.

Just get him teething granules he will be fine

Medicate him if he's in pain, I'd take painkillers if my teeth hurt so I'd not deny a baby that.

I wouldn't introduce fruit as the first food, better to start with more bitter flavours. Seems like there's other options if it's just to sooth teething.