DD 4mth old, have started&rusks on baby rice. wrong?

[Imawurzel]

As it says, i started my DD on baby rice 3 weeks ago, (she was 4 months old on thursday)
I did this because she started waking up in the night, going to bed at 9 (have tried earlier,she's not having it) then she wakes at 1.30, 3.30 6.30 and up at 8 or so.
in the book i get from tesco it says your baby might be ready if they wake more,interested in your food, seem hungry after feed etc.
She is all of these.
I have been giving her mushed rusk for breakfast and tea time for the past week.
she likes it, doesn't spit it all out.
The only thing i don't know is how much milk she's having, i'm bf her.
I've got baby clinic on tuesday and thinking of telling hv that i have done this but think she's gonna scold me.
Am i doing wrong??
Sorry for essay.
TIA.

Well I presume you know the guidelines say wait till 6 months?

At 4 months its very common for babies to have a growth spurt which usually results in them waking more.
The grabbing food, watching you eat etc is just an age thing. They become more aware and alert so they will naturally be interested in what you are doing.

Milk has far more calories in than food so she will fill up more on that.
The times she wakes in the night, is she feeding?
Could you offer her more milk?

Babies have growth spurts where they are super hungry for a day or 2, then they have more milk after that. I personally found starting solids at 6 months to be way easier, because then you don't have to worry about crappy baby rice (disgusting stuff! Try it!) or pureeing everything - my baby ate brocolli spears, avocado slices, food like that right from the start. Saves loads of money on buying those tiny jars of babyfood too!

Did it solve the problem of night wakings?

I offered dd2 proper food too instead of purees etc, but I started to do this at 5 months because she was definitely reaady. You know your baby best, but I agree with BB re baby rice being disgusting. If she likes it though...........
Is she sleeping for longer since you started to give her baby rice aand rusks?

Rusks are as sugary as a donut (relatively speaking!) Not an ideal weaning food - even the low sugar ones have a lot of sugar in. That's why babies like them.

Would stick to plain baby rice and pureed veg if you are really keen to continue.

There is some suggestion that early weaning may lead to disorders such as IBS, as baby's guts aren't mature enough to manage solid food. The simple fact that there are so many things that you can't give babies under 6 months suggests that perhaps weaning early isn't the best idea.

I do want to criticise, but you asked for opinions. In my opinion it's not a great idea to wean early, certainly not 3.5 months.

It's a pain being up in the night but I would just go with more bfing. The waking up thing is a classic growth spurt, it's totally normal.

thanks for all your replies.
i can take all comments.

i have read about problems etc, was wondering about that. my mum gave her her first baby rice. i have tasted it,not nice at all!!
it's kinda solved the night wakings, she now goes from 9 til 4.30 then has a feed and sleeps til 8.30, i always feed her as soon as she wakes in the night and change her as she's rather wet.
why do they do food from 4m+ if it's not ideal. mad.
sorry for any typo's feeding DD as i type.

They do food labelled as 'suitable from 4 months' because they care about profits more than the health of babies.

Agreed with everyone else that the way to go is more bf. Baby rice contains pretty much nothing in the way of calories, protein, minerals, vitamins etc, so be careful that your dd's milk intake doesn't drop as she needs what is in breastmilk.

Feeding her at 4 months won't make her sleep through the night. At this age it is all about getting used to food, not about getting what she will need later to grow as she should still have milk as much as before. Too young at 4months imo, but hey, she is your child.

I'd avoid things with gluten if I were you - although my ds is gluten intolerant despite my best efforts!

i have not reduced bf at all i offer her a feed whenever she wants it.
yesterday morning i gave her a feed which lasted 15 minutes she was still a bit whiny after burping,so i made up some rusks and she was fine after.
she won't take it if she doesn't want it. she did it the other day, spat it all out and turned her head.
i appreciate all your comments. this is a good place to come and ask q's.

I wouldn't worry about the HV. Mine told me to wean dd2 at 4 months! I weaned her at 5 as I thought that she was ready, although I weaned dd1 at 4 months as those were the guidelines at the time.