How much do I feed my 4 month old?

[lovemybabydoll]

Dear All
My baby is 4 months today and I was so very excited to start her on her first foods - cereal. I am bf but want to quit when she's 6 months.
She is so cute trying to learn how to swallow. I made her cereal twice today and she took a few mls each time. She likes it I can tell.
I am not sure how many times a day to try or is there a routine to start working to or do they just eat whenever at this age? I am bf her every 3 hours.
Any thoughts please?
Thanks...x

The guidelines are clear though - websites wanting to be taken seriously should simply quote the guidelines, which are not at all confusing!

6 mths is the recommended time.

Anything earlier, medical advice only.

If mothers are determined not to follow this recommendation, for whatever reason, then they need to know not to wean before 17 weeks.

No I don't think you have to be an academic to be aware of the guidelines, I am merely pointing out that the messages Mum's get are conflicting. This is confusing for some people.

The guidelines say wait until 6 months but almost everywhere else there are messages saying it's ok after 17 weeks, or the misleading term 4 to 6 months.
One of the strongest messages in food labeling. People TRUST food labels in this country, especially brands like 'Hienz' and 'Cow and Gate'.
My health visitor said 17 weeks to me with both my DC.
The older generation, grandmas etc always encorage early weaning because that's how they did it.
The guidelines are clear but the messages in the real world are mixed and confusing.

Mums not Mum's

but websites don't simply quote the guidelines. the bbc, which is a site i guess a lot of people will trust, says about 6 months. some people may consider 5 months about 6 months, other would stick to it rigidly.

and framey is right the messages elsewhere often say from 4 months.

I think the guidelines are very clear, but the things that you 'hear' or get told by other mums/grannies/read in books and magazines are together very confusing. Just this week a friend told me that she'd bf until 6 months because "that's how long they say you should" - of course the guidelines are to exclusively bf until 6 months but she had weaned at 4 months and switched to formula at 6 months and still believed she was following guidelines. She is a well educated, smart person. It does need to be less ambiguously communicated across all the different sources of information.

But mothers should also make the effort to educate themselves, and it's not difficult to do so.

babydoll, my baby is 5 months old (17lb 8oz - she was in the 75th percentile from birth) and was 2 weeks overdue, and I started her on just baby rice a few weeks ago. One tea spoonful and 10 teaspoons of milk. It's hardly anything at all really.
I think it allows the gut to slowly get baby used to food. I've also started to give my a little baby pure baby juice in a cup.

I've just started to learn about BLW and I'm not keen, but interested in reading how others are doing - I have no real opinion on it, but have read the research, etc. Still, personally I'm going to do what I intuitively feel is best for my baby.

The arguments about FF and BF are also quite invalid when there is no choice. I had a terrible birth and BF for 5 weeks before I was admitted to hospital with haemorraging. My milk stopped like turning a tap off and the professionals said my body needed to stop the milk production to ensure I had enough fluids. I was in hospital for a few days, there was no leaking, no return to producing milk - it was gone! Some people have no choice! Yes if there's choice BF for at least 6 months is ideal, as long as mum has a good diet.

Also though, if people are having a go about what you're doing re weaning, then what do we all do about the millions of children who were weaned from 4 months old based on advice until just a few years back. Are we all irresponsible? We can't go back and do things differently. My 6 and 8 year olds were weaned (slowly) from 4 months old and they are almost never ill, in fact I can't remember them having anything more than a little annoying sniff. They have no food intolerances and no allergies and are very fit and healthy. OK, so maybe I and the other millions of parents will discover our kids have problems when they're much older. But, then, in a few years time when our 2009 babies are older, are researchers going to tell us that going from just milk to BLW is bad for your child and that they're going to develop problems when they're older? And are there going to be posts in the future that slate all people who want to use the, what will then be, old fashioned BLW method? It's very tricky. Research is ongoing and there are always new ideas.

My FIL is a GP and he says you have to use common sense. Two of my sister in laws are in the medical profession too and they say that what they do in hospital is totally against public advise, because public advise is a 'safe' option - worst case scenario to cater for those who don't use common sense and feed their 4 month olds things like bisto gravy, and introduce different foods too quickly!

My plan is to very gradually introduce new food types, such as fish, dairy products, various fruits, so I can check my baby isn't intolerant to them and then very slowly introduce soft finger foods.
Now you've started, it's probably best to go with the baby rice (tiny amount) rather than totally stop though. although if it's only been a few days, it's probably easy to stop if you really feel your baby's not ready.

arf @ MaMight

I think I might send my DS down the mine. After all millions of children worked (and still do) down mines...and my FIL was a miner and he probably thought it was alright. Yes I know there is loads of research that says working down mines is not a good idea until you are an adult but all children are individuals and it should be up to me them.

Belle.

I have heard it all when giving a baby solids before six months is equated with sending a child down a mine

rubbish

Hi, I'm answering the original thread (not to get judgement, please!) as it appears that you're looking for advice and not to whether or not it's the right thing to do. My daughter is 19 weeks and, like you, I've been advised (by three different HVs) to wean her early. The main HV I see advised that early weaning is only a problem when people don't know which foods to give - it should only be simple, easily digestible foods like pear, squash, etc (even avocado can be a bit complex this early). The advice I was given was to try small amounts once a day to start with, pureeing to yoghurt consistency, and after a week try to introduce a greater variety, and more often if the baby seems interested. Food should also be given only after a milk feed to ensure the baby gets all its nutritional needs from the milk.

I think Mumsnet is a fantastic forum but there seems to be a quick-to-judge culture which fails to recognise that different methods work for different babies and parents. There are many ways to approach parenting and I think suggesting that anyone is a bad parent for choosing a different approach (even if it differs from govt guidelines, which are only guidelines and don't account for variety in the needs and differing rates of development in different babies) is unhelpful. It's great to offer an opinion if it has been asked for - but misses the point just to criticise. Good luck to the original poster and hope the weaning goes well.

Children are all individuals so why are we judging every case by a blanket government guideline. The same government that advises that young children and pregnant women be vaccinated against swine flu despite the fact vaccine has not been tested at all on those age groups/women (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8185897.stm). I agree breastfeeding as long as you can is best for a babies developing immune system and given current evidence for perchlorates in infant formula breastfeeding is undoubtably safer (www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cdc-study-finds-rocket-fuel-chemical-in-baby-formu la) however, not all babies are the same and not all studies agree with the WHO and government guidelines which are based on studies in developing countries where mothers may not be adequately nourished and water may be unsafe for young babies (women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article1961406.ece). My 20 week old daughter began holding her head up by herself from 10 weeks, showed interest in food from 12 weeks, was grabbing larger objects and biting them from 14 weeks, smaller objects such as small teething items on teething ring from 16 weeks and making chewing motions. She had atopic dermatitis which flared up at five weeks, but has since then has not returned, despite introducing a range of new foods. At 17 weeks she went from feeding every 3 hours to every 1 and a half hours and was over double her birth weight of 8lbs. We have introduced tasting sessions at lunchtime (not too close to bedtime so that it does not upset her routine) letting her try one food at a time, but not as a replacement for breastmilk. She has tried pureed baby rice and breastmilk, potato, carrot, parsnip, butternut squash, pear and apple. She only takes a couple of spoonfuls at most and doesn't push it out with her tongue unless the taste is bitter (broccoli). She even puts her fingers in the food and shoves them in her mouth to taste it! She also grabs the spoon and tries to put this in her mouth. I bf her following the tasting, but find she is hungry within an hour of this as the food is not as nutritious as breastmilk (I demand feed). Since introducing the lunchtime session she no longer feeds every 1 and a half hours and is back to every 3 hours. She is a happy, healthy baby with normal weight gain.

I would say that every baby is different, premature babies and babies with under-developed guts or a lot of colic may need longer before being ready for solids. Also there is scientific evidence that the gut is porous to larger food molecules before 4 months and that food molecules passing into the bloodstream could result in food allergies. I say that you know your child, if they are interested and show signs of being ready like my daughter let them try foods, but don't be in a rush to wean off breastmilk let them go at their pace.

Not every sheep is white.

my son atsrted solids at 15weeks with the ok from 2 doctors and a health nurse. he did fine with it and now ests like a horse and eats anything i give him good luck to you i hope it all works out {smile}

i was told to give him mashed banana mixed with his formula and only a few spoonfuls each time

WTF .

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6663560/New-parents-will-be-told-keep-breastfeeding-don t-rush-to-mush.html

The baby food tins here in Australia say from 4 MONTHS on the label so it must be fine to feed babies solids from 4 months or they wouldnt put it on the labels.

Also i think this new breast feeding till 6month thing is stupid
What about people who cant breastfeed?? they should state formula is ok otherwise it makes women feel useless or stupid for not being able to breastfeed. when my son was born 3yrs ago there was none of this.

I think they would say it to their family and friends, but maybe slightly more tactfully.

I have a friend who has been told it is ok to wean at 4 months because her baby is 16 pounds. I have been trying to very tactfully explain the reasons behind waiting til 6 months. Especially I have just realised her baby isn't 4 months til the middle of december She must be thinking 16 weeks is 4 months.

Wow!! I came on here to see what people's thoughts were about weaning 4-6months old and was pretty disgusted with the majority of people's replys. I have gone out of my way to sign up so I could leave this message. A first time mum or a mother of 4, if someone is asking for advise and is unsure they should in no way be made to feel like they are stupid!! The whole reason is to give your knowledge not put other mothers down. I doubt I will be coming back here anytime soon.

Mygirl2016 this thread is 7 years old!! It's a zombie thread.

Wow!! Very judgemental! Keep your nasty opinions to yourself I say! Everyone is only trying their best as a mother.

@lovemybabydoll please ignore all of the nasty negative comments... my baby girl has just turned 4 months and I can't wait for her to try little bits of new foods! I think it's important to slowly introduce them x