Feedings

[ammanda]

So I started Cole on 6 oz of formula today, he turned 4 months old. is that too much?  i also started using the big bottles today and for bought all medium flow nipples, he ate the first bottle soo fast.  with the slow nipple i was only burping him twice through the 5 oz.  so with having starting the new nipple, im gonna start burping him more again, till he gets used to it, but it was taking him so long to eat a bottle with the slow flow, so i changed. hope its not too early.

Also i ask if its too much cause someone told me yesterday that you should never go past 6oz of formula for a baby, cause it will cause them to be over weight, to never get to 8 oz.. is that true..

im gonna start doing cereal next month by spoon, is it better to mix it with formula or baby juice?

I cant wait for 2 more months when i can start him on baby food!! hes getting soo big!!!

Oh and one more thing,  Cole had his shots coming up at the end of the month. is his ped. supposed to explain all the feedings of solids like how much and how often, and when to start water and juice or am i supposed to figure that out for myself?  Im a first time mom, and i feel like i have no idea what im doing again like i did when he was born, but i came to realize that it all came natural to me, so im hoping this does too.

[SunWorshiper_26]

I agree you are doing a great job try not to stress really at this age there isn't right and wrong it's all just school of thought and different opinion. Cole will tell you when he's hungry and how hungry he is and you obviously understand what he needs so just keep listening and trust your instincts :). You are a great mama!

[ammanda]

Thanks hun, your alot of help, and I appreciate it, im gonna def talk to his ped at his appointment next week.   4 oz every three hours wow, Coles been on 5 oz since 3 months and he eats like a champ.  So I moved it to 6 oz cause he was acting still hungry. and he eats that just fine.  Did you ever move to medium flow or anything?  

Thanks, its hard not to stress, i just dont wanna mess up you know, but i know in the end ill come to realize that it will all come natural to me like when he was born.

[smjmekg]

With Elijah I started out by giving him a little bit mid morning, I mean like two teaspoonfuls, remember they're used to s*cking on a bottle, it's a lot different than eating off a spoon. So I would just give him a couple bites, just to see if he was interested and let him practice with the spoon.

I got a lot of different opinions on which to start with, and I honestly don't fully believe that if you start them on fruit they won't eat veggies, because when Elijah was eating baby food his favorite, unfortunately, was green peas! I say unfortunately because when he was around 9-10 months he developed an allergy (same reaction happened twice and I asked ped.) to them. WHICH is something to keep in mind. Elijah had been eating peas for a few months, and one day broke out in hives from his face to his belly button, started having trouble breathing, and puked. I don't mean baby spit up puke, I mean vomiting/puke, just like an adult would do. That is NOT at all to scare you but to warn you that babies CAN develop an allergy.

I continued to give Elijah the same amount of formula, I actually had WIC and they gave me a pamphlet on how many ounces babies need every day. Not sure what it was...I just added one extra feeding a day, and moved it up to two and then three...I watched him and how he acted, when I was eating and he wanted food, I'd give him some of his, go off your instincts.

As far as the juice goes, I'd give Elijah 2 oz of the Gerber baby juice mixed with 2 oz of water. That I would give to him once every couple days, more often if it had been a couple days since he went #2. With Cole, your dr already has him on meds, and honestly I'd ask about the juice and baby food at the next appointment before giving him either. If anything, just to get an opinion on what to do about his #2 problems and solids.

The faster flow nipple does sound to me like the reason behind the puking. Although, I will say that at 4 months my ped said to give Elijah 4 oz every three hours, but if you think Cole can handle 6 oz then he can handle it...

You're doing good Mama! Don't worry and stress about it too much, like I said go with your instincts, and believe it or not, he'll let you know what he needs. He can't talk yet, but I'm sure you know he can communicate!

[ammanda]

For one im not giving him 8 oz, he just started 6 oz.  I dont think he pukes from over eating, i think its from eating too fast.  cause he really doesnt puke much, just lately when I changed nipples so I switched back, and he hasnt puked yet since i switched back.  

Smjmekg: I thought you were supposed to start veggies first.  i wanna start cereal next month but im affraid of over feeding, and i dont know how much to start or when in the day i should do it. and if im still supposed to give him the same amount of bottles through the day.  Cole has had problems since birth with #2 also, hes actually on a medicine for it right now, that hes been on for alomst 2 months that helps him, his ped. gave me three things of it, and told me to keep giving it to him till his next visit, so i dont know what shes gonna do next, cause hes still having problems, he doesnt go number 2 and then when i give that to him he goes within like 5 minutes.  How much juice do you start with, and do u sub that for a bottle, or give it to him between bottle times?

[smjmekg]

Just wanted to add my two cents. I wasn't big on giving Elijah anything sugary/sweet. I actually started him on fruit first, and now at two he'll eat grapes/apples/pears/peaches, that I buy at the store, BUT he LOVES veggies too...green beans, carrots, broccoli...

I was told I could start him on cereal at 4 months, so I gave him a little bit maybe once a day and 5 months he was eating some fruits and 6 months veggies...I waited until he was about 10 months to do meats. I didn't breast feed (supply issues).

With the juice I was giving him the Gerber juice watered down at 4 months, because he had issues going #2, he'd had them since birth...the juice helped some when he was constipated. I agree with Ashelen on the juice, Gerber makes a little bottle that's only about 4 oz.

[julianovak]

Wow 8 oz a feeding is a lot for a 4 month old.... And yea sometimes there appitite levels off and sometimes you can en up with  a two yr old who weighs a good big 40 lbs.... Ppl seem to think a chubby toddler or preschooler is cute but that's an open door to diabetes and obesity. Here in the state i live in they test kids as young as 2 for all sorta of issues if they are on the higher end of percentiles..... Remember 50%ile is the norm bigger then that is basically "big" just like in adults.... My doc Always told me if a Baby is content after eating he doesn't need more. And if he pukes then he is over eating..... Just what my pediatric told me..... She been a doc for 40 years

[Ashelen]

I just want to say that from experience the advantage to the Gerber is that it comes in small bottles so that you're not serving such a young baby juice (prone to bacteria) out of a large, open container.

[SunWorshiper_26]

Once Cole reaches an age where you want to let him drink juice they make a juicebox called "Fruitables" by Apple and Eve that is all fruit and veggies so no corn syrup no additives or even food coloring. It's also organic for those who find organic important. But for now you are right Cole doesn't need juice and there is no benefit to giving him juice at this point. They don't even need to drink water no should they drink water at this point so you can hold off on the juice for a while :). Often times the juices by Gerber and other companies marketing juice for young children are either the same as adult juice with fun characters on the container to entice children or they are watered down aka "less sugar" in which case it's cheaper to buy the regular juice and mix it with half water lol.

Happy feeding! :)

[ammanda]

Tired:  No im def not forcing it on him to make feeding times longer.  He eats the 6 oz great and is still hungry every 3 hours just like he was, so he just needed alil extra. although i did switch back to the slow flow cause i just felt like he was choking and eating way too fast, and kinda throwing up alil more then usual.  so ill wait alil longer.

I hope she will, ill ask her. but yea ill def use formula for the cereal next month, im gonna get the okay from his ped at the end of this month before i actually start the cereal.  

And okay, its good to know theres no difference, cause I really dont want him having juice, maybe just maybe once a day or every so often, i dont know yet

[tiredbuthappy]

Sounds like he was ready for the medium flow nipple. I think 6 oz of formula at 4 months is OK as long as that is what HE is looking for. My concern is when people give babies extra ounces just to stretch out feeds, especially at a younger age than Cole. His number of ounces daily will actually begin to level off since his growth will naturally begin to slow. In addition, as he starts food in the coming months, it will make it less likely that you'll need to increase the number of ounces.
You pediatrician should be able to give you a print-out of feeding guidelines. There are many different approaches (grains first, veggies first, etc...) and different reasons for taking each route. However, I think the main rules are to introduce foods 1 at a time, and to wait at least 3 days before trying something else to make sure there is no reaction.

Gerber juice is no different or better than any other juice, other than they are making a lot of money by marketing juice for babies in smaller packaging. It's usually recommended you  make cereal with formula.

The most important thing is to follow your baby's lead. If he's extremely interested in foods, sits well, and can swallow at 4 months then you can go ahead with solids. If not, then just be patient and keep trying every few weeks. The problems with parent's overriding the baby's natural ability to limit food consumption comes when food is forced on a child.

[ammanda]

bella: Congrats on your baby!  I always meant to do that when i was pregnant, like write all my questions down for my ob, but I always forgot. i have a horrible memory, or id write them down and forget the paper at home, or put my paper in my purse so i didnt forget it, then the next day deside not to carry my purse just my wallet. lol..  So thats pretty much a loss cause.   Good luck on the breastfeeding hope it works out for you!

Sunworshiper: I never wanted to give my kid juice, just milk and water.  I think juice is bad for you.  all the sugar.  but isnt the baby juice from gerber good for them.  Id hate to give my son anything with Sugar. I dont want him having Soda, candy or Juice.  Bad teeth are really common in my family.   and I dont want him to get it, I know all about the one at a time rule, I just dont understand how many times a day im supposed to give him solids or how much and how much formula to still give him.  

[SunWorshiper_26]

A baby will never overeat and become fat so don't worry about that :) if they are hungry they eat if they are full they stop. Many people do not recommend juice until 1 yr or later as it doesn't have much in it that they need. I would suggest mixing it with breast milk or formula bc that's all they really truly need until 1 year of age. The ped should explain the feeding stuff but you may want to ask. They tell you when baby is ready to start solid foods. Some peds say 3mths start w cereal some say wait until 6mths to introduce solid foods. Either way won't hurt baby and really we only do it at this age for our benefit (it's fun!) but they don't need it. Everything they need to grow in the first year is breastmilk/formula. Generally speaking when you introduce solid foods avoid anything that you or hubby has an allergy to. Also avoid peanut butter and there are a few others. You usually start w veggies (once they have a sweet tooth often times it becomes harder to get them to want to eat veggies bc the fruit it sweet and yummy). Only introduce one fruit or veggie per every 3 days so if there is an allergy you know which food it was that caused an allergy.  This will also be when you notice a change in diapers more stinky and such thanks to solid foods ;). They also make a fabulous yogurt for when baby is ready for it called Yo Baby yogurt many people mix baby cereal into this yogurt too.

I hope this info helps :)

[bellabits]

When is your next peds appt? I'm a new mommy too and what I would do is write down all of your questions no matter how trivial they may seem and when you go in unfold your questions and just go down the list. I find their adds things as they go giving me a more complete answer then what I really asked. Sorry I couldn't be more help, but we are only 9days old so we are still working out the kinks in the whole breast feeding thing =). Good luck!!!