Baby Food

Question: Feeding baby food too early??

(Posted by: seximama4u86 on 2008-07-31 23:50:33)

My daughter is about two months and already eatting 4 oz. every 2- 3 hrs. and its not enough for her. She screams constantly til her next feeding. Then she screams when i take the bottle out of her mouth to burp her as well...Is it too early to start her on cereal or oatmeal? The doc says its unhealthy for her to eat more then 4 oz. per feeding at this age but says she is too young for cereal, so what can i do? Doc says to give her water which i do, but even that doesnt work. What can i do to hold her over until her next feeding. She will not take a pacifier. BTW my daughter is 7 weeks old. She was 7 lbs. 1 oz at birth and is now 9 lbs. She bottle feeds every 2- 3 hrs. at 4 oz. per bottle... I dont know if any of those details will help... I would like to start putting cereal in her bottles is it too early? And when will i be able to start her on baby foods. I know doctors say 6 mos, but i just dont think she will be able to hold off that long. I was going to try at 4 mos...any suggestions or opinions (only nice and helpful) are welcome and appreciated! also the doc says she is colicy which makes it hard to distinguish the difference between hungry cries and crying for no reason, but everytime i put the bottle in her mouth she stops crying... so i deal with crying for periods of 2- 3 hrs. at a time before during (when i need to burp her) and after every bottle... she will eat more then 4 oz. if i give it to her. i tried giving her 6 oz. a few times and she ate it without throwing it up but doc says its too much at one feeding for her belly to handle.

Posted by: twinmama08 on 2008-07-31, 23:55:37

Our pediatrician says no water til 4 monthsm jusice at 5 months and baby food at 5 months. They started us on putting rice cereal in the bottles at under 2 months because of reflux.

Posted by: Tiffanyâ„¢ on 2008-07-31, 23:55:50

If you're going to give her cereal, don't put it in the bottle. Also, are you just giving her the 4 ounces because the doctor says so, or because that's all she eats? It's odd how your doctor okays giving her water, but not rice cereal... Edit - feed your baby the amount she wants...very rarely will a baby "overeat ", when her belly is full she will simply refuse the bottle

Posted by: Mommy♥ on 2008-08-01, 00:01:20

Yes, it's too early for cereal. ESPECIALLY with a spoon... do NOT feed her with a spoon because it can go straight to her lungs, and if she chokes, her neck muscles aren't strong enough for her to cough it back up. If she needs to eat 6 oz., then feed her 6 oz. I don't know what Doctor would tell you to starve your baby, but I think you need to see a new one.

Posted by: Tina C on 2008-08-01, 00:02:24

Your baby shouldn't have anything besides formula until about 5 months. If your daughter wants more formula give her more don't make her be hungry. Up her formula to 5 or 6 oz and she will probably go longer. There is nothing wrong with giving your baby more formula. No cereal until like 4 or 5 months. Don't worry she's just hungry.

Posted by: starlight8 on 2008-08-01, 00:05:08

Our first child had reflux and colic and we decided to put her on baby rice at 3 months and it helped her alot but I would wait till she is 3 months...No cereal in bottles just keep giving her bottles till then, we had to give her reflux formula and put thickener in her bottles and I had to give her a 12 month teat cause it came out slow and by 6 months when she was crawling and had been eating food for 3 months her reflux had gone down and her colic well we just persisted with it and gave her drops and I would feed her every 3-4 hours and if when she cried in the middle of that well she did and i just sat with her and rubbed her belly and gave her warm baths.... It's really hard to say cause we are not there to hear you little one cry in pain and we dont know all her different cries so we dont know but all i can say it stick to what you know and wait till she is at least 3 months to start her on baby cereal and maybe get someone to come help you out more and give you some time out cause baby might ba picking up on that and crying for that reason... Good luck mummy and try not to stress cause you daughter will pick up on that... EDIT: dont let a doctor tell you it is to much to feed your child, if you child is hungry then feed it how ever much milk your child wants :) I had a midwife try and tell me that 60mills was to much for my 2 week old but it is what she wanted sometimes and she is a little baby...

Posted by: Alexanders Momma on 2008-08-01, 00:07:13

Well, I know I "ll probably get crap for this but at 2 months my son was the same way about nursing but he wanted to nurse constantly and cried if I took him off my breast I could barely get away to go the bathroom. He wouldn't take a bottle til recently and he's 6 months old and even now he won't get full off a bottle unless he keeps having one after another and he's a little guy. I started introducing rice cereal (which isn't suppose to cause allergies very easily my dr. told me) at 3 1/ 2 months. I just mixed it with my expressed milk or you can use formula. He did fine with the spoon and was happy when I gave it to him then nursed. I started giving baby food at 41/ 2 months and he's been doing great. No problems going the bathroom just healthy and happy. My dr. advised me not to since food allergies have become more popular but told me the baby's have been feed at muh early ages in their life and been fine. My mom and many people her age tell me they gave their baby's solids at 3 months and don't remember having to wait a week between foods and stuff. I don't have food allergies in my family and I know a lot of moms who feed their babies earlier than 6 months. They just don't get full off of breastfeeding or formula without having to constantly eat. I would just say first talk to your ped. about it or try and wait a lil longer a couple more weeks at least maybe and then introduce some rice cereal with formula before a feeding. Then solids like a month later.

Posted by: mushmarllows on 2008-08-01, 00:25:59

I was told by the doctor to wait until 4 months but my mom started us at 3mths so I started giving my son some this month(3mths) but small quantities just to see how he would do. He is doing fine so faar. But you should wait until at least 3 mths. With my baby when he is hungry I give him as much as he needs, and the doctor approves! Babies grow in spurts and sometimes they just need more. Plus they start to get more active and up there metabolisms

Posted by: Tiffany V on 2008-08-01, 00:33:14

WAY too early. Give her as much to drink as she wants, babies were made to breastfeed as much as they want to, so I don't understand why it would be different with a breastmilk supplement. You will seriously damage her ability to absorb nutrients and metabolise properly throughout life if you give her anything other than breastmilk or a breastmilk substitute before 4 months earliest.

Posted by: shannon_mom_of_three on 2008-08-01, 00:41:17

I would up the formula before starting any solids

Posted by: starr_jewell03 on 2008-08-01, 01:30:52

Why did your doc say not to let her eat more that 4 ozs? How is that unhealthy? My dr would have loved my daughter to eat that much! You feed a baby when they are hungry not at a certain hr. especially one so young. I would def. get a second opinion from a different doctor. if it was too much for her belly to handle she wouldn't have been able to drink more before.