Is It Ok To Feed My 3 Month Old Stage 1 Baby Foods?
4 January 2010
My daughter is 3 months old, and wants to eat all the time!!! She eats every 2 hours during the day and night. I don’t mind it so much during the day but, at night I don’t get much sleep. I am still breastfeeding and will continue to do so for a few more months. I don’t want to rush into feeding her solids but I don’t know what else to do. If any of you out there have any suggestions please pass them along.
You know what, ignore all them… they are just text book freaks.
the health visitor and all them read out of text books… if you think your baby is ready for solids then go for it.
my mum fed me and my siblings baby rice at 6 weeks and weere on stage 1 food at 3 months and we are all fine and healthy and not obese at all. i am a size 8-10.
my baby is 2 and a half months and i am waiting untl he is 3 months to start him on baby rice then 4 months he will be on the stage 1 jars.
good luck and you know your baby best so do what you think is right.
My daughter just turned 3 months over the weekend and she is still eating every 2 hours during the day and just recently she started sleeping more at night…but I still get up with her once – sometimes twice – during the night.
I think it’s okay for the age that they are at though. They are growing so much that they need the food.
Somethings that I have read that could help are:
-Wake baby before you turn in and feed…even if she is 1/2 a sleep b/c it will help fill her tummy and maybe give you some sleeping room.
-Supplement with formula in the evening as long as your milk supply is okay.
Someone once told me that things like this are just phases. So, although it may be hard, don’t worry…it will not always be like this. Next week things could be different! I wouldn’t rush into solids, but talk to her Dr about the cereal. It’s what you would start with anyways…although the 1st instances of it are supposed to be for “fun”. Good luck and hang in there!
hi,
if don’t want to start solids – it’s fine.. it’s ok to start baby food from month 4.. i’m a new mom of 2 month old.. my baby eats also every 2 hours during a day (not that often at night though) and i was concern about the same (baby’s hungry and i don’t produce enough milk, and my baby hates formula which i tried to give as a suppliment), so my mom told me one trick she used when i was a baby and my mom’s milk was gone when i was 3 months and i didn’t take formula either).. you take regular cow milk (don’t be scared, it’s ok to give cow milk to a baby no matter what people say, just it has to be boiled), and add some semolina, just a little bit,cook it for 5 minutes stiring so it’s thin enough to flow through the bottle’s nipple…you can make it once a day for the whole day supply or even make it every other day – it’s up to you! so it’s not gonna make baby’s food solid and it’s gonna be very nutritious, so your baby will stay full longer and you’ll get some sleep finally!!!
Hi there
I wouldnt feed solids to a 3 month old she wont be able to manage the food and you would probably have problems with solids later on, seen it in other babies that start solids too early.
I would think that shes probably not getting enough from your breastmilk. I was breastfeeding my son every 2hrs and he was never happy along with the advise from my midwife I introduced a formula feeding at the 5 o clock feed and it was like night and day. He was a happy contented baby. I know breastmilk is best but sometimes it is just not fatty enough to satisfy their hunger.
just let her feed has much as she wants. remember she is only 3 months old , she is probable having growth spurt. if she is having a growth spurt she will be feeding a lot more to increase your milk supply to compensate for her demands.
weather to start giving her solids is your decision, but i my still breastfeeding my son who is 11 months and i didn’t give him anything until 6 months .,
if i were you I’d wait .
also before 6 months your baby’s stomach cant digest solid food probably .
i don’t want to put a dampener on breastfeeding but my son is still feeding 2-3 times every night and he 11 months,also breastfed baby’s usually go about 90Min’s between feeds .
good luck
Usually at three months they are going though a growth spurt, mine did and she ate all the time as well. It isnt a good idea to put her on stage one baby foods. They shouldn’t begin that until they are 6 mths of age. The only possible food would be rice cereal but 3 months is pushing that as well. The young babies cannot digest solids very well at this age. My best bet would be to just try and wait it out, she should stop eating every two hours at night after her growth spurt is done. If this doesn’t happen then talk to your doctor. But if it is a growth spurt, trust me, it does come to an end.
you can try to start feeding her cereal at 4 month but dont put it in a bottle ive read that it bad. for now tryfeeding her longer switching betweem breasts every 15 minutesthen when shes done burp her and try out a pacifier. she may not be hungry, maybe really wanting to suck. if she dont take to it at first hld it for her until she understands what to do with it then if she lets out that hunger cry feed her. my baby always ate every 3 hrs then when he got 6 months he started going 4 hrs apart at night only, now hes up to 6hrs at 8 months. however the whole cereal thing before bed to make then feel fuller dosent work as well as you want to believe, i know some people swear by it but im think thyat their baby would have slept the same amt of time wether or not theyve had cereal. try the pacifier tho, my son liked to suck alot. i use mams
people and doctors say not too do it but my doctor actually told me I could start my son on it at that age…he wouldnt quit eating all the time he told me to put like a tablespoon and a half inside a six ounce bottle of milk. I was told to do it once in the morning the following day to see if he had any reactions but from there on it was once in the morning for breakfast and once at night before bed..talk to your doctor tell them you daughter just cant be satisfied and tell them that you are thinking about a little bit of baby cereal in her bottle too settle her tummy
I started my daughter at 14 weeks on a little baby rice. She took it willingly, i didn’t force her. Everyones baby is different. My daughter was very hungry and that’s why i started early. She was drinking over 8oz formula every 2 hours, the rice helped her slow down a little. Now we do baby porridge, vegetables and fruit throughout the day. The main bulk of her diet is formula. She’s 22 weeks and a very happy baby. Try it out and if she doesn’t take it wait a while. You’ll know. Good Luck
It is best to wait until she is 6 months old. You should wait until your baby is showing you these signs:
he is about six months old
he can sit up without any support
he continues to be hungry despite more frequent nursing which is unrelated to illness or teething
he has lost the tongue-thrusting reflex and does not push solids out of his mouth
he can pick up things with his finger and thumb (pincer grasp)
If you really feel she is ready then talk to your doctor for advice.
You have to keep on giving your baby milk. If you are too tired to feed her at night then why not express milk into a bottle or supplement her with formula so your partner can help with the night feeds.
The earliest you can start giving a baby solids is at 4 months.
Sweetie, I HAVE 4very Healthy grown up children.The Eldest being 34,The youngest 20.
I Started them on solids at 3 months,because
none of them were satisfied on baby formula .
Make sure you start with very bland baby food,
and try to avoid the puddings,savoury is best.
They Would Not Have baby food on the market for 3month young If It Was Not Safe.
When mine were little there were very little choices in food for babies,so I Cooked and pureed most of it.
Each Baby Is Individual,Take No Notice Of All
The TUT/TUTS and go with your Instincts as a Mother. Good Luck.
WELL I HAVE TAKEN CHILDCARE CLASSES AND THE EARLIEST YOU CAN START SOLID FOODS IS 4 MONTHS
AND THATS ONLY LIKE CERAL AND MAYBE STAGE 1 BABY FOODS BUT ADD A LITTLE BIT OF WATER TO IT TO MAKE IT SOFTER…
OTHER THAN THAT YOUR HUNGRY LITTLE BABY WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTILL SHES OLDER..
AND CONGRATS ON TH EBABY GIRL!!
GOOD LUCK
<3
My son ate every hour and a half to two hours. That’s not a lot. he ate less ounces than kids who ate every few hours. Please don’t push solids. it does not help. My son started solids at 5 and 3/4 months and STILL drank every hour and a half to two hours. Sorry, but this is all part of the first year!
NO, you should not. You should only start cereal mixed with hot water when they are between 4-6 months and that is if they show interest in it. LIke when your eating and they see you and they try to reach for the spoon. Thats when. I hope you dont. Remember babies can go on just formula/ breast milk until 8-12 months…. Good luck..
Mother of a 3 year old and 4 1/2 months prego.
Love i started feeding my first born at 6 weeks i gave him purity cereal and i tell you he loved it am not saying that all baby’s are the same am just saying that if you thing that it’s OK i started with one teaspoon and worked it up from there it’s all up to you
good luck happy motherhood
YOu really shouldn’t start with rice cereal until between 4-6 months of age and that should be the first solid foods you give her! Eating every 2 hours is normal because breast milk digests faster than formula…….
Your baby’s eating habits sound normal for her age, so I do not understand how you see it as a problem.
Yes it is too young for that, try waiting a couple more months. I think she is not yet mature enough for anything but your milk.
Solid food introduced too early can cause allergies and intestinal bleeding causing anemia. My son is 4 months and still eating every 2-3hrs as well. Solids shouldn’t be started until 4-6 months, closer to 6 for a breastfed baby.
Cereal should be introduced at 4 to 6 months. If your child has allergies, then later.
It’s perfectly normal to feed that often, it’s only temporary and you should definitely not rush her into solids. Why not express some milk so your partner can help put during the night?
try to put it off until 4months – most baby foods start then – but if you really cannot cope a tiny amount of baby rice might be the answer best to ask your health visitor – all of mine were like this
NO
hi ive never breastfed but if your thinking of putting her on formula id give her formula milk at night and a bit of rusk which should help fill her tum then she should sleep through. my lad was on solids at 6 wks and he always slept through the nite. good luck
Feed her more breastmilk during the day. Soilds shouldnt be fed till 6 months or later.
NO, babies arent supposed to have that food til like 8 months!
no not yet, i remember that when my brother was a baby my mom started solids with him when he was like 6 months old
Feeding solids will in no way make your baby sleep longer at night. Even though babies eat when they wake at night it is not hunger that wakes them.
My first woke at LEAST every two hours until he was 2 years old. My second slept through the night from birth to 4 months, now he is up 2-5 time per night.http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp
An important fact for you to remember is that your baby’s sleep habits are more a reflection of your baby’s temperament rather than your style of nighttime parenting. And keep in mind that other parents usually exaggerate how long their baby sleeps, as if this were a badge of good parenting, which it isn’t. It’s not your fault baby wakes up. http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids…
Will giving formula or solids at night help baby to sleep better?
The idea that solids will help your baby sleep is an old wives’ tale that has been disproven by medical studies. Feeding your baby solids or formula in an attempt to make baby sleep longer is not a good idea for several reasons:
There’s no evidence that it will help. Some babies will sleep worse, due to reactions to the formula or solids (tummy ache, etc. are not uncommon), particularly if baby is younger than around 6 months. Two studies have indicated that adding solids to the diet does not cause babies to sleep longer. These studies found no difference in the sleep patterns of babies who received solids before bedtime when compared to babies who were not given solids. Here are the two studies:
Macknin ML, Medendorp SV, Maier MC. Infant sleep and bedtime cereal. Am J Dis Child. 1989 Sep;143(9):1066-8.
Keane V, et al. Do solids help baby sleep through the night? Am J Dis Child 1988; 142: 404-05.
Formula requires a baby’s digestive system to work overtime as baby tries to digest something not specific to the human body. Formula is harder to digest than human milk; thus formula-fed babies tend to go longer between feedings. While this may seem like a benefit, it’s probably not something we want for our babies’ bodies unless there are no other alternatives. There are also risks to formula use (see What should I know about infant formula?). It certainly has a place in infant feeding but probably shouldn’t be used whenever mom’s milk – either directly from the source or expressed – is available.
Early introduction of solids (before six months) carries its own set of risks.
Recent research suggests that longer stretches of deep sleep are associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and babies who sleep longer/deeper may be more vulnerable to SIDS (see in particular the research of James McKenna, PhD). Some scientists are saying that it appears that long sleep stretches are not “natural” for human infants and that sleep interruptions in the early months may provide a protective factor against SIDS. More research is needed on this subject, but parents might want to think twice about significantly manipulating baby’s natural sleep pattern in the early months.http://kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/slee…
Sadler S. Sleep: what is normal at six months?
Prof Care Mother Child 1994 Aug-Sep;4(6):166-7.
In this study, part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC), researchers surveyed the parents of 640 babies. Some of the results:
* Only 16% slept through the night at six months old — 84% were not sleeping through the night at 6 months
* 17% woke more than once per night, ranging from twice to eight times
* 5% woke once every night
* 9% woke most nights
* 50% woke occasionally
* 16% of six-month-olds had no regular sleeping pattern
Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children.
Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.
The above study is the definitive work on sleeping habits of (Australian) children to 38 months. The researchers surveyed 3269 parents, with a 96.5% response rate, over a one week period. The parents had to report on their child’s sleeping habits over the past 24 hours, plus answer a few questions related to their perceptions of their child’s sleep behavior.
What did they find?
* There is a wide range of normal childhood sleep behavior.
* Circadian rhythm is not well established until four months of age.
* Daytime sleep becomes less regular with increasing age, the most marked reduction in length occurs around 3 months of age. However, a surprising 11% under 3 months of age don’t have a daytime sleep every day.
* Frequent night waking that disturbs parents is common from 4-12 months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night).
* Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months.
* Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their child’s sleep behavior.
* Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. It is not until after 24 months that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less common.
Although this study did not address breastfeeding, it is relevant because a lack of understanding of “normal” sleep patterns can lead to supplementing, early solids, belief there is not enough milk, etc. The authors claim it also leads to misdiagnosis of gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) and overuse of sedative medication. A worrying 31% of 25-38 month-old children were disciplined (mostly smacking) to get them to settle. 27% of parents let their children cry, 11% at less than one month.
Scher A. A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year.
Child Care Health Dev 1991 Sep-Oct;17(5):295-302.
Abstract: A longitudinal study of the development of sleep patterns addressed the issue of continuity and change in night waking in the course of the first year. Mothers of 118 infants, who took part in a follow-up study of normal babies, completed a sleep questionnaire at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Regular night waking was a common characteristic throughout the first year:
Baby’s age
% babies waking at night
3 months
46%
6 months
39%
9 months
58%
12 months
55%
The number of awakenings per night was a function of age. Following a decline in the number of interruptions from 3 to 6 months, an increase in night waking at age 9 months was recorded. Although the methodology does not lend itself to an objective validation of the changes in sleep-wake states, nor is it suitable for causal explanations, it is, nevertheless, important to note this profile. The increase in night waking towards the end of the first year coincides with significant socio-emotional advances which characterize this developmental stage.
Elias MF, Nicolson NA, Bora C, Johnston J. Sleep/wake patterns of breast-fed infants in the first 2 years of life. Pediatrics. 1986 Mar;77(3):322-9.
Abstract: Published norms for infant sleep/wake patterns during the first 2 years of life include an increase in length of maximum sleep bout from four to five to eight to ten hours by 4 months but little decrease in total sleep in 24 hours from 13 to 15 hours. Thirty-two breast-fed infants were followed for 2 years and data collected on 24-hour patterns of nursing and sleep. Infants who were breast-fed into the second year did not develop sleep/wake patterns in conformance with the norms. Instead of having long unbroken night sleep, they continued to sleep in short bouts with frequent wakings. Their total sleep in 24 hours was less than that of weaned infants. This pattern was most pronounced in infants who both nursed and shared a bed with the mother, common practices in many nonwestern cultures. The sleep/wake development accepted as the physiologic norm may be attributable to the early weaning and separated sleeping practiced in western culture. As prolonged breast-feeding becomes more popular in our society, the norms of sleep/wake patterns in infancy will have to be revised.http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepth…
The same is true of sleeping. Human children are designed to be sleeping with their parents. The sense of touch is the most important sense to primates, along with sight. Young primates are carried on their mother’s body and sleep with her for years after birth, often until well after weaning. The expected pattern is for mother and child to sleep together, and for child to be able to nurse whenever they want during the night. Normal, healthy, breastfed and co-sleeping children do not sleep “through the night” (say 7-9 hours at a stretch) until they are 3-4 years old, and no longer need night nursing. I repeat — this is NORMAL and HEALTHY. Dr. James McKenna’s research on co-sleeping clearly shows the dangers of solitary sleeping in young infants, who slip into abnormal patterns of very deep sleep from which it is very difficult for them to rouse themselves when they experience an episode of apnea (stop breathing). When co-sleeping, the mother is monitoring the baby’s sleep and breathing patterns, even though she herself is asleep. When the baby has an episode of apnea, she rouses the baby by her movements and touch. This is thought to be the primary mechanism by which co-sleeping protects children from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In other words, many cases of SIDS in solitary sleeping children are thought to be due to them having learned to sleep for long stretches at a time at a very early age, so they find themselves in these deep troughs of sleep, then they may experience an episode of apnea, and no one is there to notice or rouse them from it, so they just never start breathing again. Co-sleeping also allows a mother to monitor the baby’s temperature during the night, to be there if t
Start her off with baby oatmeal. It will fill her up and it might help her sleep. You will mix the oatmeal with your breast milk into a paste like consistency. After about a month or so introduce her to veggie. You want to start with veggies first because the fruit is sweet and the veggies aren’t. She might only want the fruit. Good luck! This worked with my daughter.
At 2 months-I put a little cereal in my son’s bottle with his formule-you have to cut a little hole in the nipple so the baby gets it out-but it helped him to sleep through the night. I did the rice cereal. You may want to try that.
Oh BOO HOO. You have had a child for 12 weeks and you want to start feeding her solids because YOU dont get much sleep. You dont know what else to do? How about suck it up sister and get on with it.