@mmom3 we go for the four month on 8/3 so I’m going to check with the doc then but right now I’m leaning toward waiting until 5 or 6 months. I need to start researching things, lol.
I’m also leaning towards waiting until sometime in the 5th month as well. Doctor wanted him to be started before his next appointment which will be in the beginning of September.
@mmom3 we started this week. He is 18 weeks. The pedi said it was ok and he has been reaching for our food and watching us closely. He has had avocado and loves it.
We see the pedi on 7/31 and I plan to ask about foods. She watches us eat and mimics chewing! Her face, OMG, you can see the gears turning in there wondering why she's chewing LOL. Is anyone doing baby lead weaning?
That temp pirate tatoo thing would have pissed me off. Pedi told me not to even do sunblock before six months. No lotions or anything except specific baby stuff and not even baby sunblock. (both my parents and I have had bits of skin cancer removed.)
@fatstagnation I was super pissed about the tattoo. I had tried some baby food and he wasn’t into it but he would eat pieces of avocado the other night. So I am thinking we are doing baby led weaning. He was doing the mimicking thing and trying to grab our food. He tried to take my burger off my plate last week.
LO isn't showing any signs of being interested in our food but we also don't eat much in front of him and we eat in shifts lol. Maybe I'll try sitting him in his highchair and eating in front of him to see what he does
I am waiting until six months for the first time this time. Partly bc I am working more and don’t trust people and partly bc I want to nurse longer and not deal with the mess. We do baby led weaning and I don’t trust people to know the difference between gagging and choking. I might start doing little tastes here and there starting at five months.
@sgrn18 - I will most likely do baby oatmeal to start and then move to a veggie. However, the pedi wants him exposed to peanut butter/powder and eggs before 6 mo so it’ll be a bit different. I do normally start with cereal and then veggie purées.
Will wait until 6 months. My sister had a baby girl the other day, so our girls will be about 5 months apart and our oldest girls are 1 year apart. So much fun cousin time ahead!
@slr1229 I love that! Two of my cousins had babies on the same day in Sept. and my LO was born exactly 6 months later. It’s going to be great watching them all grow up together. That’s so sweet how close in age yours are and that your sister is going through the same things.
AW moment: last night my aunts came down for dinner. The baby was just watching was just watching everyone in the restaurant. At bedtime she just wanted to play. Then she gave us her first real laugh!! My heart just about burst. It’s so amazing watching these little ones grow, learn, and have fun
We just saw our pediatrician yesterday for his 4 month check up and she wants us to wait until 5/6 months before starting solids. She said to start with every thin rice cereal as well. Has anyone made their own baby food? I’m very interested in making our own but DH is against that.
@bexster05 - I made most of my son’s baby food. He struggled with food intolerances/allergies so I knew exactly what was going into it. It’s actually much easier then I thought. I would make it, puree it to the consistency I wanted, then add it to ice cube trays to freeze. Then I would pop the cubes out into freezer bags to store. Once a week I would spend a few hours making my batches and bought extra ice cube trays to help with the process. 1-2 little cubes was a “meal” for him.
We do baby led weaning, but I still mash stuff up here and there. That’s basically how I make my own food. I like doing this because it gets them use to my style of cooking. I use a lot of garlic and onion, so making my own is a good intro to the way food is going to taste around here.
They have ave little grinders and devices that make it easy. I think I saw all kinds of suggestions on Pinterest for homemade baby food.
We were given the go ahead to start DD2 on cereal a few weeks ago, she’s been showing signs of being interested in foods for about a month. We mix it with her formula but she doesn’t do well with eating just the cereal and spoon feeding so we’ve been putting it in her bottle and closely watching that feed. Our pediatrician with DD1 had told us two years for peanuts, but that was also after she had had a reaction to squash and amoxicillin (she had an ear infection at 8 months old). We’ll talk to our pediatrician about PB and eggs at our next appointment. We didn’t introduce meats or dairy until after DD1 had been introduced to cereal, oatmeal, veggies, and fruits first. But a lot changes with pediatric recommendations over 3 years.
When you give a bottle what size nipple flow do you use? I am assuming they are all different flows based on brand, but they can’t be too far off, right? We are using size 2, but I am wondering when to switch it. Sam is doing so well compared to my others at eating while I am at work that I don’t want her to work too hard and start hating the bottles. I also don’t want to move too fast if that’s not good. I have often wondered if I accidentally made my other babies work too hard and didn’t size up fast enough. They all quit the bottle by six months. She’s not showing any distress or issues, but I want to stay on top of them. Are any of you on size 3? Experience with changing flows?
@DDRRT1982 We are on size three, Avent natural. Nora is 23 weeks and has been on this nipple for 2 weeks or so? The Avent nipple numbers are paired with months: so 1 is for 0+ months old, 2 is for 1+, 3 is for 3+, etc. Originally, the ped just said to follow N's cues, until she was on the 1 still at 4 months old. She kept refusing the 2 and we thought it was because the flow was too fast: actually the 2 nipple they sell at Buy Buy Baby has a frosted tip and she hated the texture. The 2s on Amazon are normal texture and she was fine with those. Once she had the 2s down, we just transitioned her to the 3s to stay age appropriate and keep fattening our premie up! One thing the ped said is that if you want to move to a bigger nipple, don't just give it once and abandon it if it seems hard for her - give her a day or two to try to acclimate before abandoning.
I think it depends a lot on your baby. C is using a size one and takes 10-15 minutes to finish 4 oz of breastmilk, which I think is a good amount of time. He was using size 0 for the first month or so while I was going between nursing and bottles.
We have an appt August 7th and plan to ask if it's okay to start solids. He's 16 weeks now. BUT on the note of food, DHs grandparents took us to lunch today and she gave Nate mashed potatoes without asking. The same woman that gave him water last week without asking. She's working her way toward losing Nate privileges. I am so pissed because a) I wanted doctor approval and b) I wanted to be the one to give my first baby his first food. I'm so over her.
@mccurleya that is not okay! I'm so mad for you! +1 to the causing a scene. I'd be locking myself away from her and at the very least breaking off contact for a while.
Why do people think it's okay to give other people's children things/food without asking??
I DON'T KNOW. It pisses me off. And she kissed him on the mouth today. I am over it. I'm not one for making a scene but my husband did step up and tell her that wasn't okay. I'm not going to willingly spend time with her for a while. Although she shows up unannounced all the time. Thank goodness we both start working this week so she can't do that anymore. He's going to daycare starting Thursday and I'm telling the lady that his grandma may NOT pick him up because she's already said she's going to pick him up early and hang out. Like, no, I'm paying for this. Unless you're going to pay me for the lost services then no. Seriously, who does this woman think she is?
@mccurleya your DH needs to have a serious talk with his mother! I would be furious! also you're making me nervous for when we finally go to visit my MIL in Italy. She has a history of "not understanding" me so she can just do what she wants...
That’s a big hell no! Sorry you have to deal with an overbearing in law. I’m fortunate my crazy MIL lives in a different state. I don’t get it, these women had their time to raise babies, can’t they let us have our time?!
Just because I love my MIL and she is the sweetest woman ever I have to correct y'all and say it's his grandma. His mom would never do anything so stupid. But to lighten up the conversation, he has slept through the night the past 3 nights!!
My baby is 4 months old today! I cannot believe it!!
Also realized after reading something on here, that it is time to switch nipples in her bottles. She's been using slow flow this whole time, and now I understand we are seeing definite signs she is ready to switch up. Poor thing!
Hey, hey, hey! It has been FOREVER since I last posted!! As y'all know, this newborn life is insane. I was wondering if anyone's LO flaps their arms. My four month daughter has been doing this recently. Of course, when I looked it up, the first thing that came up was Autism. Almost scared myself to tears!
@fullofhope25, I could be wrong but I’m thinking that at this stage, arm flapping isn’t unusual. They don’t have full control of those muscle groups yet (tummy time helps). But you could always mention it when you go in for your 4 month check in and shots.
@fullofhope25, I could be wrong but I’m thinking that at this stage, arm flapping isn’t unusual. They don’t have full control of those muscle groups yet (tummy time helps). But you could always mention it when you go in for your 4 month check in and shots.
Thank you! That is what I was thinking at first, before I went into panic mode. We have an appointment scheduled for 8/1 and I am definitely going to bring this up. 8/1 just seems so far away! Lol.
@fullofhope25 is LO mimicking someone. My hubby does that to show excitement to the baby and she tries to copy his gestures. I also think at this age they are figuring out what hands and fingers do. Good luck at your appointment!
@fullofhope25 is she making eye contact with you and smiling? I think the flapping associated with autism starts much later. But i'm no expert so as others have said pediatrician knows best.
I'm in a conundrum re: feeding. We are exclusively formula at this point (milk dwindled to nothing a few weeks ago), so all bottle feeding. V is 4 months old but still eating 9 to 10 times per day, a lot of the time it's 2 oz at a time and then she's hungry an hour or two later. It's exhausting! Partially because she doesn't take long naps still.
I tried switching to medium flow nipples today, but mixed results. First she took it just fine. The next time she took 2 oz then swatted it away, but then was crabby until I made another bottle with slow flow. The most she's taken at one feeding is 5 oz but most things say she should take 6-8 and feed less frequently.
any thoughts or advice? We see her dr. 7/31 so I'll ask him then.
Ours has mixed reactions also to the faster flow nipples. Some days she loves them and will eat up to 8 ounces at a time (two 4 ounce bottles back to back). Other days she gags on them and shoves it away. I think right now she’s still preferring the slower flow but that could be because she’s trying to learn how to hold her bottle too and she can’t really multitask too well. She can’t quite seem to get down swallowing fast and doing absolutely anything else (like stare at mommy and daddy and sissy). DD2 tends to be ok with a faster flow nipple if her environment isn’t at all stimulating and if she’s in a more inclined position (she can control it a bit better).
Declan still has a slow flow nipple. Half the time he chokes with that because of whatever else is going on around him he’s more into. He only eats 3-4 ounces usually at a time(we ep and do formula). A few times he has eaten 6 but that’s not the norm. He eats every 3 hours during the day and 4-5 hours at night.
@megpeg same. We are still on the slow flow nipple, and I'm pumping and bottle feeding during the day/breastfeeding at night. He usually eats about 4 oz every 3 hours until bedtime when he will eat 6oz (just the one feed though). I've tried to do the medium flow nipples but he is very used to the slow flow and chokes himself constantly. I probably wont up the flow until he stops breastfeeding since the boob is slow anyway.
ETA I would give the higher flow nipple a few more tries before throwing in the towel, maybe it was just a shock? Pretty sure I read that somewhere but dont remember where.
@fullofhope25 is LO mimicking someone. My hubby does that to show excitement to the baby and she tries to copy his gestures. I also think at this age they are figuring out what hands and fingers do. Good luck at your appointment!
Unfortunately, I do not think she is mimicking any of our gestures. Neither of us flap our arms. But I certainly do hope it is just a discovery/exploring thing.
Re: July Randoms
That temp pirate tatoo thing would have pissed me off. Pedi told me not to even do sunblock before six months. No lotions or anything except specific baby stuff and not even baby sunblock. (both my parents and I have had bits of skin cancer removed.)
I had tried some baby food and he wasn’t into it but he would eat pieces of avocado the other night. So I am thinking we are doing baby led weaning.
He was doing the mimicking thing and trying to grab our food. He tried to take my burger off my plate last week.
AW moment: last night my aunts came down for dinner. The baby was just watching was just watching everyone in the restaurant. At bedtime she just wanted to play. Then she gave us her first real laugh!! My heart just about burst. It’s so amazing watching these little ones grow, learn, and have fun
They have ave little grinders and devices that make it easy. I think I saw all kinds of suggestions on Pinterest for homemade baby food.
Our pediatrician with DD1 had told us two years for peanuts, but that was also after she had had a reaction to squash and amoxicillin (she had an ear infection at 8 months old). We’ll talk to our pediatrician about PB and eggs at our next appointment. We didn’t introduce meats or dairy until after DD1 had been introduced to cereal, oatmeal, veggies, and fruits first. But a lot changes with pediatric recommendations over 3 years.
I found this article helpful as it goes through formula, EPing, and nursing bottle feeding situations.
https://momlovesbest.com/feeding/bottles/when-to-switch-nipple-sizes
Dx: PCOS
Married: June 2013
TTC#1: January 2015
BFP #1 8/24/15 | MC 9/3/15 at 6w2d
BFP #2: 12/12/15 | DD born 8/29/16
TTC#2: June 2017
BFP #3: 7/15/17 | DS born 3/20/18
Why do people think it's okay to give other people's children things/food without asking??
Also realized after reading something on here, that it is time to switch nipples in her bottles. She's been using slow flow this whole time, and now I understand we are seeing definite signs she is ready to switch up. Poor thing!
I tried switching to medium flow nipples today, but mixed results. First she took it just fine. The next time she took 2 oz then swatted it away, but then was crabby until I made another bottle with slow flow. The most she's taken at one feeding is 5 oz but most things say she should take 6-8 and feed less frequently.
any thoughts or advice? We see her dr. 7/31 so I'll ask him then.
ETA I would give the higher flow nipple a few more tries before throwing in the towel, maybe it was just a shock? Pretty sure I read that somewhere but dont remember where.
Thanks!