is this normal?

kelseybooth · July 2012

I keep reading all about how babies need to eat every 4-5 hours when they're 3 mos old and how its normal that they don't want to sleep. Well mine is the opposite. she eats every 6 hours. She has breakfast around 8am when she wakes up. Has cereal and an 8oz bottle (mostly only drinks like 7oz of it) then has lunch around 2 has a vegetable and another 8oz bottle. and then around 6:30 or 7, she has oatmeal with fruit, a bath, and then i give her another 8oz bottle. She is in bed by like 7:30-8:00pm and she sleeps until around 8:00-9:00am. She takes about 3 naps during the day. One between breakfast and lunch, 1 between lunch and dinner, and a catnap right before dinner. She is only 3 months old and I feel shes really advanced for her age. Is this normal?

Laouli · July 2012

At the end of the day.. IMO.. what works for you is what works for you! My son eats every 2 hours!! and he is eating 4-6 ounces every time... but he also has acid reflux so they say its normal for him to eat oftern... We also arent doing solid foods though...

mben1119 · July 2012

Your 3 month old child should not be eating solid foods, no matter how "advanced" she is.

kelseybooth · July 2012

Her pediatrician told me to feed them to her. I did not make that decision on my own.

KitKat83 · July 2012

Normally three month olds don't eat that many solids, so that is probably why she is going longer between feeds and sleeping through the night. Solids take longer to digest. So I would say normally, it is not normal, however in your situation, since she is eating larger meals less frequently it is probably normal if that makes sense.

mben1119 · July 2012

kelseybooth:
Her pediatrician told me to feed them to her. I did not make that decision on my own.

Then you need a new doctor. The AAP doesn't recommend starting solids until at LEAST 4 months, and even recommends waiting until after 6 months.

matt'sbride · July 2012

I'm certainly not a dr., but it doesn't sound right to me that your LO is eating solids at 3mo AND 8oz bottles (though I guess the # of oz varies from baby to baby). I would say that's definitely why she goes so long between meals. I would get a second opinion about the solids. I know we all want to believe what our peds tell us, but sometimes they make mistakes.

michelle7482 · July 2012

I agree with PPs...no way should your child be on solids. Why did the DR recommend this? Get a new dr!!

Moneypenny424 · July 2012

My 3 month old also sleeps for about 10 hrs a stretch at night, so I don't see that as unusual. However, she does not have the diet that your baby does--solids AND 8oz? I'm not being judgmental, I've just never heard of that. After sleeping that long, LO will usually have 6-8oz, but that amount goes back down to about 4-6oz every 3 hrs or so during the day.

When your pedi said solids were okay, did he/she mean so much of them every day?

Imanurse03 · July 2012

That seems like a lot of solid food to be feeding a baby so young. The SAP recommends waiting until 6 months of age to start solids, so that is what we are doing. So I can't comment on your post too much other than that seems like way too much solid food for a baby that age.

namara5532 · July 2012

DS is 5 months and only getting 1 meal of solids a day. I could almost understand giving a 3 month old a serving of rice or oatmeal per day (which is probably what your pediatrician meant), but your LO is eating more solids than mine is. As for the bottle, have you tried offering the bottle more frequently? I'd be concerned about going that long between bottles at 3 months. Breastmilk/formula should be the major source of nutrients for some time still, probably until 9 months at the earliest.

Shawnee11507 · July 2012

danielle4348:
I am very confused by your post. How long have you been feeding solids to your baby? Yes the AAP recomends waiting until at least 4 months but I'm not always a rule follower either, however no way a 3 month old should be on 3 solid feedings a day. I would definately find a new pedi. And I'm curious as to how long LO has been taking these meals since you should be waiting 3-5 days between introduing new foods so that you can watch for allergies. If you waited that 3-5 days and your LO is taking rice, oatmeal, and I'm gonna say only one veggie then you've been feeding her solids since uh 2 -2 1/2 months or sooner??? Your baby is going so long between feedings because she's being fed like a 7-9 month old instead of a 3 month old . . . . and that's not a good thing!!!

I agree with this.

From kellymom.com:

"

Health experts and breastfeeding experts agree that it?s best to wait until your baby is around six months old before offering solid foods. There has been a large amount of research on this in the recent past, and most health organizations have updated their recommendations to agree with current research. Unfortunately, many health care providers are not up to date in what they?re telling parents, and many, many books are not up to date.

The following organizations recommend that all babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or any other foods) for the first 6 months of life (not the first 4-6 months):

Most babies will become developmentally and physiologically ready to eat solids by 6-9 months of age. For some babies, delaying solids longer than six months can be a good thing; for example, some doctors may recommend delaying solids for 12 months if there is a family history of allergies"

When my LO was 3 months old, he was eating 4.5oz bottles about every 2.5hrs. Around 4 months, he started eating 7oz bottles 3-4x a day.

floodbbyxo · July 2012

No, it is not normal to feed your 3 month old cereal and solids. What is wrong with you?

bpwife&mama · July 2012

My 6 month old eats only 2 solids a day with a 6 oz. bottle every 4 hours. Also, when he was 3 months there is no way he would have even known how to eat from a spoon. I started giving him solids at 5 months and he was confused by the spoon even then. I have to agree with the PP, you may want to re-evaluate your LO's diet.

Wifey1012 · July 2012

mabenner1:
kelseybooth:
Her pediatrician told me to feed them to her. I did not make that decision on my own.

Then you need a new doctor. The AAP doesn't recommend starting solids until at LEAST 4 months, and even recommends waiting until after 6 months.

I checked your ticker about 10 times while reading your post just to be sure I wasn't reading the age wrong....

WaitingOnNo2 · July 2012

Why are you feeding solids to a 3 month old? Geez, get a new doctor and do your own research-don't just blindly follow what is clearly bad advice from a bad doctor!!!

[Deleted User] · July 2012

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kelseybooth · July 2012

MrsMooney:
floodbbyxo:
No, it is not normal to feed your 3 month old cereal and solids. What is wrong with you?
I think you (and a few other PPs) are being a bit harsh in your responses. Do I agree that she should not be feeding solids to her 3 month old? Absolutely. But there is a tactful way to phrase a response that is helpful, gives the OP useful information and maybe leads her in a better direction. To me that is better than jumping all over her and asking what is wrong with her.
Unfortunately people get bad information and follow it, that doesn't mean that there is anything "wrong" wih them, it just means they made a mistake. I hate how women get so judgemental in their responses and just criticize each other instead of providing helpful advice.
OP is there a reason your doctor discussed starting solids for your LO? What was the rationale behind the decision to start so early?

At her 2 month check up her doctor asked how much she was eating. at that time she was having 6oz every 4 hours. I was told by many people that she was eating too much, so I brought that up to my doctor. Quite frankly, if my daughter is hungry, I'm NOT going to let her starve until its time to eat. I will feed her. The doctor said nothing is too much and if she is drinking the entire 6 oz bottle, give her 7oz. See how long that lasts her. Then he said that once she gets to 8oz and it isn't enough to give her every 6 hours, meaning a breakfast lunch and dinner, then to start cereal. She started the cereal right before she turned 3 months at the instructions of her doctor. I called right before I started it because I thought it was too early. He assured me it is fine. This is the same pediatrician I went to when I was younger. He then told me to mix some fruit in it to give it a little flavor. He said in 2 weeks to give her baby food. For all of you asking me "what is wrong with me?!" obviously I thought something was off about it if I posted it in the first place. I was following strict instructions from her doctor. Someone who went to school about it and was my doctor from when I was a baby until I was 18. So yes, I trusted him. And as far as she wouldn't know how, she LOVES the food. Smiles and kicks her legs and coos while she has the food. I haven't had any problems from her at all and it helped with her constipation issues.

mben1119 · July 2012

kelseybooth:
MrsMooney:

floodbbyxo:
No, it is not normal to feed your 3 month old cereal and solids. What is wrong with you?

I think you (and a few other PPs) are being a bit harsh in your responses. Do I agree that she should not be feeding solids to her 3 month old? Absolutely. But there is a tactful way to phrase a response that is helpful, gives the OP useful information and maybe leads her in a better direction. To me that is better than jumping all over her and asking what is wrong with her.

Unfortunately people get bad information and follow it, that doesn't mean that there is anything "wrong" wih them, it just means they made a mistake. I hate how women get so judgemental in their responses and just criticize each other instead of providing helpful advice.

OP is there a reason your doctor discussed starting solids for your LO? What was the rationale behind the decision to start so early?

At her 2 month check up her doctor asked how much she was eating. at that time she was having 6oz every 4 hours. I was told by many people that she was eating too much, so I brought that up to my doctor. Quite frankly, if my daughter is hungry, I'm NOT going to let her starve until its time to eat. I will feed her. The doctor said nothing is too much and if she is drinking the entire 6 oz bottle, give her 7oz. See how long that lasts her. Then he said that once she gets to 8oz and it isn't enough to give her every 6 hours, meaning a breakfast lunch and dinner, then to start cereal. She started the cereal right before she turned 3 months at the instructions of her doctor. I called right before I started it because I thought it was too early. He assured me it is fine. This is the same pediatrician I went to when I was younger. He then told me to mix some fruit in it to give it a little flavor. He said in 2 weeks to give her baby food. For all of you asking me "what is wrong with me?!" obviously I thought something was off about it if I posted it in the first place. I was following strict instructions from her doctor. Someone who went to school about it and was my doctor from when I was a baby until I was 18. So yes, I trusted him. And as far as she wouldn't know how, she LOVES the food. Smiles and kicks her legs and coos while she has the food. I haven't had any problems from her at all and it helped with her constipation issues.

Unfortunately, your doctor is working off of old information, which is common for doctors who have been in their profession for a long time. They are often reluctant to change their advice to patients, since it has been what worked in the past. It is nice and wonderful that LO's doctor was your doctor, and yadda yadda yadda, but that doesn't mean he is right. When you have so many people telling you what not only their doctors, but the American Academy of Pediatrics as well, you should be questioning his advice.

sweetky_06 · July 2012

Ultimately, you were asking if how your LO is eating and what you are doing is normal, and the answer is "no".

Plenty of posters and have provided information and links to recommended feeding routines as your baby grows. My guy was a big eater too - at 3-4 months he was eating 6 8oz. bottles a day. He didn't start on solids until 4 1/2 months, and while he was ready, it still was a bit earlier than what I had intended on doing.

LuluP82 · July 2012

Ditto everyone else-- your LO is having way too much solid food. I won't comment on the bottles, because I breastfeed so have no context.

Your pedi is going off old recommendations. I have an uncle who's a pedi and was my pedi. I follow his advice a lot, but that's because I know he has changed with the times. He tells me things that are completely different from what he told my mom 30 years ago. I know, because my mom will say something, I'll counter with current advice, we'll call him as a tie-breaker, and he always agrees with me.

My DS was ready for solids at 4 months. His pedi, my uncle and I all agreed. But he still only gets a taste of solids (we're only on fruit purees, since I didn't want to give cereal for other reasons). He's 5 months, and he's only had a handful of fruits, because you're supposed to give it a lot of time between introducing new foods to watch for allergies, etc. He also only gets a taste once a day, and that's after he nurses.

Babies under 12 months of age need formula and breast milk only for nutrition. Solid food is for fun-- for a long time! Also, babies this young don't have "meals." Mine eats like 8 times a day, though he does sleep 9 hour stretches on occasion (usually closer to 6 hours).

I would urge you to get a second opinion. One of the reasons they changed recommendations is it led to obesity and other problems.

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