Starting solids
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: Have A Baby?
Forum Name: First baby? Second or more?
Forum Description: Want help? Need support? Want tips? Men and women share advice and tips in this supportive community
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16834
Printed Date: 13 September 2025 at 2:33pm
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Topic: Starting solids
Posted By: JD
Subject: Starting solids
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 12:18pm
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Just wondering...those with hungry babies, when did you start solids?
When my daughter was a baby, she was happily breasfed until she was 6 months. Now I have a hungry boy who doesn't sleep longer than 3 - 4 hours at night. Last night I added a little bit of organic powdered baby rice to a EBM bottle to see if that would make a difference (my sisters suggestion). Well the feeding was a bit of a disaster cos the hole in the teat kept getting blocked, but afterwards he slept for 6 hours...wahoo! I am considering giving him a couple of teaspoons of a really sloppy mixtue of it tonight, but I don't want to damage him by giving him solids too early  I have heard tht you shouldn't give them any until they are 4 months.
Anyone thoughts? He is definately hungry at night cos I have tried rewrapping him and putting his dummy back and night and he will only sleep for another 20 mins - half an hour before he wakes up hungry again. Am I supposed to just keep feeding him that much until he is old enough for solids.....or just go ahead? I am thinking about a small teaspoon of the powder made into quite a wet mixture.. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 12:19pm
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Oh and I forgot to say that my boy is only 12 weeks!
Der...its in my signature ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 12:34pm
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some babies are just not great sleepers..in terms of sleeping it is if they were good sleepers and regress but that isnt always what is causing it..its a contriversial thing..personally i wouldnt as their tummies just arent ready and giving them food too early can lead to allergies.. for some babies its normal not to sleep more than 3-4 hours..(such as my baby we just increased his milk to 180 and now hes sleeping longer) oh i just read you breastfeed him..
there is the odd baby that is ready but generally their digestive systems arent ready till at least 4 months..and other signs such as watching you eat etc... it can appear they are but they are really just watching you ..have you got the plunket book...page 74 talks about it. as i said its totally a personal thing and you need to do what you feel is right for your baby:) ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: kabe
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 1:00pm
I think that's too young. Like foxxy_one said, their digestive systems aren't ready for solids until much older. When Eva was that age, I was bfeeding her 3 times a night. Shifted to twice nightly at 4 months and has only recently got down to once a night, now that we've started solids.  I've always been envious of mums whose babies sleep through the night!
Might be worth ringing plunketline and talking it over with them. ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: peachy
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 1:29pm
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Check with Emz in the January Mums thread. She has been giving her baby solids since very young as she could not satisfy his hunger, I think she was advised to offer baby rice to him. She may be able to give you some advice! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 1:57pm
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i think shes too young for food. its not unreasonable to expect a baby that young to wake up several times during the night. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: MyBelly
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 1:59pm
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baby could also be going through a growth spurt? im sure they have one around 12weeks???
Eden started on solids at 3 3/4months but she was wanting food, reaching for mine, taking a spoon with pamol on it like it was going out of fashion etc. i would try and wait a few more weeks atleast, their digestive tracks generally arent developed enough at 12weeks |
Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 7:16pm
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Thanks for your replies.
I don't think it is a growth spurt because he has been hungry for about 4 weeks. Im not thinking about it just so he will sleep through the night...he seems unsatisfied even when I have just bf him. I will try and hold out as long as I can...I was just curious as I have heard of a few Mums giving a spoonful of something for their hungry boys early. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 8:10pm
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Have you tried cluster feeding in the afternoon/evening before he goes to bed? Or possibly expressing in the morning and offering that at night? As others have mentioned personally I wouldn't start solids until at least 4mths, Jack was 6mths when we started. ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 8:14pm
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Posted By: kabe
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 8:38pm
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I use Blessed Thistle, and that thickens up your milk. It's been a big help for me. ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: arohanui
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 9:01pm
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JD, I was wondering the same thing about my boy about a week ago. Turns out it was just his 3 month growth spurt a little late. I decided to end up waiting a week or so just to see, and now he's fine - back to regular feeding times and sleeping through the night again.
So for Harry, I think it was his growth spurt combined with me having lowish milk supply cos I was rushing around too much. I posted a question a while ago about the whole super milk thing, so I'll try to find it and bump it up for you. I'd recommend trying to boost your supply first, and feed more often (Harry was feeding 2 hourly during the day and about 4 hourly at night when he had his growth spurt). You could try eating/drinking different things first, and if that doesn't work then go on to try Blessed Thistle like Kabe said. Then if that doesn't work maybe you could try giving him a thing of formula to see if that fills him up? ETA: Just bumped it up for ya. Thread called breast milk ------------- Mama to DS1 (5 years), DS2 (3 years) and... http://alterna-tickers.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: popcorn
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 9:25pm
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what about giving a bottle of formula at night instead? ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 01 May 2008 at 9:29pm
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I'd have to say don't take the chance with the baby rice so early. Before around 6 mths the gut is permeable so particles of food proteins can end up in the bloodstream and trigger all sorts of problems including allergies.
I had a hungry baby (Maya), she was big at birth and by 16 weeks her growth had dropped off and she was waking during the night hungry, and so Plunket convinced me to start her on solids (which wasn't hard, as a first time mum I didn't know any better!). We ended up on a 3 1/2 year battle with food allergies and intolerances, with two hospital admissions and at one point she had to be tube fed. The best advice I can give is just to keep the milk feeds up, increase either the frequency or the quantity to try and fill him up more during the day. You could maybe even consider a formula feed for his last feed of the day to help fill him up, this works for some babies altho it never did with mine. If you do decide to keep up with the baby rice, stick to baby rice, try to avoid introducing fruits/veges etc. till at least 4-5 mths, and always feed it to him off a spoon, it's not a good idea to add baby rice to bottles. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 10:58am
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Thanks again ladies.
The super milk thing I will definately give a go. What is blessed thistle? Is it a pill? tea? powder? Where can I get it? Thanks for sharing your experience Maya. There was no way I was going to give veges or fruits. And the rice in the bottle was a disaster anyway The teat kept getting blocked and he got very frustrated with me. ooops! As you probably know, a sleep deprived mum will give anything a go for an extra 10 mins of sleep 
I have tried the formula feed at night and no difference! I have been feeding EBM just so I can see how much he is having. Some nights he will have 180mls and then still want a top up from me....yikes! Like I said, I don't want to damage him....  ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: kabe
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 12:53pm
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JD, I can totaly relate to the sleep deprivation. When Eva was two months old, I felt like I never got more than two hours sleep at a time, but it does get better.
Blessed Thistle is a capsule and you can buy them from pharmacy's or health stores. They vary quite a lot in price. The cheapest brand I've found is called Vita-Fit, and it's $13 for 80 caps. I take anywhere from 1 - 4 per day, depending on my supply. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, feeding wise ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: emz
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:47pm
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I think trying to make 'super milk' sounds good. From my experience (and noone judge me as I'm sure I'll probably get my head bitten off by at least one 'by the book' person) I was advised to try Jack on baby rice (just a teaspoon) to start with at 3 months as his weight was dropping off considerably but he just couldn't be bothered with milk. This wasn't a once-off, it was happening for about 4 weeks. I had to weigh up the pros and cons, and luckily because we have no history of allergies etc in the family I decided to give it a go. We also have a family history of babies going on to solids really early.
I know its advised to keep them off solids for as long as possible, but I guess just research it and do what is best for you and your boy. Hopefully your milk will get better for him. The one thing I would advise is to try and hold off the baby rice as long as possible as Jack started getting sick of it but still needed solids so we have just started him on vegies (which at just before 4 months is OK I guess after holding him out this long on just baby rice). Anyway, just my 2 cents. Its worked for us, doesn't mean its 'right' or that it will work for you. |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 8:25pm
Absolutely! Just quietly I *might* have added an extra scoop of powder to the gremlins dream feed in a desperate attempt to get just a wee bit more sleep! And don't stress too much, kids are pretty hardy, it's tough to damage them - much! ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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JD wrote:Posted By: JD
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 11:03pm
hehe thanks Maya. I think God made babies pretty durable cos he new mummy's aren't purfect ...just like the first weeks of grace when you are pregnant and don't know it 
Actually the amount of stories I have heard about new mummies hurting their babies by accident... One friend cooked her baby in the pram. She was so nervous about taking the baby out in the cold, she put layers of clothes and blankets over the baby and then the rain cover on which sort of created a mini oven. She cried for ages when she got the baby out and he was drenched in sweat
I appreciate all your comments. Another thing about being sleep deprived is I struggle to make a decision and I sometime worry about my judgements
Its great to have a sounding board so I can get some perspective on things.  Yay for forums! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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