Hi.. My daughter is now 4.5 months old. As per my doc's advice, i started giving here musambi juice, and cerelac, once a day.. She seems to have anything we give her, without any fuss. We started with two scoops of cerelac with lot of water (She doesn't drink water otherwise). I tried giving 3 scoops, and, she had that without any problem Now, i started giving her 4 scoops, and, she has that completely.. I am worried that , is she having more than she should (because she feels hungry again in 2 hrs , after this).
She is quite a healthy baby.. and, hardly sleeps for 2 hrs in the day time.. Keeps making all kinds of sounds, in high pitch.. talking to us through out the day, and weighs 6.8 kgs..
She feeds every 2 hrs(even during night times)..
I pump and store my milk to be given to her when i am away at work,but, that is enough for her only for one feed. so, remaining feeds, she has the above mentioned food, and, formula milk..
My mother feels i should be happy to have a baby who eats without giving any trouble. But ,i am worried that she might not be able to digest all that, and, develop some health issues. And, would she be overweight ? Hetal replied. hi swapna, a 4.5month old is expected to eat below :
Infant cereal: 4–8 tablespoons, mixed with formula or bm.
Infant juice(diluted pref): 2–4 ounces (1/4th to 1/2 cup, from cup only/spoon only)...
Breast milk: on demand OR Iron-fortified formula: 4–5 feedings of 6–8 ounces each.

at 4.5months, she weighs 6.8kgs, which means her birth weight is expected to somewhere around : 3.7 kgs-4.5 kgs ! if she is under 3.7 kgs,,,its ok for baby to become abit plumpy and gain extra fat considering that she is a good eater and has accepted solids without ne problem from 4months onwards(which on general terms is abit early but not wrong,,its normal)..i would b okay, but i would like you to keep a check on her diet.
i am only worried about the night part and her being hungry every 2 hours...rest all m really not concerned.
a baby on solids at 4.5months onwards is not expected to be hungry that often ! also considering the measurements you mentioned...
every 2 hours at night,,what does she feed,milk or formula ? i see that your bm is not providiing her enough fats which makes her hungry at night often,,well, babies at 4.5months are expected to sleep atleast 4 hours at a strech at nights,,i wouldnt expect more,,do you feed her formula before sleep?how much ? also i wanted to know wat time she gets her solids and wat are her approx feeding times..how much does she drink at present at one feeding/formula or bm.

since you have mentioned that your baby eats cerelac with LOTS of water,,my personal understanding is that the concentration of solids is very less than the actual so called solids..,,so to say what happens when one eats a flour sheera and drink a flour soup/kashaai ! flour soup is digested much easier than the sheera, considering the liquid consistency and body is able to absorb more or all most whole of it in no time !!! and sheera being high on concentration of solids takes time to digest,,so it makes you feel heavier, even though you have used the same measurements of flour for sheera and soup...
and with this understanding,,i feel that this is wat is exactly happening to your baby,,,even after good dose of cereal (which is with lots of water), she is able to digest it and thus,,its making your baby feel empty by stomach...so now you tell me how much does your scoop measure,and how much exact water you are putting in it,,,,
cerelac scoop measurement is out of my knowledge..how much does that one scoop hold..for baby each oz counts !!

so its clear that,,she needs to add in more solids to her diet(start with 2nd time serving of cerelac), either she is not getting enough formula to drink considering that your bm fat levels are really low and so are the nutrients level(which makes her hungry all the time and that your dr wanted you to start solids for her at 4month onwardss),,or last thing i want to hear is a sign of ne malfunction by ne of the digestive organs...often this makes a baby really hungry and down the line, her solids intakes goes out of control..but this is the case of exceptionally high diet profiles,,and asian/indian babies generally dont have such conditions..

however, i dont want to scare you,just letting you know the good and the worst possibilities...
what you mentioned about her developments,,i am feeling she is healthy baby and she needs to add in more to solids thats all...
if she keeps this acceptance (and not amount all the times,,),i have to say just what your mom said :)

let me know wat i asked you,,then i want you to try offering her dal paani..since she is ok with solids i would like you to start our indian solids,,like moongdal soup/dal pani,,rice water,,raagi..all on weekly basis.
also start her solid one more time in a day, of lets say 1 scoop as her evening meal,,and lets check whether she is ok atleast for another 4-5 hours...
let see if this satisfies her..
other than that i dont see ne worries,,you have to understand that baby apetite has a lot to do with parents history and as a gift to their genetic makeup...in that case,,,their intake will be more than other babies,,and then you have judge whether it equals yours or your dh intake(ofcourse when you were babies,,ask your moms about it),and then consider the normal level for you...being a mom, you be the best judge !!!

if after starting all these solids(SOLIDS AND NOT LIQUID CONSISTENCY),,still your baby continues to eat n drink out of control(let me say starts demanding food which is not expected after a good feed of SOLID food-not more liquid food,EVERY HOUR OR SO),,then yes, she will develop health issues in longer run, or may become obese..
however, this will be seen only after 2 year of age when actually baby well toned muscle body is seen !! at that time, fat and dense muscles are seen clearly !!
until then babies are mostly NOT considered obese or overweight,,ofcourse unleess they are really crossing weight charts...your dr will tell you if he sees that !!

RIGHT NOW THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY,,,JUST THAT SHE NEEDS TO ADD IN SOLIDS AND DRINK ENOUGH FORMULA...

i would like you to talk to your dr regarding this ! its imp for your dr to know abt nething you think is abit different than expected by you ! your judgements as a mother comes first.rely on it.

take care,you have a good time, no worries.