Hi Hetal,

I have couple of questions regarding my babys diet.

My baby is 4.5 months old.His weight is 18 pounds(birth weight was 7 pounds 7 ounces). He has been doing fine till now. He is mostly fed on formulas snce birth(he is allergice to BM-get rashes).now my queries are:

1) He was started with rice cereal at completeion of 3 months 1 tbsp rice creal in 2 OZ formula. He was doing fine and taking required amt of feed.Now,at 4 months doc advised to start with rice creal as porridge in brkfst and with veggies stage 1 also. When i started with the above,my baby seems to refuse bottle..he would go without a bottle for 8-10 hrs also..considereing the formula being the primary and imp food..m lil worried.Please suggest

2)when I was putting rice cereal in milk,he was doing fine but when i started to feed him rice cereal as porridge he' s got very constipated .I have now switched to oatmeal.Pls suggest sumthing for constipation also.

3) Now that he started refusing bottle,I have reduced the solids foods so that he shoud intake more of formula. Doc says he shud be drinking like 32 oz a day( 4 times 8 oz) but he barely takes 20 oz and at times 23-34 OZ.U think its alright to delay solids.

4) I dont have any set feeding scedule for him.I feed him every 3-4 hrs.But he can go beyond having anything for 10 hrs and then alse i hve to forcefully feed him.But yes i wud like to tell u that he happily eats veggies whenever i feed him but not formula.

5) I also give him moong daal semi sold consistency once a day but not every day(3-4 times a week)

6) I would like to know what raagi is. Is it what we call sooji. where wud i get raagi?

7) what is prune juice.where wud i get it from.sumone suggested me to give him prune juice mixed with water for constipation. Is it alright?

8) My doc suggested to introduce fruits aftter 6 months.what do u suggest

thanks for you help and advice.

Nidhi

Hetal replied. 1.offer spinach with the poridge n it should help ! also, speakng of vegies n fruits,,its best to start after 5months !!! until thn its advsble to start your child on wholemoong water..
howver, if you are offerng your child cereal with vegie at this age, you can introduce her spinach nd it should help.
poridge seems to be heavy for him,,,since your child primary food is formula,,which it will be until 10months of his life,,,go slow on solids...i understand dr recmnded that, but m sure your dr didnt recmnd it at the cost of drinking less formula(mostly because a 4.5months old is expected to drink enough formula in order to ensure his healthy growth and its for sure that porrdige or ne other food cant provide him with required nutrients ! )

2.for constipatn,,i can only say, startng him on spinach and whole moong wwater will solve the purpose,,and go slow on solids...avoid offerng ne type of iron fortified cereal with milk or formula(which in itself is iron fortified,,so you are givng 2 doses of iron in one meal,,no wonder why constipatn comes in picture,,quite a norm).
you can start your child on boiled apple puree(boil the apple with skin, mash it, seive it/strain it, and thn offer that puree) or mix with water and offer as apple juice in midnoons/afternoon snack,,it will help in constipation !

3.about formula intake whatever your dr remcnded is quite true,,,no worries,,,delay solids, go slow,,why hurry,,your child is going to eat foods and solids for thr entire life,,so until she accepts the solids well,,,let her enjoy havng formula...

4.try this schedule for him and see if it helps him,,refer the message dated 2006-12-28, by the poster Smita Kalluparambil, with subject : introducing solids at 4.5montths,,its in this board only,,,and you will get other ideas...
if he eats happily,,just restrict the quantity,,after all its not needed for him to make his stomach full with vegies,,but yes its very much expected from him to drink whatever he is required to drink,,,,,

5.avoid moong dal,,instead offer whole moong pulp or water,,it will reduce her constipatn probs ! also, if you want to offer, offer her moong dal+rice, and put in some turmeric, some spinach leaves, watever vegies you have introduced, some crushed jeera or jeera pwder, hing n salt(if you want),,nd good to go,,offer with some ghee or prepard formula or even apple juice(boiled pureed apple pulp mixed with water and not 100% juice ! )

6. about raagi, this board has discussed this many a times,,,since now link is not allowd,,lemee see if i can find the reference date of that topic.i couldnt find the latest one but i had the old one saved with me,,,its dated back 2006-11-15, by poster Kwazi with subject ragi kanji-to hetal..
it has some recipes and all about raagi..if you are staying in US, often indian stores keep it,,and if in India,,its available almst in all grocery store with names like nachni, raagi, you can google the other names !
sooji/rava(often white in colour) is cream of wheat,,and its not advsable to give before 10months,only because its heavy for your 4.5mnths and even though many cultures have sucsfully offerd it,,your child is already suffrng from constipatn,,if added this,,all you will doing is adding one more thing to her diet that will increase her constipatn probs...
sooji and raagi are both different !

7. prune juice is juice made of prune(often type of dried plums),,and its good for constipatn,,but since your baby is allergic to BM, there could be a possibility that he might not feel comfortable with prunes,,,also without allergies too many babies below 6months when given prunes and apricots, showed reflux problems,,as its sour in taste and its actually a strong remedy for severe constipatn...i dont know about your locatn but dr in US avoid suggestng this remedy to babies before 6months,,,,at first its the fruit, the second,,its plum/sour and third 4.5months are not ready for servings of fruits or vegies,,so offerng this will like offerng something thats not right but is effective...now its upto you !

8. what your dr suggested is quite true,,so would i,,offer vegies and fruits after 5months only...aftr 6months is a longer to wait but a better option in your case only because your child is sensitive to havng rashes...and that too with most simplest food(BM),,,so considerng that,,the later you start solids,,the better is his health,,atleast assured !

good luck !


Leena replied. Hi Nidhi,
regarding constipation from rice cereal, u can try barley cereal, its available in target, or walmart or fred meyer. my baby had the same problem so his doctor suggested giving him barley cereal instead, and if everything goes fine whith that then try giving oatmeal....
regarding prune juice yes its good. prunes r basically dried plums. well i dont like giving my baby the readymade juice so i bring prunes from whole food and then churn them in baby food processor and then mix it with cereal.it is sweet in taste so he likes it too.
so may b u can it either way.....