3 month old showing all the signs of wanting solids

[Dobsd]

My LO is 3 and a half months and for the last 2-3 weeks has been showing all of the signs of wanting solid foods. She's starting at us whilst we eat and gets agitated watching us, she has also started waking up for feeds more in the night. Since birth she has only ever woken up once in the night hungry but it is now two, sometimes three, times a night.
Last night I thought I'd do a little test and put an empty spoon to her mouth. She opened right up and even sucked the spoon in!
She is big for her age and is quite advanced (holding head up from birth, rolling over from 1.5 months, now trying to crawl).
I have no intention of feeding her solids until I've spoken to the nurse.
But just out of curiosity has anybody had experience with feeding solids before 4 months?
Also, any tips on how I can satisfy her with milk until she's old enough for solids? She is currently on hungry baby formula and even that doesn't seem to be enough!

 

[staralfur]

Waking for feeds and watching you eat aren't signs that she's ready for solids.

If she's hungry then she needs milk. It has way more nutrients and calories than anything you'd be feeding a 3 month old. She's probably just going through a growth spurt - keep giving her milk.

 

[Dobsd]

Waking for feeds and watching you eat aren't signs that she's ready for solids.

If she's hungry then she needs milk. It has way more nutrients and calories than anything you'd be feeding a 3 month old. She's probably just going through a growth spurt - keep giving her milk.

I went to a 'first foods' group a few weeks ago and was told they are signs that baby wants solid foods.
I intend to keep giving her milk but I'm just wondering how much more I can possibly be giving her. She's already on hungry baby milk and is draining between 7-9oz each feed (usually 6 times a day but now more in the night).
I know when she's going through a growth spurt, like last week, because she cluster feeds. But that growth spurt seems to have ended now as she's more settled and back to her usual feeding routine.

 

[MindUtopia]

You can give her as much milk as she wants. And in fact, if she's hungry, I would consider moving away from the hungry baby milk and using regular milk to satisfy her. The hungry milk just has fillers in it to make her feel fuller, without providing extra nutrients or calories. It could be she's wanting more milk because she's not getting enough calories or particular nutrients, even though her stomach feels fuller. Really, it sort of tricks them into thinking they aren't hungry when they are (kinda like how some people drink diet drinks that fill up the stomach but are low calorie when they are trying to lose weight). It's almost like a 'diet formula'. You get less in the way of calories but feel fuller longer. It could be she's growing and needs more, so feed her as much as she wants as often as she wants. You can't overfeed a baby unless you are forcing it down their throats and making them vomit, which doesn't sound like what you're describing.

I wouldn't say what you're describing sounds like signs of readiness for solids. That just sounds like a normal 3-4 month old. They will take lots of things into their mouth at that age, fists, toys, etc. because they use their mouths to explore and learn about the world. They don't actually realise yet that they're for satiating hunger. She may be wanting to touch what you're eating because she can finally see it well enough, so may be curious or agitated if she can't. It doesn't mean she want to eat it (again, they don't know it's edible, it just lots like any toy would). Or it could be you just weren't holding her while she was eating and she wanted to be held. Many babies start to wake more around 3-4 months because they're growing lots. My daughter was having 3 feeds a night still at that age, which is normal for many babies. Actually, starting solids meant she started to wake more, because it can be rough on the digestive system at first. The main sign of readiness to eat is being able to sit up unassisted (not being propped up or leaning against anything), and ideally later than 6 months to avoid allergies, which are more likely in babies who start weaning before 6 months.

In your case, I would just feed milk on demand, as much as she wants and as often as she wants, and not worry about starting solids early.

 

[missk1989]

As well as what pp said there is a sleep regression at 4 months so the waking me be this. Feeding solids at such a young age can cause digestion problems in later life and is not recommended.

 

[staralfur]

I'm not sure where you live or who offered the class, but that pretty much directly contradicts the advice of most major health organizations.

Signs of readiness, according to said organizations:
-being able to sit with mininal assistance
-loss of tongue thrust reflex
-ability to pick up food and bring it to their mouths themselves
-and are around 6 months old.

Health Canada and the NHS even specifically note that waking during the night is not to be confused a sign of being ready for solids.

Even if your LO was physically advanced and could do all of those things now, as the PP pointed out, it doesn't mean her gut is able to process anything other than milk at this stage.

 

[noon_child]

I agree with MindUtopia and Staralfur. If your baby is physically advanced you may find she's ready for solids nearer 5 months than 6, but watching you eat isn't a readiness sign. I also wonder whether babies might wake more on hungry formula because it isn't as nutritious? Early weaning foods like baby rice have pretty much zero nutrients so will not help a truly fast growing baby feel satisfied - especially as, when weaning, food is in addition to milk not instead of it and milk feeds dont tend to get dropped till 9months or so.

 

[MrsPear]

3-4 months was hard time for us because Joni had a huge growth spurt. It made her so hungry!! I think it's pretty common. It can be quite stressful can't it, trying to satisfy them when they never seem full. Also, around four months she started getting separation anxiety so woke a lot at night too. Bug hugs, it's hard to get through.

However, it doesn't necessarily mean they are actually ready for solids. Their gut is very immature at 3 months, and it can't physically process much else than milk, which is easy to break down. If you feed solids they will come out the other end very similar to how they went in, because the gut can't digest it properly yet (which is why when you do baby led weaning a lot of food eg broccoli is still recognisable when it comes out).

So weaning at this early age would probably be pointless. It might reduce the milk feeds because the gut would struggle to get the solid food through (as it is not used to processing solid food yet) so the baby will physically be fuller, as there is solid food it can't process in the tummy and intestines. But, you risk ending up giving LESS calories, not more, because milk is the only thing they can properly digest and you might end up spacing the milk feeds out if the solid food transits through the body very slowly.

Also, as the gut is very immature, it can be easily irritated. Weaning early can cause inflammatory responses if the gut gets irritated, and this in turn can lead to allergies, eczema and other problems. Waiting a little longer to wean (as close to 6 months as possible) gives the gut a little longer to mature and held lower the risk of these sorts of problems.

I hope this all makes sense. You can't visibly see but maturity so reaching other milestones doesn't really make a difference. But research has shown us that the gut is usually mature enough to deal with and start digesting solids without causing negative inflammatory responses around 6 months. However, the fact your baby is so strong already is great news because it shows that by the time the gut has matured they will be strong enough to cope with swallowing safely, and may even be able to start with "normal" foods and skip the puree stage altogether.

 

[SarahBear]

Waking for feeds and watching you eat aren't signs that she's ready for solids.

If she's hungry then she needs milk. It has way more nutrients and calories than anything you'd be feeding a 3 month old. She's probably just going through a growth spurt - keep giving her milk.

Agree. Her gut isn't ready for it. It will be much better for her if you hold off.

 

[CosplayMummy]

Alani was ready at 3 months. No matter how much formula I gave her, she was still hungry. The recommended age to start is six months, she couldn't wait that long. I held on until four months and she loved food.
I'd say hold on until four months just because it's better I guess? We all started at four months. The nurse will say wait until six months but you're her mum. You know what your baby wants x

 

[Lief]

A doctor told my friend that the reason her baby was waking more and it seemed as though he was hungry was because she had moved him on to hungry formula (around 3 months) and it's full of fillers to make the child feel full. He said it doesn't always last though and can end up causing more problems than it's worth. I'm not saying thats what's happening with your baby but maybe it's something to ask your nurse about.

 

[MrsM17]

Yes I started early with DS1, by 6 months he was on 3meals a day and still took about 40oz of milk, still woke in the night so don't think weaning will stop that part!! My son didn't sleep through until after he was 2!! He was and still is a very hungry bot at 3 years old.

He was miserable as he was having in excess of 50oz an 24 hours and vomiting as it was too much but then crying hungry. I can only say there is a lot of people who go by the book but having experienced a huge hungry boy there wasno way he was waiting. He was 98th centile and by no means not getting enough milk!! He eats adult portions even now.

DS2 is totally different, showing zero signs of needing anything but milk so until he is no longer satisfied I will continue just feeding him that. 6 months is a guide and nothing more x

 

[zorak]

Like others have said up the milk feeds but don't introduce solids. At 3 months the gut can't handle it. I did wean early but at 5 months.