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Feeding 4-6 Months FAQs Archived Feeding 4-6 Months FAQ's
My daughter is primarily breastfed, but has been eating solids for approx. 2 months (she is currently 6 months.). We have noticed her bowel movements changed to solid, almost rabbit poop like. At times when she bears down we know she is having one, but when she's done sometimes it's only a tiny bit (raisin like). Is she constipated? Other times there are several formed small poops in her diaper. -Never mushy anymore.
It does sound like your daughter has constipation. Constipation is defined by hard stools (sometimes "small balls" or "rabbit pellets"), that often are difficult to pass. There are many causes of constipation, but most commonly it is due to the child's diet. When solids are introduced, the consistency of the stools may change. Foods such as rice cereal, bananas, and apple sauce, which are popular "first foods", may increase the hardness of the stools. I suggest two things: 1) reduce the amounts of these three foods to a lesser amount and 2) add prune juice (start with 4-6 ounces per day).
Should I mix the cereal in the bottle? If not, why is it beneficial to spoon feed babies cereal? Most pediatricians recommend spoon feeding cereals and other pureed foods so that the child learns how much to eat and drink and which foods he or she prefers. When the cereal is mixed in with the milk in the bottle, the child has less choice: if he/she is hungry, he/she also has to drink; if he/she is thirsty, he/she also has to eat. Although most pediatricians recommend giving solids with a spoon, I'm not aware of any harm from putting cereal in the bottle. In fact, for some infants with GE reflux (spitting up with pain from stomach acid in the esophogus), we recommend thickening the milk feedings with cereal in the milk.
My daughter is 20 weeks and is starting rice cereal. Before the cereal, she was drinking 5-6 ounces every 3-4 hours about 5 times per day. The instructions on the box of rice cereal say to mix 1 Tbsp of cereal with 4 Tbsp of formula. Do I take this formula from her bottle, or are these 4 Tbsp in addition to the 5-6 ounces in her bottle? The directions on the cereal tend to be guidelines.My recommendation is to mix the cereal with formula (you don't really have to measure amounts, just add formula until the consistency is like your own oatmeal or one that your baby is comfortable with), let her eat as much as she wants, and then when she is done, offer the bottle. Allow her to take as little or as much formula now as she wants. It may be the amount you expect, but it would also be normal to be much less or even more than that.
My daughter is 5 mo old and has been eating 1-2 tbsp of rice cereal a day for two weeks. I feed her the cereal then nurse. I have noticed that here nursing is much faster and I am not sure if she is getting enough. Do you recommend to feeding then nursing? I have her on a great schedule and I am nervous with introducing foods that she may stop sleeping through the night. At this age (5 months), a nursing infant may get quite a lot of breast milk in just a few minutes. It is most likely that your daughter is getting all the milk she needs. If she needed more, she would feed longer at the breast and perhaps indicate that she wants additional feedings (by crying). I recommend giving the cereal and solids first and then nursing. Once a child begins receiving calories from solids, they may need less calories from the milk. As for fluids, breast fed (and bottle fed) infants who do not yet take solids get much more fluid than they require (note how many wet diapers there are!) to get the calories they need.
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