Not fussed on bottles anymore

I have recently started my 4 1/2 mth old son on solids. He is a big bub at 9kgs and started on rice cereal, (which didn't really go down that well) and have just started on some veges which he seems to guts down. He used to have around 5 bottles a day of between 200-240mls of formula but since I have started just the morning introduction of veges after his morning bottle, he seems to drink far less during the day.

Obviously if he was only dropping 1 feed because of starting solids I wouldn't mind but I seem to be wasting more formula than he is drinking. Now he will drink about 60mls of a bottle and then just starts biting the teat, shoving his hands in his mouth and crying and won't drink anymore.

This afternoon after only 80mls, I decided to give him some veges and though not seeming to be really hungry, ate about 3 tablespons in about 5 mins!! Now he is quite happy and content.

How do I know if he is wanting more solids than bottles at this early stage and should I be giving him more food?? I really can't make him drink anymore than he wants but I didn't really expect that he'd be wanting more than I solid meal a day. Should I try a morning solid and evening solid?

Has anyone had experience feeding solids to a bigger than average bub?

Pooley, solids will replace milk when they are introduced. This is one of the risks of starting solids early, as solids are empty calories for babies until at least 6 months. Breastmilk or formula provide the main nutrition at Frazer's age.

Given that you have found that his formula intake has dropped a lot, it suggests that he is getting too much solids. If it were me, I'd drop the solids back a bit (or stop altogether) to make sure that he is getting enough nutrients from the milk. Before 6 months, and even for some time beyond that, babies do not need more solids than milk. The nutrients he needs for growth and brain development at this time can't be absorbed from food.

hi pooley my DS is a fair size - he was about 8.5kg at the same age as your DS. i'm bfing but DS was/is a hungry baby but i still waited to introduce solids until almost 6 months.

i felt that while he is a big, hungry baby that he wasn't developmentally ready at that age to eat solids - i was waiting for extra indicators like tongue thrust reflex, in addition to what MR suggested about nutrients etc.

i'd be inclined to give the solids a miss for a bit longer, but if you do want to continue, i'd stick to 1 meal to make sure he still gets all the goodness from his bottles :)

He still loves his first morning bottle but at about 4 mths, he was having a whole 240ml bottle and then wanting more an hour later at which he'd down another 180ml. That's why I thought starting solids in the morning feeds might help.

I am happy to try and cut back on the solids but it just presents a problem when it comes to making bottles and wasting formula. I am using up to 8 bottles a day just because he is "snacking" I suppose you'd call it. I can never tell now if he is hungry or just cranky or tired and it's a real pain not knowing how much he's gonna drink when we go out. I only gave him some veges this arvo because he was rejecting the bottle and really restless and cranky. Maybe I should avoid doing this and just stick to the morning feed for now.