4 Months Old Baby Started Solids, Should I Start the Juice?
my baby is breastfed and wont take a bottle. she just turned 4 months and she’s a big baby with a big appetite so i started her on solids in an attempt to relieve myself a little and get her to sleep more ( she wakes up all the time for feeds,longest stretch 3 hrs) and she’s always hungry she cries and cries then she smiles when she spots my boobs and eagerly devours them. anyway, she started rice cereal and seems to like it as well, she didn’t spit at all and was happy eating it and i’m slowly increasing the portion to reach a full meal and she seems to be doing fine and has increased her sleep up to 5 hrs. she has more bowel movements though and my mom says she that it starts with extra poop then constipation and she needs extra fluids and i should give her juice, either by cup (which i tried for milk and was messy but not entirely unsuccessful experience), or mix it with the cereal. she says orange juice is best, but i read that citrus is not recommended until the eighth mouth. i live in egypt, we don’t have baby juice, white grapes and prune that are recommended are not available this time of the year. we have these in the form of commercial juice, some says pure but how could u be sure. the easiest juice to make at home would be orange or mandarin and they are the local fruits now. what should i do? should i give juice? and if so which kind and how to prepare it?
people who are mad at me for not consulting my ped, my mother is my ped, she’s one of the best doctors in my area, doctors here are not very "well informed" like u would like, so even though she’s my mom and wants what’s best, and also has a degree and 30 yrs of experience i still question her opinions and i read alot, i’m really tryin to give my baby what is best.
keepsmiling i live in alexandria , i used to offer milupa to my baby when she was colickly earlier, i dunno if they have any "true" benefit though, lol maybe i’ll offer her a little.. good luck with ur baby 
Dont give your baby orange juice. Not a good idea. I would just give her a little cooled boiled water but you shouldn’t even need to do that. You will know if she gets constipated. If you really want to give juice then any 100% preservative free juice that isn’t citrus(just dilute it 60% water). I would just try a bit of cooled water or maybe baby herbal tea if you can get some.
I wouldn’t bother with the juice – it has no nutritional value for babies and can upset their tummies. Breastfed babies don’t need any other fluids as breastmilk is so high in water. Also, it can be damaging for their teeth – even if they haven’t cut through yet!
If you feel she needs it, offer some water, but only in a sippy cup and never a bottle.
The normal start times are given for serveral different reasons. They are adjusted to a babys system, so its not overburdernded too soon. Juices too early robs them of breastmilk or formul and onty those should be given. Its not about convience its about nutrition. So not to other foods, no to juice, never give water either.
Get a guide online, or a book to follow, its not guesses it best known methods, to ensure the baby is eating healthy for its appropriate age. Cearal is the only food most pds will allow early if at all. Formula needs to be the full meal, cereal is for after the baby has taken all the breastmilk available and or bottled milk. there are many many nipples for bottles, find one she likes, it can try your patience, but in parenting we do whats the right thing, so you need to get her use to a botlle if shes not filling up on you. Please, take the time to discuss this with your pediatrician intead of altering her nutrition ok. Juices when they start getting introduced way later on, is when the possibility of diaper rashes start, so dont wish that on the baby sooner than it needs to be, and if she gets rashes, you stop feeding it that juice, and once cleared up, start a different juice and wait a week to see if that gives a rash. Its a well known fact that juices do not do all that much for infants as far as nutrition. Even toddlers dont benefit from it as they do a simple glass of water if given too much.
Juice is absolutely not needed for babies, especially not citrus juice. Apple or pear would be where you would start but I don’t believe in giving babies sweet juice until at least 1 year old. PLUS She doesn’t need any extra fluids apart from your breastmilk. Your mother is not right on that one. You can give her cold boiled water though if you wanted to, to get her used to water. I started water at 4 mths when i started solids but just to wash down the rice cereal. Small sips from a sippy cup or bottle at mealtime is a great starting point but you don’t need to push it. She will not become constipated from not getting juice. Having more poos with the rice cereal is normal. You may notice they get firmer now that she has solids but that doesn’t mean that she is constipated. Yes she may take a few days to adjust, but juice won’t fix that, instead it will get her used to the sweetness which is something you want to avoid. Water is your best bet for now in my opinion.
Good luck
Its all right to start solids to your loved one as far as it does not lead to any allergies. Pediatricians tell that before 6 months solids intake may cause food allergies in babies. Observe whether she develops any skin rash. If everything is ok, you can continue.
Juice, its too early. Acids in Juice may cause gastric irritation. Mothers milk is provided with enormous pure water. Just after feeding cereal, breast-fed her a little. While eating cereal if at all she feels discomfort while swallowing, make the solid little thin, add water.
Remember water should be boiled and brought to little warm.
Dont even depend upon your mom’s words completely rather discuss among yourselves with reasoning and also take a children specialists guidence. Its worth a lot!
Happy days with your Sweety!
Hi there, my health visitor told me to gave my son juice from about 2 months to help him with constipation, i gave him 2ozs of cool boiled water and a tablespoon of fresh orange juice (not concentrated) and this helped him to go to the toilet. Now he is nearly 7 months and doesn’t need the juice anymore because he has plenty of fruit and veg which help him so he just has water to drink. You can only try it if it doesn’t help then you could try just water. Good luck X
i live in egypt too!!!! where abouts are you?? im in heliopolis. if your little one is pooing fine then i would not offer any extra fliuds as i assume she is still BF loads. However if you feel she needs more you could offer a very small amount of cool boiled water. But max 30 ml at a time just a couple of times a day. Or they have the baby teas here i think it is call milupu. I have read that it is completely normal for a baby to go a couple of days w/o pooping so if she is pooing every other day but the texture is normal i wouldnt worry. My son i 3 months old. He went from pooping after every feed to once a day or every other day but the texture is good so there are no worries!!