In need of advice please

So, my trio is 4 months old now Baby A (Ryan) weights 14. 15 lbs, Baby B (Lucas) weights 13. 12lbs and Baby C (Ethan) weights 13. 15 lbs

They seem to be constantly hungry! As of the past week and a half their eating habits have totally changed.

Ryan, who used to eat 6 1/4 ounces every 4 hours, now eats 5 1/2 ounces every 3 hours and is still hungry. He goes to sleep around 6:30pm and sleeps around 7 to 8 hours a night before he gets up for a bottle. When I give him the bottle he eats it quickly and still not satisfied.

Lucas, who used to eat 6 1/2 ounces every 4 hours, now eats 7 ounces every 3 hours and cries for more all the time. In fact, he cries hysterically if you remove the bottle to burp him. He goes to sleep between 7 and 7:30pm and won't get up until 6:00 to 6:30am.

Ethan, who used to eat 6 1/4 ounces every 4 hours, now eats 5 ounces every 3 hours. He is the only one who is not a huge eater but must have his meal or "all hell breaks loose"

They had their pediatrician appointment the same day they turned 4 months (and the new eating habit had been going for about a week at that point). I told the pediatrician that perhaps I should begin giving them cereal since they are 4 months and seem to be always hungry and he said NO that I should try to give them more and stretch the feeding longer REALLY? but then he said that adding cereal will get them fat too early and in the same sentence he said I should keep their formula intake to 32 ounces and no more As of now, Lucas has been taking 34 ounces a day, Ryan around 31 and Ethan around 29.

What do you think I should do? I mean, the pediatrician did not give me a good reason not to start cereal now. I am aware of all the reasons why we shouldn't start cereal early, but the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests to start cereal between 4 and 6 months. My trio was born at 34.5 weeks.

Re: In need of advice please

My DD is four months old and at the dr this past friday, he said it was ok to start giving her rice...up to twice a day no more than 2 teaspoons...
she has been drinking 7 oz every 2 1/2 to 3 hours and is always crying for more...when i told the dr that he was suprised and said "oh really?! yea sounds like she is ready for food".
but its not in place of her bottle...he said to start introducing her to food and to try and do it when we eat our meals...
at first she was to W-t-f is this? and cringed when swallowing, but now she seems to be getting the hang of it..but doesnt eat as much as 2 teaspoons at all...now i'm going to do it once a day since I work and she freaked out when my mom tried to feed her so i want her to feel comfortable being fed before different people try feeding her.
but it seems like she's getting the hang of it, and is opening her mouth and swallowing! also its hard to time it out, i dont want to do it when she's really hungry cause then all she wants is her bottle...
sorry for the ramble-I hope that helps!

Re: In need of advice please

At 4 months my DD (out of nowhere) went from having 8oz bottles every 4hrs to over 9oz every hour and a half. She was CONSTANTLY hungry. It was crazy!! But she kept spitting up because it was too much fluid, even though she was starving. So, we started cereal and as soon as we did her bottles dropped back down and she was going 4-5hrs between feedings. I always gave her the bottle first, then about a half hour later I would do the cereal. I did the solids 3X/day.

After about a week of cereal I started Stage 1 fruits and veggies with no problem. Every 3-4 days I would start her on a new fruit or veggie (no particular order). For breakfast she would have cereal and fruit, lunch was cereal and veggie, and dinner was fruit and veggie. By 6 months she was starting with table foods. (scrambled eggs, cheese, yogurt, pasta, pancakes, shredded chicken, etc)

Everyone will give you different advice on when to start solids but ultimately you have to gauge your own kids and do what you think is right. My ped had no issues with our feeding schedule at all and for my DD it worked perfectly, it's what she needed. Try the cereal and see how it goes.

Re: In need of advice please

DD was the same at 4 months constantly hungry. Never seemed like the bottle was enough. So the pediatrician said i could try cereal. It took a good two weeks until she got the hang of it and actually started eating it but it worked and she wasn't constantly hungry. I believe i only gave it to her once a day to start, not sure when i switched to twice a day.

Re: In need of advice please

Thank you so much ladies