A little advice regarding weaning - how to do it??

[Squeakz]

hey i know this is quite a popular topic right now however have another question that im raelly unsure about etc. We have been trying J on little bits of baby rice every now and again etc. We tried him a ouple weeks ago however he wasnt interested and we tried him last night and some mouthfuls he swallowed it otherwise he just seemed completely confused. We are trying traditional weaning atm, ie with a spoon un til we have the time over the next couple fo days to give him some mushy carrot to play with/eat or banana etc. However my actual qn is:

how do you start the weaning process?? should i feed him a bottle and then 'food' straight away or wait a few hours or all at the same time?? we arent entirely sure if its the right time yet and so want to make sure that we aren't just trying it at the 'wrong' time before we dismiss it. wehave decided one reason is he might not like baby rice hence why we decided to try something else however we arent really sure 'when' we should feed it to him....

Thanks in advance! xxxx

 

[Amy_J]

all of this weaning is new to me too & i've been slightly confused. im sure the other mums can give you better advice than me, but with my lo i chose a time of day when hes generally relaxed, otherwise he's too hungry n just screams! to start i was giving him some of his bottle then a few spoons of porridge or more, until he wouldnt take no more n then finish with bottle! he hated the rice and i havent used it for a while. i usually managed a 5oz bottle and a small amount of porridge. im not in any rush as he's still quite young! im looking 4ward to other replies as this applies to me too!

 

[bobkat]

we are just about to start this too Sophie, like you I feel like I'm making it up as I go along but going to start with some baby rice at his 12.30 feed, going to feed him as usual so he's not starving and then try him on the rice, if that goes ok the following week i'm going to mix rice and an as yet not chosen vegetable and go from there.

does anyone reckon its ok to give them a bit of carrot to suck on when we're eating, if not is there anything like that we can give them at the moment. i know a friend of mine gave hers a piece of watermelon to suck on but we don't eat that and not going to buy one for freddie specially.

there must be a billion ways to do this and i'm really worried i'm going to choose the worst way in the world, but I guess freddie will tell me if he doesn't like it.

 

[duckanddoodle]

Amelia is 5 months and I started out after she had her 7am feed at about 830/0900 i gave her some porridge and then continued with her next bottle at 10am. To begin with I have been told until 6 months they need all their milk and then to reduce the amount of milk at the feeds you will be getting rid of.

I aim to give her 'lunch' at 1130/1200 once she has dropped her 10am feed and then give her milk bottle 1330/1400. And then the final bottle at bed time. Dinner will be about 1630/1700.

It varies I suppose because Amelia has always been on a 3hr routine and could never stretch her out to 4hr.

We love them too much to get it wrong! I have stressed soooo much!
I am not stopping her m,ilk feeds until we hit 6 months, I think its all trial and error as she has gone off 'food' this week so have decided to leave it for 2 weeks.

 

[Squeakz]

its so complicated. and we got given a book that even though has some stuff in is a bit useless to be honest. We triedd him on baby rice a few times inthe past and he wasnt interested however last night for his 6.30 feed we gave him a bottle and then a little baby rice and he seemed to take it. we also topped him up at about 11 and he slept till 7. We're gonna try it again and slowly build it up so a little bit per 'feed'. so tomorrow potentially might give him abit inthe morning as well. However, not sure when to start veg and stuff. Amy, i think 6 months is a good time to start cutting their bottles down but Josh seems soooooo small to be eating anything!!! lol!

I reckong giving him some carrot should be fine to nibble on! Freddie is the same age as j isnt he?? Werent they born on the same day 3rd oct?? i might be making stuff up here?! xx

 

[flexilexi394]

gonna chuck in a wild guess or what id do, prob do it at like mid am feed do the milk thing, use some of that milk in his porridge or whatever, let him have bottle but not as much, then try the food, then give the bottle after. lol i dont know if thats right or wrong or whatever but i think thats what id give a go haha! i have no idea other wise. just thought id give it a crack x

 

[Squeakz]

its pretty daunting i was just like right we've tried the porridge now what ...where do we go...the first times we tried it we never used common sense and did it before his bottle lol!! xx

 

[bobkat]

I reckong giving him some carrot should be fine to nibble on! Freddie is the same age as j isnt he?? Werent they born on the same day 3rd oct?? i might be making stuff up here?! xx

you're not making it up, they are the same age. It's quite freaky seeing your posts cos they are pretty much exactly what I'm thinking/doing with Freddie. Can't believe they're nearly 4 months, where has the time gone.

He's started chewing motions when we eat in front of him so feel mean not giving him something to suck on. Have to see how it goes, he'll probably hate it. I definitely think he's ready for something as well as milk. Weighed him (on the wii balance board lol) the other day and he's about 18lbs now which is like off the scale on the babies first milk tin we've got (he's had formula once a day this week so he gets used to it and OH can feed him while I sneak a shower in).

I've read a few books I've borrowed off other people and they all say different things about what to try first and how to prepare it. Hopefully by trial and error I can find the right way for Freddie.

 

[Squeakz]

i cant decide whether time goes really quickly or not! sometimes on bad days they drag but when i look back its gone really quickly! He rolled over for the first time today! not from the back to the front but front to back! i was sooo proud! yeah everyone tells you completely different advice! unfortunately phil and i eat at about 8 by which point j is asleep but he 'chews' on his dummy, and he actually swallows baby rice now. i mean some does get spat out but id say at least 85 - 90% of it does get down him. He does seem soooo small though!!! Freddie was 3rd wasnt he?? He has started to rty and 'eat' his dummy.......... cant believe how quickly he is growing up though i will say! seems like yesterday he was just this 'blob' of a baby that needs food, new nappy and sleep and now he's always awake during the day save from a few naps! xxx

 

[bobkat]

yeah Freddie was 3rd, 6.51am, still have Bob's excited shout of 'It's a Boy!!' in my head, seems like yesterday sometimes

go joshua for rolling over, Freddie not there yet, what baby rice you using??

 

[Squeakz]

haha! well he only rolls one way lol! from the front to the back!! its organix baby rice! xx

 

[serenitylove]

i just gave daisy her first outhfull of baby food she spat it out as she did the next few but giggled away so she must have enjoyed it im givin baby rice a miss tho it tastes rank we started on banana pudding

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

New advice is to wait until 6 months, as between 4 - 6 months a change takes place in the gut that means allergies are less likely. As there is no way of telling when this happens, just that ir is between 4 and 6 months, its better to wait till 6 months. But obviously its your baby and if you think he's ready then go for it

To start with, I find its better to stick to feeding milk as normal and treat solids as extra. So make sure he has his normal feed before giving solid foods. This means that he is not going to get frustrated with the food, and that he is still getting nutritional benefits from the milk. As he gets older and takes more solids, you'll notice him decreasing how much milk he needs as 'food' but until around 1 year of age, he still needs the milk more than the food.

Hope that helps x

 

[Rósa]

New advice is to wait until 6 months, as between 4 - 6 months a change takes place in the gut that means allergies are less likely. As there is no way of telling when this happens, just that ir is between 4 and 6 months, its better to wait till 6 months. But obviously its your baby and if you think he's ready then go for it

To start with, I find its better to stick to feeding milk as normal and treat solids as extra. So make sure he has his normal feed before giving solid foods. This means that he is not going to get frustrated with the food, and that he is still getting nutritional benefits from the milk. As he gets older and takes more solids, you'll notice him decreasing how much milk he needs as 'food' but until around 1 year of age, he still needs the milk more than the food.

Hope that helps x

Thought the new advice was to start at 4 months to stop allergies?

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

New advice is to wait until 6 months, as between 4 - 6 months a change takes place in the gut that means allergies are less likely. As there is no way of telling when this happens, just that ir is between 4 and 6 months, its better to wait till 6 months. But obviously its your baby and if you think he's ready then go for it

To start with, I find its better to stick to feeding milk as normal and treat solids as extra. So make sure he has his normal feed before giving solid foods. This means that he is not going to get frustrated with the food, and that he is still getting nutritional benefits from the milk. As he gets older and takes more solids, you'll notice him decreasing how much milk he needs as 'food' but until around 1 year of age, he still needs the milk more than the food.

Hope that helps x

Thought the new advice was to start at 4 months to stop allergies?

No, definitely 6 months

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Babies-weaning/Pages/Introduction.aspx

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

I weaned my daughter at 3 months and she's never had an allergy or is never ill but I was still worried about giving charley food. I gave him mashed banana at 3 months and he gobbled it up and he also loves muesli and sweet potato even though he spits it out to start off with. I know it is recommended to wean between 4-6 months but charley seems fine, I only give him purée 2-3 times a week ATM though

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

I weaned my daughter at 3 months and she's never had an allergy or is never ill but I was still worried about giving charley food. I gave him mashed banana at 3 months and he gobbled it up and he also loves muesli and sweet potato even though he spits it out to start off with. I know it is recommended to wean between 4-6 months but charley seems fine, I only give him purée 2-3 times a week ATM though

Its not recommended to wean 4-6 months, its AT 6 months. But some babies are ready way before then and some not till a few weeks after. You can only do what feels right for you and your baby at the end of the day

 

[Squeakz]

its 4-6 months now. in the little booklet our hv gave us it says 4mths 50% of women wean at earlier than 4mths though. we've started the process just a little babby rice 2 times a day!! xx

 

[Lacey's Mummy]

That's what i thought Sophie. The hv gave me a booklet saying 4 months for puree and 6 months for solids

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

its 4-6 months now. in the little booklet our hv gave us it says 4mths 50% of women wean at earlier than 4mths though. we've started the process just a little babby rice 2 times a day!! xx

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but it is 6 months. If you have a booklet stating otherwise then it is out of date. Unfortunately the old advice is still doing the rounds in some areas and especially on the internet, but you can check here

http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/birthtofive/Pages/Weaningfirststeps.aspx

From that website:
Health experts agree that around six months is the best age for introducing solids (weaning). Before this, your baby’s digestive system is still developing. Starting solids too early can increase the risk of infections and allergies.