looking at weaning and really don't know where to start, help please!

[lrb]

I think Grace is going to need to be weaned soon but really unsure. I always said i will wait till 6 months and not before even though family say i should before because she's a big baby 8'11 lbs at birth, 15 lbs at 14 weeks (now) and she's greedy!
She is on 180ml formula 5x a day and slept through the night from 5 weeks.
Signs that she might soon need to be weaned is, she's waking early, (5am instead of 7-8am) playing up at night if her last feed at night is early- thats if she wakes at 5 am so makes all her feeds early that day!! watching me eat all the time, not making her 3 n half hours in-between each feed- 2 hrs 45-3 hrs. She's held her head really well really early on, she's not far off sitting unaided but the bumbo helps, she hates to be fed laying down or even slightly laying, she has to be upright all the time which means she's hard to feed!
do you think she's ready or in next few weeks, i know i can't start till 4 months at least.

Also i always thought you start off with breakfast but read babies can't start with them and can't have oats? just fruit n veg, i have some baby porridge here with fruit ready for when she is, can i not use that? (c&g)
i still give her all her feeds too right? how often in-between should i give her milk food? can someone give me a rough idea on their day please?
sorry to be a pain I'm so unsure and my mum can't remember as she's getting on a bit now bless her.

thankss!! x

 

[pinkyprincess]

14 weeks is WAYYYY too early! Not even 4 months with is the earliest (and not even fully advised) id read this information http://www.mumsnet.com/babies/weaning#The_readiness_signs_that_actually_matter

We weaned at 34 weeks, early due to pressure from OH but my baby was 2 weeks late and always been a big boy and he's been EBF for 34 weeks.

I think you need to speak to a HV or health professional before starting food.

 

[pinkyprincess]

And Tyler still feeds every 3 hours at neatly 6 months.

 

[lrb]

ok thank you!

yeah i don't mean right now, i thought 4 months was ok if she wasn't settling with milk?

 

[pinkyprincess]

I personally don't really agree with it without medical consent. There are others on here that do. If I were you before doing anything speak to your HV as they see babies and speak to mums everyday and can give you advice good for you.

 

[lrb]

mine was useless which is why id rather talk to experienced mums, people that have actually had children not just read a textbook. thanks for you help tho

 

[pinkyprincess]

Mine was total pants too! She told me 'some babies just don't sleep' genius!! We have other clinics we can go to I just can't because I don't drive! Do u have a children's centre near you? Mine do weaning parties with the centre staff (not HVS) I find them a lot nicer and more knowledgable as they work with mums on a daily basis. The parties are a chance to meet other mums and discuss weaning. Maybe try and go to one of them before you start? At least then if you do start at 4 months you'll know what to do/what not to do. I'd recommend annabel Karmel if you want to cook your own food. My mum used them on my brother and sister and it's all very yummy food!

 

[Dustbunny]

My personal opinion here only of course, but I would never wean at 4 months unless it was advised by a medical professional.

Most babies go through a huge growth spurt at around 3 months and then again at 4 months so will have lots of extra milk anyway. Until about 3 weeks ago Chloe was drinking 7 ozs every 11/2 - 2 hours (she's now 24 weeks) and it never even crossed my mind to wean early.

All babies watch their parents eat it's how they learn but doesn't necessrily mean they are ready for food. True signs of being ready are taking food from you and purposefully putting it into their mouth in other words not missing their mouth iykwim.

Having said that I would never dream of telling another mum what's best for their child so you need to do what you think is right. Good luck with whatever it is you decide

 

[katie_lou]

I weaned at 16 weeks . Do what's best for ur baby hun . I could not wait 6 months to wean ruby has she was hungry all the time and when I say all the time I mean it. I started with breakfast and would just mash up banana and mix I with her milk and I also gave her mashed up mango . The Ella's kitchen pouches are great but can be expensive it's so much cheaper making ur own and freezing it xxxz

 

[katie_lou]

Mine was total pants too! She told me 'some babies just don't sleep' genius!! We have other clinics we can go to I just can't because I don't drive! Do u have a children's centre near you? Mine do weaning parties with the centre staff (not HVS) I find them a lot nicer and more knowledgable as they work with mums on a daily basis. The parties are a chance to meet other mums and discuss weaning. Maybe try and go to one of them before you start? At least then if you do start at 4 months you'll know what to do/what not to do. I'd recommend annabel Karmel if you want to cook your own food. My mum used them on my brother and sister and it's all very yummy food!

Iv just downloaded annabel Karelia app for my iPad it's brilliant x

 

[hugsy]

i started last week as advised by hv so 16 weeks but she advised 2 weeks of just baby rice once a day , basically learning to swallow ticker food, then only potatoes carrot apple or pear up 2 6 months, you pick 1 and give it 4 days in a row to make sure she doesnt vomit from it, then pick the next on and so on for the 16 days , the any mixture of those 6 things up to 6 months once there was no reaction to any of them obviously

apparently those 4 foods are ones least likely to cause allergies and that's the logic of only giving them till she reaches 6 months

just go with what u feel is best for your buba x

 

[Mrs N]

I started at 18 weeks coz of relux but also coz I have a little piggy!! I ideally wanted to wait till 6 months but Im pleased I did it now as he took to it straight away and loves every food I have given him!! he now has 3 meals a day! I wud wait till at least the 17 weeks (the minimum age rcommended by the quacks unless there is a medical reason) then maybe just try a bit, the worst that can happen is that they just dont eat it!! If there not ready then they just spit it out!!
xxx

 

[MrsR]

The things you've mentioned don't even whisper 'ready to wean' to me let only say it. She is so young! DS was a big baby, always watched us eat, had great head control from birth, never slept through, had big milk feeds, woke early etc but I wouldn't have considered weaning earlier than 6 months without paediatric consent as the digestive tract isn't developed enough to actually take the food given.

 

[Froslass]

Wss^^^ although my LO has always slept through, she did all these things too, but I waited till 6 months xx

I don't mean this in a bad way, but three hours between feeds is totally normal, and so is waking at 5am etc. Just part of being a mummy, and like other ladies have said it might be a wee growth spurt x

 

[Mrs. KM]

I spoke to my doctor about this last week. He said it is fine to wean between 4-6 months. If the baby is able to take the food and swallow it, her body is ready. They will just push the food back out if they aren't ready because of the thrust reflex. He suggested just giving tastes to see what she does and if she doesn't want it, wait a week or two and try again. In our case, she isn't ready so we will wait and try again. I also plan on giving her very small amounts. I just want her to learn how to use the spoon etc. I have read that while weaning at 6 months is advised, you shouodn't wait too much longer than that because they may have trouble learning how to swallow etc when their thrust reflex is so far back that they can choke. Also at 6 months, their iron stores start to decrease so they do need to start other food. Oops, went off on a tangent! Anyway, I personally didn't want to wait until exactly 6 months because I know it takes a while for babies to learn how to eat. This way we have time to take it slow. Saying all that, I would wait until 17 weeks for sure and also speak to your hv or doctor first. Xx

 

[MrsR]

I spoke to my doctor about this last week. He said it is fine to wean between 4-6 months. If the baby is able to take the food and swallow it, her body is ready. They will just push the food back out if they aren't ready because of the thrust reflex. He suggested just giving tastes to see what she does and if she doesn't want it, wait a week or two and try again. In our case, she isn't ready so we will wait and try again. I also plan on giving her very small amounts. I just want her to learn how to use the spoon etc. I have read that while weaning at 6 months is advised, you shouodn't wait too much longer than that because they may have trouble learning how to swallow etc when their thrust reflex is so far back that they can choke. Also at 6 months, their iron stores start to decrease so they do need to start other food. Oops, went off on a tangent! Anyway, I personally didn't want to wait until exactly 6 months because I know it takes a while for babies to learn how to eat. This way we have time to take it slow. Saying all that, I would wait until 17 weeks for sure and also speak to your hv or doctor first. Xx

I just want to point out, nicely, some incorrect information here.
1) it is incorrect to say that babies aren't ready if they spit the food out and they can choke if you wait until 6 months. I am seriously shocked at a doctor saying this! Early weaning actually teaches a baby to swallow before chewing. It teaches a baby to overcome the gag reflex. Waiting actually teaches a baby to chew (move the food around its mouth) before swallowing and works with the gag reflex. The gag reflex is completely different to choking. You need to be aware of what the difference is.
2) the ability to swallow makes no difference to how developed the digestive Tract is. A baby can swallow, it swallows milk every day after all, but that does not mean its digestive system is ready for food!
3) yes their iron reserves start to deplete at 6 months but they don't suddenly run out! Food is not vitally important until they are one! Also, milk restricts absorption of iron, so how can weaning early build up iron when a baby is still dependant on milk feeds which negates the iron absorption?
I am absolutely shocked and appalled that a doctor would give this info! Hence why I wouldn't trust any health professional that isn't paediatric!

 

[LoopyLouize]

Hi hun,

I weaned my LO at 14 weeks due to medical reasons and was advised it was for the best due to her only drinking 5oz of milk a day.

She is now 22 weeks and she still only has 2 meals a day. She has been a lot better medically but I can honestly say, she was NOT ready at all for food. As somebody said a few posts back (sorry cant remember who wrote it) she struggled digesting it and it made her constipated for a while. The signs you say that your LO is showing are common and they are not signs of ready for weaning (in my opinion) as H was doing the same (apart from drinking all that milk).

I think people are misled that babies will sleep longer when given food! H still wakes at 4am for a bottle every single night! My 2 bestfriends who also have 5 month old babies who are eating 3 meals a day still wake at 4am for a bottle too!

Sorry if I sound so negative about it, I don't mean to at all, I just wanted to tell you my experience as my LO started at the same age your LO is now. That being said, every baby is different and if you feel ready and LO is ready than you do what you think is best. Good luck chick, and if you need any advice about what foods I tried and what she liked and disliked feel free to PM me xxx

 

[knopk@]

My lo still doesnt sleep through the night, i did wait for 5,5 month until i weaned but he was clearly ready for food. He is a very big boy, never lasted 3 hours at that age and prefers little and often approach due to.reflux i think.
When we started though,.he loved it. No messing with.baby rice, fruit and veg straight away and didnt have constipation.
Do read the article, it will help you decide when.
Its your baby and all that but trust me, holding off until close to 6 months is worth it.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[katie_lou]

I think Grace is going to need to be weaned soon but really unsure. I always said i will wait till 6 months and not before even though family say i should before because she's a big baby 8'11 lbs at birth, 15 lbs at 14 weeks (now) and she's greedy!
She is on 180ml formula 5x a day and slept through the night from 5 weeks.
Signs that she might soon need to be weaned is, she's waking early, (5am instead of 7-8am) playing up at night if her last feed at night is early- thats if she wakes at 5 am so makes all her feeds early that day!! watching me eat all the time, not making her 3 n half hours in-between each feed- 2 hrs 45-3 hrs. She's held her head really well really early on, she's not far off sitting unaided but the bumbo helps, she hates to be fed laying down or even slightly laying, she has to be upright all the time which means she's hard to feed!
do you think she's ready or in next few weeks, i know i can't start till 4 months at least.

Also i always thought you start off with breakfast but read babies can't start with them and can't have oats? just fruit n veg, i have some baby porridge here with fruit ready for when she is, can i not use that? (c&g)
i still give her all her feeds too right? how often in-between should i give her milk food? can someone give me a rough idea on their day please?
sorry to be a pain I'm so unsure and my mum can't remember as she's getting on a bit now bless her.

thankss!! x

Could u try hungry baby milk x

 

[Mrs. KM]

I spoke to my doctor about this last week. He said it is fine to wean between 4-6 months. If the baby is able to take the food and swallow it, her body is ready...... Xx

I just want to point out, nicely, some incorrect information here.
1) it is incorrect to say that babies aren't ready if they spit the food out and they can choke if you wait until 6 months. I am seriously shocked at a doctor saying this! Early weaning actually teaches a baby to swallow before chewing. It teaches a baby to overcome the gag reflex. Waiting actually teaches a baby to chew (move the food around its mouth) before swallowing and works with the gag reflex. The gag reflex is completely different to choking. You need to be aware of what the difference is.
2) the ability to swallow makes no difference to how developed the digestive Tract is. A baby can swallow, it swallows milk every day after all, but that does not mean its digestive system is ready for food!
3) yes their iron reserves start to deplete at 6 months but they don't suddenly run out! Food is not vitally important until they are one! Also, milk restricts absorption of iron, so how can weaning early build up iron when a baby is still dependant on milk feeds which negates the iron absorption?
I am absolutely shocked and appalled that a doctor would give this info! Hence why I wouldn't trust any health professional that isn't paediatric!

Not all of it was what my doctor said, some I have read. (your point #2 was his main thing). I personally think people should research for themselves and decide what they want to do. On this subject a lot of parents need to agree to dissagree I think. There is so much conflicting advice out there on this topic as well. In my case we gave her a taste of cereal mixed with milk, way more milk than cereal. She wasn't interested, so I'm not forcing it on her. Xx