parping with bottles = ready for solids?

[tracyM]

For the last couple of weeks, Alex has been parping with his breakfast bottle. He has a couple of sucks, spits a bit out, giggles, chews his bottle, gargles, blows bubbles, then cries for some more - an hour later and he's only had 3oz most of which he's spat or gurgled back out (better than his usual sicking it back out I suppose). We're going through 3 parpy bottles before he's not hungry. To me it's a sign he's ready, but he's content with all his other bottles.

I asked HV when he had his injections - 'ooooohhhh nooooooo, he won't show any signs until he's 6 months old'. Just wondering if anybody elses bubs had done this, all my others showed they were ready by still being hungry at the end of a feed.

 

[michelle82]

i would try him with some baby rice if hes ready he'll take it. that 6 month thing is rubbish a few years ago they advised to wean at 4 months! babies must have been ready then they dont change overnight!

 

[Em78]

This was how i knew my Alex was ready, he was feeding but was so easily distracted and going on and off the boob for most of the feed adn generally messing about. he had alwasys been a really good feeder before.

he was also showing interest in our food - grabbed at my food if given half a chance!

we tried some baby rice at about 16/17 weeks i think - just a few spoons shoved in while he was having his bottle - really wasnt sure at first but we kept it up then started giving him some between his afternoon and evening feeds (he took it better when he wasnt hungry). hes now on three meals a deal which he wolfs down and gets upset when its all gone!

i never bother even telling my hv stuff like this - i know whats best for my baby so i just do what i want and tell them what they want to hear


x

 

[petchy]

'ooooohhhh nooooooo, he won't show any signs until he's 6 months old'

well HV do say that don't they, but come on - all babies are different! i get so wound up over this patronising attitude; as if we don't know our own babies enough to see the signs?! i posted this in a different topic a while back:

i can't remember where i read this, but apparently the advice to wait until 6 months is because the government are worried about the number of obese children?!?! now feel free to correct me, but i can't see why starting solids at 4 months makes a child more likely to become obese???? surely obese children are a result of bad eating habits (that they probably learn from the parents) and if a sensible and varied diet is encouraged from the word go, and the child gets used to a variety of different tastes and textures, they will be less likely to become overweight.

i think the government should deal with the obesity problem by focusing their energy on teaching parents and children healthy eating habits (and for goodness' sake get rid of those chicken nuggets and chips for every meal!!!) not by "dictating" at what age a baby is ready for solids! i don't think ruben will be able to wait until 6 months... i will be loking for the signs, and let him take the lead and tell me when he is ready!

and Em78, i totally agree with

i never bother even telling my hv stuff like this - i know whats best for my baby so i just do what i want and tell them what they want to hear

i do that too!

 

[Rosieroo]

that 6 month thing is rubbish a few years ago they advised to wean at 4 months! babies must have been ready then they dont change overnight!

The advice given for the past 3 years is that babies are not ready for solids until they are 6 months old. According to the NHS website 'Breastmilk or formula milk provides all the nutrition that babies need for the first 6 months. Their stomachs can't digest other foods properly until this age'.
The Department of Health and the World Health Organisation both advise no solids until 6 months.

If you leave it until this stage then you can often miss out on the mush stage as babies are learning to chew. Ella will not be weaned (or have anything apart from the odd raw carrot stick to munch on for her gums) until she is ready and until she's at least 6 months.
When I spoke to a lady from the NCT a while back she said that she felt that some mothers feed their babies earlier because they like to, not because their baby needs it.

The advice is there for a reason.

 

[Em78]

glad someone else tells bare faced lies to their hv petchy

as far as my hv was concerned i fed on demand, alex slept on his back and i wouldnt dream of giving him solids till he was 6 months! i dont do much by the book apparently

still what they dont know doesnt hurst them and i have a baby who slept through from 8 weeks, piled on the weight and i never had any trouble with breast feeding (oh yeah i didnt do that the way they told me either - got sil's advice instead!)



x

 

[tracyM]

Thanks guys, I always live in hope that my HV will prove useful, but you're much better. Not seeing her again now until 8 mth check thank goodness. We'll see how much baby rice mess we can make in the morning

The Department of Health and the World Health Organisation both advise no solids until 6 months.

They also advise not before 20 weeks, most babies are ready by the time they reach 6 months. Had we followed DoH advice with Callum instead of fighting them, we'd have terminated him at 24 weeks or withdrawn his feeding at 3 weeks old. As it was, the doctors stuck their necks on the line for us, so I don't have too much faith in the DoH.

 

[Em78]

omg tracy thats awful - poor little mite is Callum alright now? sorry if i'm beng nosey

i think you know your baby best as his mum - your instincts were obviously right in fighting for Callum


x

 

[tracyM]

He had ventriculomegaly (hydrocephalus but inside the head rather than the head swelling) in the womb. DoH guidelines say the prognosis was that he would be a vegetable on life support - he has dyspraxia and autistic spectrum disorders (not even bad enough to be diagnosed as autism), which in the scheme of things - BIG WOW. I've done a post in the breastfeeding thread about the other thing - I think I've finally come to terms with it all 8 years later You lot are better than counsellors (sp?)

 

[beanie]

i would try him with some baby rice if hes ready he'll take it. that 6 month thing is rubbish a few years ago they advised to wean at 4 months! babies must have been ready then they dont change overnight!

Whilst I will agre that as mothers we do know our own children, I think that we do need to bear in mind that curent research means that guidelines do change regularly. Babies may not change over night but knowledge does. The six month guide came in as a lot of mothers were weaning their babies very early when they were not ready for it, therefore increasing the risk of allergies and obesity. Therefore by advising them not to start until 6 months, if mothers choose to do this earlier then they would probably do it at a later age. Seren is nearly 19 weeks and I gave her baby rice for the first time yesterday as she was feeding day and night, and seemed hungry all the time. I did want to wait til 20 weks but the constant waking at night has exhausted me. My HV was actually telling me to start her at 14 weeks, way to early for me as I had a gluton allergy when I was younger and I really want to minimiose any chance of allergy as much as I can. If you do decide to give solids at a younger age I really do feel that you should discuss it with your HV or Dr.

 

[Em78]

Bless him thats so scary. just goes to show that sometimes we forget that no matter what the statistics there is alwasys the 1 in so many and what if you're the 1?

You must have been a bag of nerves when you had Alex.


x

 

[tracyM]

It's not up for discussion full stop with our HV. If you don't do things 'by the book', she won't help with anything.

I'm lucky in a way that I've been through allergies with the two older boys, god help first time mums under her care. I can't help but wonder if there really are mums out their that wean their babies on pureed chicken nuggets because their HV have refused to give advice unless they go by the book.

 

[beanie]

It's not up for discussion full stop with our HV. If you don't do things 'by the book', she won't help with anything.

I'm lucky in a way that I've been through allergies with the two older boys, god help first time mums under her care. I can't help but wonder if there really are mums out their that wean their babies on pureed chicken nuggets because their HV have refused to give advice unless they go by the book.

This is why I think that at times we ned to discuss things with HV. Whilst you had the experience some one else may not have and would just go by what their friends had told them. I have seen other people weaning their babies at young ages because their mates have and it can be quite worrying. Whilst I do agree that everyone gives great advice on here and its great that so many people feel that they can ask all these questions I rally would say that if you are unsure please ask a qualified health carer (I really do not mean to offend people and think that advice is great). Also if you are not happy with your HV and do not feel you are getting the answers could you not ask for a second opinion?

 

[Lauz_1601]

Ella has started doing this, she was draining 8oz, but now whenever I take the bottle away from her to wind her, she wont have it back, she fusses and crys and pushes it out with her tounge leaving 3 or 4 oz's.
Iv started to give her baby rice just once a day now for abot 2 weeks but I think it time to introduce some veggies at another rmeal time.

 

[michelle82]

the thing is they say try at 6 months but if your baby suddenly shows the signs of being ready then they may agree with you to wean earlier so then that goes against everything they say about why not to wean early?! we were told not to do it before 17 weeks but from there on if you do treat them as vegetarians until 6 months. The only reasons for weaning at 6 months was linked to obesity in children and allergies. well i think it depends on the baby, i was given baby rice at 3 months on the advice of a HV, i am neither over weight nor have any allergies what so ever. As long as you do things sensibly and dont force food then you should do it when you feel your baby is ready. We were told that you would know when your baby is ready by them draining bottles being constantly hungry and waking in the night when they were sleeping thru. But what about if your baby has never slept thru or never drains bottles?? I plan on offering matthew baby rice at 17 weeks if he takes it then fair enough if not i'll give him longer. I still feed on demand and matthew has never had set bottle times.

 

[Rosieroo]

I plan on offering matthew baby rice at 17 weeks if he takes it then fair enough if not i'll give him longer.

Why would you offer it to him if he doesn't need it?

Babies go through a major growth spurt at 4 months and then their feeding usually settles back down. Therefore they may seem hungry and ready for more food at this point but their not. I don't understand who so many mums will give their baby food when the advice is they cannot digest it properly? Why not wait a couple of months ? Surely babies have plenty of time to tuck into mushed up veg over the rest of their lives, why the hurry?

 

[beanie]

I personally wouldn't offer any solids til they show signs of wanting it, some signs are described below:

Is my baby ready to start solids?




How do you know if your baby is ready to start on a more varied diet? Look for the following cues. Your baby:

can hold her head up

It's important that your baby is able to maintain a steady, upright position in order to take first foods from a spoon.

sits well when supported

You may have to support her initially -- a highchair can be pulled into action a bit later when she's able to sit up all by herself.

makes chewing motions Your baby should be able to move food to the back of her mouth and swallow. As your baby learns to swallow efficiently you may notice her drooling decrease. At six months your baby may even have a tooth or two.

has gained a healthy weight Most babies are ready to eat semi-solids when they've doubled their birth weight, which may take place before or around their sixth month.

Displays curiosity about what you're eating. Your baby begins eyeing your meals and reaches out to try foods travelling from plate to mouth.
(this made me think Seren was getting ready, well that and the feeding every hour during the day, OH was eating chips with Seren on his knee and she kept watching them go from plate to mouth and was trying to grab them. She was also making chewing faces)

Some good links, hope these help
http://www.babyorganix.co.uk/weaning/how.asp

http://www.baby-milk-pregnancy-bottle-b ... eaning.htm

http://www.surestartspeke.org/weaning.htm

http://www.welchs.com/healthy/weaning.html

 

[Kim]

Awww I can just imagine her sitting there begging for chips bless her heart!!

I saw a baby in ASDA only a few months old eating chips the other day!!! I was fuming . How irresponsible are some people? They even had chip spice on!!! My mum had to drag me away before I said something

 

[michelle82]

this is my point though i am only holding out to the 17 weeks because thats what we have been advised hv never even mentioned 20 weeks so already thats conflicting info. Matthew very rarely sleeps thru the night goes to bed at 8 bottle about 2 then at 6 then around every 3 hours he used to last longer at night and have bigger gaps in bottles i now have to make 7ozs up and he has started staring at us eating and does chomping movements when we do. even if your baby shows 'signs' they still might not be ready so why not try him ? if we listened to HV about everything then our babies would be wrapped in cotton wool. I'm going with my instinct not what scientists claim is and isnt right. Surely a child doesnt become obese because you fed it a month earlier than someone else? Every child is individual and the guidelines are there as that they arent rules on how you bring up your child. I know people that give their babies rusk that are matthews age and have done for weeks i dont agree with it as they are full of sugar and he wont be having them. I am at least sticking to the time scales they offer but if matthew was crying thru hunger i would feed him.

 

[Em78]

I guess we are all different and who are we to say one mums approach is right or wrong.

we all love our babes and do what we feel is right and thats all we can ask.

i know i wont mention it to my hv as like tracys she is very closed minded about anything that isnt by the book. i know i was weaned before six months and i'm just fine!

I think we will all have to agree to disagree on this one as its just different approaches to parenting and i'm sure we all respect each others right to do things their own way.

em xxx