weaning - help please

[Tadpole]

Right, so Olivia is a rubbish sleeper and I keep being told that if I feed her she will sleep better. But my instincts tell me she isn't ready. I have given her a few bits of finger food that she may briefly suck on but usually just throws around. Although she likes to suck the butter of my toast. She will also suck some baby porridge off a spoon if I load it up for her - but only about 2 spoons then it is back to flicking it about the place.

I am now really worried that I am starving her because of my insistence on following blw. Certain people around me keep pushing me to try baby rice and puree. I have pureed a bit of veg but she doesn't seem to really know what to do with it - she just wants to play with the spoon.

Like I said, I really don't think she is bothered about food at the moment and in my moments of clarity I kinda know that when she is ready she will eat. But I am so tired and stressed that it is building up in my mind as a BIG ISSUE. (Along with many other things. )

I don't even know what i am asking here??? Or what sort of replies I am expecting. I'm beginning to think I am not cut out for this mothering lark and should just go back to work and let someone who knows what they are doing look after her before I mess her up for life. I just want to do right by her and feel like I am failing her in so many areas. And now I've made myself cry again [sigh]. Sorry.

 

[aramintalovegrove]

Oh hun first of all your not a crap mum, Olivia is certainly not bad off having you look after her, Im sure you are a great Mummy to her

Your LO needs to play and get used to the food she is having so the first few weeks are just that, it sounds like its going ok from a BLW point of view. Im not actually doing this with Es yet so hopfully someone who has weaned their LO a bit more recently than 9 years ago will be along soon to reassure you

 

[Mildly]

Sounds like you are doing just fine by letting your LO tell you when she's ready for food

I have no experience of this weaning lark yet as we are waiting for the six months and hope to start BLW, but it does seem to me that sleeping through is a bit of a lottery and completely depends on the baby (I know that probably isn't much help if you're totally knackered though). I don't think that solids will help the sleeping issue. How many times is she waking during the night? And how long is she feeding for? Have you tried cluster feeding in the early evening so that Olivia fills up on milk?

Sending you s though for sleeplessness Does she sleep during the day so you can nap?

 

[sparky]

Hon, from one exhausted mum to another...weaning does not change their sleep!

It did help with reflux enormously tho!

Dont worry too much at this stage its really early on.

I tend to do a sparky style regime mix off all worlds, spud has lumpy purees, porrige and i give a few wee finger foods at each meal too...she has taken these fine for the past couple of weeks.

She will get there when she is ready.

Anyway, youre a brilliant mum and hand on heart one of the nicest on this forum, so dont get yourself down x

 

[beanie]

weaning has never helped my pair to sleep - you either have a sleeper or you don't. Not sure how you could be starving her - if you give her the milk she asks for then she is getting all she needs. C was feeding every hour and a half/ two hours but her weight gain was still fine and she was alert and active so I knew she was getting all the nourishment she needed. Before the age of one solids are not to "fill up" baby but merely a way of introducing new textures and tastes - the main nutrition comes from the milk.

Sorry people are making you feel crap but you sound like you are doing a fab job as a mummy!! Olivia is a very lucky girl

 

[keli]

FWIW babies when they start weaning tend to wake up more, something to do with digestion. This did apply to Cooper and a few other mums i know! The whole idea of BLW is to let baby decide how much they want to eat... at first it will be slow as your finding but she'll soon get the hang of it! Don't listen to anyone one else you stick to your guns.. you ARE a fab mummy. She's fine on milk for a while yet so weaning is just about learning about the textures/tastes for now. BLW is supposed to be fun.. not a chore like serving up mushed up food. There is no rush at all xx

 

[Charlie:-)]

Aw hun you are not failing at all, you are a wonderful mother

The post you have written is almost identical to one I wrote when I started BLW, albeit the bit about people suggesting you puree food and offer baby rice.

What your daughter is doing is natural behaviour with food once you start BLW. In the first week Maia didnt eat hardly anything the smallest lump of carrot if that. She would pick it up, look at it, feel it drop it, throw it on the floor, put it in her mouth, take it out, poke it into her ear lobe and generally just mess with it. I was so upset because I so wanted her to love and enjoy food and I used to read the BLW Blog about how other baby's were eating this that and the other and I wanted to experience it too. I even contemplated whether she was ready for solids because of the little eating and interest she had shown and I too even mushed up some food and mixed it with EBM but she still wouldn't eat it. I persevered and kept offering her the chip like veggies and I just let her explore and play. My turning point was about 5 days in when she ate toast and played a lot with it but ate more than usual, then I roasted some butternut squash and she loved it and ate a good amount for someone who had only been eating for a few days. I just cut it into chips with the skin still on and drizzle olive oil and roasted it, the skin goes very soft and easy to eat with teeth but Maia has none so she just stripped the flesh form the skin and left the skin. Try the butternut squash its very sweet in flavour and very soft when cooked but leaving the skin on helps it to stay in one piece and easy to pick up.

Maia still played a lot with her food for a good 2 months then I noticed a difference in the amount she ate at around 7 1/2 to 8 months old.

Stick with it and just let her enjoy exploring and playing with the food, Jill Rapleys book on BLW explains that this is very normal for some babies to not get it at first and play and explore whereas others just pick it up and eat from the first time.