Whats the best thing to start him off on?

[Jen & Her Men]

After going to see my doc on Friday, we have decided that the best thing would be to start weaning James properly at 12 weeks as he is constantly hungry and not very happy because of it.

I was wondering what the best thing would be to start him off on - homemade preferably. I really dont have a clue where to start tbh so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if I start giving him food, is it best to do it at lunch time, and what do i do about his milk? DO i still give it to him or give him less or what?


(Oh and PLEASE can this not turn into a at me for weaning him early!! Im feeling very fragile with a chest infection and couldnt stand the critisism!! Suffice to say my doc has agreed that its the best way forward and that, along with my boy being happy is whats important to me....)
Thanks ladies!

 

[LilysMummy]

Is he eating baby rice by spoon yet? I know he was having a bit in his bottle a couple of weeks ago.

Sorry I cant help. Hope he is a happier boy soon

 

[mary70]

hi hun hannah wouldnt eat baby rice so i used the boxed powder meals, asu can make up as much or as little as u want and i made them all with formular

 

[Becky]

Hello,
firstly don't worry about your decision to wean - or what others think, what's important is that you have considered it and weighed up the pros and cons and have decided you're all ready.

I started weaning Lucy at 15 weeks and I don't regret it for a second.

The way I started was with baby-rice. I found the dried packets (I used Cow&Gate) the best because you can make up as much or as little as you want and to start with you might not want much.

Then once she was happy with that we moved onto home-made stuff, we'd cook loads of veg in a big batch and freeze it.

I think I remember that at the time the recommendation was to offer the weanings half way through or at the end of a feed which I did but very quickly Lucy started to refuse breastmilk until after her weanings. This spoke to me very loudly that she was more than ready.

 

[Squiglet]

(Oh and PLEASE can this not turn into a at me for weaning him early!! Im feeling very fragile with a chest infection and couldnt stand the critisism!! Suffice to say my doc has agreed that its the best way forward and that, along with my boy being happy is whats important to me....)
Thanks ladies!

Just cos I like the smilie

Jen your baby is HUGE!!!!! I'm struggling with lil miss and she's not quite that big yet so its impressive you've got so far. PLUS... its under medical supervision.

I'd take the baby rice step first. Mix up a very smooth paste with his usual milk and give it to him on a soft rubber spoon. Usually about 1oz of milk and 1 spoonful of rice. Put it into the top of his mouth so that he can suck it off the spoon.

Take it easy though... keep him on a singular meal till 16 months, and then introduce some other foods. Do one type of food at a time so that if there are any allergies you can know where they come from. I'd say the best time is just before dinner time around 4/5ish... earlier depending what time bed time is... at least 2 hours before.

Keep his milk the same but don't be surprised if he takes less milk... also if you are weaning try to get him to drink either water, diluted juice or camomile/fennel tea. It helps with the digestion process as they can get quite constipated when they start weaning.

If you find that he is become grumpy or seems to have tummy ache then ease up on it, starts screaming while eating or wakes more during the night... it means his tummy's not quite ready yet.

And good luck.. Its a trial and error process

 

[Jen & Her Men]

thanks guys

He does have baby rice in his 7pm bottle and he really enjoys that but he is definitely ready to move on to other stuff now. I have given it him off a spoon and he takes it no problem - doesnt push it back out or anything with his tongue which the doc said was an important sign that he was ready to be weaned. That and the fact that everytime I eat something he stares at me and the food so intently that Im convinced he would grab it off me if he could!!

I would like to try him with some veg. Do I need to puree it? Is any veg ok or am i best to start with a particular one?

 

[Jen & Her Men]

(Oh and PLEASE can this not turn into a at me for weaning him early!! Im feeling very fragile with a chest infection and couldnt stand the critisism!! Suffice to say my doc has agreed that its the best way forward and that, along with my boy being happy is whats important to me....)
Thanks ladies!

Just cos I like the smilie

Jen your baby is HUGE!!!!! I'm struggling with lil miss and she's not quite that big yet so its impressive you've got so far. PLUS... its under medical supervision.

I'd take the baby rice step first. Mix up a very smooth paste with his usual milk and give it to him on a soft rubber spoon. Usually about 1oz of milk and 1 spoonful of rice. Put it into the top of his mouth so that he can suck it off the spoon.

Take it easy though... keep him on a singular meal till 16 months, and then introduce some other foods. Do one type of food at a time so that if there are any allergies you can know where they come from. I'd say the best time is just before dinner time around 4/5ish... earlier depending what time bed time is... at least 2 hours before.

Keep his milk the same but don't be surprised if he takes less milk... also if you are weaning try to get him to drink either water, diluted juice or camomile/fennel tea. It helps with the digestion process as they can get quite constipated when they start weaning.

If you find that he is become grumpy or seems to have tummy ache then ease up on it, starts screaming while eating or wakes more during the night... it means his tummy's not quite ready yet.

And good luck.. Its a trial and error process

Cheers Squig.

I do give him rice already but its VERY diluted - he has an 8oz bottle with one scoop in. So maybe i will give him the proper amount off a spoon at his 4pm feed for a while before moving on to veg and stuff. I dont want to hurt him by giving him too much too soon.

Thanks lady



By the way did you mean 16 weeks??? Cos i cant imagine he would be very happy on baby rice for 1 meal at 16 months!! He is gonna be on 3 course all-you-can-eat banquets by then!!!!!!!!

 

[Becky]

I think she must have meant 16 weeks!!!

Lucy's favourite meal was the Blueberry cereal from Cow&Gate - its the meal she first went "MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm" about

Just start off with a small amount (4 or 5 small spoons) and then follow his lead. He will let you know if he's full or if he wants more.

 

[Jen & Her Men]

Tbh I would only give seed stuff I would eat ...I tried some baby rice and well

Ill be joining you in 19 days !!!

Yeah I know it tastes of wet cardboard (not that Ive ever tasted wet cardboard....only the dry stuff for me!!)

But with him being so young i dont want to push my luck and give him anything which may upset his tummy so the rice may be a good idea to start him off...

 

[Beatlesfan]

Hi Jen

We give Imogen baby rice. She has this at 6pm (her "tea time") and we started by giving her (as directed on packet) 1 teaspoon of rice to 3 tablespoons of formula mixed with it.
After a few days of woolfing it down we increased this to 3 teaspoons and she now has that and usually takes the rest of her usual 6oz bottle immediately after the rice. (also bearing in mind we used some of the formula from the bottle for the rice). She doesn't always though.

I think she is now ready for a lunchtime feed too as she drains her 6oz bottle - we've tried 7oz but she never finishes it, but seems to want "more" somehow. So we are going to give her some baby rice at lunchtime too. Again, prob start with about a mixture made up of 2 tsp rice & 6 tbsp of formula and go from there.

Good luck with feeding James, you know him best and have to do what is right for you.
Hope you feel better soon hun

x

 

[Magic Monkey]

Hi Jen

It may be worth trying to get hold of the Annabel Karmel book abpout weaning as it gives guidance on how to wean, and what to introduce when.

 

[Princess_Puddles]

I would try baby rice, baby porridge, pureed veg and fruit first off, nothing too heavy to start.
Not trying to tell you what to do hun so sorry if I come across like I am but to start I wouldn't give him too much, just enough to curb his hunger because the milk although that alone isn't satisfying him it does have all the nutrients that he needs at the moment.

 

[Babylicious]

started paris on baby porridge and then pureed veg (carrot and swede)

 

[Redshoes]

Just wanted to say very best wishes with his weaning
Isaac would never eat babyrice so we went straight to jars/homemade, but at 4months, did your GP not give you any advice? I would ask your HV, they should have given you some advice I don't know what to suggest so found a few links if you've time to click them, very best wishes

Oooh and don't add any salt, sugar or honey to anything

http://www.annabelkarmel.com/age-range/ ... irst_foods

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/starti ... rsttastes/

http://www.hippbabyclub.co.uk/index.php

 

[lisa&alex]

as the girls have said try to stick to the dried packets for now of breakfasty type meals.. baby porrage etc.. think cow and gate do a fruity breakfast or sumit if he wont take baby rice.. try and keep his diet as simple as possible pref just baby rice till hes 17 weeks. but if he needs more than just baby rice then the breakfasts are good.

you can give it 2xs a day thasts what my hv has recomended.

 

[Squiglet]

Cheers Squig.

I do give him rice already but its VERY diluted - he has an 8oz bottle with one scoop in. So maybe i will give him the proper amount off a spoon at his 4pm feed for a while before moving on to veg and stuff. I dont want to hurt him by giving him too much too soon.

Thanks lady



By the way did you mean 16 weeks??? Cos i cant imagine he would be very happy on baby rice for 1 meal at 16 months!! He is gonna be on 3 course all-you-can-eat banquets by then!!!!!!!!

weeks I meant weeks Its more getting him used to the texture so make up some rice a bit thicker...he knows the taste already but hes being introduced to a different texture (that was always Tia's issues later on) ... then carrot and pear are the best to start with as they tend to be sweet and bland at the same time (btw...once you have carrot on baby clothes it will never ever come off again... )... steam the to an inch of their lives and blast them in the blender...warm, serve and duck...

 

[trixipaws]

try a little baby rice with his milk with a spoon, or a bit of boiled up pear or carrot or something. give it at lunchtime and dont cut down his milk.
(IMO anyway!)