Weaning how and when to start?

highhopes19 · Mar 9th, 2012, 16:38 PM

Hi

I'm thinking of starting to wean Isabelle very soon... She'll be 4 months and she's always hungry so upped her milk that worked for a while but now she's back to the way she was before, she also takes a real interest in our food trys to grab off our plates

...

I was looking for tips on how to introduce small amounts at a time to her and also ideas on what to give her as I have no idea where to start

Thankyou in advance

Xx

Sarah lo · Mar 9th, 2012, 16:57 PM

I started my LO off at 5 months because she didn't show signs of being ready till then but if yours is looking ready now it can't hurt to try her with a little something and see how she gets on.

It's up to you what food you start wirh. Many mums start on baby rice or porridge but they aren't very tasty and I found my LO preferred sweet vegetables like carrot, sweet potato and butternut squash, and fruits like banana, mango, apple and pear better. At first introduce one food at a time and leave a couple of days before introducing another new food so that if she has a reaction to something, it should be easy to work out which food caused it.

Start with one meal a day, lunch time is good so that if your LO reacts badly to something she may be grumpy all afternoon but it shouldn't affect her sleep come night time. Then after a couple of weeks move onto breakfast and tea but drop the lunch.

booda · Mar 9th, 2012, 17:09 PM

Im sure you already know but if not, the recommended age is 6 months....backed up by a lot of research.
There is baby-led weaning, or traditional weaning. (mostly using purees) google for more info. Personally I would stay well away from the baby rice rubbish, you'd be as well giving her wallpaper paste for all the nutritional value it has in it.

babies at 4 months will start trying to grab whatever looks interesting, they still have no concept of what 'food' actually is and won't realise that food can stop them feeling hungry - for quite some time.

If you do some reading/research and decide to wean anyway - thats your choice, but i'd stay away from the high allergen foods, cows milk, gluten, also things like refined sugars and stay well away from salt......

Be aware this thread might turn a bit ugly though :S

highhopes19 · Mar 9th, 2012, 17:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by booda

Im sure you already know but if not, the recommended age is 6 months....backed up by a lot of research.
There is baby-led weaning, or traditional weaning. (mostly using purees) google for more info. Personally I would stay well away from the baby rice rubbish, you'd be as well giving her wallpaper paste for all the nutritional value it has in it.

babies at 4 months will start trying to grab whatever looks interesting, they still have no concept of what 'food' actually is and won't realise that food can stop them feeling hungry - for quite some time.

If you do some reading/research and decide to wean anyway - thats your choice, but i'd stay away from the high allergen foods, cows milk, gluten, also things like refined sugars and stay well away from salt......

Be aware this thread might turn a bit ugly though :S

Thankyou I have really given a lot of consideration but I'm stuck on what to do tbh other than try her with some small amounts of food......

I asked before on here which I was advised on here and by gp to up her bottles which I have done to 8oz every 3 hours 4 hour max.... The little piglet lol

Also she has reflux and gaviscon seems to have stopped its affect on her

..

Really hope it doesn't turn ugly just wanted some ideas on how to start her off on weaning

Xx

booda · Mar 9th, 2012, 17:41 PM

What is she doing thats making you think she needs more than her milk?

Id speak to your own doc if i were you - esp about the reflux if you don't feel gaviscon is helping at all. She may be comfort-drinking, if the acid is hurting her throat then the milk helps to soothe it temporarily but it's only temporary so she then wants more, it's not always hunger though - it's because of the burning, my LO was like this for his first month or so - he just drank CONSTANTLY until the reflux was treated and sorted (long story) then all of a sudden he wasn't that interested in feeding...i ended up with such massive boobs i was squirting milk 2 meters across the room

oh, when I said about thread turning ugly - theres a looooot of disagreement around baby club about the age of weaning, people doing the "well my mum done it and we're all fine" argument and other saying its bad and wrong because of the research and evidence....its an old argument, like the formula vs BF one.... that nobody will ever agree to disagree on!

ttcnewbie123 · Mar 11th, 2012, 03:55 AM

I'l be starting to give our LO baby rice at 4 months, hes a very hungry baby then on to some fruit/vegetable purees but not much until hes 6 months. It might be worth going on the cow and gate website and requesting a copy of the 5 step weaning plan, its free and very helpful! Good luck x

lozzy21 · Mar 11th, 2012, 16:54 PM

I agree with Booda, if the gaviscon has stopped working she might just be drinking to sooth the burning.

kizzyt · Mar 11th, 2012, 17:23 PM

If you have a sure start centre near you see if they have a weaning course coming up and try to go to it before you start if you can then maybe speak to thehealth visitor too just for more info. That's what I did and started weaning at 5 months. As others said it might not be necessarily hunger so it's always worth finding more out xx

2ndtimeluckyX · Mar 11th, 2012, 17:27 PM

Hi Highhopes

My lo is 4 and a half months and I'm thinking she is ready for weaning. I always planned on waiting till 6 months and baby led weaning but lo is really losing interest in her milk. She has been such a good eater, she takes 8oz every 4 hours and would usually guzzle the lot in just a couple of minutes but lately she just takes a few sips, looks around, pushes her bottle away, then a couple more sips. Feeding is starting to take a while!! She is mesmerised by our food and can not take her eyes off us when we eat, she is practically drooling bless her

My health visitor advised I started with baby rice at 17 weeks but she just was not ready and I hate baby rice!
I will start her on a little bit of puréed sweet potato soon I think, just a tiny taster to see if she is interested. If they push the food out with their tongue it aparently means they are not ready. We will soon see!

kizzyt · Mar 11th, 2012, 17:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2ndtimeluckyX

Hi Highhopes

My lo is 4 and a half months and I'm thinking she is ready for weaning. I always planned on waiting till 6 months and baby led weaning but lo is really losing interest in her milk. She has been such a good eater, she takes 8oz every 4 hours and would usually guzzle the lot in just a couple of minutes but lately she just takes a few sips, looks around, pushes her bottle away, then a couple more sips. Feeding is starting to take a while!! She is mesmerised by our food and can not take her eyes off us when we eat, she is practically drooling bless her

My health visitor advised I started with baby rice at 17 weeks but she just was not ready and I hate baby rice!
I will start her on a little bit of puréed sweet potato soon I think, just a tiny taster to see if she is interested. If they push the food out with their tongue it aparently means they are not ready. We will soon see!

Just a quick one we had this too with lo taking she's on her bottle and losing interest so we changed her to fast terts and it defo helped xx

Mar 9th, 2012, 16:38 PM	#1
highhopes19 Other BnB Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: south east Posts: 5,256	Weaning how and when to start? Hi I'm thinking of starting to wean Isabelle very soon... She'll be 4 months and she's always hungry so upped her milk that worked for a while but now she's back to the way she was before, she also takes a real interest in our food trys to grab off our plates... I was looking for tips on how to introduce small amounts at a time to her and also ideas on what to give her as I have no idea where to start Thankyou in advance Xx

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Mar 9th, 2012, 16:57 PM	#2
Sarah lo Mum (Mom) Chat Happy BnB Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: north yorkshire, UK Posts: 2,051	I started my LO off at 5 months because she didn't show signs of being ready till then but if yours is looking ready now it can't hurt to try her with a little something and see how she gets on. It's up to you what food you start wirh. Many mums start on baby rice or porridge but they aren't very tasty and I found my LO preferred sweet vegetables like carrot, sweet potato and butternut squash, and fruits like banana, mango, apple and pear better. At first introduce one food at a time and leave a couple of days before introducing another new food so that if she has a reaction to something, it should be easy to work out which food caused it. Start with one meal a day, lunch time is good so that if your LO reacts badly to something she may be grumpy all afternoon but it shouldn't affect her sleep come night time. Then after a couple of weeks move onto breakfast and tea but drop the lunch.

Status: Offline

Mar 9th, 2012, 17:09 PM	#3
booda Mum (Mom) Chat Happy BnB Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Not here. Posts: 1,444	Im sure you already know but if not, the recommended age is 6 months....backed up by a lot of research. There is baby-led weaning, or traditional weaning. (mostly using purees) google for more info. Personally I would stay well away from the baby rice rubbish, you'd be as well giving her wallpaper paste for all the nutritional value it has in it. babies at 4 months will start trying to grab whatever looks interesting, they still have no concept of what 'food' actually is and won't realise that food can stop them feeling hungry - for quite some time. If you do some reading/research and decide to wean anyway - thats your choice, but i'd stay away from the high allergen foods, cows milk, gluten, also things like refined sugars and stay well away from salt...... Be aware this thread might turn a bit ugly though :S

Status: Offline

Mar 9th, 2012, 17:41 PM	#5
booda Mum (Mom) Chat Happy BnB Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Not here. Posts: 1,444	What is she doing thats making you think she needs more than her milk? Id speak to your own doc if i were you - esp about the reflux if you don't feel gaviscon is helping at all. She may be comfort-drinking, if the acid is hurting her throat then the milk helps to soothe it temporarily but it's only temporary so she then wants more, it's not always hunger though - it's because of the burning, my LO was like this for his first month or so - he just drank CONSTANTLY until the reflux was treated and sorted (long story) then all of a sudden he wasn't that interested in feeding...i ended up with such massive boobs i was squirting milk 2 meters across the room oh, when I said about thread turning ugly - theres a looooot of disagreement around baby club about the age of weaning, people doing the "well my mum done it and we're all fine" argument and other saying its bad and wrong because of the research and evidence....its an old argument, like the formula vs BF one.... that nobody will ever agree to disagree on!

Status: Offline

Mar 11th, 2012, 03:55 AM	#6
ttcnewbie123 Other BnB Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 2,574	I'l be starting to give our LO baby rice at 4 months, hes a very hungry baby then on to some fruit/vegetable purees but not much until hes 6 months. It might be worth going on the cow and gate website and requesting a copy of the 5 step weaning plan, its free and very helpful! Good luck x

Status: Offline

Mar 11th, 2012, 16:54 PM	#7
lozzy21 Mum (Mom) BnB Spammer Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Teesside, Posts: 23,757	I agree with Booda, if the gaviscon has stopped working she might just be drinking to sooth the burning.

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Mar 11th, 2012, 17:23 PM	#8
kizzyt Mum (Mom) Chat Happy BnB Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Essex Posts: 1,563	If you have a sure start centre near you see if they have a weaning course coming up and try to go to it before you start if you can then maybe speak to thehealth visitor too just for more info. That's what I did and started weaning at 5 months. As others said it might not be necessarily hunger so it's always worth finding more out xx

Status: Offline

Mar 11th, 2012, 17:27 PM	#9
2ndtimeluckyX Pregnant (Expecting) BnB Addict Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Wrexham, North Wales Posts: 2,505	Hi Highhopes My lo is 4 and a half months and I'm thinking she is ready for weaning. I always planned on waiting till 6 months and baby led weaning but lo is really losing interest in her milk. She has been such a good eater, she takes 8oz every 4 hours and would usually guzzle the lot in just a couple of minutes but lately she just takes a few sips, looks around, pushes her bottle away, then a couple more sips. Feeding is starting to take a while!! She is mesmerised by our food and can not take her eyes off us when we eat, she is practically drooling bless her My health visitor advised I started with baby rice at 17 weeks but she just was not ready and I hate baby rice! I will start her on a little bit of puréed sweet potato soon I think, just a tiny taster to see if she is interested. If they push the food out with their tongue it aparently means they are not ready. We will soon see!

Status: Offline

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