16 weeks and always hungry!

[BethHx]

Hi I need some advice please, hv and doctors have told us too start weaning but i think it's too soon.
Eliza is 16 weeks, weighs a huge 19lb and is drinking 9-10 ounces every 2-4 hours.
She can sit unaided, crys when she sees us eating, takes things too her mouth etc.
Even when I bf her she was never satisfied, she would empty me (as much as people say it's not possible)

I did BLW with Isabelle at 23 weeks she only weighs 23lb now at 2 years 8 months so her and Eliza are very different.

What do I do? Wait it out? Eliza's so unsettled because she's constantly hungry, I wanted too blw but don't think she'll wait that long.

Also if I do tw, what do I do?
Start off slowly on one meal a day, or offer 3 meals with a few spoons at each? Do I offer mixed foods or one at a time?
I don't have a clue about tw.

Tia

 

[MindUtopia]

If she's constantly hungry, I would just feed her more milk. If she's a bigger baby, she's obviously going to need more food than she would if she was small, so it makes sense to just offer more. They should be fed on demand, as much as they want, so no need to worry about overfeeding. At 4 months, they can only eat fruit and veg and baby rice (which doesn't have much to it). If you think about it, fruit and veg are what we eat when we're on a diet and trying to lose weight, so it won't fill her up as much as milk will. I would just carry on with what you're doing, feed milk on demand, and do BLW like you planned at 6 months.

 

[BethHx]

She takes 8 ounces then an hour later another 4 then two hours later 8ozs again. It doesn't bother me but she's started sleeping terrible too.
We gave her porridge for a couple if days but made no difference what so ever, that won't have any effect on her if we don't give her anymore now will it?

 

[noon_child]

4 months is classic for bad sleep whether hungry or not. I don't think that's related to her hunger, more likely sleep regression.

No it won't cause problems not to give any more porridge.

She's obviously been using that milk to develop if she can sit unaided! Wow.

Blw is about following baby's cues as to when to start solids, NOT about ridgidly waiting to 6 months then giving finger food. It may be that as your LO is already so advanced she could handle it earlier (say 5months). Why don't you sit her on your knee at a meal time and she if she grabs your food and tries to eat it. It'll come straight out again while she's not ready (just like toys do) as long as it's not in tiny chunks.

However blw won't fix her hunger any time soon as she has to learn feeding skills first. Are doctors concerned about her weight or are they just making suggestions because you seem worried about the number of bottles?

 

[Kitters]

My DS is 16 weeks, too, and I'm not weaning so my post obviously doesn't come from an experienced or expert perspective... just two thoughts that sprung to mind when I read your post!

I take it you are FF as you are talking about bottles. Have you tried another milk? We found that comfort milk was a lot thicker and kept DS much fuller for longer, I'm assuming as it sits in the tummy for longer so the body has a better chance of benefitting from it.

As PP has said, baby rice, fruit and veg etc are not milk replacements at this stage, and so giving them to a hungry baby might put off hunger but won't give her what she needs. I'm surprised your Dr and HV are encouraging early weaning given the situation, I would have thought that giving a very hungry baby something that has little nutritional value could be harmful, like us eating a load of cardboard and then not having room for real food.

Again, I'm not at this point yet so this is just my understanding based on the research I've started to do on weaning... Sorry if this is completely misguided!

 

[BethHx]

Since this post she has been put onto pepti milk for a milk protein allergy, she is also now having 3 meals a day. I've let her guide me and this is what she wants.
X