Early Weaning Support Thread

[polo_princess]

So i've seen a few comments in this section now about people asking for help with early weaning so i thought we could start a thread where everyone can come for advice and support from people who have experience or who are currently experiencing the daunting task that is weaning!!

I must stress that this thread is intended for people who are weaning early due to medical reasons only, as goverment guidelines recommend for the health of your baby to wait until between 4 - 6 months before weaning under any other circumstance, however if you have already weaned your child then feel free to offer tips to the mums in this thread

You must always follow the advice of your health professional if you are intending to wean early for any reason

Please can this thread be kept to advice and discussion between eaarly weaners and not to be turned into a debate about the right time to wean, any posts of such will be removed

I weaned Brooke at just over 3 months due to reflux

 

[xxxleeleexxx]

i started at 9 weeks and my health visitor is happy with this and even gave me a weaning leaflet!

 

[mrsholmes]

I held off weaning as long as I could untill 15-17 weeks due to Scott refusing a bottle and very slow weight gain

 

[Lisa1302]

I weaned Izzy at 4 months. I have noted what I did further on...

 

[BlackBerry25]

I started weaning early for Canada (5 months not the recommended 6) not for health reasons, but I started really slowly and was probably behind on weaning for awhile and switched to BLW.

Anyways, I don't think the only reason against early weaning is kidney function. I don't see that mentioned anywhere...

 

[polo_princess]

It is a bit of a contradiction is it not that babies are okay to be weaned before 17wks if there is something else wrong with them...but not if they are okay?
So suddenly babies with other issues have fully functioning kidneys before ones that don't...
Bizarre.

Lisa

I'll thank you kindly for your input but if you dont mind this is a support thread for early weaners its not a discussion on weaning

 

[louise1302]

i weaned at 18 weeks due to him being allergic to milk and there being no hungry baby alternative to the nutramigen he is on, we started very slow and before 5 1/2 months when we started blw he had onlyever eaten a few pureed veggies such as squash and carrot and rice

 

[mrsholmes]

It is a bit of a contradiction is it not that babies are okay to be weaned before 17wks if there is something else wrong with them...but not if they are okay?
So suddenly babies with other issues have fully functioning kidneys before ones that don't...
Bizarre.

I dont really get what you mean or your getting at?

 

[polo_princess]

How did everyone go about it? Did you just do rice/porridge for a longer period, then move onto puree's or did you just got straight in with puree's?

 

[xxxleeleexxx]

i started with mashed banana and banana poridge

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

I started on him just the plain baby rice at just over 4 months I think it was

Then after a few weeks I got the banana porridge etc and then he stared to need more so I started giving him the purees

And now he doesnt stop eating but still only weighs 18lb 7oz I don not know where he puts it all
xx

 

[mrsholmes]

Same I started on ebm and baby rice for about 4 weeks then added banana, and started the second meal homemade puree's of carrot/sweet pot brocoli and baby rice as only use a litle veg.

Scott is gaining well now and is finally taking the bottle and is nearly six month so im not sure of the next step as I weaned early. spoke to hv and she said I can start blw as hes sitting up on his own.......he picks food up and will stuck but im scared lol

 

[Tegans Mama]

I was told by my Doctor to start weaning Tegan at 18 weeks because she had severe reflux that was caused when she had her VP shunt fitted (it goes into the abdo and they had to wiggle her intestines and stomach about to put it in right and upset her GI tract in the process which made her be sick continually).

I tried it (gave her one meal a day for four days) just baby rice... whilst she seemed 'ready' she just kept being sick so I quit! It wasn't making any difference.. I know thats not much help, but it is sort of early weaning.

 

[Lisa1302]

I had intended to hold out until 6 months, but Izzy started to wake in the night and was drinking as much milk as she could fit in but still seemed hungry. She would try to pinch food off our plate and would take it from our mouth given half a chance. I don't agree with hungry baby milk - it fills them up but doesn't give them any thing extra. So I wasn't going down that route...so tried the rice just to get her used to eating.

I started Izzy at 4 months on rice, just a small amount - literally a spoon of rice powder, then gradually increased that amount. I also put a small amount in her night time feed. At this point she still didn't go back to sleeping through the night..I suppose cos I was only feeding her tiny bits.

Then after 2 weeks of that I started her on some mashed banana which she loved, did that for a couple of days then started her on other purees, veg first then fruit (one kind and mixed flavours).
Then I started her on the baby breakfasts after about a month, so she was 5 months then.

I would feed her until she said no basically; purées she would take around 100grams, porridge made with 3 oz, plus whole bananas!

I didn't give her meat until 6 months. Until 6 months she was also on complete purees no lumps at all. I started to have lumps in it after she was 6 mths.

She eats everything, I haven't found anything she wont eat, and she has had loads of vegs and fruits. She takes some things to eat with her hands and can feed herself some spoons of food.

She is on the 50th centile for weight and length so completely average in that sense.

 

[polo_princess]

Its ok Lisa dont worry , i'm just trying to keep this thread for support and advice rather than the whole "debate thing" as it tends to put people off who are having to wean early from asking for help

Im sure an advice you have to give will be appreciated by someone, i know when i had to wean Brooke it was 10 times more daunting because it was being done early

 

[polo_princess]

Brooke has never been a "big" baby, she is infact the opposite, she weighs 18lb 6oz at almost a year old so that puts her just under the 25th centile, she eats and eats and eats I guess i've been lucky in the sense that she's been a good eater so far, she isnt fussy in what she has and will eat a varied diet

Is anyone finding because they weaned early that their LO's have a larger/smaller appetite now?

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Its really weird because brooke and aidan are like days apart they must be naturally small


His appetite varys onbe day he will pack god knows what away and then the next it will just be the normal amount. But he always seems to nick any bit of food I ever have
xx

 

[angelstardust]

With DS1 I started on baby rice at 15/16 weeks, one feed a day for a week then upped it. To be honest, he wasn't ready but this was 8 years and he was to be weaned because he was early and still small. It wasn't until he was 18-20 weeks that he started looking for food and by that time I was giving him pretty much what we were having and just squishing it up with a fork.

With DS2 it was again 15/16 weeks but even though he was earlier, he was a lot bigger. I jumped right into puree and porridge and only used baby rice to mix through purees. Then he went onto what we were having, squished with a fork.

I started them with food at lunch time, by which time we were both awake and baby wasn't starving. Plus if they did get a sore tummy or anything, it wasn't at night time.

Oh and neither have any ill effects from being weaned early. They are not fat, their kidneys are fine, they have healthy appetites (not so much DS2 but that is due to his disability).

 

[Lisa1302]

Brooke has never been a "big" baby, she is infact the opposite, she weighs 18lb 6oz at almost a year old so that puts her just under the 25th centile, she eats and eats and eats I guess i've been lucky in the sense that she's been a good eater so far, she isnt fussy in what she has and will eat a varied diet

Is anyone finding because they weaned early that their LO's have a larger/smaller appetite now?

Izzys appetite for milk and food has steadily increased, for example porridge she was on 3oz at 5 months, now she has 5oz. Lunch she used to take 100g now its 180g plus a pudding.
Her milk has gone from 7oz to 8 oz....although tonight the monkey had 12 oz before bed...wooooo thats a lot!

 

[polo_princess]

12oz wow

Brooke has only ever had a max of a 9oz feed when she was at her peak of milk feeds, she still has 3 milk feeds a day now bless her, though im hoping to get her down to 2 milk feeds a day in the next week or so

Because i started in a bid to try and ease her reflux we went with "dinner" as her first meal so we gave it in the evenings hoping that as it was something a little thicker in her stomach that it would help her to stop being as sicky and in turn sleep better. It did make a difference but nothing major like i had expected it too, i think i was expecting it to work the same as the gaviscon, like some kind of miracle cure