Early Weaning Support Thread

[Lisa1302]

Quick question ladies, Alex is doing really wel on his puree, takes some at every offering. Today he hasnt taken as much as normal. Am i right in thinking he could just be having an off day and that i should continue to offer as normal?

Yes just carry on tomorrow, Izzy still has days like that where she will eat 3/4 what she normally does.

 

[Kit]

I have never been sure whether "early weaning" refers to pre-17 weeks or pre-6 months. I have been advised to start weaning just after 5 months due to the fact that my little boy drinks more formula than babies twice his size and no-one is quite sure where he is putting it all as he hasn't deviated from his percentile line. The longest he has ever gone between feeds is three hours and it isn't even usually that long. He drinks between 40 and 50 ounces a day!
Would I be considered an "early weaner"?

 

[KimE]

Hi guys great thread Its so nice to have somewhere to talk where you don't feel like you'll get judged for weaning early

We started weaning Pops about a week and a half ago (at 4 months - she has really bad reflux and has never been a big milk drinker - gives her belly ache and acid we think, she only has 4 bottles a day with a top up if she wakes at night and if I left it to her she would - and has - skipped a bottle completely!!! 3 bottles a day is sooooooooooo not enough!!) and so far she has had baby rice with formula and pureed carrot which she really enjoys - big smile on her face whilst she's wearing it all over . Am thinking of trying parsnip tomorrow - do you think that would be ok?

Cinderella - Pops has bad reflux and has been on Gaviscon since one week old, it has recently started to get better *touch wood* and I think the baby rice is helping one thing though - she did the same as what you're describing with Max, cut down on her bottles to 3/4oz (from taking 7/8oz), refusing feeds and screaming with pain when we tried to feed her. It drove me insane as she was only taking 15 - 17oz a day and I was worried as she seemed in massive pain. Yesterday she cut her first tooth and today she has gone back to draining 6/7oz bottles - could he possibly be teething?

 

[KimE]

Ooooooo also does anyone know when it is ok to introduce chicken, meat and fish? And dairy (e.g. cheese) I read that eggs are definitely 6 months. Or is it just veggies and fruit up to 6 months? I live in Germany and the baby foods over here in the supermarket have everything in them from 4 months (apart from wheat and gluten). Very confusing!! TIA xx

 

[Lisa1302]

Ooooooo also does anyone know when it is ok to introduce chicken, meat and fish? And dairy (e.g. cheese) I read that eggs are definitely 6 months. Or is it just veggies and fruit up to 6 months? I live in Germany and the baby foods over here in the supermarket have everything in them from 4 months (apart from wheat and gluten). Very confusing!! TIA xx

Lots of people do feed meat from 4 months..personally I waited until 6 months, til then just fruit, veg and milk.

Eggs, cows milk (inc dairy things like cheese), fish, nuts, wheat products and chocolate are high risk foods for allergies, that is why they are supposed to be fed as late as possible (6 mths normally, agter 9 mth for babies with family history of allergies)
Other things to avoid early on are citrus fruits and honey

 

[Cinderella]

Cinderella - Pops has bad reflux and has been on Gaviscon since one week old, it has recently started to get better *touch wood* and I think the baby rice is helping one thing though - she did the same as what you're describing with Max, cut down on her bottles to 3/4oz (from taking 7/8oz), refusing feeds and screaming with pain when we tried to feed her. It drove me insane as she was only taking 15 - 17oz a day and I was worried as she seemed in massive pain. Yesterday she cut her first tooth and today she has gone back to draining 6/7oz bottles - could he possibly be teething?

We do think he's teething, he's constantly chewing his hands, dribbling, red cheeks and his gums are lumpy, so I guess that could be why he's refusing bottles. Most times though he wants to drink, and gets a few gulps in and that's when he starts wriggling, screaming and arching, so I'd put that down to his reflux.

I head off to Boots and had a look at the baby food and spoke to the pharmacist whilst waiting on his Gaviscon (he too has been on it since a week old!) and she was great and discussed early weaning and some of the better foods to try, mostly her opinion and I know she's not exactly a trained baby nutritionist but it was reassuring. She said she gets a lot of mums in feeding their young babies all kinds of rubbish (Quavers, chocolate buttons etc.) and told me to stop feeling guilty about wanting to give him porridge! So I came away with a few boxes of baby porridge and will probably wait another week or so and persevere without but if/when his milk intake drops less that 18oz then i'll start him on it and see if it helps.

(PS, I really do love this thread! early weaning rambles rule my life!)

 

[Jemma_x]

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

I weaned at 20 weeks for the same reason, there is no hungry baby alternative to neocate which is the milk he has. We started slowly with babyrice and then he had some purees and he been on purees ever since

 

[Aidedhoney]

Parsnips give Alex bad wind. lol

I am trying him with avacado tomorrow supposed to be good for them.

I also had a call from the diet doc who is sending out high calorie weaning guides not sure what this entails but she did say on the phone no dairy till 6months.

 

[Cinderella]

I'm still battling Max with his milk... things have progressed though. He had a weight loss of 2oz on last week so the HV advised us to speak to the doctor and go from there. So we did and he said it was a good idea to start rice/porridge but only after he'd had a good few oz of milk. So Weds after I battled for almost 2 hours to get 3oz in him I gave him a few spoons of porridge and he loved it. I don't want to speak too soon but since giving him a few spoons of porridge after every feed, his reflux has gotten so much better. He's barely sick, he's practically stopped coughing and hiccuping, he hasn't projectile vomited once since we started. Also, he's not constipated any more, which we were battling with previously. So on the whole, it has been a success.

However, his milk intake is still pitiful (about 15oz if we're lucky). I'm starting to think there could be more to it, as as soon as he has one sip he starts wriggling in pain, he has terrible wind though that keeps him up all night and his colic screaming fits are back with a vengeance. I'm suspecting a lactose intolerance, but know how hard they are to be diagnosed, so we'll see what the doctor says. He's scheduled him in every Tues for the next month to see how he's doing weight wise, so we'll see.

 

[Aidedhoney]

Poor Max, he may be intolerant to the milk or he may not be a milk drinker,

Brilliant that the porridge has helped though xx

 

[amylw1]

blake will be 4months on 28th dec. he only has 6oz milk at a time as anymore he is sick. the thing is he only goes 1-2hrly. due to him being on soya i cant give him a thicker/hungrier milk.

i tried him on baby rice and i got covered where he spat it at me!!! LOL! i then tried a small amount of rusk mixed with his milk and he has that fine off a spoon - 1 meal a day and it has made him go 3hrs between feeds.


my older 2 were also on soya and were started on baby rice/rusks at 3half months and they are both fine. weaning age with them was 4months. they only ever had jars if we were out, the rest of the time they had what we had in blender (including chnese, mexican, curry!).


my old hv was of the "at end of day if your baby is hungry and milk isnt enough you give what they need regardless of age." the new hv is "you do everything by the book!"

 

[lola291]

Hi
My little boy is 19 weeks and we have just startedweaning him yesterday. I am only giving him 1 meal a day at lunch time - baby rice yesterday and trie with a little carrot today! He LOVED it!!

My question is......when he has ths 'meal' (he only has about 7/8 small spoon fulls) should he also be having the bottle of milk that he owuold usually have at this time too eg having the bottle and the solid food?

also when should I introduce another meal to the day e.g teatime meal? should I leave that another few weeks? what would then happen with that bottle?

 

[Annaspanna]

Hi there, I am really considering weaning my little one. Cinderella, I don't know if i've posted on any of your other threads but Lyla is EXACTLY the same as Max. She will take her night feeds ok, but during the day struggles to get down 15oz and like your LO she isn't gaining weight. She too takes a few gulps as she's hungry and then stops and wriggles around in pain and won't have any more, its the most frustrating thing in the world, I know how you feel. I thought it may get better but it seems to be getting worse so I'm thinking of trying some baby porridge to see how she goes, she can't quite sit upright yet though so i'm a little worried but I figure any food is better than battling away to get 15oz into her everyday! She may even start to enjoy food!? I also found that she will take milk a bit better lying down on her front (bizarre I know, but seems less painful for her!?) Have you tried that? xx

 

[Cinderella]

Hi there, I am really considering weaning my little one. Cinderella, I don't know if i've posted on any of your other threads but Lyla is EXACTLY the same as Max. She will take her night feeds ok, but during the day struggles to get down 15oz and like your LO she isn't gaining weight. She too takes a few gulps as she's hungry and then stops and wriggles around in pain and won't have any more, its the most frustrating thing in the world, I know how you feel. I thought it may get better but it seems to be getting worse so I'm thinking of trying some baby porridge to see how she goes, she can't quite sit upright yet though so i'm a little worried but I figure any food is better than battling away to get 15oz into her everyday! She may even start to enjoy food!? I also found that she will take milk a bit better lying down on her front (bizarre I know, but seems less painful for her!?) Have you tried that? xx

Sorry you're going through this too! It's a nightmare! After having two really bad days where he didn't even reach 10oz and his wet nappies being virtually non-existant we ended in hospital over night. I'm extra-super-crazily even more confused now. The Paed said that 10oz was fine and so was the one wet nappy he'd had. The paed also then said that for his age and weight (14lbs) that his milk intake should only be 3oz every 3hrs and that I was expecting too much from him to be on his 6oz/4hr bottles. Even though he'd set that amount for him self.

Anyway yeah, we're now on omeprizole, which I have high hopes for so i'll see how he goes.

I've tried feeding him on his front and it sometimes works, often doesn't though. There's not a lot that does nowadays though!

As far as weaning, as it were, I'm still giving him the few spoons of porridge after his bigger feeds, so the occasional bottle where he takes more than 3oz, i'll give him probably no more than 5 baby spoons of porridge and it helps keep his milk down. I plan on leaving it like this until he is four months before I start introducing more solids.

Lola... from what i've read, you're always meant to offer milk first as this should be their primary source of nutrition, that way, food doesn't replace their milk. Same goes for any additional meals you add, always offer milk first before giving them anything off a spoon.

 

[polo_princess]

Lola you should still be giving the milk at "meal times" as at this age more than ever the food should just be complimenting the milk, not vice versa.

I'd say wait until the first meal is established before you introduce a second, so maybe a week or two

 

[AP]

I started today, under the advice of Bliss (the premature baby charity) who recommend preemies should be weaned at actual age instead of corrected (yeah I had to read that over and over again!)

Alex should be 13 weeks, but is actually 25 weeks old. So she's early!

I gave her some rice and she lapped it up - i was so nervous but she seemed to enjoy it! Her medicines are quite funny tasting(she has 5 different medicines a day, one of them is minty!) so she does like to taste!

Polo_princess you mentioned you thought it would work in the same way as Gaviscon? Being thicker?Were you right? Alex has reflux too and its only kept under control so far by meds!

 

[Connah'sMommy]

Hiya,firstly,great idea for a thread!

I started weaning connah this week and he loves the purees i have been making for him,so far we have had carrot,potato and broccoli

His routine is generally:

8am:7oz milk feed

12noon:7oz milk feed

4pm:7oz milk feed & puree

8pm:7oz milk feed

Next week i am going to do as follows...

8am:7oz milk feed

12noon:7oz milk feed & puree

4pm:7oz milk feed & puree

8pm:7oz milk feed

Does this sound right?

Also,when he starts having a puree at lunch is it safe to MAYBE assume that his 4pm feed will be pushed back to 5pm with a puree on top?Just so he is having his puree more around tea time?

And just 1 more question...How do they drop bottles?
Do they just start to refuse milk? E.g He will have:

8am: 7oz milk feed & breakfast

12pm:7oz milk feed & lunch

5pm: just dinner(dropping this milk feed?)

8pm:7oz milk feed

thanks xx

 

[Saxogirl]

Can I just say great thread idea - v helpful

Also what is the reason for rice cakes to be given at 6 months? Am just starting on the baby rice but Alex is teething and wondered about giving him a rice cake for him to gum to death - under strict supervision of course lol! Apparently you can give rusks at from 4 months but am reluctant to at this stage due to the sugar content

 

[angelstardust]

I think the rice cakes not given before 6 months is simply because they say introduce finger foods then.

Slowly starting to offer food to Amber, usually she refuses it, but last night she gobbled down some cottage pie topping. (which is mashed potatoes and parsnips with cheese and butter) She shoved her hands in it (it was cold anyway because she decided she needed her milk when I sat down my dinner). She loved it. Today I offered some pear squished up with some boiling water (to help soften it). She loved that too.

Will see how she goes.

 

[polo_princess]

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