Help needed regarding early weaning..

[monkee12]

Please no judgemental comments, this is for a friend, not me. LO is 15 weeks old and is on Aptamil stage 1, 6oz every 4 hours, he is a very hungry baby and she was wondering when is the earliest she can wean him and what to start with, he does pay attention when she eats but he is still quite young, hungry baby milk gave him problems with his bowel so she is abit uneasy at reintroducing stage 2 milk, I don't have any experience in early weaning.

 

[Lawgirl]

To me, 6oz every 4 hours at that age is not indicative of a hungry baby. I really wouldn't wean early unless advised by a medical professional. And I'm not being judgmental.

 

[monkee12]

That's what I thought but as I have never done early weaning before I was unsure on how to advise her, I know her LO suffers with reflux (he is on gaviscon infant) x

 

[the why bird]

https://www.mumsnet.com/babies/weaning This link is pretty thorough on the topic.

The general guideline is that before six months you run the risk of the baby's digestive system not being ready, but if you do wean early, 17 weeks is the absolute earliest. At this stage it needs to be thin, very smooth purees - our infant feeding consultant says like double cream.

If the hungry baby milk upset his bowels, I'd be concerned that solid food will also do that, since he is so very young.

The signs of readiness that are considered important are that he can sit unaided, he has lost the tongue-push reflex (where he pushes food back out of his mouth), and that he can grab food and put it in his mouth.

Here's some info from the NHS, though not as thorough as the first one.

https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/Pages/babies-introducing-solid-food.aspx

No judgment for her looking into this, but I would urge her to get the official advice from her health visitor/doctor (don't know where you are in the world) since I know that there are more limits on what you can feed them that early and how.

 

[staralfur]

6oz every four hours doesn't sound abnormal to me either. Even if he was a 'hungry baby', milk is more calorie-dense than any solids she'd be giving at this age, so he'd be better off having more milk.

If the reflux is a big issue then I'd advise your friend to speak to her baby's doctor about whether or not early weaning would help, but regardless I would really encourage waiting until 17 weeks AT LEAST.

 

[Noodlebear]

I don't think it really matters how much milk they're having (unless we're talking insane amounts), if they're going 4 hours between bottles they're not too hungry. Do you know what has led her to believe that's too much?? I'd encourage her to wait until her LO is 6 months or atleast until there are genuine signs that he's not getting all he needs from his milk.

 

[monkee12]

apparently her gp said he is having to much?? shes a ftm so is confused on all the conflicting advice she get gets from her hv and gp x

 

[Noodlebear]

What's her HV said? As a rule I'd personally take more notice of them than a GP as it's what they specialise in but I know of shocking advice given by both :/

 

[CandyDay]

If her LO is happy and meeting milestones and gaining weight at a steady even pace then I wouldn't change anything.

 

[noon_child]

6oz every 4hrs seems quite a small amount for an LO not even 4months old yet.

 

[monkee12]

Her hv said feed him as much as he wants whilst the gp says different. Her hv said the amount he is on is fine for his age and weight, and he is gaining weight well x I have forwarded her this thread, thanks for all the advice x

 

[MindUtopia]

This is a great example of why you should take every bit of advice you get from a GP or HV with a grain of salt and do your own research (the NHS website has great advice that individual care providers don't always know or provide). That's not medically-sound advice from her GP and goes against the general NHS recommendation for most babies (I've also gotten some equally terrible advice from my HV too). Unfortunately, sometimes what they say is opinion or just talking from personal experience from when they were raising their kids 20 years ago - when recommendations were different.

I'd tell your friend to just keep doing what she's doing and think about weaning at 6 months. That's not a lot of milk (certainly not too much) at 4 months, particularly if baby is growing and developing well. There are so many good reasons for waiting to start solids, including the fact it's just extra work. I actually miss the days when I didn't have to remember bibs and sippy cups and snacks and not having to choose restaurants based on whether they have healthy, kid-friendly food or force our friends to meet us for lunch at very specific times because it coincides with when my daughter needs to eat. Those early months are so special and simple in a very unique way. Starting food adds a different kind of experience and a different level of planning and responsibility. It's fun and my daughter loves her food, but I wouldn't have wanted the extra work and worry any earlier than we started. Milk is so important and there really is no reason not to wait. If he's 'hungry' just give him more milk. It has lots of nutrients and is great hydration and just what he needs right now. Plus, I can't recommend BLW enough and you can't start that so early. It's really worth waiting for.

 

[Rachel_C]

Did the GP know the child is only having that much every 4 hours? Perhaps it was a misunderstanding - my experience would make me quite shocked at such a young child taking 6oz at once and if the GP assumed that was every 2 hours as can be perfectly normal at that age, it would lead to a completely different amount of milk over a day. I'd just tell your friend to listen to the HV - HVs deal with healthy babies more often than GPS so unless LO is ill there's no need to talk to a doctor about it.

 

[wtbmummy]

Wow, My lo is only 6 and a half weeks and eats this much already and he too has 6oz every 4 hours. He normally has one period over night where he goes 5 hours between feeds as sleeps for 4hours but then he has two bottles close together in the morning.

I'm actually getting to the point I might have to increase him again up to 7oz bottles. My hv said you can not over feed a baby as they will puke up what they do not need. She also said once they are downing the entire bottle to increase by an oz so they have the option to eat it or leave it.

Oh and my son to has reflux. The amount he already eats I am concerned I might have to wean early (As he has reflux milk and if he's becoming a hungry baby I cannot give him the hungry baby formula due to him refluxing again)

Considering my 6wo eats the same amount as your friends baby I would say there isn't a problem at all. Especially as my hv thinks what I'm feeding my son is fine

Good luck to your friend in whatever she decides

 

[rachybaby85]

My 14 week old lo takes 8oz every 4 hours (she weighs 16lb4!!) I agree with the ladies suggestions of going with the health visitors advice. I dont have alot of faith in GP's x