new to weaning

[Fizzy]

hi everyone, just a quick question for all the experienced mums out there!

my baby daughter is now 18 weeks old and she is bottle fed, i was just wondering is it the right time to wean her at this age? she is a hungry baby to be honest and has her bottle every 3 hours about 6oz milk.

and if it is the right time for her to wean.. what foods should i start her off with? breakfast cereals? the lil baby pot foods? etc..

any advice would be great!

p.s she is my first child and her sleeping pattern is good too, she sleeps around 10 hours through the night with no problems

 

[mommyof3co]

Is she sitting up on her own? Or with almost no support? Has she lost that tongue thrust reflex that babies have? If she isn't doing those things, and with her sleeping so well, and eating on a normal schedule I would wait as close to 6mo as possible, it's bst to wait until then. Give their digestive track time to mature. Here is a really good article explaining all the reasons to wait until 6mo

https://askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp

As far as what to start her with, there are many great first foods. Alot ofpeople just do cereal, I didn't want Hayden to have much of the processed cereals they have for babies so we skipped that at first, he barely had any, never even finished a full box while on babyfood haha. But avocado, bananas, orange veggies such as squash and sweet potatoes are great first foods. Orange veggies are slightly sweet, but not too sweet, but not too bitter like green veggies would be so they are usually easily accepted, also low chance of allergies for all of those I mentioned

 

[Fizzy]

she still cant sit without suppport, it lasts for about a second before nearly falling, i have to suport her in sitting, also her toung reflex is quite good, i got some goodys in my boots bag n it had some breakfast cereals n other baby pots, i tried her some cereal about a tiny amount on her spoon n she swallowed it with no probs, n wanted more! i gave her about 3 to 4 spoons and that was it, but she managed fine thats why i was wondering if it was right to start her now.. but then again like you said I want her digestive system to mature a bit more, I dont want her to be gassy or anything because she still looks so young, shes about 13lb and she was a long baby from birth, shes got long legs and her weight is fine too and very healthy, i wouldnt say shes chubby tho lol.

my MIL suggested that i start weaning her at this age and she recons lil one is ready now and milk alone wont fill her up as shes hungry most the time.

 

[polo_princess]

If you feel she is ready then go for it, nobody else can tell you as each and every baby is different, there are just "guidelines" in place to advise you what is generally the norm.

If you do think now is the time personally i would stick to very plain things since she is so young, get her going on baby rice and baby porridge for a few weeks, then maybe ones thats established properly she'll be a bit bigger and you can give some simple fruit/veg puree's a go

 

[Fizzy]

yes thankyou thats what i was thinking aswel, il give her the plain baby rice n porridge n il see how that will go!

 

[mommyof3co]

Oh yeah she should have doubled her birth weight too. If she seems satisfied with the formula you've been giving, even though she liked the cereal I would hold off, but of course that's up to you

 

[Fizzy]

Im still giving her cow&Gate formula which is a stage 2 (for hungrier babies) and she seems satisfied with that, its just she gets fussy after she's drank her 6oz and wants more! thats why i thought i'd start weaning her only a tiny bit each day to see if that helps her. i'l keep feeding her foruma as i would normally do, but il sqeeze in a tiny bit of maybe baby porridge or so once a day.

i read alot of things on the net n they do reccomend weaning from 6 months.. but it depends on each baby and i know for sure my definatly wants more! i wont give her anything which will be too much for her tummy like peas n vegatables n things. im keeping away from those for now till about another few motnhs. but il keep it very simple n plain.

but thanks for the advice! il keep updating and make a plan of the foods she likes n which wont affect her digestive system.

 

[Scottish Sam]

Im still giving her cow&Gate formula which is a stage 2 (for hungrier babies) and she seems satisfied with that, its just she gets fussy after she's drank her 6oz and wants more! thats why i thought i'd start weaning her only a tiny bit each day to see if that helps her. i'l keep feeding her foruma as i would normally do, but il sqeeze in a tiny bit of maybe baby porridge or so once a day.

i read alot of things on the net n they do reccomend weaning from 6 months.. but it depends on each baby and i know for sure my definatly wants more! i wont give her anything which will be too much for her tummy like peas n vegatables n things. im keeping away from those for now till about another few motnhs. but il keep it very simple n plain.

but thanks for the advice! il keep updating and make a plan of the foods she likes n which wont affect her digestive system.

have you tried offering her more than 6oz per feed? I would offer her more milk and try holding off weaning for a bit longer but as people have said, its up to you

 

[Fizzy]

Im still giving her cow&Gate formula which is a stage 2 (for hungrier babies) and she seems satisfied with that, its just she gets fussy after she's drank her 6oz and wants more! thats why i thought i'd start weaning her only a tiny bit each day to see if that helps her. i'l keep feeding her foruma as i would normally do, but il sqeeze in a tiny bit of maybe baby porridge or so once a day.

i read alot of things on the net n they do reccomend weaning from 6 months.. but it depends on each baby and i know for sure my definatly wants more! i wont give her anything which will be too much for her tummy like peas n vegatables n things. im keeping away from those for now till about another few motnhs. but il keep it very simple n plain.

but thanks for the advice! il keep updating and make a plan of the foods she likes n which wont affect her digestive system.

have you tried offering her more than 6oz per feed? I would offer her more milk and try holding off weaning for a bit longer but as people have said, its up to you

hiya, i think il listen to you guys and give her maybe 7oz milk or something to see how that goes first, i recon it may be the case, because her sleeping pattern is really good! she goes through 10 to 11 hours per night and i really dont want her to be gassy yet from some baby foods, so what il try to do is put an once or 2 more in her milk to see that will help, and if that is the case then il leave it to that untill she hits her 5/12 to 6 month mark.