Solids before 4 months.

[Miss_Bump]

I'll try and steer this thread back on track

I have no idea about FF or bottle feeding but at the age i would just give milk and more milk.

As Hivechild said there is nothing ounce for ounce that can compete with the calories and nutrition in BM and formula

I remember at that age Evie was constantly attached to my boob as she was having a HUGE growth spurt and I couldn't imagine giving her actual food.

We weaned at 6 month but nothing was properly eaten until 7.5 months and Evie had 3 meals a day from about 10-11 months

Why wean early? Milk is sooooo much easier

 

[Baby France]

I wish I knew about this forum when DS was younger.

He has a massive growth spurt at same age your LO is having one now. He was forever on my boob and I just couldn't cope. I'm so annoyed with myself now for not seeking that help from my HV. I loved breastfeeding and was so upset when I stopped.

I didn't wean then. We went onto formula and we couldn't believe how much of it he would take.

We evenutally weaned at 5 months, he was having 9oz bottles every other hour, hungry baby (with a spoonful of baby rice in).

Everyone will do things differently. But I suppose what I'm trying to say is don't mistake a growth spurt as a need for weaning.

It sounds as though you've made a decision and I hope everything goes well. But personally I think you should talk to your HV about it first.

 

[milf2be]

Some people need to live by the book some people choose to make their own decisions that's what it boils down to.

I love when people say I read too much about how to care for my baby. I wouldn't be able to make informed decisions if I didn't. You're getting all up in arms about my opinions. Why is that?

shes not saying you read too much, shes saying that your doing everything by what the textbooks say/guidelines say. you can read all the books you want and still decide to do something different to what they say.

every baby is different at the end of the day, what worked for your baby might not work for other people's. you've shared your opinion now...

 

[flubdub]

Why even ask for opinions when you have already made up your mind??!

 

[milf2be]

Why even ask for opinions when you have already made up your mind??!

she made her mind up after she had heard people's opinions, she then said she had started giving baby rice and some people kept giving their opinions and telling her she was wrong

 

[aliss]

She has heard everyone and still made her decision. I suggest, instead, helping her out with the best guidelines to follow for a 17 week old weaning process, which IMO is Annabel Karmel's books.

I believe even if someone chooses a different path than us, isn't it best to at least help them make the best decisions for that choice?

For the record, I started BLW at 6 months (well, 7 actually). We all make our own choices, it's not as if the OP hasn't been informed, she just doesn't wish to do things the way many of you are telling her to do so.

 

[ChloeBaybee]

My LO is 14 weeks and on 7-8oz bottles every 2 and a half hours, he's stopped STTN which I read is a sign hes ready to be weaned, he tries to chew the bottle teat, is always trying to nibble his hands and watches me eating and makes chewing motions himself. I am not going to make it to 6months I'm struggling to even make it to 17weeks! My HV advises weaning after 17 weeks. All my generation were weaned at 3 months and I dont know anyone with chronic diarhoea, IBS etc....! Much like I dont know anyone who got ill from our mums pre-making bottles back when I was a baby. It's all personal choice and I don't think people should be made to feel bad if they choose to feed their baby a bit early. Its a wonder how anyone coped without guidelines! My nan was feeding my mum from about 8 weeks shes fit as a fiddle!

 

[summer rain]

Sleeping through the night is no longer thought of as a sign of needing to be weaned; most 4 month old babies go through a sleep regression anyway regardless of if they are on solids or not, meaning they will wake up more frequently at night even if sleeping through well. Nothing to do with solids but more to do with them going back to a newborn way of going through the different phases of sleep. Babies will watch you eat because it is a sign of them becoming more aware of the world around them as opposed to them wanting food, and chewing their hands is often due to teething and becoming aware of their bodies as opposed to anything to do with hunger. No-one is trying to make anyone feel bad but in most cases if you just wait a few weeks for most babies it will be just a growth spurt and there are potential health benefits in waiting to introduce solids. Whereas according to most experts (there are exceptions of course) there is no harm in waiting until at least six months xx

 

[mtemptress]

hi chloebaybee your little boy is 2 days younger than mine and is also a harry james how freaky is that lol and your in south yorkshire where abouts in yorkshire are you???

 

[flubdub]

Exactly what summer rain said, it's a growth spurt and/or sleep regression. Children also show interest in, and may mimic driving a car, but doesn't mean they're ready to drive!

 

[ChloeBaybee]

Thats cool lol! Im from Rotherham - unfortunately!!! Well everyone I've spoke to has said its not normal for LO to be having 7-8oz every 2-2.5 hours, he must be wanting something else. Ill just speak to HV visitor tomoz see what she advices xx

 

[bigbetty]

My LO is 14 weeks and on 7-8oz bottles every 2 and a half hours, he's stopped STTN which I read is a sign hes ready to be weaned, he tries to chew the bottle teat, is always trying to nibble his hands and watches me eating and makes chewing motions himself. I am not going to make it to 6months I'm struggling to even make it to 17weeks! My HV advises weaning after 17 weeks. All my generation were weaned at 3 months and I dont know anyone with chronic diarhoea, IBS etc....! Much like I dont know anyone who got ill from our mums pre-making bottles back when I was a baby. It's all personal choice and I don't think people should be made to feel bad if they choose to feed their baby a bit early. Its a wonder how anyone coped without guidelines! My nan was feeding my mum from about 8 weeks shes fit as a fiddle!

Hey love, as others have said, waking more in the night is totally normal at that age and not a sign of being ready to wean. Have you thought about swapping to hungry baby milk? It's designed to help delay weaning xx

Oh and although your mum might be fine after being weaned at 8wks old, both my husband and his sister were weaned at 8wks old and both suffer from chronic IBS - as I've said before I honestly don't think that this is a coincidence.

Guidelines are created after lots of research by people who are specially trained. Who am I to argue with someone who knows so much more about the human body and how it processes food than I do???? Yes mummy knows best in the majority of cases, but not always.

 

[mtemptress]

cool chloebaybeee im in sunny barnsley lol

 

[ChloeBaybee]

Yeah he's on hungry baby has been for a while I just don't know what to do as ya can imagine at min I'm just constantly washing sterilising and boiling! Think I will be weaning at 17 weeks tho everyone I know has so think I'll just go with what I know x

 

[bigbetty]

Yeah he's on hungry baby has been for a while I just don't know what to do as ya can imagine at min I'm just constantly washing sterilising and boiling! Think I will be weaning at 17 weeks tho everyone I know has so think I'll just go with what I know x

Bless you, it's so time consuming isn't it? Fran was on 7 bottles a day at about 14 weeks - she'd started waking for an extra feed in the night.

We started weaning at 17 weeks too, we knew she was ready and she took to it really well.

 

[flubdub]

Thats cool lol! Im from Rotherham - unfortunately!!! Well everyone I've spoke to has said its not normal for LO to be having 7-8oz every 2-2.5 hours, he must be wanting something else. Ill just speak to HV visitor tomoz see what she advices xx

"Not normal"? That isnt that much

 

[ChloeBaybee]

Thats cool lol! Im from Rotherham - unfortunately!!! Well everyone I've spoke to has said its not normal for LO to be having 7-8oz every 2-2.5 hours, he must be wanting something else. Ill just speak to HV visitor tomoz see what she advices xx

"Not normal"? That isnt that much

Being a first time mum who had never even held a baby before I'm just going on what people have been saying he has 35oz a day x

 

[hivechild]

Thats cool lol! Im from Rotherham - unfortunately!!! Well everyone I've spoke to has said its not normal for LO to be having 7-8oz every 2-2.5 hours, he must be wanting something else. Ill just speak to HV visitor tomoz see what she advices xx

"Not normal"? That isnt that much

Being a first time mum who had never even held a baby before I'm just going on what people have been saying he has 35oz a day x

Sometimes I think there are somewhat unrealistic expectations on what is considered normal for babies unfortunately, and it all makes it soooooo confusing to know what is the right thing to do.

I BF Ronan so I can only imagine what a faff and bother bottles are when you're feeding that often, but Ronan was nursing pretty well every 2 hours for 20-30 mins at a time at that age, and even after we started weaning he was still nursing and eating almost constantly. I felt like we never did anything else other than sleep for awhile. Funnily, he still grazes and eats often throughout the day!

Anyway, in a roundabout way, I just wanted to say that what you're going through, and the amounts and frequency of milk that he is drinking don't seem extraordinary or abnormal to me. The whole weaning business is a very overwhelming stage, no matter how and when you go about it so whenever you do decide to start, I hope that it goes smoothly for you.

 

[bigbetty]

35oz a day is absolutely perfect for his age love xx

 

[bunnie2]

i would have loved to have held off weaning Xander, but he was refusing milk,dropping weight and his reflux was getting worse, hes been weaned since 17 weeks with doctors say so, its a struggle to get him to drink 10oz a day milk wise, i end up lying awake all night worrying about his lack of milk intake, if i dont feed him he still refuses to drink,he cant change milk as hes on staydown for his reflux along with medication.
All i can do is give him food with added milk, Rachel yougurts and keep offering him a bottle