**The Lucky Thread** PAL Babies born late Feb 2011

[Sophist]

Have you girls considered baby led weaning? People keep telling me I should do this, and I'm not sure. I'm thinking of maybe doing a combination of this and traditional weaning.

 

[kafs78]

well lexi loves the apple juice. TBH she prob doesnt really know its not milk!

I bought Aptimal breakfast porridge, and i plan on starting this when she is 17weeks. I will give her her bottle at 7.30am.. then a spoonful of the porridge about 09.30 -10am... then another bottle at 10.30am.
I will go with this for a couple of weeks until she is really eating it ( and not just spiting it out) then i will love onto a 6pm feed aswell...

another milestone in our babies journey!

 

[Rainbowpea]

Yeh she will get distracted, especially by eve or when we are out. She has been a bit better today so we'll see how things go I guess, but it is stressful when they aren't gaining like they should.

I have had a look at blw and I also might do a combination. I think traditional weaning is important as they actually eat more that way but I might give more finger food from 6/7 months as well as purees. Eve was a nightmare to wean and gagged on any lumps even tiny ones so I am really scared of choking.

In other news we put juliette's big cot in our room today. Poor thing hated it (she likes to sleep with her face pushed against the side of the Moses basket) so she was lost in there and kept turning her head wondering where the sides were! I had to put her right in the corner so she could push her face against the cot bumper and to be fair she has gone to sleep so I guess she'll get used to it! It must be linked to how she was wedged in sideways in my tummy so she feels happy with her face squished in! Good job we have the breathing monitor so I don't worry so much about her suffocating . Will upload pics later she looks so tiny in there! X

 

[kafs78]

aw wee soul... still they are creatures of habit, so if she is happy all squashed up, then so be it!

Tel me more about blw??? aint heard of it?

 

[Sophist]

I have had a look at blw and I also might do a combination. I think traditional weaning is important as they actually eat more that way but I might give more finger food from 6/7 months as well as purees. Eve was a nightmare to wean and gagged on any lumps even tiny ones so I am really scared of choking.

This is how I think too. I do think once they are 6 m or so, solids become increasingly important for nutrients and it seems like they need more than just what they can get to their mouths themselves. Also its kind of fun to feed a baby with a spoon.

A lot of the allergy research now is saying the earlier and oftener you introduce foods (after 6 months), the less likely allergies. So lots of foods that were "off limits" with my older kids are encouraged early now. BLW makes sense as far as this goes, if A wants a bite of something she can handle that the rest of the family is having, I like that I can give it to her and not worry she's going to have a reaction.

In other news we put juliette's big cot in our room today. Poor thing hated it (she likes to sleep with her face pushed against the side of the Moses basket) so she was lost in there and kept turning her head wondering where the sides were! I had to put her right in the corner so she could push her face against the cot bumper and to be fair she has gone to sleep so I guess she'll get used to it! It must be linked to how she was wedged in sideways in my tummy so she feels happy with her face squished in! Good job we have the breathing monitor so I don't worry so much about her suffocating . Will upload pics later she looks so tiny in there! X

A likes something on her face too. She will fall asleep faster if I'm holding her if I put a cloth over her face!

aw wee soul... still they are creatures of habit, so if she is happy all squashed up, then so be it!

Tel me more about blw??? aint heard of it?

In short you don't introduce purees, but once they can sit alone and lose their tongue thrust, you let them have small bits of whatever the family is eating, IF they show interest. You don't put food in their mouths, no spoon feeding, and as they mature and are able to get foods into their mouths themselves is around the same time they are capable of eating those foods.

I think I will still introduce one spoon fed puree meal at night and do BLW at our mealtimes if she's interested.

I'd like to get one of those mesh feeders to put fruits/cooked veggies in and let her work on getting the fruit out of it on her own. Might occupy her during dinner a little! Of course not for a couple more months though.

 

[kafs78]

hmm, sounds good.

im still going ahead with the breakfast cereal/porridge, however i may put some soft veg down at dinner time and see if she wants to eat it or not.

 

[Rainbowpea]

Well juliette is still being a pain with feeding so we tried baby rice yesterday (she hated it!) not deterred I tried again and she loved it! I made it a bit thicker than yesterday and she took it all! (only .5oz breast milk mixed with rice) she had just refused her 10am feed so it did get a little more into her than she would otherwise have had. I did want to wait until she was 6 months but I guess she is 'ready' now.

I am going swimming with her for the first time with some other mums from my breastfeeding support group tomorrow, wish me luck, I wasn't brave enough to take eve until she could walk as I was worried I would slip carrying her! X

 

[Sophist]

Good luck with the swimming! I am thinking I should get a mesh water sling for A, but I haven't done it yet because I'm not sure the world is ready to see me in a swimming suit post-baby just yet...

Glad to hear the rice cereal went well! At dinner today A tried to do an open-mouthed face-plant on my plate because she wanted to eat it so badly. She's not even 4 months for another week but she's dying to eat my food! I gave her a green bean to hold thinking she could suck on it or something (I'm sure she can't get it out of her fist and into her mouth anyway) but she just dropped it and tried to dive into my plate again, lol.

Kathleen, when are you planning to give Lexi cereal?

 

[kafs78]

Hi

Im planning on starting with breakfast cereal when L is 17weeks ( she is 16wks on friday)
She is def ready for weaning as she is starting to fuss and fret with her milk, which i think is boring her now...

Are you LO's slabbery, drooling?? L keeps sucking her fingers too

 

[Rainbowpea]

ooh kathleen i'm glad it's not just me, i think the fussing and fretting we had here was maybe boredom with milk too as she's settled down now i've started weaning. when you say you are starting with cereal is that plain baby rice or actual baby porridge type mix?

sophia A definitely sounds like she is desperate for food bless her! i bet when you start she will woolf it down, it's nice that she seems so into it, i guess because she gets to watch her siblings eat. J really pays attention to Eve, it is such a difference to having Eve as she was on her own and didn't have so much going on around her.

fingers crossed J is a good weight next week though! we did baby rice in the am for three days and today introduced pear in the morning and moved the baby rice to the evening. she didn't seem overly fussed on the pear, but ate it well enough, and she had 2tsp of baby rice with breast milk this evening and ate it all i tried to make the rice up with formula yesterday and that didn't go down too well so i've got to get into some sort of expressing routine and i hate expressing!

swimming went really well, the babies all seemed to like it but J definitely loved it she was fascinated with watching her feet and kicking in the water. the water was a little cooler than i would have liked for her but she was fine and didn't even cry when getting changed afterwards!

today eve went to play with a friend after school so we had the day to ourselves. J slept from 10.30-1.05 bonus! poor thing would usually have been plucked out of her cot at 11.15 to get eve from school!

now i just need to crack sleeping through the night and life would be idyllic! xx

 

[Sophist]

sophia A definitely sounds like she is desperate for food bless her! i bet when you start she will woolf it down, it's nice that she seems so into it, i guess because she gets to watch her siblings eat.

Yes, I think you are right on that!

fingers crossed J is a good weight next week though! we did baby rice in the am for three days and today introduced pear in the morning and moved the baby rice to the evening. she didn't seem overly fussed on the pear, but ate it well enough, and she had 2tsp of baby rice with breast milk this evening and ate it all i tried to make the rice up with formula yesterday and that didn't go down too well so i've got to get into some sort of expressing routine and i hate expressing!

Good luck!!

My SIL has a 2 month old and she has oversupply and is pumping for relief. She offered me her extra for A and Im tempted to try it so she can get the benefits of breastmilk. But I told SIL not to if she doesn't want to, because I don't think pumping is much fun at all.

swimming went really well, the babies all seemed to like it but J definitely loved it she was fascinated with watching her feet and kicking in the water. the water was a little cooler than i would have liked for her but she was fine and didn't even cry when getting changed afterwards!

Cute, cute, cute!!

now i just need to crack sleeping through the night and life would be idyllic! xx

us too!! A still wakes up once for a bottle around 4 or 5.

Are you LO's slabbery, drooling?? L keeps sucking her fingers too

Yes! She drools like crazy! I feel like I'm always covered in slobber.

 

[kafs78]

aw are you guys still up through the night? lexi has slept from 7pm - 7.30am since 9 weeks....

Are you doing a feed at 10.30pm? this was the feed that seemed to get L right through the night. I would turn the lights on.. get her fully wakened then feed her as much bpottle as possible. Once she started to fuss and fret at the 07.30am feed, i started reducing her 10.30pm feed by and 0z, till it was only 2oz then it was dropped...

As a result she is hungry at 07.30am, and sleeps right thru X

 

[Sophist]

A has slept through a few times, but she usually wakes up for a feed regardless of whether I get her up and feed her at 11 before I go to bed. She sleeps 9-4 or 5, feeds and sleeps until 8.

Giving her a pacifier or bottle of water does not settle her down, so I think she really is hungry and does need that feed. She also eats about every 2 hours during the day. When she is taking more at a feed, and going longer between feeds she will likely sleep through the night. But I am not going to force-feed her. I will gently increase the time between feedings and she will eat more/sleep longer when she's developmentally ready.

 

[Rainbowpea]

J goes down for bed at 7, sleeps until 11 when we wake her for a feed or she will sometimes wake herself at this time. she will usually then wake at 4/5..although last night it was 6.30! ahh that extra sleep made the difference lol! i think she does need the feed too so i don't mind too much, but more sleep would be nice! as she is bf she probably doesn't get enough milk in the day otherwise, especially as she will usually go 4 hours ish between feeds.

weaning is going really well. so far J has had baby rice, pear and this morning carrot and she loved them all! she would eat more than i am giving her but i don't want her to cut down on her milk too much. going to get her weighed on thursday so will see what effect it is having. i feel better though as i think that she was definitely ready and she feeds much better now and seems like she is taking more milk.

no more luck with getting her to take a bottle though so i'm still stuck in with her. we wanted to go out for curry and quiz night in 2 weeks time but we'd have to leave before her bedtime so without her taking a bottle it might be a no-go (unless we take her with us lol!)

J is slobbering everywhere too...and chewing her fists! i'm sure i can see the bottom teeth in her gums now too!

 

[Sophist]

Are your babies rolling around? A loves to be on her tummy so she rolls immediately if I place her on her back. I still have to swaddle her for naps, or she will just push up and play around forever and not sleep.

 

[Rainbowpea]

J can roll onto her side but hasn't rolled over yet. She hates being on her front though and tbh doesn't have the patience to lie on her own for long enough to try! She would rather be sitting up so doesn't lie down much fussy thing! So cute A rolling over to play though she must be a strong little thing! X

 

[kafs78]

congrats on the weaning! im going to start end of the week.

L doesnt really like it on her tummy either, but i shall keep doing it everyday.
i put her in the door bouncer today, and she loved it...

 

[Sophist]

Not sure I like the rolling...makes diaper changes fun!

She's smacking her lips when she watches us eat. She reeeeeeaaally wants our food. I'm still giving her water out of a cup to tide her over.

 

[korrinalex]

Hello everyone...lovely to read all your posts and catch up on all the progress. I am so sorry i disappeared for so long...i was so exhausted after my in-law visit that i just kind of hit a wall and everything seemed such a challenge...then i went to stay with pals here and there and by the time i got back, felt settled and back in the swing, i felt i'd been gone too long to join in the thread. Very stupid, looking back!!

Jude is great...i am still BF but he has began to take a bottle after lots of persevering, so i introduced a bottle of organic formula in the evening just last week and have managed a couple of nights out now! I am trying to hold off on solids until 5 months but we will see! He was sleeping quite well but his teeth seem to be bothering him now. He doesn't like to go to bed before 9pm and wakes about 3/4am for a feed, then 6.30, 8.30 etc, etc...a hungry boy!! Hopefully solids will sort that! I do feel so much better, even though he still feeds so regularly in the daytime.

He is rolling from his tummy to back, and is trying to roll from his back but only manages to move 90 degrees with his body - he adores trying to walk and gets very frustrated that he can't crawl yet, but he smiles all the time and likes to charm the ladies!!

Will try to post a recent pic. xx

 

[kafs78]

aw too cute! love the big yawn.. that would look brilliant on a canvas in black & white.....

So glad to hear from you... i will try and upload some pics too and hopf the others will aswell.

lexi is such a contented baby and LOVES baby cereal... her eyes light up when she sees the spoon!