Thought weaning would be easy...

[Goods]

Hi all

I'm a first time mum to a gorgeous little, or should I say, big boy. 9lbs 1oz when he was born. He's always been a great eater and started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks, which lasted until he was around 12 weeks, then he started waking up again.

To discourage the night time wakings I've been giving water instead of milk and it seems to have worked, he kinda just grumbles for his dummy. Anyway, everyone was saying because he is a big boy he is wanting more food and I should start weaning. Evening the HV said he probably won't last until he's 26 weeks.

I've resisted for ages, giving him 5 7oz bottles of milk a day and sometimes he doesn't drink them all, but in the morning times I can hear his tummy rumbling so I decided to start weaning this week and it's been a disaster.

I'm doing it a lunch times, the first time he took some rice, but anything else I try now is an outright refusal. I've even tried the rice again and he doesn't want that either. So it makes me questions whether he is actually ready or not??? He's 21 weeks tomorrow.

Is this normal? I expected him to spit some out but not the full meltdown I got today. After which I gave him a bottle which he happily finished and then went off to sleep.

Any advice would be great.

 

[felix555]

His tummy is rumbling because he's still tiny and should be having milk at night and not water.

He's still young, I'd just give milk and he doesn't seem ready for weaning.

 

[mummytobe_93]

He won't take it because he's not ready yet. I'd hold off, I don't think their size makes them any more hungry than other babies. They still have the same under developed insides like any other baby their age. Just try and increase milk intake until he's ready to be weaned xx

 

[mummytobe_93]

Also him sleeping through is really good and I wouldn't expect it to last, I know he's started waking up again. But it's actually really rare and really lucky that he has been sleeping so well! My baby was up every hour up u till she was six/ seven months old. So even if you have to give him one or two bottles at night that's still really good x

 

[RosieRosieP]

My DD was 9lb 1oz too. I've been told not to wean or give water until 6 months by my HV.

DD currently has four 7oz bottles and one 8oz bottle a day (usually her last one) and I give her top ups if and when she needs them.

If you think DS isn't ready I would just give extra milk for a few more weeks and see if that does the trick before retrying the rice again c

 

[BabyMamma93]

i agree with felix, he will be hungry if you are giving water instead of milk.. the only reason i believe in early weaninig is for MEDICAL reasons, not because they are 'big' as a pp said, their insides are the same developed, no matter how big they are. I really would STOP weaning now and give the milk your baby needs, not food that he doesnt need.
i also only believe in water before 6m for MEDICAL reasons, i gave M water from birth bcos he couldnt poo, even then it was a oz here and there, this was my MW advice, not a friend that told me they tried it and it 'worked' i also dont believe in giving water instead of milk through the night when baby is so young, hes waking bcos he NEEDS that bottle, not just bcos he feels like waking you up in the middle of the night.
sorry if i come across a bit harsh..

 

[Goods]

Thanks all.

He very rarely finishes his bottles as it is. He usually leaves an ounce at a time and the first morning bottle being the worst. I've started to up his lunch and tea time bottle to 8 ounces and he will usually finish the tea time one.

I'll just keep going with this for the next month and try again then.

 

[felix555]

Thanks all.

He very rarely finishes his bottles as it is. He usually leaves an ounce at a time and the first morning bottle being the worst. I've started to up his lunch and tea time bottle to 8 ounces and he will usually finish the tea time one.

I'll just keep going with this for the next month and try again then.

Would a dream feed work?

 

[fxmummyduck]

I had a small but ravenous baby, who went from the bottom of the chart to the 75th centile, when he was 8 weeks old he would have a big bottle every hour and a half to 2 hours, slowed up a bit by 16 weeks and then he stopped sleeping through.... And yet I waited until 6 1/2 months to begin weaning and he really wasn't bothered until another 2 months.

Please just keep giving him milk whenever he needs, there is not that much nutritional value in baby rice and purees etc, milk is still all he'll need for a while yet.

 

[Goods]

Would a dream feed work?

Is dream feeding not just for BF babies?

To be honest I don't mind him waking up, that's not what I was asking about. As I said most times he's just grumbling, when I turn on the light he's still asleep. I just pop in his dummy and the grumbling stops. He does this from around 10pm onwards and he goes to bed between 7 & 8 so it can't be him wanting fed. He doesn't wake up until around 6.30 - 7.am and that's when I get up with him.

I'm going to give the weaning a miss for now, to be honest I'm a bit relieved.

 

[Goods]

i agree with felix, he will be hungry if you are giving water instead of milk.. the only reason i believe in early weaninig is for MEDICAL reasons, not because they are 'big' as a pp said, their insides are the same developed, no matter how big they are. I really would STOP weaning now and give the milk your baby needs, not food that he doesnt need.
i also only believe in water before 6m for MEDICAL reasons, i gave M water from birth bcos he couldnt poo, even then it was a oz here and there, this was my MW advice, not a friend that told me they tried it and it 'worked' i also dont believe in giving water instead of milk through the night when baby is so young, hes waking bcos he NEEDS that bottle, not just bcos he feels like waking you up in the middle of the night.
sorry if i come across a bit harsh..

I wasn't dropping any milk I just didn't think he would be so adverse to foods. As I mentioned, the HV said he probably won't last until he is 6 months so I'm hardly ignoring medical advise.

Just wanted a bit of advice not to be made to feel stupid.

 

[felix555]

I thought you minded the waking because at 12 weeks you tried to discourage the waking by giving water instead of milk? This was far, far too early.

Eta - no dream feeding is not just for BF

 

[Goods]

I thought you minded the waking because at 12 weeks you tried to discourage the waking by giving water instead of milk? This was far, far too early.

Eta - no dream feeding is not just for BF

No, Ive really messed this up.

Basically he sleeps through the night but grumbles quite a bit. This only wakes me up more than anything and probably shouldn't have even mentioned it. When he properly wakes up in the morning that's when I hear his tummy rumble. Giving him water was only if he's woken up at like 2 in the morning, I know he's not hungry so maybe he has wind or something and this helps and MV said was fine as long as its been boiled.
The MV and HV really need to start singing from the same hymn sheet. What I'm getting a lot of is "well the official advice is x but it would be fine to do A,B or C etc". Given their years of experience I'm inclined to think, well if they said it was ok...

 

[felix555]

No I agree with you there. HV should not give bad advice ... weaning before 6 months is bad advice, giving water instead of milk so young when they wake up is terrible advice. They shouldn't have given you that advice.

Going forward I know this might seem counter productive but I wonder if it might be an idea to drop one bottle (I think my LO did at this stage) meaning he will have fewer bottles but more oz per feed.

Then I'd try give a dream feed too to make sure he doesn't get hungry and get this rumbly tummy.

You know I will get grief for this probably but I think water instead of milk works to get a baby to sleep better much the same way CIO / CIO does in very young babies (I'm talking about before 6 months) It's forcing something that's just not supposed to happen yet. At 12 weeks I'd expect a baby to have 1-3 bottles a night still. I wonder if your LO doesn't wake because he knows he won't get milk anyways because you weaned him off the milk early, but he's still unsettled. I'd be tempted to start giving a bottle again when he's unsettled at night.

 

[Goods]

No I agree with you there. HV should not give bad advice ... weaning before 6 months is bad advice, giving water instead of milk so young when they wake up is terrible advice. They shouldn't have given you that advice.

Going forward I know this might seem counter productive but I wonder if it might be an idea to drop one bottle (I think my LO did at this stage) meaning he will have fewer bottles but more oz per feed.

Then I'd try give a dream feed too to make sure he doesn't get hungry and get this rumbly tummy.

You know I will get grief for this probably but I think water instead of milk works to get a baby to sleep better much the same way CIO / CIO does in very young babies (I'm talking about before 6 months) It's forcing something that's just not supposed to happen yet. At 12 weeks I'd expect a baby to have 1-3 bottles a night still. I wonder if your LO doesn't wake because he knows he won't get milk anyways because you weaned him off the milk early, but he's still unsettled. I'd be tempted to start giving a bottle again when he's unsettled at night.

Literally from the beginning, apart from a few bad nights he only woke once a night for a bottle, usually between 3 & 5am, albeit his last bottle was usually between 10 and 11pm then. He's kind of just got himself into this bedtime routine himself and its actually a rare night if he wakes up at all. I've been so lucky, he's so an easy content baby.

Anyway, my original query was about weaning. I suppose because he's taken so well to everything else I just expected him to take to solids too and wanted some advice re weaning.

 

[RosieRosieP]

Would a dream feed work?

Is dream feeding not just for BF babies?

To be honest I don't mind him waking up, that's not what I was asking about. As I said most times he's just grumbling, when I turn on the light he's still asleep. I just pop in his dummy and the grumbling stops. He does this from around 10pm onwards and he goes to bed between 7 & 8 so it can't be him wanting fed. He doesn't wake up until around 6.30 - 7.am and that's when I get up with him.


I'm going to give the weaning a miss for now, to be honest I'm a bit relieved.

Dd does this too I have put it down to her developing and now dreaming. DD isn't shy about telling when she wants a feed

 

[felix555]

Good luck, I have a hard time following this whole thread to be honest so I'll stop commenting and unsubscribe.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

It is easy, when they are ready. He is not ready.

 

[LoveCakes]

To keep it to the original question it sounds like he isn't ready. Wait a few weeks and try again. If he's gaining and content milk is fine for now.

 

[MommyJogger]

I know it's not what you asked, but I feel compelled to chime in about offering water in the bottle because at this age, that can actually turn dangerous.
Would you ever make up LO's bottles incorrectly? By adding more water or less powder than the manufacturer calls for? Because giving water in a bottle instead of offering formula is essentially the same thing-- it decreases the calories and nutrients that your LO would otherwise be getting in a day. Milk should be their main food and drink until around age 1. Offering water in infancy (outside of it being a self-service thing at mealtimes much later on) is an intervention appropriate for specific medical issues. It's not something to do just because a baby is waking in the night-- you should really be offering formula instead. It doesn't matter if they're just thirst, that thirst should be quenched with milk. If the baby needs something in his belly in order to settle, it's likely not just gas.
I also wonder how on earth you could really know he's not hungry if you're (at least partially) filling up his tummy with water to get him to sleep peacefully.