Weaning a 36 week premie

[babymad]

Hi ladies,

My little boy is 6 months old today and I'm thinking about weaning and was after some advice. He was a 36 week premie and although he sits with support he's not yet doing it on his own. He also only has 5 oz bottles every 3 hours. Sometimes he never seems satisfied even if I give him more milk. He is growing well and is on the 50th centile so he is putting on weight ok too.

Is he ready for weaning and is it ok to do so. My HV said not to leave it until 7 months but by 6 and a half it should be fine. I'm really confused and then even if I do start what should I offer and when!

If anyone can give me some advice I'd really appreciate it.

Many thanks in advance. xx

 

[Marleysgirl]

I'd suggest you check out the Bliss guidelines on weaning preemies ... from what I've gathered from various sites, you don't worry about whether they can sit on their own so long as they can remain upright with padding! Main things seem to be whether they can grip things, and whether they show interest in food.

But I could be simplifying here ...

 

[premmiemum123]

Hi, I started my LO at 5.5 months old (2.5 months corrected, my LO was 14 weeks early)....she was taking up to 7 ozs of milk and feeding every 2 hours which my Paeditrician said was too much so suggested I start weaning her. She could not hold her head up very well so we fed her (and still do) in her bouncer which has a head support. We started with Rice cereal, this lasted a day then proceeded onto purees. We are still on stage 1 weaning after 1 month, we tried stage 2 and she is not ready for meats etc, she threw up after a few mouthfuls, too heavy for her little tummy. You have to go at your LO's pace. You could try Rice cereal and see how you get on. If he is ready you will know.
Bliss do advise you start weaning from the uncorrected age of 6 months, so your LO's tummy is ready for weaning, just depends if he is ready to receive solids. You can have a go and if no success try again another time, there is no rush with these things.

Good luck whatever you decide...x

 

[AP]

There is no rush at all, although I know i am questioning the same thing these days. Alex is on the 25th percentile and 6 months but she was 12 weeks early so I suspect we will be told by the hospital to wean tomorrow.

if i get any good info i'll let you know tomorrow x

 

[Foogirl]

Best advice I can give is to completely ignore your health visitor and go with a mix of your own gut feeling and specific preemie advice from the likes of Bliss. It is likely she has little or no experience with premature babies!

We started weaning with baby rice at 4 and a half months (actual)

We moved onto purees at 6 months and are pretty much still there although my homemade purees have a bit more texture to them than they used to.

Abby just wasn't satisfied with her milk feeds by 4 and a half months which is why we started. She was going through a major growth spurt and I was finding it difficult to keep up!

I think Bliss say between 5 and 7 months actual age is about the right time to do it. I think if we were doing baby led weaning with finger foods and the like, we'd have waited until she was a bit older before starting.

 

[AP]

I'm baaaaack!

We were advised to wean and start of with rice, like the other girls said, and ignore my HV!

HV's like to read their books and the majority of them have no idea its different for a premie, they just assume we go by corrected age for verything and thats it.Its not a simple as that, and my HV refuses to believe the Bliss guidelines but I'd rather go by the 30 year old charity that supported me as a preemie too,than some dafty who thinks she knows it al!

 

[Marleysgirl]

HV's like to read their books and the majority of them have no idea its different for a premie, they just assume we go by corrected age for verything and thats it.Its not a simple as that, and my HV refuses to believe the Bliss guidelines but I'd rather go by the 30 year old charity that supported me as a preemie too,than some dafty who thinks she knows it al!

Well said!

 

[lou1979]

Bryce had his first taste of baby rice at 12 weeks and he loved it, so he gets a small breakfast followed by 6oz of milk, then 6oz of milk 4hourly, hes doing really well, and is so so content!