MSE Parent Club - Part 2

heather38

hello, i've not been around for ageeeeeeees.
alex is 7 months today! he's a whopping 22.9lb.
we are BLW him and he loves it, he's really good at feeding himself and his pincer grip is coming along nicely.

emlou. please don't feed your baby food at 4 months, he should be on a milk diet until 6 months, his digestive system isn't developed enough to cope with food.

3onitsway

Another 8 hour sleep for us last night! Yipeeeee! :j She's getting the hang of it now I hope. (Although she's hardly sleeping at all during the day - 5 minutes here and there!)

Its my baby boys birthday today, 12 :eek::eek:. How did that happen?, i'm not old enough to be the mum of an almost-teenager!!

HV suggested starting with baby-rice at 17 weeks ish - if she's interested - I think she will be, she stares and drools when she sees us eating! So BLW for us too.

emlou2009

heather38 wrote: »

hello, i've not been around for ageeeeeeees.
alex is 7 months today! he's a whopping 22.9lb.
we are BLW him and he loves it, he's really good at feeding himself and his pincer grip is coming along nicely.

emlou. please don't feed your baby food at 4 months, he should be on a milk diet until 6 months, his digestive system isn't developed enough to cope with food.

i know its not developed enough to cope with meals as food instead of milk, but the doctor and HV have both recommended that a small amount of food like baby rice and fruit can be introduced earlier at around 17 weeks

ooh i've just noticed 3nolongeronitsway already said that lol, must type quicker!

3onitsway

It really confuses me why they've changed it to 6 months. It was four months when I was weaning my first two - and they were more than ready.

Has the design of our babies digestive system changed over the last 8 years?

BrunoM

It's really "4-6 months", phrased conservatively to indicate that waiting to 6 months may be better. Depending on which country's and organisation's guidelines you read they put it differently, too.
Pre-6 months can be fine if you're sensible about foods and the baby is keen. Waiting til 6 months is definitely fine too, and potentially depending what you read, might be healthier. But it might not. There are a load of different opinions on this and no really firm definitive answers, everywhere reputable couches it in terms of ranges of months, 'may be advisable', etc.

redmel1621

What is BLW? I've not heard of it before?

I started both mine at 16wks with baby rice and then moved slowly onto bleded veg and fromgage frais etc. I will do the same with kai.

Mel x

heather38

lots of HV give quite frankly rubbish and out dated advice. not all i hasten to add, i'm sure there are some good ones, but all the ones i've met should have retired years ago. we know that some enzymes that help us digest food develop between the ages of 4 and 6 months, and as we don't know exactly when it happens it is best to wait till 6 months.
Why wait until six months?
Giving solid foods to a baby before he or she can cope with them, can increase the risk of infection and allergies.

By six months, babies are physically ready to start eating solid foods. At this age, babies can sit up with support, control their heads and move food around their mouths. Their digestive and immune systems are also stronger and they are often interested in food and want to chew.

At this age babies need more than milk alone.

If your baby still seems to be hungry on their usual milk feeds before six months, try offering more milk at each bottle feed if they are finishing the bottle and seem to be looking for more. If you are breastfeeding, try feeding more often.

from here http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages/baby/weaning/

also if you are interested in BLW more advice here http://forum.babyledweaning.com/index.php

i'm not going to get into an arguement with you all over weaning so i'm going to shut up now.
also, when you do wean the resulting nappy is disgusting and you'll be yearning for a milky nappy

BrunoM

Yes - my point being e.g.
http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINCOL76394820080107

and so on. There's conflicting info out there, waiting "til your baby seems keen" is probably a good plan you'd have to think!

BrunoM

And red, BLW = baby-led weaning, basically giving baby your own foods rather than baby purees, letting them feed themselves rather than be spooned, etc. See Heather's link. There's lots good to be said about it, it does tend to be very messy and in our case with reflux-driven weight concerns we couldn't go "pure" BLW, we spoon gunk into him on a regular basis as well ;p

feelinggood_2

Just wondering if anyone knew what they generally do about babies with constipation? Spoke to NHS Direct Nurse, who says it is likely he is constipated, and to ask HV on Monday. Giving him cool boiled water in the mean time, rubbing his belly and doing 'bicycle legs'. Just wondered if there are options to treat constipation in babies, because we can't remove the reason he is constipated. He is a month old.