Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

brummiebabe

pennypitstop wrote: »

just an extra - what formula is she on? I found that although my kids both needed the 'hungry baby milk', by the time weaning came round, it was too much alongside the food. Follow on milk followed:D

Or how about giving her a drink of water at one of her bottle times instead of milk? Could she be drinking so much because she's thirsty (and not really hungry) but the drink is curbing her appetite?

Have moved her onto SMA progress already..due to higher iron levels!

She has never been a hungry baby (both DSs were on hungry baby milk and taking 9oz per bottle + solids) she'll only take around 5 oz per feed - solids or no solids!!

I do give her water with meals..she doesn't mind it at all:T Both my sons will drink water more than anything else, even now!!

pennypitstop_2

brummiebabe wrote: »

Have moved her onto SMA progress already..due to higher iron levels!

She has never been a hungry baby (both DSs were on hungry baby milk and taking 9oz per bottle + solids) she'll only take around 5 oz per feed - solids or no solids!!

I do give her water with meals..she doesn't mind it at all:T Both my sons will drink water more than anything else, even now!!

If she's never been a very hungry baby and you made it to 6 months without hungry baby milk, maybe she is just going to be 'a little at a time' kinda girl!

As you say, if you were to cut out the 11am milk bottle and give lunch earlier perhaps that will give her the hint. Do the same for a few days so she gets the idea. Getting one meal at at time established could be the answer. I remember with DD1, if she ate a proper lunch, I could pretty much guarentee she wouldn;t eat much dinner, or vice versa, and that went on for ages!

Savvy_Sue

Will she eat more if her brothers feed her? Or if she sees them eating it? I know it's harder when they're still on purees, but food might work better if sociable ... IYSWIM

bumpybecky

have you tried giving her finger foods?

we never fed dd3 any mushed stuff, just started with finger foods at 6 months you'd be surprised how much they can eat even with no teeth! try banana pieces, steamed carrot sticks, brocolli, cut up grapes, bread pieces, small pieces of chicken etc

Pink_butterfly_3

I had the same problem with my DS1!

He is 9 months now but when I started weaning him at 6 months, he was a bloomin nightmare! He wouldn't eat ANYTHING I gave him. I cooked up loads of fresh veg, all lovingly pureed by mum but no, mouth clamped shut. So I tried jars. Nope. The only thing he would eat was petit filous. He wouldn't even eat fruit! After about two spoonfuls he wold just start screaming.

I swore that my DD wasn't such a nightmare!

After a while I found he would eat food that was half fruit, half veg (i.e. Blueberries, apple, sweet potato or Parsnip and Apple). He would only eat a few teaspoons though. God forbid a lump touched his lips as the whole meal would be shooting back in my direction.

I wish I could say I had a magical solution that made him start eating but unfortunately the name of the game is perseverance and patience.

They'll get there. Just keep offering, don't get stressed when they refuse it. If they've had a couple of teaspoons then your winning! Try giving it to her just before a milk feed (make sure shes not at that screaming hungry stage though) so shes more hungry. I also used to add baby milk to whatever I was pureeing to make it a bit creamier.

Slowly but surely though he started to eat more and more. He much prefers finger foods though. When he was about 7 months DH gave him one of those organix jumbo carrot sticks and he yummed the whole thing down! Hes now happily munching pieces of toast and anything else his sister gives him whilst i'm not looking!

These things take time and no matter what Annabell Karmel says, babies don't tend to care about your schdule of things and just do things when they are ready! She'll get there!

brummiebabe

pennypitstop wrote: »

If she's never been a very hungry baby and you made it to 6 months without hungry baby milk, maybe she is just going to be 'a little at a time' kinda girl!

As you say, if you were to cut out the 11am milk bottle and give lunch earlier perhaps that will give her the hint. Do the same for a few days so she gets the idea. Getting one meal at at time established could be the answer. I remember with DD1, if she ate a proper lunch, I could pretty much guarentee she wouldn;t eat much dinner, or vice versa, and that went on for ages!

You're probably right.....perhaps she's just not that hungry! It is so difficult not to compare her progress to her brothers'. Anyhow..she's eaten breakfast today (a couple of tablespoons full anyway) and I gave her 4oz milk at 10.30am. She's now asleep (I think!) so will try her with lunch when she wakes up. It's sweet potato & pear today, which I can pretty much guarantee she will eat. She doesn't tend to eat 2 main meals either...probably won't eat much for dinner tonight..but I don't mind if I know she's had something during the day!

brummiebabe

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Will she eat more if her brothers feed her? Or if she sees them eating it? I know it's harder when they're still on purees, but food might work better if sociable ... IYSWIM

Not sure...DS1 is nearly 7 & would love to have a go at feeding her..maybe I should let him!! DS2 is 4 - I'm not sure about him doing it...he can't even feed himself without making a right mess:D

brummiebabe

bumpybecky wrote: »

have you tried giving her finger foods?

we never fed dd3 any mushed stuff, just started with finger foods at 6 months you'd be surprised how much they can eat even with no teeth! try banana pieces, steamed carrot sticks, brocolli, cut up grapes, bread pieces, small pieces of chicken etc

The health visitor did suggest this...but I wasn't sure. She does love putting things in her mouth though...so maybe worth a try - just hope she doesn't choke!!

brummiebabe

Pink_butterfly wrote: »

I wish I could say I had a magical solution that made him start eating but unfortunately the name of the game is perseverance and patience.

These things take time and no matter what Annabell Karmel says, babies don't tend to care about your schdule of things and just do things when they are ready! She'll get there!

Thanks for that...you'd think by now I'd have learnt not to take any notice of the so-called 'experts' - especially Annabel Karmel - I know she has some good ideas etc for weaning....but most of the stuff in her books is just so time consuming to prepare...ok if you've got all day to cook..but not when you've got a demanding baby, 4 year old & school runs to do for a 7 year old!! I barely have time to eat myself..and housework..what's that??????:D

olgadapolga

Hi, personally I wouldn't worry about your DD's food "fads" - she'll do it when she's ready. And I would tell the HV/anyone else to stop mithering about it as well.

Is your DD well, happy and developing at approximately the right rate? There's more to a happy, developing child than whether or not they are eating certain types of food by X months.

My DS2 refused to try any solids until he was nearly 11 months old. He had no interest in any food at all. He then discovered the delights of banana whip and ate nothing but this for weeks, despite being offered other foods. He now eats a wide variety of foods, including things that my other children wouldn't dream of eating.

If your DD only likes puddings/sweet food at the moment, so be it. She will eventually tire of them and want to try something else.

We also found that letting DS2 do his own thing at mealtimes helped - if he wanted to cover his face/highchair in it, fine. I have learned that pushing things on children often results in them refusing to ever eat what you want them to eat.

I personally would not be reducing my child's milk intake, purely because those calories/minerals/vitamins are needed. Reducing the milk intake will probably result in a very unhappy child who wakes during the night as she is hungry. Small children are demanding and tiring, I'd rather (selfishly) have my sleep than be up in the night settling an unhappy child.