Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

bexxie90

Hi

Right I am ready to admit serious defeat here.

My 6 month old DD is a biggish baby (9lb 2 weeks early and now 20lb's) and loves her milk.

I make all her meals from scratch with the exception of Baby porridge for that she has the Hipp stuff

Now onto my problem:

So far she is having her breakfast 8oz's milk (school run so manic this time) I ahve to wake her up to have this around 7.30am and to be honest she is so laid back she would never cry for it.

Then she has either 2-3 cubes of Squash or sweet Potato mixed with whatever other veg cubes I have made from freezer and a fruit mixture i have made or yogurt (petit filous) this is around 11.30-12pm


Then her afternoon bottle around 3.30pm which coincides with getting in from the school pick up (we are home then) and then lastly her bed-time bottle around 7.30pm

Now she is gaining weight and never cries for her food ever but I have this nagging feeling she should be on 3 meals a day? Does her lunchtime meals count as two meals or am I missing something totally?

I have a 7 year old DD and to be honest cannot remember much about it and was working so much then it has blurred into one big hole.

Me and hubby work shifts opposite one another so we need to get some sort of system going here. I think she needs 4 bottles a day he says 3.

Sorry for the war and peace here but can someone help.

So all in all she is having

3 x 8oz's SMA white
Oh nearly forgot one BF a day but that I am sure is a comfort thing and not much coming out there maybe 1oz lol

2-3 veg puree
2 cubes fruit

Thanks Bex.x

The_Economist

I'm no grand master in baby care but if baby wants to eat baby will, if baby doesn't want to eat baby wont. As long as baby is happy and not eating rubbish should be no problem. I was on solids at six weeks old as i was always bl00dy hungry. I dont think you have got to much to worry about.

Js_Other_Half

I would have her on 4 bottles a day simply to keep her fluid intake up. Your DH may be going on the recommendations on the side of the milk carton, which I think says 3 from X age?
A friend of mine is a paediatric dietician, and she recommended for DS that he should have almost 900ml of fluid a day (given his weight of almost 9 kg). DS doesn't really drink water, but do remember that things like fresh fruit and yogurt will supply some of the fluid requirements.

DS still isn't awfully interested in full meals at over 9 months - but up to a year old food isn't of vital importance for calories, it's more for texture & taste etc

I hope someone else will have more concrete help for you!

fsdss

a 6 month old baby needs between 16-20oz a day of milk, this is because of the nutritional content. if your baby is happy on solids, i would just introduce that 3rd meal. perhaps make it more lumpier so that she learns to chew more. dont worry about it too much just go with the flow and do what your instincts tell you

Savvy_Sue

I would start seeing if I could interest her in more food whenever the other children are eating, either mashed or pureed or whatever, or something hard to chew on. Plus (it's a long time ago and I know everything's supposed to be later now!) when do they start finger foods? I know mine had their fingers in everything from a very young age!

budget_counsellor_shaz

I would recommend that you have a chat with your health visitor. IMHO there is so much obesity in this country at the moment.......There is a tendency to over feed children which goes on into adulthood.

What you are feeding your baby sounds fine, the fact that your baby is so contented is a clear indication (Well done mum!). Do you give your baby a drink other than milk? My son was always thirsty and still drinks a lot!

Shaz

BernadetteN

I can't help you regarding the milk issue (sorry, haven't a clue how much my 4 had in milk as they only had breastmilk which is a bit tricky to weigh) other than, from what someone else said, it appears your baby is getting enough and therefore any further fluid really should be only water.

For solids with my youngest 2 who were weaned at 6 months, I didn't spend much time giving purees but went straight into lumps and finger foods and just fed almost the same as the rest of the family. I avoided petit filous and other sugary foods competely (except fro naturally occuring sugar), especially since I had 2 babes who weighed 10lb+ and I was well aware of the research (Avon Longitudinal study for example) which shows a link between early weight gain in heavy babes in the early months and later weight problems in the same children. So I can only think, when your babe appears more hungry, find something with little sugars but plenty of complex carbs, such as pasta, which will fill them up for longer.

bexxie90

Thanks for the response (wow! lots of good advice!)

I will I think just go with the flow,I found she loves Mango and Peach for £2 I get 2 weeks worth so will give her that after lunch or thought perhaps with her baby porridge am thinking of using the oats my DD,7 has.?

She isnt a water babe for water or juice I have tried but mouth goes firmly shut,almost comical to see. But I think she gets a fair amount from the BF too alongside the milk

I am defiantely going to try lumpier foods actually gave her a finger of toast this am (I have some non-salted butter) and she loved that!
Thanks again for advice it is much appreciated
Bex

Counting_Pennies_2

Can someone give me a very abridged version to weaning please.

I have already weaned my son 4 years ago, so I am just looking for odd reminders

My daughter is coming up to 6 months and having previously slept through the night has woken every night for the last week. She is very ready, but I had planned to wait for the 6 months and start her then, i.e give me a bit of time to read up and remind myself, but she has other things on her mind. Sleepless nights of the last week have taken over my ability to do a big read at the mo, and skimming Annabel Karmel she just recommend middle of the day, which is what I did with some baby rice yesterday and today, but I can't remember the following:

When do you progress from one feed to two in a day.
Do you give just before a bottle or half way through.
Do you take the quantity of milk to mix the baby rice from the bottle feed or extra

I plan to move on to carrots and butternut squash and apples and bananas next week, just need to get my head straight and a few full nights of sleep again!

Many thanks for your help

liney

I never gave bottles the same time as 'meals'. What i did was continue with the bottles at the normal times 7am wake up one, then 11am, 3pm, bed time by this point, then i gave the 'meals' at the conventional times of 8am breakfast, 12 midday lunch and 5pm ish tea time along with a sippy cup.

If i remember correctly i started with breakfast, added lunch after two weeks, then added tea another two weeks after that.

The 11am bottle was the first to go, then the 3pm one with a rusk/sippy cup replacement, then the 7am bottle became breakfast, and the bed time one became a cup at 12 months.

Hope thay helps.