Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

tsstss7

I seemed to go against the guidelines whatever.

ten years ago ds1 was weaned at about 6 mths he was happy with bottles until then and I didn't even need to go onto hungrier baby milk, HV seemed agitated at my laid back baby led approach as apparantly by 7 mths he should have been on 3 meals a day plus puddings....

ds2 on the other hand could have been weaned much earlier than the 4 months (or 17wks) I held out for and was on three (albeit small) meals a day by 19 wks....mind you if OH had had his way ds2 would have had his first taste of icecream at two months. lololol he's was bawled out by me for giving a "lick" of honey at one month and a "suck" on a malteser a few days before ...needless to say I had a few words that week and still nag him about what you can and can't feed to a child under a yr.

joannasmum

I started weaning DD at 5 months under alot of pressure from MIL and SIL. DD was not interested at all so I gave up and just tried periodical until she was 7 months. We then discovered baby led weaning and though I can't say we did it strictly she fed herself the majority of her food. It was very cute watching her eat rice grain by grain. The major advantage of this was she just ate what we ate, no puring and no avoiding gluten etc.

stef240377

To answer some questions that have been thrown against me i believe i did nothing wrong, i had a screaming unhappy baby who obviously was not getting the nutrition and fulfillment from her bottle so introduced some baby rice to settle her and it worked confirming she needed more than her milk, other members of family had told my sister that my neice was ready to be weaned but she thought she knew better from what the HV told her, As previously mentioned she is still on jars on food and the HV sees nothing wrong in this, up to know other than a sugar enriched biscuit, ample bags of chocolate buttons and toast she has not eaten 'proper' food. My nephew is three now he still wears 12-18mth clothes, wears a nappy and has a dummy all because these make my sisters life easier. Concerns have ben raised about why he is not anywhere near as 'big' as his peers and part of the reason is poor nutrition he again lives on biscuits, sweets and chocolates. He will also drink up to 14 bottles of fruit shoot a day. I appreciate it is each to their own and if this had been someone from out side of the family i would have only of offered advise from MY experiences. The times i had my neice i were left to give her care and by feeding her and managing to settle a poor little girl who otherwise would have been feed colic powders which she obviously didnt need then i beleive i did my best.

As i said each to their own and what ever works for you so be it but that does not mean i should be criticised from expressing my opinion.

alwaysonthego_2

Stef, what the other posters are trying to say to you is that it is not your business to decide what is right for your sister's baby, only she can decide that. The moment you fed her baby some rice, you went against your sister and her health visitor. Maybe the baby did need solids, but it is not your descion to make.

If you had done that to my baby I would not let you baby sit again and would not trust you. For example, I do not let my dd's drink fizzy pop (2 and 4 years old) they only drink water and milk. They went out with my sister and I had found out she had given them coke despite her knowing that I did not want my dds to have, I was very livid and am wary about her having them if she could not follow a simple request.

Boppy_2

My little boy was a big hungry chap, he used to have a spoonful of baby rice twice a day from 4 weeks, nothing would fill him. He's now a strapping 3 year old who has far too much energy for his own good. All babies are different though so go with the flow. Homemade is better though as i'm sure you know, i am very anti-jars!

SarahNeedle1872

DS started weaning at 5 months, because bottles were'nt keeping him full!
My ex-DH was weaned at 3 days, as he point blank refused milk and that was the advice the hospital gave ex-MiL.

Each baby is different

milliebear00001

Jo_F wrote: »

6 weeks with my first one, my mum phoned me one night and I was in tears as there was nothing I could do to stop my daughter crying, mum came over with a box of Farleys Rusks and told me to put a 1/4 of one in her bottle, and it worked, seemed the poor little mite was still hungry, the milk just wasn't filling her up.

I then started her on baby rice in her bottle, and the Heinz tins of baby food. The health visitor went up the wall and told me that she would have problems, be obese and all that stuff. Hmmm she's 13 years old, dainty and still eats for England.

With my son it was again about the same time, I breast fed till he was a couple of weeks old, but I got an infection and had to stop, so he went on the bottle and then when it looked like the bottle wasn't enough, he started with the rice in his bottle.

You have to go with what your baby is telling you, it's not a case of one size fits all.

Sorry to jump on your post, but a note to others - please, please don't add anything solid to your baby's bottle. It is a MAJOR choking hazard and is strongly advised against these days.

Boppy_2

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Sorry to jump on your post, but a note to others - please, please don't add anything solid to your baby's bottle. It is a MAJOR choking hazard and is strongly advised against these days.

I agree also with gentle persuasion babies take to using a spoon easily.

icarriedawatermelon

http://www.wait2wean.blogspot.com/ please read this before considering weaning your baby. I know this is an emotive subject, but it is important that parents get the correct facts, not other peoples' anectdotal experiences. Weaning before 17 weeks, is not recommended at all. Adding rice or rusks to babys' bottles is a choking hazard. It can also be dangerous to babies immature kidneys.

jellyhead

icarriedawatermelon i love your username

stef is your sister's boy in nursery now if he is three? my son was still in nappies at 3 and was far far too small for his age and he was referred to a dietician, although it was me who asked about it because he worried me. he still has the appetite of a bird and is tiny at age 12. Your nephew will have had a health check around his second birthday, and another at age 3 and a half i think. if he is too small i think he would be referred to somebody, a dietician perhaps.

a fifth of toddlers wear a nappy on their 3rd birthday. i felt like my 3 year old would be the only one to start nursery in nappies but staff say that almost ten percent of children started in nappies last month. it's a september-only intake, so some children are 3 and a half, some nearly 4 etc. and most of the children in nappies are boys, and have summer holiday birthdays like my boy. he's not in nappies now, but 4 weeks ago he was. it's not a big deal anymore, most kids come out of them during their preschool year.

your sister's hv could perhaps give her some advice about the dummy though, espcially if it's used in the daytime.

I'm shocked about the fruit shoots i admit, but the nappies, dummy etc. are all things that can be worked on once he gets to nursery, and he may not be the only one there using a dummy, even. perhaps the birth of his baby sister meant he wanted to hang on to his baby dummies?