Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

Ms_Piggy_2

The WHO recommend six months as an absolute minimum.

Anything less can lead to problems with digestion etc in later life.

monkey22_2

The guidelines keep changing because more and more research is done all the time.What was best practice 20 or 30 years ago may longer apply.

My Mum says when I was being weaned (30-odd years ago), runny egg yolk was recommended as a first food:eek: .Things have changed since then, due to the risk of salmonella, and even though "it didn't do me any harm" I wouldn't dream of giving my babies runny egg.

funky-footprints

monkey22 wrote: »

The guidelines keep changing because more and more research is done all the time.What was best practice 20 or 30 years ago may longer apply.

My Mum says when I was being weaned (30-odd years ago), runny egg yolk was recommended as a first food:eek: .Things have changed since then, due to the risk of salmonella, and even though "it didn't do me any harm" I wouldn't dream of giving my babies runny egg.

my bil (now 38) had a rusk put in his bottle from birth, at the midwifes suggestion !! 27 years later mil had her number 3 ...... she had a few shocks at the changes !

Floxxie

It also concerns me when people say 'well the doctor, midwife, HV etc' told me to do so...Just because somebody has a title it does not mean that they are experts in a particular area. Over the years I have been given the most ridiculous advice and while I acknowledge that these roles take years of education and practice, it does not mean that the person knows the area well. In my previous post I detailed my sons issues - my HV said I should stop the laxatives as it was damaging him. A consultant specialising in this field of course shed a different light on it.

I'm also amazed that just because a child is small people think it needs feeding up. We really are obsessed by size!

I agree that milk is the best for baby and yes there are growth stages and just normal baby moments where more milk is required but it seems that it has been fed (!) to us that it is a major achievement to have baby weaned..just like potty training I guess.

By the way all of my children have been weaned early and I wish I had had more support in keeping them off until 24 weeks but if anything I felt pressurised to get them weaned.

Floxxie

OrkneyStar

stef240377 wrote: »

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.

Stef, I believe you thought you were doing right (and it does sound like your sister needs some more advice and guidance), this said, you still went against her wishes and that is not acceptable IMHO!

nadnad

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Breastfed babies wake earlier for feeds when they are about to go through a growth spurt. By feeding more frequently, the increase your milk supply. It usually takes a week for your milk to adjust to the new demand and they should then begin sleeping longer again. Unfortunately, many mums are not warned about this and take it as a sign that the baby needs solids - many HV don't understand this relationship either I'm afraid.

yes but a growth spurt supposedly only lasts a few days and my LO has been waking every 2 hours for weeks now. So what does that indicate when previously he only woke at 2am and 5am? My milk production has never been a problem - i could probably feed about 10 babies and indeed i donate milk to a milk bank so thats not the problem. Everyone says the LO will give you signs he is ready for food - and my little one has teeth he can basically sit up, he opens his mouth any time we eat around him and he's lost the gag reflex. Are these not signs he's ready?

nadnad

and can i also say i'm only giving him baby rice made with breast milk, its not like i'm feeding him steak!

milliebear00001

nadnad wrote: »

yes but a growth spurt supposedly only lasts a few days and my LO has been waking every 2 hours for weeks now. So what does that indicate when previously he only woke at 2am and 5am? My milk production has never been a problem - i could probably feed about 10 babies and indeed i donate milk to a milk bank so thats not the problem. Everyone says the LO will give you signs he is ready for food - and my little one has teeth he can basically sit up, he opens his mouth any time we eat around him and he's lost the gag reflex. Are these not signs he's ready?

Some babies just need feeding more frequently. Nothing wrong with that except it's inconvenient for parents. Your baby would probably be OK if you weaned him, but nobody can say for sure that he's ready. What is certain, is that he won't suffer AT ALL by waiting until he's 6 months! I assume he's gaining weight nicely and thriving? If so, what do you gain by weaning him?

In terms of the signs you mention: having teeth is no indicator - my mum was born with several teeth! Gag reflex - you won't know for sure this has waned until you start him on solids - in any case this is a bit of a misnomer - we all still have a gag reflex, otherwise we'd all choke to death!

Incidentally, It isn't that you need to produce more milk, but that before a growth spurt, the nutritional make up of the milk changes. The breastmilk your body makes for a 6 month old, is completely different in nutritional content to the milk it produced for your newborn.

misswig

I started to give my DS(4) baby rice with breasrt milk when he was sonly 7 weeks old because he was constantly ravenous!!

Did lie to the HV though as i had a home visit when he was 17 weeks old to discuss how to wean him. He was already on 3 meals a day at this point!!

nadnad

milliebear00001 wrote: »

Some babies just need feeding more frequently. Nothing wrong with that except it's inconvenient for parents. Your baby would probably be OK if you weaned him, but nobody can say for sure that he's ready. What is certain, is that he won't suffer AT ALL by waiting until he's 6 months! I assume he's gaining weight nicely and thriving? If so, what do you gain by weaning him?

In terms of the signs you mention: having teeth is no indicator - my mum was born with several teeth! Gag reflex - you won't know for sure this has waned until you start him on solids - in any case this is a bit of a misnomer - we all still have a gag reflex, otherwise we'd all choke to death!

Incidentally, It isn't that you need to produce more milk, but that before a growth spurt, the nutritional make up of the milk changes. The breastmilk your body makes for a 6 month old, is completely different in nutritional content to the milk it produced for your newborn.

oh how righteous we are! it is NOT inconvenient for me to feed my baby - i love feeding him. the reason i started him on baby rice is because he was waking so frequently during the night that he wasn't getting a good nights sleep and as a result he was permanently in a bad mood the next day. he was constantly tired, his eyes were red and he was so sad looking. so now he gets his rice and he sleeps better. he still gets fed very frequently duringthe day and at night he still gets fed 3 times. if i found it so inconvenient then i would have him bottle fed and be done with it.

can i also point out that you are sayingg it is "certain he will not suffer at all by waiting until 6 months". Nobody even knows that - a few years ago it was 4 months before that it was 3 months now they are saying 6 months - new research could come out tomorrow saying 1 year. So nothing is certain. Apart from the fact i am CERTAINLY doing the best for my child and am trying to balance advice from government, HV, midwives, family together with what I personally feel. I'm trying to keep my baby happy and healthy and I'm doing my utmost .

And as for the growth spurt idea - thats what i assumed it was to begin with but unless he's been having a growth spurt for nigh on 2 months then I don't think it is.

Can I also mention that the health of the mother is also vitally important in keeping baby healthy. My HV has been very concerned since he started waking so frequently - not for the baby but for me. She told me I simply couldn't go on doing what I was doing, and that tiredness was a big entryway into depression. I said I was fine and didnt mind etc and I repeat I didnt, it wasn't until I realised my little man was suffering from tiredness that i decided enough was enough.

And oh patronise much do you?! :mad: