Hints and tips for weaning (merged)

jinky67

I started both my 2 on babyrice at 12 weeks
they were both big babies and constantly hungry,both were BF too.
Health visitor for baby 1 was none too pleased,but HV for baby 2 had 4 kids herself and knew the score so she was ok with it

nadnad

i was about to defend myself. but i'm tired. i've had 3 hours sleep. my LO is grouchy. he's getting more teeth. he's hungry all the time. he hasnt slept. so i can't be bothered.

actually i can.

i will just say that i don't necessarily follow every guideline that the government or health organisations put out there. it would be impossible. especially as a lot of it is contradictory. i use my common sense. as we all do at times. i am never going to do anything to harm my baby. i started feeding my baby baby rice made with breast milk twice a day when he was 17 weeks old. he still gets breast fed 12 times a day/night at least. i'm doing the best job i can. however when i'm knackered (all the time) and generally worry (as we all do) about the job i'm doing as a parent and then someone who knows nothing about me, indicates that i'm doing the wrong thing - well it doesnt help me. at all.

nuff said. i just wonder when if ever i'll feel that i'm a perfect enough parent to start commenting on other people's parenting practices. it must be nice.

Dormouse

I started both mine on solids at 17 weeks. I'd done my research and believe I was doing the right thing. :cool:

Personally I wouldn't dream of weaning before 3 months (reflux etc issues are obviously an exception) - I know a lot of us were weaned a lot earlier but it doesn't make it right. Times change - there was a time when people thought asbestos is good for their health! :eek:

oliver2008

I have four children. The oldest is 12 and the youngest is 1 and oh how the guidelines changed in this time. I weaned all of mine at 3 to 4 months and all are fine, brilliant eaters with no problems whatsoever. My mum fed me runny eggs as a weaning food, and Im fine, and thats not allowed now :rolleyes:, my mum was also told to eat liver when she was pregnant with me, and yet again liver is not allowed at all when your pregnant now. God knows what the next guidelines will be.

Nadnad, your his mum, you will feel instinctively what is best for your wee one, dont get upset about what other mums feel is best as we all do it our own way! (The best way we think;)).

oliver2008

I will say that I heard (and Im really hoping this is not true) from my hairdresser that one mum had told her she melts down a mars bar for her wee one's bedtime bottle :eek: that really horrified me.

betterlife

i cant imagine it would be very easy to drink but sounds yummy might try that myself.lol

milliebear00001

"Am I right in thinking this is because he is hungrier and therefore ready for something more than milk?"

Nadnad, you ASKED for people's input and this is a discussion board! Of course if I disagree with early weaning, then I will say so. Nothing you have said changes what I feel about weaning, but it's your decision and you should be comfortable enough with it to avoid foot-stamping posts when faced with views that do not necessarily agree with your own.

Katgoddess

nadnad wrote: »

he's hungry all the time. he hasnt slept....he still gets breast fed 12 times a day/night at least.

Hiya

Have you considered that he might be tired rather than hungry? Is he having a full feed every time?

My DS is a week older than yours. He is an extremely fussy baby and a horror to try to get to sleep. He was crying all the time and as a new inexperienced mum I just assumed he was hungry and fed him constantly. Something I read about another mum on another parenting forum made me twig that he might be tired and needed help getting to sleep rather than hungry. After a screaming fit he would fall asleep at the breast after 5 mins. He wasn't having a full feed every time. Just needed to be nursed to sleep.

What I've started to do during the day is as soon as he gets fussy take him out in the pram rather than feed him. He is normally asleep within 10 mins or at least calm and settled. If the weather is nice I go and sit in the park and read a book or I'll go back home and leave him in the pram asleep. Going out in the car or riding around the house in the sling helps him to fall asleep as well. None of that controlled crying !!!!!!!! works for us. More importantly get someone else to take him out for you while you sleep.

Are you eating and drinking well? Three square meals plus extra in between? Doesn't matter what (ready meals or takeaways even) as long as you are eating. Beans on toast is a quick meal. I know it's not easy with a fussy child. I normally make a massive pasta bake then heat up a portion a day. Cereal bars are good for a quick snack.

Is your positioning ok? So he can get the optimal amount of milk? Kellymom is a good website to look at.

Is he waking up in the night because he is cold or has a wet nappy? Try a grobag, fleece sleepsuit or extra blanket and go up an extra size on the nappy. Every time DS wakes up at night he has to be nursed back to sleep.

Are you co sleeping/feeding lying down? At least you can get some rest that way.

Have a read of Dr Sears Fussy baby book. He also has a lot of info on his website.

Sorry if you already know all of this but these are things that work for me. Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees. On a good night DS goes to sleep at 10pm and wakes at 8am with one feed at some point between 2-4am. Some babies just need to be fed every two hours. Good luck. Well done for breastfeeding this long. :grouphug:

nadnad

yeah i have thought that he is tired rather than hungry, as he doesnt sleep during the day much at all. taking him for a walk does nothing - he just stares at the trees and scenery! putting him in the car works the odd time but I don't particularly want to get in the habit of having to start the car everytime i want him to sleep.

and he's in a grobag at night and seems to be warm enough.

and he does get a full feed he feeds from both sides until he pulls off himself, and he generally goes into the cot awake not nursed to sleep, and I have a good supply of milk so I know he's getting enough. He never had any trouble latching on so i'm pretty sure his positioning is good.

he's got a good routine in the evening - bath then bed at 7pm and he generally goes down without much difficulty, so its not about routine either.

thanks for all your useful suggestions Katgoddess, but unfortunately I've tried them all! and thought about everything. He's just a hungry little man who apparently doesnt like to sleep too much! hopefully over the next few weeks as he gets that bit bigger he'll settle, i'm hoping the more mobile he gets the more tired he'll be and he'll just conk out at the end of the day! fingers crossed. he's a wee monkey but i wouldn't be without him - sleep deprivation and everything!

nadnad

milliebear00001 wrote: »

"Am I right in thinking this is because he is hungrier and therefore ready for something more than milk?"

Nadnad, you ASKED for people's input and this is a discussion board! Of course if I disagree with early weaning, then I will say so. Nothing you have said changes what I feel about weaning, but it's your decision and you should be comfortable enough with it to avoid foot-stamping posts when faced with views that do not necessarily agree with your own.

yes but nothing you have said has helped me. i asked for advice. you simply said not to spoon feed him until he was 6 months. you didnt give me anything to go on until he gets that far! i think if i kept going on with as little sleep as i was getting for another 2 months i would be a basket case and he would be having a terrible time being so tired and grouchy. you said some babies need fed often - well he does need fed often and he gets that, but he appeared to need more than my milk and I know milk is more calorific than food, but food is heavier in the stomach therefore allowing him to sleep that wee bit longer. i'm not foot stamping i simply dont like to be told i'm damaging my baby's health by someone who knows nothing about me, especially when any health professional i have spoken to has advised spoon feeding him. The weaning book I was given by my HV which was written by the Northern Ireland Paediatric Group Dieticians and Community Dietitions even has a section on weaning between 4 -6 months, if you decide it is appropriate.