14 weeks and 18 pounds- time for solids?

[Newmamauk1988]

Hello mummy's
Just after a bit of advice-
My DS was 8ib 6 when he was born and is now 14 weeks and weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds. He was on the 75th percentile when he was born and I'm guessing he's heavier than that now.
I've started him on a tiny bit of baby porridge this week and he still has 5 bottles of 6/7 ounces in the day and a 5 ounce dream feed at night. Given his weight do you think he'd be more content on some solids?
Thanks all X

[CMOTDibbler]

No, milk is all he needs till he's 6 months old.

[GingerAndTheBiscuits]

No, he's clearly thriving on milk alone

[achildsjoy]

No, he is far to young at 3 and half months. I wouldn't even consider it, if he is hungry then give him more milk. The current guidelines say 6 months so he is nowhere near ready.

[Schmoochypoos]

I think milk is serving him well ATM, no need to introduce solids at all

[EdithWeston]

Probably not.

Even under the old guidelines that were in force when I had my elder two, it was 16 weeks minimum.

When are you next seeing your HV? Could you discuss when to wean then?

[ShowOfHands]

If he's sitting up, able to pick up food, put it in his mouth and chew and swallow then yes. Given that this happens around 26 weeks, no it's extremely unlikely he needs solids.

Solids aren't about hunger or weight or even the calendar tbh. It's about gut maturation and ability to digest food.

Think about it. Milk has way more calories than mushed veg. He's thriving. Why would you replace milk with a less nutritious, harder to digest food which he simply isn't ready for.

Mine were 25lbs and 21lbs respectively when weaned btw. They were born at 7lbs and 6lbs respectively.

The NHS guidelines are good if you need advice.

[InsaneDame]

To begin with the amount of solids he manages to eat will have less calories, fat, protein and vitamins/minerals than a bottle of milk so you really don't want to exchange milk for solids right now - you might find him more hungry as a result! It really doesn't matter how much they weigh - solids at 6 months will do him just fine. Also at that age I'm not sure they have the mechanics to move food from the front of the mouth to the back then swallow, so probably won't get much in anyway.

[cuntycowfacemonkey]

No need for solids yet. DS was 19 pounds at 14 weeks and did fine on milk.

[Stylingwax]

Keep him on milk.

[WellErrr]

Absolutely not, far too young.
Milk is all they need until 6 months. Read up on gut development.

[BertrandRussell]

What do you mean-"more content"?

If you mean "sleep through the night" then no.

[5minutestobed]

My ds was a similar weight at birth and 75th centile(and still is at 3) he didn't start eating anything until he was nearly 8 months.
He definitely doesn't need food at 14 weeks!

[InsaneDame]

For anyone interested there is a study being carried out at the moment to see if the rise in child food allergies is due to not weaning until 6 months - Google 'eat study' if interested!

[ShowOfHands]

That eat study has been ongoing for years. Did you take part? When is it due to publish findings?

[happyis]

I weaned ds1 too early, at about 16 wks felt a bit pressured from DM and MIL. He was a big baby, fed constantly, they kept telling me it was because he needed something more "substantial"

He has always been really fussy with food - eats a really narrow selection of foods and has lots of allergies (food/environmental) . We have lots of allergies in the family so I think he was already predisposed, but I do wonder if his "fussiness" is a result of being weaned too young!

Ds2 was an even bigger baby at 10 pound. I waited till 6 months but he really wasn't interessted until he was about 7 1/2 months and then we just went straight into baby led weaning route. He was always off the charts for weight/height and got along just fine on milk alone!

He has no allergies and will eat just about anything and everything.

Babies have a growth spurt around 3/4 months, they need to cluster feed during this time, and are difficult to settle, people often mistake this for baby needing to be weaned, (like I did with DS1) but they don't. Have a read of the weaning signs on nhs site.

[Miloarmadillo1]

He's now on 98th percentile, he has just about crossed the 2 centile lines that should trigger a paediatrician referral and he is already having 8 oz more milk a day that the Royal College of Paediatrics recommends. Is he also 98 th centile length or is he getting fat? I think you should take him to be weighed and measured and see HV or GP. They are supposed to be monitoring BMI in babies to help prevent childhood obesity. If he is really super- hungry they may want to check there are no other issues.

[notamummy10]

Nope! All he needs is milk at the moment, also his stomach won't be ready for solid food just yet. There are studies on whether early weaning can lead to digestion problems when they are older!

[Allnamesaretakenffs]

No. Their little systems haven't developed enough to properly cope with solids until about 6 months. There's no need to rush.

[WellErrr]

Ps if your baby is massive and growing fast, why would you think they need more food?

[MigGril]

The result of the eats study are in, they where not very convulsive. Considering how long they took doing the study. Basically they need to do more research. It was inconclusive the sample size really wasn't big enough. Some evidence that really weaning may help nut allergies, BUT the results where to close to call really. I think this maybe why there hasn't been a big song and dance about the results. There was a thread on hear.

[Cyrli]

dc3 was on the 90th percentile when he was born and stayed on it. Hd had nothing but milk till he was 6 months old. Why would you want the hassle and mess of weaning so early? He's growing well, no need to add solids.

[SansaClegane]

No. If anything, you should probably reduce the amount of milk to avoid over feeding - it's possible to artificially fatten up bottle fed babies and it seems this might already have happened (steep increase in growth centres).
Furthermore, food before 1 is just for fun - nutritionally, under 1yos get everything they need from milk; food is there to get them used to lots of flavours and textures (so watery porridge or baby rice don't have any function anyway).
So I don't quite know what you're hoping from giving a 3 month old baby solids?

[ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay]

No. Jesus what is the desperation to give young babies solids early?? Their digestive systems can only cope with milk at this stage and it can actually cause problems in later life if you start filling them with solids before they can handle it.

He is clearly thriving and doing well on milk. His weight is irrelevant.

[Jw35]

No he's too young. 5 months maybe but he's not even 4. Guideline is 6 months so why would you be considering it so early? he's big and healthy what's the problem? I had a massive baby too, similar size born 9lb 8. She was fine with just milk

[MrsHathaway]

Honest question: why do you think "a tiny bit of baby porridge" will make him happier than milk will?

There are lots of good dietary reasons for starting babies weaning on pure vegetables (classics like parsnip, carrot, etc) rather than highly processed foods. If you think he's too young for parsnip, he's definitely definitely too young for baby porridge. He's only three months old, after all, and almost certainly can't sit unaided or hold something in his hand on purpose.

Do speak to your health visitor and/or GP before embarking on weaning very early. 17w is considered "early" nowadays but is sometimes recommended for some babies by their paediatricians. If your baby is otherwise perfectly healthy and was born at full term, there's no good reason to start early without talking to a HCP first.

Weaning is FUCKING AWFUL, by the way. All that faffing about and mess. You'll wish you stayed on milk longer