Going abroad with 6 month old and feeding

[milkmummy1]

Am going to france next month with 6 month old. he will be 6 months a couple of days before we go and if he is ok til then will wean him then. am just thinking about sterilising all the bits and bobs and bottles etc out there. am staying with Mother inlaw who lives in france. would i get some of those tablet things or should i boil up the stuff on a stove?
am gonna have a lot of stuff to take as it is. then again i guess if only just weaned i wont need much feeding equipment by then?

[RuthChan]

Are you going for long?
Could you not keep him just on milk until you get back? Weaning a little late won't be a problem for your DS as long as he isn't too hungry.
As for sterilising, I believe that it isn't necessary after the first 3 months or so.
What would you think about just washing the bottles etc as normal washing up?
If you do decide to wean, all you'll need is a bib, spoon and a small pot or bowl. Of course it depends whether you intend to spoonfeed or do BLW though. You certainly won't need much stuff whichever you choose to do.

[MadamePlatypus]

I don't think you really need to sterilize spoons, cups and plates as long as washed in hot water, which you would do anyway. Bottles are different as germs can get trapped in all the bits and the teat, although even then some people don't bother at 6 months.

[maisym]

keep up with the bf - it's so handy when travelling. You could give a taste of something for babys as well - but he'll still need breastmilk. Where you thinking of stopping bf completely?

[IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo]

Unless you plan to stay in France for several weeks I wouldn't try to start weaning during a holiday, for a starters because if he is unwell you can not know if it is because of the food, altered routine, etc. And second, because it won't be easy to get irritated by MIL saying things like "but we don't do things that way" (even if they are done differently nowadays)which is the perfect recipee to ruin a holiday.

[RuthChan]

Oh sorry, are you breast feeding now?
If so, definitely stick to that if you can.
I got the impression you were bottle feeding now.
I travelled with my DD and didn't bother weaning until we got home. It was so easy.
I didn't need anything and could feed her anywhere anytime.
I did give her a few bit of finger food etc as a taster, but kept the main weaning until we got home.

[mawbroon]

hi milkmummy1. If it were me, I wouldn't bother taking any feeding equipment. It would perhaps be an idea not to worry too much about it and if you have something on your plate that is suitable for him, then give him it to play with/suck/spit out/whatever and if he's ready then he will chew and swallow some of it. It will keep him occupied while you eat too! When you come home, then your ds will have had his first tastes of food and you can deal with his solid food whichever way you see fit. If he takes to it easily (my ds could feed himself a whole banana after four days of weaning) then you may not even want to do spoons and plates and purees.
I wouldn't bother with any sterilising at all either.

[nappyaddict]

you don't need to sterilise anything. i never have.

[milkmummy1]

Ahhh thanks, food for thought! Am currently BF, however was considering putting him on formula at 6 months. Then again the idea of BF when travelling does sound very convinient. DD turns 6 months 2 days before we go. It is another 3 weeks away but so far he hasnt given me any indication that he needs any more than just milk at the mo (ie not feeding any more frequently or waking in the night etc etc). Also he was a month premature and ive heard different things about weaning prem babies, so want to wait til 6 months if i can. We are only going to france for a week so i coudl wean when i get back couldnt i? Friend of mine said if i do that though then i might miss that window. but surely a week is ok?????
And if i decide to put him on formula before the holiday, i will need to sterilise the bottles because of the different water wont i?

[GrimoireThief]

The window thing is a big fat myth by the way. Even my HV says so

[milkmummy1]

BTW even if do keep up the BF til i get back i will still want to express out there, as i do regularly here. surely i will need to sterilise the pump and bottles etc as i always have done. would i take the sterilising tablets for this? doesnt appeal the thought of lugging my steam steriliser onto a ryannair flight.

[milkmummy1]

i dont even know what this window thing means. is it something to do with their jaw or loosing their chewing reflex?
Sorry, you can tell i really need to get a book on weaning and read all about how it works! BF is so easy compared to all this!

[GrimoireThief]

Re the sterilising, obviously you should do whatever makes you comfortable but I stopped using sterilising tablets for my breast pump/bottles at around 12 weeks. Just washing thoroughly in hot soapy water and leaving to air dry is sufficient. If your MIL has a dish washer then you're sorted.

This is assuming that their water is from a mains supply which in France is safe. If not from the mains then it might be different.

[milkmummy1]

thanks, might do that. dont know how those tablets work anyway! hope DS will be ok with just milk til im back then.

[nappyaddict]

you only need to sterilise water if it is from a well or a country where water is not safe to drink. if the water is safe to drink it is safe to for your baby to drink too.

[mawbroon]

milkmummy1 - if you haven't introduced the formula then it would be giving yourself a whole heap of extra work by introducing it just before a holiday. Much less a hassle to continue breastfeeding would be my advice.
The window thing is nonsense - ignore whoever told you that.
Could you learn to hand express over the next three weeks? That would mean that all you needed to bring with you would be your hands.
Can I ask why you are swapping to formula at six months? Obviously I don't know your circumstances but if you don't want to stop breastfeeding then there is no reason to.

[terramum]

The window theory was that if solids weren't introduced by a certain point then babies wouldn't learn how to chew. It was soley based on a 1960's study that looked at disabled-tube babies who were tube fed from birth...so defo not relevant to normally fed healthy babies. Bfing has been proven to be beneficial to jaw development as the action of suckling is similar that that of speaking & chewing so by bfing you are actually helping this....

Your friend is very very out of date! Might be worth printing this out & showing her point 8: (it's the guidelines that HV were given when the advice changed from 4-6 months to 6 months back in 2003)
www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_409699 9.pdf


Have you read the kellymom section on solids? Very worth it imo:
www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html

Google baby-led weaning as well, or ask on the weaning board...much easier than trad puree solids....there was a post there in the last couple of days about starting solids whilst being away from home that you might find useful....

[RuthChan]

If you're happy with bfing you don't need to wean onto formula at all.
It's quite possible to stick with it until 1 year or so and then wean completely rather than weaning once onto formula and then again to come off it.

[lljkk]

What window thing are you talking about, milkmummy? Did someone tell you that there's a "window of opportunity", that if you don't stop breastfeeding at 6 months the baby won't take to solids properly?

That's very old-fashioned thinking and advice. It was never based on any genuine research or sound understanding of human biology; in short, it's absolute tosh and myth.

2 of My babies were so keen on solids that I had to struggle a bit to keep them interested in mummy milk at all, from 6-10 months old.

[lljkk]

OOh, glad to see that terramum knew the history of that weird advice better than I did.

[moondog]

Milk,honestly,my advice would be to keep breastfeeding him. As well as it being better for the baby,it will make life os much easier for you.

I've travelled loads with very small breastfed babies and it is a doddle.

[milkmummy1]

wow that doc was really helpful thanks terramum. some interesting things on there. Really shows how great BF is for the first 6 months. have considered doing it behond 6 months but keep changing my mind. TBH i want a bit of a life back and others are kean to help out. 6 months seems great if i get to that as it is longer than i anticipated. Has anyone else found that they havent had a period yet? Kind of nice really!!

[mawbroon]

I would encourage you to continue breastfeeding beyond six months if you aren't sure milkmummy. If after a few days/weeks/months you decided that yes, you definitely want to stop then you can do so. Unfortunately it doesn't really work the other way round (ie stopping and then changing your mind) and you could regret stopping if it's not the right decision.
You may find that your periods come back when you get him eating a good amount of food and less milk, but there are some women who don't menstruate until after the baby stops breastfeeding completely. I was on the mini pill, so I don't know if it was the breastfeeding or the mini pill which stopped mine. I came off mini pill and started period 28 days later, so I am guessing it was the mini pill.

[USAUKMum]

You can get little bags for sterilising in a microwave (if you MIL has one) -- I got mine from Mothercare (albeit it was about 2 yrs ago). I just sterlised my pump and a small container in it when DS was little. I too encourage you to keep on with the bf...it is by far the easiest and feed while you take off that will help with the pressure.

Have fun

[USAUKMum]

Also you may find once your LO is eating the number of bf will decrease on the other hand mine LOs didn't But they did get much faster / efficient at it. So both DD & DS fed for 45 min while little (4 wks) but by 6 - 7 mths were down to 10 min. So much easier. My AF didn't return until they were 10 mths and on 3 meals & 2 snacks (both still fed about 6 times a day 4 of these with a meal or snack)