my 1st baby....weaning advice please??

[hummingbird123]

D's will be 5 months in a wk, sometimes she refuses point blank to take her bottle, its usually morning and dinner time when she wont take more than 2 ounces sometimes. So I tried a tiny bit of baby rice and when she has it she sits with her mouth open waiting for the next spoonful....should i start weaning? Or shouldnt I worry when she doesnt want her bottle? Any advice would be gr8 she's still happy and putting on weight etc...

[phucknuckle]

Personally, I would wean her, but I know that goes against all government advice. is she a big baby? My son was and he loved his food. He was 5 months old when they changed the advice from 4 to 6 months, as if I was going to stop!

[Windermere]

I would wean her too. My DS did this, as soon as I started weaning him he increased his milk intake again.

[hummingbird123]

she is 17lb 5ou,( I don't know if thats big or not!! She's very long/tall thou 68 cms) she was consistantly taking 8 around ounces every feed every 4 hours. I have even tried to trick her by giving her formula on a spoon but she even spits that out! So she clearly knows the difference and seems to want somethin other that just milk all the time. Should I stick to baby rice for as near to 6 months as poss then start on other foods do you think? Thanks soooo much for your advice!!!

[alicatsg]

wean her. I weaned ds at about that stage and he's never looked back. just do one small meal a day and build up. I found Annabel Karmel's book a great help here.

[hummingbird123]

Just been on Annabel Karmel website (and going to order book) thats going to be a great help, thanks

[toria77]

MY DS ID 5 MONTHS i wanted to hang on until 6 months, but his weight started to drop a little so isatrted weaning yesterday... he seemed to really want to eat it so think he is ready, it's hard to know what to do isnt it, but think the fact that we have waited till 5 months is good anyway, their development is that much futher on...... my ds is also refuseing to take much froma bottle, but thats another prob!!... good luck

[Ponka]

Go for it. We had a bad start with DS so we have a pediatritian. We went to see him at 4 months and he said:

"Have you started weaning him yet"
we said:
"No, we heard it was best to wait until 6 months"
He said
"Those guidlines are relatively new and to be honsest, most pediatritians on the ground think they aren't good guidelines and still advise to wean at 4 months. So you should go for it now, if you'd like."

Interesting heh?

We waited until a compromise between the two recommendations, at 5 months, when DS started showing signs of needing it, anyway. We were fine.

I say trust your instincts hummingbird. Rules are made to be broken!

[hunkermunker]

I waited till six months with DS, and he didn't actually eat anything much till he was closer to eight months.

He was a big baby.

The reason the advice has changed is because more research has been done. But there will always be people who say their babies have had no probs from early weaning, so go with your instinct.

[beansmum]

I have to say that I don't think this is one of the rules that is made to be broken, there are good reasons to wait until 6 months to start weaning and very few babies need anything other than milk before then.

Before that age your baby's system is not able to digest foods properly, which is either just a total waste of food, or can lead to digestive problems or allergies.

There is also an increased risk of childhood respiratory infection, and babies weaned too early can have an increased risk of obesity later on.

If you think that your baby really needs something extra then I would just stick to baby rice until 6 months.

[Ponka]

Hi Beansmum,

I'll probably be shot down for this but here goes.....

I see where you are coming from but I actually think that the research is not respected by many pediatricians on the ground. I bet that there'll be some new research that comes along in the not too distant future that reverts the guidelines back to 4 months again. Baby guidelines always seem to be changing.

I wonder why, if babies for years and years have been weaned at 4 months, that allergies and obesity are on the increase now. I rather suspect it is for other reasons, such as the fast - food culture and life - style.

My parent's generation, and mine, have grown up absolutely fine being weaned at four months.

I think that if a baby is ready before 6 months, the parent really should trust their instincts and go for it. I don't regard the food I gave DS as a waste either. He seemed to thrive on it and he certainly enjoyed every mouthful.

(Ponka runs away quickly and hides after venturing her first counter - opinion on Mumsnet )

[slim22]

hi,

started same as U for same reason.Less interest in bottle(breast actually) and mouth wide open waiting for the next spoonfull.

suggest give bottle with cuddle upon waking, then babyrice breakfast.

Baby rice/carrot/apple puree at tea time then should be happy to have bottle/cuddle at bedtime.

My main problem was how much should I give as he just could not get enough solid food!!
suggest start with 1/2 cup and within 2 month should hapilly eat equivalent of 125g baby jar + baby yogurt or small pot of apple puree.

As for allergies etc....if you introduce only one new food every week, you should be able to monitor acurately any potential adverse reaction.

Bon apetit!!

[hummingbird123]

thanks everyone for ur advice!! Last 2 days I have stuck to bottle on waking-7am, at 9am she has a 2 hr nap. Next feed 11am, she has about 4-5 small baby spoons of baby rice and I finish off with bottle. At 1pm she has a 2hr nap. Then next feed at 3pm I give her about 4-5 small baby spoons of baby rice and finish off with bottle of milk, at 4.30 she has 1/2 hr nap, wakes at 5 for play and bath, then she just has another bottle at bedtime which is 7. (then dream feed at 11!)
She has definalty lost the tongue thrust reflux when taking food from a spoon! Which I thought was a good sign they are ready to wean? Plus, as I mix babyrice with formula surely its not to disimilar to what she is getting already? Just a bit more substantial?

[HappyMumof2]

Message withdrawn

[teeavee]

i also started weaning at 5 months, it felt ok to me, ds ate everythnig withut any probs. I started with pear, then some avocadeo, then banana, etc. I sometimes think I should have persevered until 6 months on bf only, but to be honest, it was all getting a bit too much for me and I needed to supplement with other foods because I was knackered!

as someone else said, 5 months is a good compromise between 4 (previous guidelines) and 6 months....

[hercules]

I'm only going to say it is not new advice! The WHO have been saying this for over 10 years.....

By the way the advice here in the 20s and 30s was to wait until they were 9-10 months old and they were fine.

[tiktok]

I don't know who your paediatrician, is Ponka, but he/she is out of step...it's just not true that 'most' think these guidelines are not good. It's also not the case that guidance changes frequently - the last time official UK guidance changed was 1993.

Obesity is associated with early weaning - it's not the only factor, of course.

Having said that, I don't think it's a massive deal for a baby to start having other foods at 5 mths, but in the majority of cases, it's just not nutritionally necessary.