Weaning baby rice?10/12 weeks old

[loubuch09]

Advice wanted....my 10 week old baby girl is taking in excess of 35 oz of milk per day. feeding on demand every 1-2 hours day and night i am exhausted and i am sure she is too. She is a very unsettled/unhappy colicky baby. She was 9.11 lb at birth (2 weeks overdue) and now weighs 13.5 lb do i try a bit of baby rice made up with her milk. My mums thinks its def worth a try as when i was a baby (25yr ago) i was month prem and she was adviced to give me rice at 12 weeks old? its so conflicting. so what do you guys think?

I think that if she's unsettled and a bit colicky, it would be good trying her with something like Colief first. Colicky babies think that they're hungry when it's the tummy ache, and act like they want to feed. I think introducing solids now would make her tummy ache worse. She's too little yet. You can tell your mum that advice has changed massively since you were born.

No. Babies need milk (Breast or formula). Not food. Babies feed often. It's what they do.

Just to add - might be worth taking her to see a cranial osteopath if you can afford it.

No way, never give baby rice in a bottle. Like the others haves said she may have Colic in which case treat that. Babies should not be given food at this age. Advice has changed over the years.

Massively too early, sorry. Current advice is as close to 6 months as possible, but definitely no earlier than 17 weeks, it can be really dangerous before this - just because you were fine, doesn't mean your DD will be.

Have you asked your health visitor for advice? If the colic/reflux is this bad it might be that you need to change her milk to a special kind. HV can refer you to a paediatric dietician, I think.

Aside from all the advice etc, if she's so unsettled then giving her something which is even harder to digest is only going to make things worse. Plus, if she is truly hungry then solids will not have enough calories to meet her needs. Just no, for loads of reasons. If babies this small were meant to eat solids then cavewomen would have discovered food processors before fire and the wheel.

She is lactose intolerant and on a special milk currently (nutramifen). We have tried dentinox, infacil,gripe water, colief, dr browns bottles, cooled boild water etc for the colic...I dont think I can do anymore for her?! She just doesnt seem happy for more than 5 mins at a time.

I wasnt suggesting putting the rice in the milk but maybe a lil on a spoon? i know that guides say 6 months and have many mfriends that have given rice from 12 weeks just wanted to hear if their was anyone who had done and had had bad/good experience.

It's a hard age, 10 weeks. Colic is one of those diagnoses that sound medical but really just means 'cries a lot for no apparent reason'. I heard a speaker ages ago posit that it's really an emotional tool for some babies, they're creating their own 'white noise' to deal with the feeling of the world being overwhelming. Certainly in my DD's case, it wasn't a physical problem and it absolutely eased off at 12 weeks.

In yours, it's hard to say without knowing more about your situation - she could be looking for comfort, more attention, less attention, more movement, less movement, etc. A growth spurt is also common at 12 weeks.

But here's what it isn't: hunger. Formula or breastmilk are the most calorific things you could be feeding her, and you're feeding her on demand, so it's not hunger.

And if it were hunger, then adding rice, which is less calorie-dense, would be counter-productive. As others have said, it's also more difficult to digest, so if she does have physical digestion issues, rice will hurt her tummy. She's too young to process it properly.

It's hard. It's really, really hard, this feeling that you could be should be doing more for this baby that you adore. But you're feeding her, rocking her, loving her, and she's so tiny, and sometimes the only way really is through it.

If you do wean so early, be aware you are taking a risk with her health - babies weaned before 4 months are more likely to get infections and intolerances, their gut and kidneys aren't mature enough to process food, and early weaning has been linked to obesity and wheezing as they get older.

Rice wouldn't fill her up or settle her imo. I don't think she's hungry she's just got colic and I know it won't be what you wnt to her but time will heAl it, not much else. 35oz a day isn't excessive really - does she ever vomit? Have you considered silent reflux? Have you tried gaviscon? Or colocynth graanules?

I second the advice to try cranial osteopathy. Am on phone so can't link but have a google. It has great results for uncomfortable colicky small babies. My son was like a new child entirely after 2 / 3 sessions.

I second the infant gaviscon, dd2 wanted to feed non-stop and would drink everything we gave her. Turned out she had reflux and was drinking so much to sooth the burning in her throat .

After less than a week on the gaviscon she was like a changed baby . Please give it a go before giving her any food yet.

sooth soothe obviously

I've put a link to this on the breast & bottle feeding forum as they really know their stuff and no doubt will give some great advice.

I would say avoid food till 6 months. If your DD already has digestive problems/colic itll make it worse and could give problems later on as her digestive tract wont be fully developed yet.

I know someone who's baby was on baby rice by 10 weeks. 2 weeks later the baby is also on other foods. The baby has had diarrhoea for two weeks but the parents don't seem to have connected the two.

My DD cries a lot and there's not always a clear reason why. She's 11 weeks and some days she won't be put down at all and even cries in her pram. It's really hard, but she is so tiny (although has gone from just under 7pm at birth to 12lbs) I can't imagine giving her solids.

OMG Midori Seriously they've weaned at 10 weeks .
Have you said anything to them?

(as long as they wouldn't punch you in the face of anything)

Oh poor you - it's just really really tough sometimes. Don't do baby rice - it's way too young. Cranial osteopathy might be worth a try, and carrying your baby in a sling might also be worth doing.

I know it is hard. How much sleep is she getting? My dd1 was very colicky & miserable at that age, and we finally worked out that she was tired all the time. She would feed a lot just because the sucking helped her relax. When I carried her in a sling and let her sleep in it as much as possible, she was much happier.

Don't bother with the cranial osteopathy though. Waste of money.

Hi Loubuch09, It sounds like your daughter has colics for sure. I had a bit of a different situation with my baby girl, but I'm not going to go in long haul.

What you are referring to is Rice Water for colic relief! Yup I did that, here goes: boil rice as you would but add less rice than the normal amount of water like 1 cup of water to 1/4 cup of rice, don't stir the rice too much as you will release too much starch, just so it doesn't clump together, then cool said water, discard rice and add the magic ingredient 1 tsp of Lyle type syrup (what I call corn syrup) to 8 oz of the water, she drank it all, had a huge burp and after a week of 1 bottle a day no more colics.

She's now 22 years old and in Uni! After 3 months of constant crying, that's when I did this and never looked back. Hope this helps, but please don't shoot the messenger - Wink!

CD

Hello there I was trying to get advice for this at around this age for my DS. I can suggest Gaviscon. Go to the docs and ask. our little one has silent refulx he was in pain we had to have a crying fit every night for 2 to 4 hours almost solid. Poor little mite had refulx. He was bing sick as well and the other indication was irregular feeds. One min 4oz then 1oz then 3 oz then 1oz it was crazy! Went to the doc he siad he will grow out of it what a croc of poop!! I saw the HV she said refulx went to see another doc who had kids and he prescribed gaviscon and said refulx. He drinks the same amount now nearly all the time give or take on 1 oz. massive improvement. We used colief as well he was sooo much better. Hope this helps? Good luck I can remember those weeks they were really hard!! :)

GsyGacheFiend I'm very serious sadly. I had my judgey pants on too and they told me so proudly I just tried to look/sound impressed, I am usually quite outspoken, buit am trying to be more amiable these days. I suppose it's their baby, their choice, but it's really not something I would do and I am not sure they are aware of the risks of weaning early. I'm not very good at being tactful though.

I would also agree with trying cranial osteopathy. DS cried non-stop unless he was being held or fed and he wanted feeding every 90 minutes day and night for four months. After the 3rd session with the osteopath he was like a different baby, it was instant, from that day onwards he was completely different. I don't think baby rice is the answer.

Also 25 years is a long time! if I did to DS what my mum did to me I'd be giving him tinned Carnation condensed milk on a dummy. It's a wonder I have any teeth!

I don't think I'd be tactful in the circumstances Midori just a blunt " but they recommend a minimum 4 months for a reason" should get the jist of it across. I really think you should say something to them especially if the baby is suffering unduly because of it. They don't have to take your advice but it could be like the OP here they were given out of date advice if they were so "proud" that baby was weaned already. (my DC2 is now 22 weeks and 12lb 9 and i'm in no hurry to wean.)

loubuch Sorry you're having such a difficult time, nothing more to add advice wise, but definately agree with what Tortoise Rita and Bea have said. I was surprised you know so many people weaning on babyrice at 12 weeks but please don't follow their example.