what to do to my ds who at 5 months won`t take bottle or solid?

[morethanamum]

if he was a good sleeper i would have never minded.he wakes several times at night to feed.he didnt like baby ric,vegetables,fruit or even formula.if he was dead hungry hell take 60ml.hes in a good health but im exhausted,and i guess he`s getting hungrier.

[sparklylucy]

Poor you. I remember this time and it is really hard. In the good old days when you were told to wean at 16 weeks we could just keep on trying. A very nice health visitor once told me at this time that I should get into bed with my baby for the day, get skin to skin contact and eat lots of cholcolate. Don't remember if it helped, but I did do it and it did give me a rest ( and it was medical advice after all soI didn't feel bad about it at all!!)

[whomovedmychocolate]

I am assuming he's breastfed? Current advice is not to wean till six months. Are you sure it's hunger and not illness or teething pain?

It may just be a growth spurt in which case you need to ride it out - it won't last more than a week. If it has been going on longer than that - a trip to the GP to rule out anything serious is due.

Good luck.

[whomovedmychocolate]

I also take to my bed when the babies get growth spurts. Hot chocolate works for me!

[morethanamum]

he is breastfed.i cant force him to eat so i always stop for a few days and start again in a different time.it might be teething,hes biting on everything.but won`t the gp laugh on me?

[preggersplayspop]

I've come to the conclusion that babies just love breastfeeding to the exclusion of other sources of food. My DD didn't really take to solids well until he was over a year (and is still fussy at times) and I never really managed to get him to drink milk from a bottle, though he will now have the odd bit here and there at the age of 18 months!!

[morethanamum]

i love chocolate,but how does it help?

[morethanamum]

he`s just so different from my first.she just loved food.having a fussy eater from 5 months is already hard!!

[whomovedmychocolate]

Of course the GP won't laugh. You are worried about your child - that gets taken seriously. It does sound like teething. Milk does become the sole food when they are in pain and they want to feed constantly for comfort as well as food - and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a pain in the bum for you and you need more calories (hence the chocolate) to boost your milk supply. Send out for books/magazines/snacks and take him off to bed for the day you'll get some rest and feel a bit better come Friday.

[morethanamum]

but doesnt chocolate have caffiene in it? ive been cutting down on tea and my favourite coffee.but if the health visitor said chocolate is fine.wow.that`s even better.i really need some energy

[nowwearefour]

prob your baby isnt ready for solids at 5 mo nnths. almost certainly isnt fussy just not yet ready. so just go with it and rule out anything medical. he will take milk when he is hungry assuming nothing is wrong (which it almost certainly isnt ). my second was a nightmare at this stage too. the phase will pass!!!

[PavlovtheCat]

This is tough isn't it? DD refused a bottle completely until about 10 months.

Also, she was low birth weight and I was under a lot of pressure to get more weight on her, although in reality (and hindsight) she was fine, was a small baby, is a small child, will be a small adult, thats how it is. But we were given a lot of incorrect and damaging advice and I spent a lot of time forcing her.

As it happens, she ate a lot less breasmilk when she was teething, which was almost constant at this age and she also woke 1.5 hourly at night for a feed for a while (my fault, different story), and I had to gradually wean her from this.

I actually stopped forcing the bottle in the end as it was so stressful, and after seeing one lovely health visitor who told me I shop not put pressure on either me or her, it was not necessary and she was small but not ill. With my next one I know so much more, and will do things much differently.

We did start weaning at 5 months, but only because she was showing all the other signs for it. I agree that if she is not wanting solids, stop offering, and re-offer again in a month or so.

If she is not wanting a bottle, just give her breastmilk as she wants. It is perfectly fine for a baby to just have breastmilk (and it often seems they are not drinking much, but they are getting just what they need) I know it is very tiring with her waking at night, but this stage will not last long, I promise.

Good luck

[SoupDragon]

You don't need more calories to boost your milk supply. Feeding boosts your supply, not calories.

Doe she always refuse solids? They often reject them several times before deciding that they are good after all. Have you tried offering him finger foods and letting him get on with it? At 5 months he may just not be ready for solids. Anyway, in the early days, they don't eat enough for it to make any difference to their calorie intake - breastmilk is far higher in calories than the amount of solids they eat.

[PavlovtheCat]

I remember being told this mantra on MN when I was weaning DD, have not heard it for a while so I shall quote it

Food is fun until they are One

[morethanamum]

i was planning on weaning him at six months.but now im scared that hell lose weight.its hard enough to go from breast to bottle.but hes gonna make it even harder for me.i was going to gradually give him the bottle.i don`t know if i should go cold turky about it now which i realy hate to do.

[PavlovtheCat]

Is it because of the fear he will lose weight that is making you want to give bottle instead of breastmilk? Is it because you are exhausted and need a break? If the latter, could you express? If the former, I am sure he will not lose weight on your milk, that is what it is for.

This is a hard time and I am wishing I could give you some answers to make it all ok!

[morethanamum]

im difinitly not scared of him losing weight now,he even wears 6-9 clothes,hes not chubby hes tall.but i dont want him to lose it if he was weaned.
i definitly need a break.he still feeds every 2-3 hours.sometimes even at night.
i breastfed my dd1 until 1 and she used to love food.but she slept through from 4 months.

[PavlovtheCat]

DD actually started putting on weight when she was weaned. And she has only just started sleeping though at 2years!

I hope I have it the other way round to you, that my second will sleep through!

[morethanamum]

you think after your first you know it all.but here i amwith a totally different kid with fresh new things to worry about.
he`s gorgeous but sleeping is so vital to me now even from before because of my energetic almost 3 dd1.