weaning your preemie

[Syd35]

Just wondered if others have waited till the recommended 6 months or started earlier?

[CloserToFiftyThanTwenty]

My 35 weeker was weaned from 4 months (as was the advice then), and he has been fine: no allergies or intolerances, eats everything etc etc.

[CloserToFiftyThanTwenty]

he's 10 yo, now, BTW so I think we would know if there was going to be a food related problem!

[TeamBacon]

6 months, or thereabouts, from birth date rather than corrected

[BettyCatKitten]

I weaned my 31 twins at 4 months. I was advised that preemies need to wean earlier than full timers. But the advice may be different now.

[Ifiwasabadger]

Wow 4 months. Mine was nowhere near ready at that stage, could barely hold head up, still had a tongue thrust etc. I waited until 7 months as DD's tongue thrust was still evident and she had a very strong gag reflex. This was just a year ago.

Aside from using an age as a guide, how is your baby on showing signs of being ready?

[ShadowStar]

We started weaning our 34 weeker around 6 months from birth.

[Ifiwasabadger]

Sorry , to add mine was a 32 weeker.

[Syd35]

Thanks for the replies. DD is now 17 weeks old she was 6 weeks early due to me having PE. She has silent reflux which seems to be under control with Ranitidine and is on Neocate as wasn't settling on normal formula. Weight gain has been fab and I suspect she will be ready to try solids soon but HV says 6 months although I have read that you should wean earlier for preemies so they get adequate iron intake etc. Don't want to rush things though, so much conflicting advice isn't there.

[CloserToFiftyThanTwenty]

DS showed he was ready by being interested in food and things going into his mouth (if you gave him a spoon it went in, for eg). He could sit up in a bumbo seat and hold his head (except when v v tired). When we tried food, he swallowed it rather than spat it out

[AbbeyRoadCrossing]

The Bliss leaflet on weaning is really good. We started between 5 and 6 months as that's what I was advised earlier this year.

[Jedi1]

We were told weaning was on actual birth rather than gestational age. We ended up weaning at 5 months actual because of reflux on the advice of the peads.

DTs were 31 weekers and still couldn't sit unaided so we started off spoon feeding in bouncy chairs.

[CustardSquare]

The community nurses really pushed weaning from 5/6 months from birth. My DS was born at 28 weeks and at that stage he was not interested at all. He was 5 months corrected (so 8 months actual) before he would even entertain the idea of food. He picked it up pretty quickly and we do blw now. He has silent reflux, cmpi, soya, and egg allergies.

[cabbageleaf]

I started introducing solids when DS was 5.5 months corrected, 8 months actual age. I live in Germany and here the advice is to begin weaning between four and six months for all term babies, and between four and six months corrected age for prem babies. I know the advice in the UK is not to use the corrected age, but I don't find the reasons given at all convincing: so what if the gut starts maturing at birth? Why do babies that are ebf for much longer than 8 months, as is the case in some indigenous peoples, do not have more problems regarding allergies, nutrient deficiencies etc.? And how can a baby that is 2.5 months corrected age ever assume enough solids to make up for a nutrient deficiency?
Milk is the main source of food in the first year, and I cannot imagine why a prem baby should be fed solids when it is still so tiny - DS would never, ever have been ready for solids at 5 months actual age, when he should have been just 2.5 months old.
Prem babies are definitely at a risk of a lack of nutrients, but IMO it makes more sense to give a supplement instead of hoping the few spoonfuls of solids your prem baby will eat a few weeks after its due date will give it enough of the nutrients it needs/is lacking. I give DS Wellkid liquid, he is now 8 months corrected and has only just started enjoying eating solids.

[PearHead]

The Bliss leaflet says between 5 and 8 months actual, though they also state that not many babies will be ready by 5 and not many will need to wait as long as 8. There aren't any formal NHS guidelines, as far as I can tell.

[Poppyred85]

I also went on the basis of the Bliss leaflet- 5-8 months but need to be able to hold their head up. ds was 30 weeks so tried at 6 months birth age but nowhere near ready. I think in the end he was about 7.5 months birth age and the difference was really noticeable. As I understand it you don't need to start weaning early if they are gaining weight well but you could always ask your paeds doctor or health visitor. Ds is now 2.5 and currently eating like a horse- he goes through phases of eating little and being picky and then hoovering up anything/everything you put in front of him!

[DebH1975]

My 34 seeker wasn't interested in food until around 8 months or so. I tried from 6 months but no success.
Only thing I would say is to not stress about it they will get there in their own time.

[MrsRuby]

I have a 32 weeker who will be 6 months (4 months corrected) next week. There is no way he is ready for food - has very poor head control and can't sit. I don't understand how a few teaspoons of puréed fruit and veg could provide as much iron as the breastmilk it would be replacing!?
In my opinion there is generally far too much of a rush to wean - would rather give iron liquid than allergenic wheat or the nutritional nothing of baby rice.

[OwlFace49]

My 32 weeker had terrible stomach issues after every formula feed and unfortunately I produced very little breast milk so I started introducing really runny solids such as full fat yoghurt and baby rice (made with breast milk or 50:50 formula and breast milk) quite early - 5 months (actual age). I'd tried everything before that - different and lactose-free formula, all and every anti-colic medicine, anti-colic bottles etc.

The difference after introducing purees and runny solids was remarkable. His doctor-diagnosed "colic" (which was clearly just wind issues caused by fortified milk being unleashed on an immature stomach) disappeared and feeds became much mire relaxed.

I know all babies are different but he was so ready for food (or rather ready to abandon the formula) and weaned beautifully and fattened up a treat. I slowly replaced one meal at a time until he was almost entirely on solids at 7 months. He abandoned formula entirely of his own volition at 9 months and I offered him cows milk around 12 months which he's lived since. That 3 months without milk made me nervous but I needn't have worried as he stuffed his face with everything else to make up for it!

Loads of mums kicked off at me about giving him food too early ("milk is best", "he'll develop allergies", "his stomach can't take it") but I know my child and clearly formula wasn't doing him any good and seeing as I couldn't breastfeed (long story...), it made sense for us to wean early.

He's now a healthy, happy three years old, eats everything and has no allergies.