porridge advise?

[tashemmerz1]

Hi there!! I have a chunky baby who's now 15 weeks (not sure of his exact weight at the moment he hasn't been weighed in a while but he was born 10lb 4oz so you get the idea!). Some days recently he can drink 40 ounces of milk which is a bit too much and for a baby who hasn't suffered from wind he now is having problems from this quantity. I'm reluctant to swap him to hungry baby milk as I don't want to mess with his little insides and cause constipation or any troubles! (My fear comes from a friend who has done this with her baby who began having all kinds of digestive problems!)
So recently I've come to the decision I'd like to introduce a bit of porridge when he reaches 17 weeks. My query is, basically that, I recently read an article that says the risk of asthma is reduced by 64 percent if you introduce oats to a baby before they reach 5 months. Asthma runs in my family and although I don't have it if it's possible to lessen the risk I'd like to! Oats don't come in the introductory porridges aimed at 4-6 month olds the are made from corn and rice. referring to the Aptamil brand porridges oats only feature in porridges aimed at 7+ months.... my question really is is there any danger in giving a 15 week old porridge containing oats aimed at 7 months+ babies? This research is proven to have reduced the risk of asthma- but I'm worried for any other side effects it could have introducing oats so young? Does anyone know anything about this?? Eager to learn!!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Have you got a link to the research tash. Would like to read it as I've never heard of it before.

Something you might want to take into consideration is that your baby needs roughly 2.5floz of first stage formula for every pound of weight so at birth that was 25floz. You don't say what he weighs now, but looking at it that way 40floz seems about right

Have you read the MN info on weaning and the current NHS guidelines? They are both very good.

[squizita]

Porridge has gluten in it (oats) so can be hard to digest pre 6 months.

Unless medically advised (eg reflux) they don't recommend solids before 24 weeks anymore.

[FATEdestiny]

I have a similarly massive baby who tracked between 91st and 98th centile from birth onwards.

She would routinely drink in excess of 40oz per day, on demand. First milk, no need for hungry milk. Drinking more milk is not a problem.

We waited until 25 weeks to wean without any problem at all. She took to weaning very well once old enough to feed properly.

A child is not ready for weaning until they:

• Are able to sit up straight backed unaided
• Have lost the tongue reflex which pushes food out of their mouths.

These usually happen around 6 months.

Can your baby do these things?

Weaning early will cause far more digestive problems than hungry milk will. Having said that, you don't need hungry milk anyway. Just carry on as you are already doing.

[tashemmerz1]

www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2015/03/peanuts_for_infants_to_prevent_food_allergies_give_infants_all_the_food.html

That's one article that includes the oat research!
A bit of information I have left out is that he was beginning to sleep through and is now waking twice in the night really hungry chugging about 12 ounces down in total.. that is why I was going to maybe wean early. I've done so much reading about it and seem to be going round in circles! I didn't realise 40 ounces could be normal- I didn't want him to put on too much weight drinking the baby milk to excess! So thank you for that info :) Perhaps I should wait a little longer? It's just the increased wind and the waking in the night starving that made me feel as if he should move on a bit... all this conflicting advise is hard! Thank you for your replies

[Buglife]

Babies often feed through the night for months. That is not a sign that they need to be weaned (my 8 month old DS is on 3 meals a day and still wakes for feeding overnight anyway!) also babies need about the same amount of milk alongside early weaning too, so you won't be replacing milk feeds with food, and if he dies stop taking enough milk because he's fuller from porridge, that's actuslly not a good thing as the milk is most important. And far more likely to give wind and digestive discomfort (weaning can cause them to go a little haywire for a bit, normal but at 17 weeks avoidable).

If your baby is hungry for more milk then it's fine to just give more milk, he needs the fats and vitamins in it, not oats. 40 oz is fine, during a growth spurt my DS could drink that and more. around 4 months old is a massive growth spurt time and sleep upheaval, my DS became like a differabt baby, his sleep changed, he fed loads, it's normal. Also he's going to take what he needs, and he's only getting as fat as he needs (and fat in a baby isn't bad!). You don't have to worry he wants anything other than milk until he's at least 24 weeks. DS is a 91st centile child and only started weaning at 25 weeks, and then wasn't interested in food much until 7 months old anyway. He hasn't dropped much milk still at nearly 8 months.

[Buglife]

"Does stop taking enough milk" obviously, not dies! Bad autocorrect there...

[squizita]

Babies cannot get overweight pre walking/weaning so don't worry about that.

The peanut study -at least in every article I've read- comes with a don't try this at home, more research needed disclaimer. It was all done with a very specific allergy set under test conditions. It isn't a green flag to give tiny babies foods!

[eurochick]

Personally I would follow the NHS guidelines rather than an American blog...

[FATEdestiny]

Weaning is unlikely to make your baby sleep longer. The opposite in fact, especially if weaning before digestion is ready.

If your aim is to get more sleep by weaning early, you'll get a shock there because you'll probably end up with less sleep.

[tashemmerz1]

NHS guidelines, I feel, promote breastfeeding for 6 months. And the information regarding weaning is based around just the idea that breast milk for 6 months is the optimal idea. I don't feel like formula fed babies are considered as such.. I feel like there's a lack of info. There's clearly a difference in what babies have been exposed to if they're bottle fed? The 6 months guideline I feel is to get the best start for babies from breast milk - with little or no reference to bottle feeding just the implication the advise is the same.
I didn't say I was going to give him peanut butter. Nor did I say I was going to follow the advise of a blog. I'm trying to consider everything from a spectrum of resources including the opinions of people on here who have had experience. All of our parents would have weaned us earlier than 6 months, the NHS consistently move the benchmark for things so I was just looking to make an educated decision. Thank you to everyone who's been helpful

[squizita]

Nope it's definitely bottle milk too. Formula is produced under strict guidelines re sodium levels, vitamins etc. Other food isn't.

[squizita]

Oh and I didn't say peanuts ... just food. I only mentioned the article using the word peanuts because that's the title.

Really - the nhs takes formula into account.

[GothicRainbow]

I would seriously consider holding off. 4 months is a time when babies are usually have a growth spurt and they can also have sleep regression. If you're worried about wind and upsetting his digestion then weaning is not the way to go.

We held off weaning my bottle fed refluxer until he was 6.5 months as he wasn't quite sitting up well enough at 6 months and I'm so glad we did! His sleep was all over the place and his digestion too. One day constipated the next day explosive nappies!

Having to give night feeds when you've previously not been is frustrating so we started with a feed at 7.30pm then another one at 11pm and this would get him through until 5/6am which eventually stretched to 7am. The 11pm feed we eventually dropped at 9 months.

[CookPassBabtrigde]

The signs you think means he needs solids are not signs that mean he is ready to be weaned. They're just old wives tales I'm afraid. Going from sleeping through to waking in the night and wind are completely normal, growth spurts are very common at 3/4 months and this is likely to be the cause - giving him solids won't improve that because our food is nowhere near as filling or nutritious as breast milk and formula milk.

Yes our parents weaned us early but it really isn't necessary, doing so is absolutely no benefit to your baby and it could actually do more harm.
Decades of research has gone into the WHO and NHS guidelines and considering most babies in this country are formula fed, it certainly does apply to those babies too, or they would state otherwise. NHS guidelines do change yes, but usually for the better because they are becoming better informed. For example, since the guidelines changed in the early 90s to advise that babies sleep on their backs, the rate of cot death has plummeted. The guidelines are improved based on solid and thorough research, not changed for the sake of 'let's experiment' or 'why not?'

You will get lots of conflicting advise re weaning and most people I know were absolutely horrified that our baby had nothing but milk for the first six months. Old attitudes to weaning are very ingrained but actually inaccurate, it does them no harm to wait til 6 months, and allergies are less likely too.

If you really, really want to give him solids early just try to wait a few more weeks and please don't give a 15 week old porridge, he doesn't need it. Also speak to your hv as they can advise you best what to give him if you are wanting to start early.

[FATEdestiny]

NHS Website:[http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/solid-foods-weaning.aspx#close When to start introducing solid foods]]:

"Research shows that babies need nothing but breastmilk or infant formula for the first six months of life."

Why do you feel there is a lack of info? Rely only on the NHS website. Don't look elsewhere for advise. All advise is there, easy to find and written in very clear language.

tashemmerz1: NHS consistently move the benchmark

I have been parenting for nearly 11 years now, four children. Throughout all of that time the advise has always been not to wean before 6 months. People do wean early, against advise. This has always happened. It has never at any point in the last decade been NHS advise to wean before 6 months old.

[FATEdestiny]

NHS Website:When to start introducing solid foods:

"Research shows that babies need nothing but breastmilk or infant formula for the first six months of life."

Why do you feel there is a lack of info? Rely only on the NHS website. Don't look elsewhere for advise. All advise is there, easy to find and written in very clear language.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

tash the nhs guidelines just mention milk is best for your baby for the first months, it doesn't specify bm or formula. Also, my DS is 11 and the advice to wean at 6 months was the advice then and is still now. It definitely isn't constantly changing

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Oh and sorry tash I can't read the link as it flips to a mobile site. Have you got a link to the actual research?