having to start weaning baby early

[ronniemummy]

My baby is now 16weeks old and has been having baby rice at lunch for the last 5-6days ( so she started when she was 15weeks). I have done this on the advice of my health visitor who said because she was finishing 5 x 8oz bottles a day she needed some solids as it would be too much fluid for her to up her milk as she was being quite sick with it.

How long should I keep her on baby rice before introducing some of the root veg that the HV mentioned? I have bought soem organic sweet potatoes. What veg do you think is best to start her with?

Iknow you will probably say that I should have waited until 26weeks which really isn't helpful when I am acting upon my HV advice!!!

[merrylissiemas]

right, at the risk of being bombarded.... wait as long as poss before introducing veg, i started ds off with sweet potato, carrot and butternut squash. mix a tiny bit with babyrice and milk and she will take to it better, dont feel that you have to apologise for weaning early. some babies do need weaning earlier and more mothers wean early than will admit. try to keep her on baby rice for another 4 weeks. cow and gate do a range called 1st tastes which is babyrice with a hint of strawberry, pear etc. i had to wean vv early and ds is fine. he's stuck to his centile rigidly so dont be put off, just take it slowly and avoid fruit, bread, eggs etc til 6m

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[merrylissiemas]

but that thread also puts the other side across

[nearlythree]

I weaned dd1 at 17 wks. I found baby rice a waste of time, and root veg bunged her up solid. I am weaning ds (a lot later, it has to be said) onto pears atm.

[Jennapuss]

Sorry to crash. Merrylissiemas - you say avoid fruit til 6m, but previously mentioned babyrice with hints of fruit. Do you mean avoid uncooked fruit? Just asking because DS is 21 weeks and I've been giving him babyrice mixed with pureed cooked pear/apple because he won't take it on its own.

[nearlythree]

I can't answer for merrylissiemas, but IME pears are one of the best early weaning foods, recommended by many experts from different countries. There is a lot to be said for avoiding banana though, and some babies get bad nappy rash with apple. I found sweet potato and other recommended veg really not good for my dd1 under 6 mo. (Dd2 decided of her own accprd to do the BLW thing at 7 mo - ds is weaning now and his first food is pears.) Watery veg were okay under 6 mo - things like carrot and courgette - but not starchy ones like parsnip. HTH

And you don't have to use shop-bought baby rice. Yo can easily make your own by boiling some white rice until v. soft and putting it through a mouli. After a while you can just mash it and mix with puree - an excellent way of introducing texture and it goes well with sweet or savoury flavours. After 6 mo you can add cheese to make 'risotto' or fromage frais to make 'rice pudding' - yum!

[merrylissiemas]

sorry, did mean uncooked citrus fruit and tomatoes. it might have just been my ds. i did wean ds vv early tho and had to be vv careful and take it vvv slowly

[merrylissiemas]

i also used a lot of milk in veg purees.