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Ds will be 7mo on Monday. We've muddled through this first month of weaning and finally got breakfast established and about a week ago, dinner. He is quite happy to nibble on finger foods and is bf approximately 5 times in a 24 hour period
I went to have him weighed yesterday and since about 8 weeks ago he's steadily dropped from the 50th percentile to the 40th, and obviously the hv picked up no this. She's said that at this stage he should be having 3 solid meals, two of which being two courses, a main and then 'dessert', fromage frais, yoghurt etc and only two, at a push three bfs in a 24 hour period.
Today we tried putting this into practice and it certainly is a lot easier said than done, ds clearly wants to be breastfed [tried expressing, and he point blank refuses it, from me and dh] and keeps pushing the food away. I can tell he's hungry and im run down as im getting on the better side of mastitis, so have given in and am bf him at the moment.
I feel like a failure, I know its for his own good, but i've been in tears and he's been in tears all day. I dont want a starving baby, and I dont want to be up all night because of this [he used to sleep like a dream until about 4 weeks ago, and is now waking every four hours absolutely starving and bf for about an hour].
Is there anyone who can help us with easing the transition across to solids and virtually no bf [which im sad about]? What type of meals can you suggest that will help with satisfying ds' hunger? How can we make meal times stress free? And does it get easier, okay yes I know it does but I really need the reassurance right now
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Please hold my and ds' hands [long] |
(19 Posts) |
Sardine my 10mo BLWd boy has gained loads of weight since 6 months, and that's with no regimented plan for solid food and letting him eat as much or as little as he wants. He still has loads of BFs.
Cheese - I tend to start with cheddar as it melts well but it may be too strong. A nice lancashire or cheshire may go down better. A little Italian girl I used to look after loved mozarella on toast, and nibbled chunks of parmesan. Cheese is actually quite a good food for reluctant eaters because it's quite calorific as queen says.
Agree the pincer grip may be a problem if he wants to feed himself - let him play with food and it may find its way to his mouth
From what you say he is eating a variety of foods and will take more when he's ready. Just see what he likes, don't focus on anything. If he likes his veg, he likes his veg, if he prefers fruit then that's just as okay. Some babies don't like being fed from a spoon but as soon as they can feed themselves they're off, some babies aren't interested in solids unless they're hungry, some babis don't like pureed stuff, some won't eat more solid things - each and every baby is different and obviously you know your DS better than your HV does so if your instinct says milk is what he needs then don't go against that. Keep up BFing and don't feel guilty about it. If that's what he wants then that's fine. You have a much more sensible approach than your HV! I thought you were expressing to feed him to try and check how much milk he's getting or something which I was going to say isn't really a reliable indicator because babies are far more efficient than pumps.
And don't even bother trying to decipher what HV wrote, it probably isn't worth the time you'd spend!
Agree the pincer grip may be a problem if he wants to feed himself - let him play with food and it may find its way to his mouth
From what you say he is eating a variety of foods and will take more when he's ready. Just see what he likes, don't focus on anything. If he likes his veg, he likes his veg, if he prefers fruit then that's just as okay. Some babies don't like being fed from a spoon but as soon as they can feed themselves they're off, some babies aren't interested in solids unless they're hungry, some babis don't like pureed stuff, some won't eat more solid things - each and every baby is different and obviously you know your DS better than your HV does so if your instinct says milk is what he needs then don't go against that. Keep up BFing and don't feel guilty about it. If that's what he wants then that's fine. You have a much more sensible approach than your HV! I thought you were expressing to feed him to try and check how much milk he's getting or something which I was going to say isn't really a reliable indicator because babies are far more efficient than pumps.And don't even bother trying to decipher what HV wrote, it probably isn't worth the time you'd spend!
I left nursery do breakfast as he was (still is) sooooo slow! Luckily the nursery was connected to my workplace so I dropped him off at about 8.30 and then went and got myself something to eat before going to my desk.
As he got better at eating and we dropped the morning feed though, he would have a bit of toast or cereal in front of the tele while I got ready.
Best to just enjoy the last few weeks with him than worry about work but do consider if you may need to express - thankfully I did not, I was a bit engorged the first week but not as bad as I expected and it quickly settled after that - I say 'engorged', it wasn't dramatic, just that 'need to feed' feeling and obviously quickled soothed when I did feed him.
As he got better at eating and we dropped the morning feed though, he would have a bit of toast or cereal in front of the tele while I got ready.
Best to just enjoy the last few weeks with him than worry about work but do consider if you may need to express - thankfully I did not, I was a bit engorged the first week but not as bad as I expected and it quickly settled after that - I say 'engorged', it wasn't dramatic, just that 'need to feed' feeling and obviously quickled soothed when I did feed him.
Thanks Pyro 
Oh that is good to hear as it has been playing on my mind about what we're going to do when I go back to work in January. Poor little thing
Did you feed him breakfast before or after the pre-work feed or did the nursery do breakfast?
Oh dear, i didnt even bother reading what my HV wrote, can't really decipher her handwriting anyway
Oh that is good to hear as it has been playing on my mind about what we're going to do when I go back to work in January. Poor little thing
Did you feed him breakfast before or after the pre-work feed or did the nursery do breakfast?
Oh dear, i didnt even bother reading what my HV wrote, can't really decipher her handwriting anyway
Glad you feel better today SArdine
I didn't really do anything to manage his feeds, in fact I was really worried as in the run up to going back to work I tried to reduce his daytime feeds in preparation but - emotionally - I couldn't do it. So I fed in the morning before work and immediately on arrival back home, and thankfully he did okay at nursery in between.
Then as he ate more breakfast we dropped the pre-work feed... in time then dropped the after-work feed - I think by 12 months I was feeding him just in the night, but that was as we were co-sleeping so easy to carry on.
Oh and my HV wrote in my book 'concerned about the lack of red meat in the family's diet' -
I wonder what on earth she would have done if I'd said we were vegetarians! (But this is the same HV who wrote 'risk of cot death' in the red book when I told her we were co-sleeping so I had learned to ignore her long before this point...)
I didn't really do anything to manage his feeds, in fact I was really worried as in the run up to going back to work I tried to reduce his daytime feeds in preparation but - emotionally - I couldn't do it. So I fed in the morning before work and immediately on arrival back home, and thankfully he did okay at nursery in between.
Then as he ate more breakfast we dropped the pre-work feed... in time then dropped the after-work feed - I think by 12 months I was feeding him just in the night, but that was as we were co-sleeping so easy to carry on.
Oh and my HV wrote in my book 'concerned about the lack of red meat in the family's diet' -
I wonder what on earth she would have done if I'd said we were vegetarians! (But this is the same HV who wrote 'risk of cot death' in the red book when I told her we were co-sleeping so I had learned to ignore her long before this point...)I would stop going to the HV so long as you have no other concerns.
DS loved the idea of food but didn't take to it in any regularity or quantity until around 10mo, and he still BF a lot until perhaps 18mo (on top of solids). It was a godsend for us as he ate almost no solids for over a month around his first birthday when he was quite ill and in hospital - he was back up to the 75th centile he had previously stuck to within a couple of weeks of coming out of hospital, so clearly that breast milk had been enough to keep him going.
As for red meat, DS only liked minced beef for a long time, but he loves lentil curry and baked beans, so he got a lot of those!
DS loved the idea of food but didn't take to it in any regularity or quantity until around 10mo, and he still BF a lot until perhaps 18mo (on top of solids). It was a godsend for us as he ate almost no solids for over a month around his first birthday when he was quite ill and in hospital - he was back up to the 75th centile he had previously stuck to within a couple of weeks of coming out of hospital, so clearly that breast milk had been enough to keep him going.
As for red meat, DS only liked minced beef for a long time, but he loves lentil curry and baked beans, so he got a lot of those!
Ladies - THANK YOU!!! You've really helped boost my very lacking confidence
Queen - I certainly share your views, if ds was being ff im sure i'd be encouraged to keep on with with milk feeds upto a year and probably beyond, weird how bf guidelines, well certainly in my case, differ
hugmeandcatchthelurgi - your post is like music to my ears, glad ds is not as 'abnormal' as the hv made him out to be
PyrotechnicToadstool - what did you do to manage your ds's milk feeds or did they just start dropping off naturally after 10 months?
I also got the whole red meat schpeil [sp?], dont even eat much of it myself!!!
HumphreyCobbler - I do too sometimes think that maybe too much is made about weighing, I only go once a month just to see how things are going but I do know there are those that go weekly, I can see ds is healthy looking and yes he's not gaining weight as quickly, or should I say 'normally' but he doesnt have any problems
He's had two bf now already since last night and is happy, really am not going to upset him anymore
Queen - I certainly share your views, if ds was being ff im sure i'd be encouraged to keep on with with milk feeds upto a year and probably beyond, weird how bf guidelines, well certainly in my case, differ
hugmeandcatchthelurgi - your post is like music to my ears, glad ds is not as 'abnormal' as the hv made him out to be
PyrotechnicToadstool - what did you do to manage your ds's milk feeds or did they just start dropping off naturally after 10 months?
I also got the whole red meat schpeil [sp?], dont even eat much of it myself!!!
HumphreyCobbler - I do too sometimes think that maybe too much is made about weighing, I only go once a month just to see how things are going but I do know there are those that go weekly, I can see ds is healthy looking and yes he's not gaining weight as quickly, or should I say 'normally' but he doesnt have any problems
He's had two bf now already since last night and is happy, really am not going to upset him anymore
Just wanted to share that my DS started dropping down the centiles at 6 months and went from about 50th centile at 6 months to somewhere around 15th by age 1.
I really stressed about it, despite the fact that my DS was happy, healthy, meeting all his milestones etc. And he was on 3 meals a day by 7 months.
I guess I just wanted to say that the growth charts aren't an exact science so try not to beat yourself up about it.
I really stressed about it, despite the fact that my DS was happy, healthy, meeting all his milestones etc. And he was on 3 meals a day by 7 months.
I guess I just wanted to say that the growth charts aren't an exact science so try not to beat yourself up about it.
Personally I would not worry too much just go with your DS' lead and enjoy it. My DS, 14mths, has only just started really taking to solids and still has 4 to 5 b'feeds a day. He was on the second perentile last time I had him weighed but he is happy so I go with that. keep giving him what he enjoys but also offer new foods or ones that he has refused before as he will suddenly take to them! Also, my ds will eat different food with dh, childminder or grandma than he will with me!!
I was still feeding dd every two hours at seven months, I just let her feed on demand as usual and offered food at every meal. Because I didn't have her weighed I don't know if she lost/gained, but she was happy and alert so I felt all would be well. And I was right.
I would try to see another HV who isn't so dogmatic.
I would try to see another HV who isn't so dogmatic.
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