help me please WEANING HELP mum going over the edge

[stareyes]

im so bloody confused with all this follow on milk and stuff like that. he is eating 2 or 3 meals a day now had to wean him early (don't ask) so he is now 6 months old. he is also getting about 2 bottles a day. im so confused should those bottles be follow on milk or is follow on milk like just a drink he should have. he has just started waking during the night again as well. I feel like i really don't know what im doing at the min. really confusing i just wanna scream. my husband works away lots and when he is home he needs to sleep so im doing it all. i end up like being a single mum. i have a lot of other bad stuff going on at the min and this is just really stressing me out.

PLEASE HELP.

[stareyes]

he also won't drink water or squash. iv got him to drink some by putting cucumber in a bottle.

[MmeLindor.]

Ok. Take a deep breath and make yourself a cup of tea. And a biscuit.

What is he eating and when?

The follow-on milk is, I think, just a scam - I used it but have since read posts on MN about it. Someone will be along in a moment to tell you about it.

Does he drink milk in the evening before bed?

Are you giving him milk at night?

[thisisyesterday]

ok he doesn't need follow on milk at all. it was invented to get around the ban on advertising formula. it isn't necessary and you're fine to continue with whatever milk he was having before.

milk should always be offered first. so offer him as many bottles as he was having previously, an d then add in his meals after them.

[MmeLindor.]

cucumber in a bottle?

[thisisyesterday]

i would offer water in a beaker at mealtimes, but don't stress if he doesn't want it... he'll take what he needs

[AnaisB]

He should have at least 500 mls of breast or formula a day (number 3 formula (follow on milk) or number 1 are both fine.

Sorry you are so stressed. Do you have anyone else you could call on to give you a break or have a night in with you?

[AnaisB]

Follow on milk is often cheaper because they do offers on it. (I guess this is funded by the advertising.)

[RitaMorgan]

2 bottles doesn't sound like anywhere near enough for a 6 month old - I'd be giving more like 4. He should be getting 600ml/21oz of formula a day as a minimum. First milk is fine, no need to switch to follow on.

[RitaMorgan]

On days where he only has 2 meals I would replace the 3rd meal with a bottle. The 21oz guide is for 6 month olds eating 3 meals.

[stareyes]

yeah cucumber in a bottle with hot water then remove cucumber and it just flavours the water i give him. he is having breakfast when he gets up about 9am he won't have a bottle first meal. then he is having a bottle about 2 or 3 hours later. sometimes he refuses his bottle and cries till i give him food about 2 or 3 o clock then he will have bottle about 5/6 has food at 7 then bottle at bedtime which is about 8 oclock which he falls asleep with in my arms (i know i know but he does it that way to fall asleep and im not going to change his night night bottle).... if he cries i will give him a small bottle say 120 ml. inbetween. the times can vary depending on his nap. which he is just changing himself.

[thisisyesterday]

i would either cut out the morning or the evening meal. and replace with bottles.

solids should still be secondary to milk at his age.

[stareyes]

if i try and give him more milk he refuses it... he is just as stubborn as his mummy.

[MmeLindor.]

How much water is he drinking? That could be suppressing his appetite, so that he is not hungry.

Ok, summarise:

9am (ish) Breakfast - won't have bottle, first meal - what?

12 (ish) bottle - sometimes refuses

2-3 (ish) food - what?

5-6 (ish) bottle

7 (ish) food - what?

8 pm bottle

What food are you giving him? He is not really having long between each feed, for him to get hungry again.

[RitaMorgan]

Did you wean him early because he was refusing milk? Could he have some kind of intolerance?

[stareyes]

so is follow on milk the same as normal milk?

[thisisyesterday]

follow-on has extra iron and stuff. not necessary and can make some babies quite constipated.

[thisisyesterday]

what kind of amount is he having of food?

[AnaisB]

Pretty similar. Some slight differences in nutrition. Probably a con, but a con that can save you money.

Have you tried sneaking milk in foods? - cereal with formula, milky puddings, veg mashed with milk etc.

[stareyes]

9am (ish) Breakfast - porridge mixed with water or yoguart heinz ones u mix with water.

12 (ish) bottle - sometimes refuses

2-3 (ish) food - jar or biscuit. with fruit cup often with 150ml of milk with

5-6 (ish) bottle

7 (ish) food - heinz packet like boccolie and cheese or baby jar

8 pm bottle

breaking it down like this helps me actually i think im just going to keep trying to give him more milk. someone said growth spert. he is happy and healthy it just the waking up at nights agin. im less stressed now than i was first waking up. lol.

[stareyes]

i think ill use ones u mix with milk as well. cereal. sorry forgot that breakfast ones. lol.

[wigglesrock]

My daughter is 6.5 months, she is formula fed, and takes about 4-5 bottles a day, depending on the night she's having , she hasn't slept through and does wake for a bottle. If it helps this is what she has : when she wakes up - a bottle, then about 30mins or so after some fruit or toast and some porridge, she would have another bottle usually around 10.30-11am, then lunch, a bottle in the afternoon, dinner, then a bedtime bottle, she also falls asleep while having this, she then goes to bed and wakes up for a bottle around 2am.

I give her water in a cup with meals which she loves but only to empty over herself I moved onto to follow on milk with this one, didn't with my elder two.

My husband works shifts and isn't home a lot, its really exhausting and its shit feeling like we both decided to have a family but he isn't there. At 6 months your baby will not starve if they don't have every meal, but I would try and up their milk, but mine can be an awkward so and so too.

[MmeLindor.]

yes, to more milk, and mixing with milk rather than water if you are giving cereal.

Why did you wean early? I know you said not to ask, but it is kind of relevant.

And cut down on water, better to give him milk that water.

[Chandon]

I remember what I did at that age.

I would offer a meal (eg baby cereal for breakfast, mashed veggies for (early) lunch and and fruit or cereal or mix for tea, and after the meal follow it up with a bottle. That way they were full at meal time, and had had something to drink too, and we had a bout 3-4 hour gaps between meals.) Then in the evening, before bed, a bottle.

that way, if he only ate a bit of his cereal, he'd top op with milk and still eb satisfied. And if he ate a lot for lunch, and only take a bit of milk, that would eb fine too IYSWIM.

I used follow on milk between 6 months and 1 year, and then switched to full fat normal milk.

[wigglesrock]

Sorry cross posted, I use ready brek or the odd weetabix mixed with "proper" milk for breakfast.

[BananaMontana]

My children at 6 months (also weaned earlier than 6mo) had:
five or six bottles of ordinary formula per day
three small meals, perhaps like:
some baby rice mixed with mushed fruit or steamed and mushed veg like squash
Packet baby porridge, as above
some potato mashed with other veg
a crust of bread to suck or a strawberry to hold in their fists and gnaw at

The bottles were given as cuddling time, always, and they never had to finish them exactly, so I can't remember how much formula was getting into them, but they did drink them in the main. I didn't do sippy cups at that age - we dried but no interest for a good few months. So there wasn't a feeling that the baby had a drink in the way that we would have a cup of tea. There were bottle-feeding/cuddling/story times throughout the day.