25 week old with tongue thrust reflex and not sitting up - when to wean?

[MargeryDaw]

My DS is 25 weeks old (so only 1 week away from 6 months) and for the past couple of days I've tried to give him some baby rice around lunchtime in an attempt to start weaning. The problem is he still has his tongue thrust reflex so the whole thing just goes down his chin, and he's not able to sit up on his own (I sit him in the bumbo).

I wanted to start now as we're going on holiday at the end of next week and didn't want to start the weaning on holiday.

By way of background, he was born at 35 weeks, and so is a little behind on sitting, rolling etc anyway.

Should I wait until after our holiday, i.e. when he is 27/28 weeks to try again, or is this leaving it too late? Or should I try a different approach, e.g. some BLW style weaning like giving him things he can hold and put in his mouth himself? Or do I just persevere and hope he'll get the hang of it and lose the tongue thrust reflex?

Would be grateful for any advice/experiences shared!

[thisisyesterday]

i would just try again when you get back from your holiday.

[bilblio]

There's no harm in waiting a few weeks, it's not a strict 26 weeks anyway, some are ready to wean earlier, some later. So long as he's still getting all the milk he needs he'll be fine. Certainly don't get stressed about it or he may pick up on that. Food is meant to be fun.

We started weaning DD at 26 weeks, but for the first week it was literally 1-2 teaspoons a day, and she didn't seem very happy about it. It took a good 4-6 weeks until she was eating anywhere near a normal baby portion 3 times a day.

Going down the baby led weaning route is a good idea too, something he can suck on and get the flavour of.

[SJisontheway]

My advice would be to try a bit of both. Some soft finger food, but also the spoon say once a day. I would be reluctant to go blw only as he was early so fine motor skills may not be up to it. Try not to worry. Food is just about exploring at this stage. Dd2 was 8 months before she got the hang of solids. Thinking about it again, are they supposed to be sitting before blw?

[MargeryDaw]

I'm reluctant to go with exclusive BLW anyway - I like a bit of structure, and if nothing else, I've frozen some batches of purees now!

I think I will try giving him tastes of things in the next couple of weeks and try again properly with sitting down each day to wean onto purees when we get back from the holiday. Maybe he'll have lost the reflex and be closer to sitting up then too.

I think I'm just extra nervous about getting things right as he was early and I want to make sure he's getting everything he should at the right time, IYSWIM. But it's a good point about not letting him be aware of this, I definitely don't want food to be scary to him.

[lilham]

I think sitting up refers to being able to sit in a bumbo or high chair. A baby won't be able to sit completely unaided on the floor closer to 9mo isn't it?

Of course this rules out a lot of the early 4mo weaners in bouncy chairs.

[thisisyesterday]

no sitting up definitely means sitting up. most babies can do that by 6 months I'd have thought?

[lilham]

Really? You mean on the floor, hands off sitting up? They usually lose balance very quickly if put sitting up on the floor. Mine is 24wo, but some babies in my mummy group are closer to 8mo. None is what I'd consider sitting unaided completely.

[4madboys]

most babies can sit up fairly well by 6-7mths, my boys were all sitting up at 5mths, my dd was later, closer to 7mths. yes they may still fall over sometimes, quite often but i would have thought most could sit for a few mins at least?

and all should be sitting up with a little support i e one of those bean filled cushions incase they fall and should be able to sit up in a high chair etc.

obviously thats babies born at term with no special needs or developmental delays.

9mths would be late for a baby to be sitting up.

fwiw i started weaning all of mine at 6mths, ds1 loved it straight away, ds2 and ds3 not interested for ages, but i offered, if they ate great, if not they played with the food. ds4 was a bit of a mix.

dd not interested really until 7mths but loves her food now at 9mths :)

[hwhite6]

DS2 was 36 weeks and still had a strong Tongue thrust till he was nearly 7.5m actual; even though I tried with the weaning for about two months. He went from no interest in food or eating to 'feed me now I'm starving' in about a week and I now can't shovel it fast enough, there's no way he'd be content on purely BLW.

[RitaMorgan]

Sitting up straight/holding their head up/not slouching over in a highchair/bumbo is fine - few babies sit up completely unaided on the floor by 6 months.

[Graciescotland]

I was in a similar position to you, ended up doing a bit of fingerfood on holiday, bits of croissant, roast beef, banana, avocado, broccoli. It was quite good in a way as we got to abandon the mess behind us although we tipped a lot to make up for it.

DS was about 8 months before he really got into food. He was also 8 months when he could sit unsupported, perhaps the two are related?

[kurlyvoice]

Wow. That is almost exactly the same question as I came on here to ask, gracie. My DS was 5 weeks early and has just turned 6 months and his tongue-thrust reflex has made spoon feeding impossible since I started trying him on Monday! And we're off on holiday for a fortnight at the end of next week! It's like DS has a twin!

Thanks for all the advice so far. I can't see BLW working much at the moment as he just doesn't have the coordination when sitting up in his bumbo or highchair, and I've got myself all het up on him not getting the vitamins that he needs... (hence the desire to do at least some spoon-feeding).

On a non-weaning note, where is your DS with other developmental things? I'd be really interested to hear about your experiences as I don't know any other prem babies of LO's age...

[MargeryDaw]

Hi Kurlyvoice - I've persevered this week with the spoon feeding and it has improved a little bit! He's had some pureed carrot and had pureed pear today, both of which he seemed to enjoy more than the baby rice. A lot still ends up down his chin but he is getting the hang of swallowing some if it. The only thing is he's desperately trying to shove his hand and/or the bib in his mouth too - maybe because he's teething.

Generally I'd say he is a bit behind though, in answer to your question. He's not rolling yet and doesn't look like he'll be sitting by himself any time soon. He smiled at around 9 weeks and laughed at around 16 weeks. His focussing seems good though. For the first 5 weeks he literally slept all day unless feeding - was yours like this? When he was weighed last week he was 14lbs 8oz and has been sitting on the 9th centile, so not putting on an astounding amount of weight but he is at least not dropping. How is your DS's weight? How about his sleeping? My DS is just about sleeping through (8pm - 7am) but only if he's put on his tummy.

He also seems a little sensitive with his stomach: he suffered terrible trapped wind for the first 14 weeks or so, seems to be intolerant to formula (he's being tested next week), pukes quite a lot after feeds and produces some incredible number twos on a daily basis! Have you experienced any of this? I'm not sure if it's related to him being early or not.

Sorry this is long! Like you I'm interested to hear about your DS - it is such an amazing coincidence that they are in similar circumstances!