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Weaning

This is shit :-(

29 replies

zombiemeow · 20/08/2015 12:55

Yep, it's me again Hmm

I started a thread a couple of weeks back saying ds was having around 6 bottles a day and dietitian said I need to reduce it.

He will be 9 months Monday and his milk intake has gone up. I have tried everything, I tried offering him water instead of milk, baby juice, snacks, bigger meals, watering down his milk. Nothing works. He's now on about 7 sometimes 8 bottles a day. If I make him smaller bottles he just gets hungry sooner and is inconsolable until he has milk Hmm

Am feeling very crap about it all.

Don't know what I expect mn to say but it's good to put it down Smile

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Joopy · 20/08/2015 21:33

Food before one is just for fun. Try to give him a variety of finger foods and offer him puree but don't worry if he doesn't seem interested, he'll get there. My DS wasn't particularly interested in food when he was 9mo, I think he was at least a year and even now (18mo) he has days that he doesn't eat much and days that he eats loads.

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zombiemeow · 20/08/2015 21:39

Thanks joopy that gives me hope.

Did your ds have a lot of bottles still at 9mo?

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Joopy · 20/08/2015 22:04

I breastfeed but yeah, loads of milk. What type of meals do you give him? Mine likes to feed himself and likes things like peas, sweatcorn, beans, grapes and meatballs. He also loves pasta (though he is half Italian!) and scrambled eggs.

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ChristineDePisan · 20/08/2015 22:11

is he hungry, or is he maybe using the bottle like a dummy as a soothing mechanism?

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Thisismyfirsttime · 20/08/2015 22:13

Will he try pureed food at all? Finger foods? Or is he flat out refusing anything that doesn't come out of a bottle?

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Haggisfish · 20/08/2015 22:21

My ds had loads of milk until he was two-he definitely ate less because of it but he was ok, I was ok with it and we reduced it at two by only giving him sippy cup in daytime. Try not to stress about it and ignore the judgers!

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Haggisfish · 20/08/2015 22:22

In fact, only nine months?! Both ds and dd were still milk monsters at that age!

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PixieChops · 20/08/2015 22:24

Any chance you could maybe give him weetabix or porridge that's mixed with his milk? That'll fill him up and probably smell like what he's used to.

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Cockbollocks · 20/08/2015 22:24

Is he eating food now? Or only drinking?

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PixieChops · 20/08/2015 22:26

My DD was pretty much weaned at 6 months- by the time she was 10 months she was having 3 meals a day and having her dinner with us (whatever we have she eats) she's a massive fan of chicken balti and steak! Just hoping DS follows in her footsteps because he needs to be weaned at 4 months because of his size and his milk consumption so I understand your concern to get him filled upZombie

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zombiemeow · 21/08/2015 06:00

He doesn't really like purees he prefers feeding himself. He usually has fruit and toast for breakfast, he flat out refused porridge/crumpets/cereal etc. we give him things like carrots, broccoli, chicken, fish, beef, pasta, he likes fajitas.

He will usually put a little bit in his mouth and most times spit it out then cry to come out his high chair. If he's hungry around meal times there's no chance as he will just cry for milk, I tried giving him small bottles but it doesn't trick him!

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oddfodd · 21/08/2015 06:07

Why are you seeing a dietician? I always thought food was supposed to be fun before one?

My DS was in hospital for a week when he was 9 months and the paeds unit fed him on only milk for that week. He's 8 now ...

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oddfodd · 21/08/2015 08:31

Sorry if that came across as sharp - I'm hopeless typing on my phone. I'm sorry if there's a back story I'm missing but I was trying (clumsily) to say that I'm not sure I entirely agree with the dietician because it goes against all the advice I've heard

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squizita · 21/08/2015 08:55

Pixie are you in the uk? I have an unusual sized dc and volunteer at a feeding group and have never heard of weaning being encouraged due to size alone either way in the uk.
I would get a 2nd opinion.

3 meals a day by 6 months is unusually fast. Both from knowing all the women at my group and all the books etc I've read. 6-7 months is usually one meal, then two ... 3 plus snacks is only a norm at the 1 year review.

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squizita · 21/08/2015 08:57

Apologies misunderstood. .. yep 10 months is average for 3 meals, but slower is no disaster.

My dd is off solids due to teething this week. Ow my boobs + ugh cleaning beakers and bottles. Sad Angry GP said it's fine though, she won't forget how to eat hard food.

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zombiemeow · 21/08/2015 09:04

He's under dietitian for cmpi, she said he's having way too much milk and (to cut a long story short) I need to half his milk intake and up his food intake by Monday Blush.

Squizita, was it you on the Babylon app who asked about colds and weaning? Do you mind me asking what they said?

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Sugarandsalt · 21/08/2015 11:14

Zombie, I understand how stressed you must be. My dd ate almost nothing until she was 11months, and very little until 13months. Still not a big eater. Honestly there is nothing you can do to force him to eat. People who don't have non eating children don't understand that! I have lost count of how many people would say "just give her a few spoons of x,y,z" when she wouldn't eat ANY spoons of anything! Keep offering regulatly, he will get there.

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zombiemeow · 21/08/2015 11:23

Thanks sugar.

Spoke to dietitian again today about it as I was getting wound up. She thinks he's possibly comfort feeding with his milk and told me just to keep trying to reduce it gradually.

Quite surprised today as he has just fell asleep without his 11 bottle Blush he's not done that before.

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squizita · 21/08/2015 13:52

Yep - they said temporarily regressing is normal and give lots of milk/water. Though my dd has no allergies.

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PixieChops · 21/08/2015 14:07

Squiz it's because my son also has a CMPI and the milk they put babies on for this doesn't give them all their nutritional needs so therefore needs more sustenance. To be honest HVs change their minds yearly on what babies should and shouldn't be doing. I've seen a dietician and a paediatrician and both have said the same thing- he needs weaning early and quickly. He's jumped up 3 percentile since birth and is on the 98th for weight. I'm inclined to agree with them even a GP once asked me if I'd started weaning P at 5 months and I said yes- his reply was "good because in my experience my kids would've eaten the sofa at that age"
My DD is perfectly healthy and a super good eater, I think all this fannying about with waiting etc sometimes inhibits them and makes them take longer to be weaned to be honest because everyone's so scared of doing everything right. Basically if your child looks at your meal like he/ she wants to eat it then give them something to eat. And yes I'm in the UK Smile

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squizita · 21/08/2015 15:23

Ah yes CMPI is different.

The 6 month guidelines have been in place for 10+ years though - they're not a fad.
But my HV/GP know there are auto immune issues in my family (not milk) so were firm about hungry = more milk until the tongue thrust reflex goes (very rare before 5 months).
I've never seen it link to slow weaning btw and as I mentioned I volunteer at a mum/baby group that gives feeding advice. The polish ladies who wean very early (going by how they do it in Poland) are just as likely to have a slow weaner than the ladies who start at 6 months. It's just luck of the draw.

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Cockbollocks · 21/08/2015 18:33

Well he's clearly doing pretty good on the food front so far. Don't worry if he refuses stuff, children have to be offered something a ridiculous amount of times before you can definitely say they don't like it!!!

Your in a bit of a catch 22 as he's not hungry because he's filling up on milk. Your doing great though, try not to stress and concentrate on slowly reducing that milk - even if its little steps and only 1oz at one bottle a day - thats got to be better than nothing. Then after the bottle your reducing, offer a snack. Maybe then you can get him used to having a snack instead of his bottle.

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zombiemeow · 21/08/2015 18:55

Thanks cock Grin he's actually only had 4 bottles today Shock he's completely skipped a few! I offered more snacks so will see how it continues.

Pixie I was told to wean early by one consultant, then I was told to stop by another Confused there's so much conflicting advice!

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PixieChops · 22/08/2015 21:10

You know what Zombie I got some really good advice off an old man yesterday who had 3 kids. He said do what the hell you want. You know what's best for your child. You know whether there's something wrong with your child or something you need to do because you have that connection that nobody else does. If you think he should be weaned early do it, if you don't think he should then don't.in the end it's entirely up to you Smile and that's the beauty of being a parent, you can listen to other people's advice but you don't have to take it on as your own.

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dairyfreequeen · 24/08/2015 13:47

my ds is cmpa too, although i bf my dietitians advice was not to worry too much about what nutrition he's getting from where as long as theyre still having milk (this seemed to extend to ff). My ds is ginormous too, he's only just started to drop his milk feeds but it varies a lot depending on teething, what we're doing that day. Really, i wouldnt worry, you have to go at his pace! You could check what it is that he'd be particularly missing (Fats, calcium, etc) and try to offer food rich in those things but it seems a bit ridiculous to just tell you to drop feeds if he's not too interested in food.

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