weaning

[mummy2t]

Hi all My little one is 20 weeks old and i have just begun to offer a very small portion of baby rice mid morning, he is doing really well with it and really enjoying it. Today i offered the baby poridge and he loved that too, how long should i wait before a offer more tastes and eventually start the proper veg and fruit purees? i dont want to go to fast with it all
all advice welcomed
steph x

I didn't find out about the damage early weaning did to me until I was 35.

mummy2t, I do not think you are abusing your child, or feeding him rat poison, what I do think is that you are quite possibly feeding him to early, hence the suggestion of BLW, if he does genuinely need food and is physically ready for it, then he will eat it, just give him the opportunity to tell you he isn't physically ready if that is the case.

The chances are you haven't harmed your baby, and I hope not, you say he has lost the tongue reflex which is one of the indications that he is ready so it's quite possible you could sit him in his high chair with some boiled broccoli sprigs and watch him scoff them down, we don't know but it is a safer way than the baby rice.

JuniorJ Unfortunately, you are definitely giving your baby food too early, there is no possible chance that your baby is ready for this food, they can't even sit up well enough to swallow.

we tried the hungrier formula, it isnt teething, colic over tired etc etc, its hunger, like vs has said i am going to sit him in his highchair a give him a few pieces of soft steamed veg and see what happens, he has been grabbing allsorts of toys, rattles etc etc and trying to eat them so he may well have carrot or brocoli.

He may just suck it, but you'll know if he has eaten it because it will be in his nappy. Carrots are pretty obvious in baby's stools!!
At least this way you'll know you have given him the chance to decide, which they can't really do when it's being spoonfed to them.
I hope it helps.
Good Luck.

hi, sorry to hitchike, but my ds is 4nad a half months and he goes mad when he sees us eating anything and not giving it to him as well. he starts to try to come and take it himself and scream. u can see he is desperate do try something else. should i wean him earlier then?

brio, 4.5 months is when they typically really start to take notice of things going on around them. Watching you and getting excited about you putting things in your mouth doesn't mean that they are wanting the food themselves. For one thing, they don't know what solid food is and for another I'm sure you'd get the same reaction if you were sucking on a pen top. At this age they start to put things in their mouths as well; not because they want to eat them, but because it's how babies explore things.

If you read further down the thread there is information on the signs that a baby is ready to wean, but in short, if they can sit up by themselves (without propping or in a bumbo seat etc) and have lost the tongue thrust reflex then they are probably ready for solids.

Quite frankly JuniorJ, I would prefer colic to SIDS any day!

brio, as Daisy says this is the age they start to take notice, but if you feel that your LO is not only taking notice of food, but showing other signs, i.e not seeming satisfied with milk feeds, possibly starting to wake in the night after sleeping through(both associated with growth spurts though so be sure it's a lasting sign), sitting up alone unaided, loss of tongue reflex etc then you could start with food play, which is basically what we've rec'd to mummy2t, you just plonk them in their high chair with some steamed/boiled veg and leave them to it, see what they do. If they manage to get that food to their mouth, chew it, and swallow it, likelihood is they are ready.
There is an excellent site here that has a forum and all sorts. Aitch from MN runs it and knows a lot more than I do about the whole BLW thing, I just know some of the science behind the guidelines.
HTH

i cant understand WHY people want to start weaning early? my eldest child didnt have solids till 8mths and ds2 an ds3 didnt have any till 9mths, they were all EXCLUSIVELY BFED, and on the 99% for weight and length, size has nothing to do with readiness for food?. ds4 i s currently wearing 9-12mth clothes, (he is 3mths) and i wouldnt think of weaning him, tho it has been suggested to me by HV

if you wait till they are 6mths then you dont have to bother with blending etc, just give them bits of steamed veg, chopped up soft fruit etc and they will be able to feed themselves.

Wow, what a heated debate. I for one don't see the point of weaning - or rather introducing solids - before 6 months if it's of no benefit. There seems to be a lot of evidence that health-wise its safer to wait till 6 months when far more food is suitable.

However, in some cases it seems that medically or nutritionally it is of benefit to particular babies and I can't argue with them if they have received medical advice to start solids before 6 months.

Also, a lot of people don't have access to medical research and go by what their experienced mothers/sisters/friends have done, and usually that's to start from 4 months. They're not bad people for doing this. It actually seems sensible to learn from mothers around you, and understandable to go with what they say rather than current guidelines. I, on the other hand, disappoint my mum all the time by turning down most of her well intentioned advice in favour of the guidelines.

VS - I can see your point, but I'm appalled at the way you have put it across. I understand you feel strongly on the issue, but I don't think you'll persuade others by calling them names.

That's my tuppence worth. Probably not what you actually asked for mummy2t, but as a few others have said, if you want to continue, go slow and stick to baby rice for now. After 6 months there are a lot more foods to enjoy together.

I have no itention of weaning my baby at 12 weeks lacadaisycal as I know he isn't ready but I do feel it is the parents choice when they are ready, as I also feel it is a parents choice to follow the guidelines and recommendation if that is what they wish

ok, i am back, 2day at dinner, my little one ate some of a carrot!!! yippee!! after a couple of atempts of getting it 2 his mouth but missing he finally managed it, had afew sucks and bites, would imagen he ate some of it, although perhaps not alot. BlW is the way forward!!

wow mummy2t, that's excellent! Good luck with the BLW, i thought it was a great way to wean my dd, she never had baby rice or jars, just ate what she could pick up. Since you've given rice already you could try him with rice pasta (made from rice flour not wheat) you can get it in health food shops, my dd found the twirls easiest to pick up and she loved it. She also enjoyed sweet potato batons roasted in olive oil.

You'll soon see if he has eaten it or not, the nappies will tell!

Glad you're getting on with BLW. Be warned though, if the rice was doing anything to quell his hunger, the carrot probably won't. It will take a while for him to eat enough to make any impact but at least he can go at his own pace.

thanks everyone, it makes me feel a little better that if i am weaning earlier i am doing it the best possible way, he still is waking through the night feeding on the rie so he defo will just on the carrot but the more he gets the chance to feed himself the more he will eat, thanks again xxx

PurplePoleCat - what the buggery will Dr Gillian Harris know about gut maturity, bio-available iron in breastmilk, or even general infant nutrition?

She's a psychologist.

I love how people think their babies must be advance because they had to have solids early. It is not a race....

I will never understand why anyone would feed their baby before 6 months or why people assume gps and hvs know anything about breastfeeding and weaning. As if it must be right what they say because they are so called health professionals.

something i forgot to add earlier, my sil has little one, 4 months, and some days she is struggling to get her to have 15oz of formula milk. what is the amount of formula milk a little one needs daily??? dont get me wrong little one is satisfied at what she does have but sil feels it isnt much.

Doesnt it say it on the side of the tin?

Do people really believe that baby food makers would withdraw the food if it was harmful??? Very naive.

WHat about cigarettes? Fattening food?

Large companies dont actually care much about peoples health but I guess the advertising they spend vast amounts on fools people into thinking they do.

so who do we trust if we cant trust our GP and HV??

If I had listened to my gp, hv and midwives for both my children I would never have been able to breastfeed as they all gave me incorrect advice.

You spend a bit of time educating yourself by reading. I struggled to bf ds but educated myself and when I had dd I went against their crap advice and had no problems.

Health visitors and gps dont have to have uptodate training on feeding infants and in fact gps rarely have very much training at all.

i have been with my G.P for over 10 years and trust him 100%. when it comes to my kids he is fantastic, i always get a same day apointment and he spends all the time i need discussing whatever the problem.
i dont take his advice only, i do try and educate myself and make the right decision for the particular circumstance.

Being a nice person doesnt make a gp knowledgeable and uptodate on all subjects. I am yet to meet a gp, midwife or hv who knows as much about breastfeeding as I do.

my Gp actally spoke to me along side the HV and the HV spoke to her collegue who was paetricatic trained for us to come to my desision