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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Is 20 weeks too young to introduce solids

72 replies

PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 13:17

DS is 20 weeks and ebf. I'm back at work so he takes bottles of emb. According to some of the threads I've read on here of late he should be taking an 1oz an hour.
Well, DS takes 3 bottles during the day of 6-8 oz and he feeds from me in the morning, after work and before bed. He is now feeding at least twice during the night as well.
It doesn't take a mathematician to realise he's drinking far more than what is recommended Grin
Does he need some solids now? Is 20 weeks too young?
I'm over the ebf for 6 months as we've run out of freezer milk so will have to take some formula anyway.
Oh and distraction doesn't work and he's still on new born teats. He is screaming blue murder at the moment and stops as soon as he gets milk. When he has the bottle he cries when it's finished!

OP posts:
Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 21:00

I like getting different view points. Makes me realise I'm not alone and others are in the same boat as me :)

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MoonUnitAlpha · 30/11/2010 21:03

I'm sure the NHS leaflet about weaning I had (Start 4 Life I think?) didn't say 26 weeks, it said "around 6 months" and then listed the signs to look for, tongue thrust/sitting/picking things up. In your situation PeanutButter I think there's no harm in introducing solids.

I'm hoping to wait long enough to avoid having to puree anything though Grin

EdgarAllenSnow · 30/11/2010 21:05

..oh yes.. i should be baking cakes now.

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 21:08

I need to out DHs dinner on as he's on a late night. Don't think I've cooked him a dinner since DS has been born Blush.
MUA - I'm going to have to learn to love my blender like I love my breast pump Hmm

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HelenLG · 30/11/2010 21:12

Oh god, how can you love a breast pump?! Grin

HelenLG · 30/11/2010 21:12

Re-reading that, I didn't mean it to sound dirty... Hmm

My mind is all kinds of wrong...

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 21:15

I loathe my breast pump. I hate washing it and sterilising it, I hate the squeak it makes when I pump and I hate that I can't use it and feed at the same time to quicken things up. But I have to smile at it and pretend I love it so I can continue to bf Grin

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Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 21:16

LOL Helen. My mind never even went there - and it usually does! I must be very tired

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HelenLG · 30/11/2010 21:23

My DH was sat next to me the other day whilst we were watching something on TV and I was pumping. He stopped watching the telly and was just sat there watching me and then said 'Jesus Christ, could it be any louder?"

It's an electric pump and we both giggle when it slips and makes farty sucking noises...

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 21:26

I don't think DH even notices when I pump anymore. It's just normal back ground noise now :)

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ItIsILeclerc · 30/11/2010 21:59

OP, the weaning guidelines don't change every year. And guidelines change as new research is done, not just to keep us on our toes!

EAS, this is from that venerable institution, the MN guide to weaning:

"Until 2003, parents were advised to wean between four and six months. This was changed to six months after worldwide research (endorsed by numerous health bodies, including the World Health Organisation and the Department of Health) showed, if you wean before six months:

* There's a very real chance your baby's digestive system and kidneys won't be developed enough to cope safely with solid food
* Your baby may absorb fewer nutrients from breastmilk (if he's breastfed)
* There is no positive health benefit for your baby
* Your baby's risk of developing infections and allergies ? and going on to have digestive problems and obesity in later life ? can increase"

The last bullet point is obviously the relevant one here. I have read of links with Crohn's disease and IBS elsewhere, can't find links now, so sue me. Can't find the WHO research either, their site is baffling.

MumNWLondon · 30/11/2010 22:00

Peanutbutter - I think the amount you describe sounds normal at 20 weeks - by 20 weeks DS2 was back to having 8-9 breastfeeds a day, basically 3 hourly day and night - and that was after being on six feeds and sleeping all night from 8 weeks until 16 weeks. I think the 1oz an hour is an average... now at 7 months he is having 3 meals a day and also 24oz of formula.

I waited until 24 weeks until I weaned... HV said to wait until 5.5 months as a minimum.

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 30/11/2010 22:05

So the increased feeding could just be developmental?
I'm just going to take it one day at a time. At the moment he's sleeping and everything is fine :)

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Woodlands · 30/11/2010 22:34

yup,my 19-week-old is BFing for England including 3-hourly through the night after having gone for up to 9 hours at a time until a few weeks ago. Everyone like my mum and MIL keep nagging that I should wean him but I really don't think he's ready. He isn't very good at getting toys to his mouth, for example, though my MIL wondered what that had to do with readiness for solids. I think it is a growth spurt plus the 4 month sleep regression - I guess we just have to wait it out. I'm not dead set on waiting until 26 weeks but I don't think he's ready yet.

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 02/12/2010 09:27

Just thought I'd give you all an update.
Gave DS some baby porridge last night after his bf. After the initial raised eyebrows and confused looks he seemed to take to it ok. I don't really know what I was expecting, maybe him to take a full bowlful!! I made it up with half a spoonful and he ate half of it. Well half of the part he did take ended up all round his wee face!
Anyway, did it help? Did it my arse! He woke about midnight and DH brought him in to our bed and I fed him. I woke again at 4am to find DS pulling at my top so I fed him again. And then he fed twice before I left for work Confused

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HelenLG · 02/12/2010 09:39

I don't think solids are supposed to help straight away, like others hae said, it's less calorific than milk, I think at the moment he's just having tastes...

That said, yesterday DS has a spoonful of carrot and a spponful of apple and was feeding every 3.5 hours rather than every 1-2 but I have been giving him little bits since saturday.

I started because he was sitting pretty much independantly, putting everything in his mouth and was chewing...so far he hasn't actually pushed anything out of his mouth... so I felt he was ready...

Still have to do the bloody night feeds too Sad

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 02/12/2010 10:06

But the porridge was in addition to the milk! DH phoned at 9.30 and DS is crying when he leaves the room or even turns around! He's going to feed him again!
Will I keep trying with the solids?

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HelenLG · 02/12/2010 10:31

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I just meant that initial he will still take the same amount of milk because he's not taking much solid food. It's really just for taste than for substanance.

I have been trying DS on things other than just baby rice cos I don't want to give him constipation with too much carbs.

With regard to the night feeds, have you tried doing a dreamfeed before you go to bed?

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 02/12/2010 10:35

You didn't offend at all. Sorry if my post made it seem that way.
Constipation?? Is that another thing we have to worry about when starting solids. Maybe I'll just stay with bm forever :)
And I can't give him a dreamfeed before I go to bed cos we normally go to bed at the same time Xmas Grin.
This is why I'm living out of my ironing basket!

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HelenLG · 02/12/2010 10:39

Lol @ the ironing basket...I don't even have an ironing basket...there's no point.

With regards to constipation, it's just something I'm extra cautious of...I'm a poo watcher.

Original poster
PeanutButter99 · 02/12/2010 10:53

It's a nightmare. I'm ironing our clothes before work and the ironing board is permanently erected in the living room. It's driving me crazy!
But with DS feeding in the night I figure sleep is more important than ironing! :)

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HelenLG · 02/12/2010 11:04

Anything is more important than ironing!!

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