how old was your dc when you started baby rice?

[sleepdodger]

my ds is 17 weeks tomorrow and ebf, he is a hungry baby and I am struggling to satisfy him in the evenings
I'm keen to ebf to 6 months, but am going to try baby rice today for first time, also hoping it keeps him fuller at night and sleeps longer than the 1.5-2hr stints hes done since jabs at night...
I just wondered how old your dc were when you started?

I didn't use baby rice, just went straight onto normal food when she was developmentally ready.

Baby rice/weaning won't help with sleep or keeping a baby fuller and the sleep patterns of a 4 month old baby are often to do with their developmental stage. They do regress sleep wise at this age and I hate to say it, but premature weaning can make it worse. It's also normal for them to cluster feed in an evening. Hard as it is.

Is he showing the signs of being ready (appetite nothing to do with it)? Can he sit up, has he lost his tongue thrust reflex, can he pick up and put things in his mouth?

What makes you think you are struggling to satisfy him? Cluster feeding in the evenings is very normal. I would just try and get more milk into him, baby rice is lower in calories than milk so won't keep him going any longer. Also at this age he's likely to be going through the 4 month sleep regression (also known as the 4 month fussies!), they put on a growth spurt and a developmental spurt so a lot of babies become fussy.

Have you read much about BLW?

Never had babyrice, just waited til ds was ready for solids (23 weeks) and then gave him normal food. Food made no difference to his sleep anyway.

A 4 month old's sleep is down to behavioural/developmental factors, not hunger imo.

There's some info about when to wean here

none of mine ever had baby rice. Don't see the point of adding starch to a baby's diet. I think their first food was probably chewing a breadstick or bit of banana.

hey thanks for quick replies
hes very into picking up & putting into mouth - rattles & weaning spoons (used to give him gavisgon this way, now he just chews on them)
hes been fixating on us eating, & is happy in a highchair, hes nearly sitting up fully independantly, just wbbles sometimes, but has excelleny head / neck control
he's always cluster fed in evenings, but last fortnight literally constantly fed 7-12pm, inc goving him a 6oz bottle expressed milk !! I just figured he wanted more as he always seems starving rather than comforting...

Another one who never did baby rice. Cluster feeding to be expected at 16 weeks. Weaned all of my dcs at 6 months - never worried about not satisfying their hunger - just breastfed as and when needed :)

Entirely normal for dcs to take interest in food and putting things in month at this age - but I personally would wait till at least 20 weeks and maybe try BLW with some steamed broccoli or something.

DS is 1 next week and we still haven't given him baby rice

But he's been eating real person food ever since he was able to sit up and shovel it into his mouth - about 23/24 weeks.

Really, its a growth spurt. It'll pass.

And EBF means exactly that - exclusive breastfeeding. Giving baby rice means you are no longer EBF

The idea with all the developmental signs is that at the point at which they can sit up, pick up food, put it in their mouth, chew it and swallow, they're ready. Watching you eat is just like them watching your drive or use a knife, they're just interested in you, not ready to copy you.

They will take expressed milk on top of bm even when not hungry btw as they enjoy the ease of the sucking/swallowing compared to bm. It's a bit of a novelty.

Not satisfying him would show itself in other ways, not increased feeding which is normal at this age. His nappies would change, his happiness, his hydration levels, his weight gain etc.

They go through such massive changes at this age, go from little babies to sitting, rolling, crawling, chattering, interacting, giggling, interesting little people. And this takes calories. The most calorific thing you can offer them is milk.

I always say that it's easier to change what you're doing than the developmental norms of a little baby. So accept more help, sit on the sofa in an evening with things to hand, sleep as much as you need. Whatever makes it easier for you to ride it out.

ditto everyone else, never have my dc the wall paper paste that is baby rice. Just gave th normal food when they started grabbing it out of my hands and chomping on it around 23-24 weeks.

I never used any kind of so-called baby food, just home cooked vegetables/fruit to start. Baby rice is in no way going to satisfy any hunger and, if used as a milk replacement, will actually slow his weight gain. His stomach is unlikely to be ready to digest anything but milk at this age. Everything you've described is normal. I never took any of these things as signs my daughter was ready for weaning. I started at 28 weeks and I'm really not sure she was ready then to be honest.

Never used it, went straight on to real food at 6 months.

DS2 is now 6 1/2 months, managing to eat quite a lot and still cluster feeds all evening. I was kind of hoping he'd be going to bed a bit earlier by now.

Never used it. Looks foul. DS started on chunks of carrot and whole bananas at 25 weeks.
If they're ready to eat they can pick it up and eat it.
If they need you to spoon it in they're not ready yet.

Kellymom wakeful 4 month olds

It's normal. Sorry, that's not what you wanted to hear as you're probably knackered. However, baby rice is not a magic bullet. Could you ring one of the bf helplines to talk it over with someone, or go to a local bf group if you have one?

I'm another who never used baby rice. I have 3 DCs and all started with normal food at around 6 months when they could pick it up and eat it themselves.

This too will pass .