So, who has managed to exclusively breastfeed for 26 weeks and how did you manage it?

[beatie]

When dd1 was born, the advice was to wean from 17 weeks. IIRC dd1 was 20 weeks when we started her on purees.

Now the advice is 26 weeks and I really want to follow that advice. DD2 doesn't sleep very well. For the past 4 weeks she has been waking more frequently in the night and I just know that when I mention this to other people, friends, acquaintances and family, they are going to say she is hungry and suggest I start her on solids.

I feed my dd2 very frequently during the day and suspect she only really requires one hunger-induced feed throughout the night. I fluctuate between despair (that she's not a great sleeper) and a sense of apathy (she's too young to train to sleep - in my personal view)

Does everyone's baby start to wale up more around the 4 month mark? How did you ward off kindly suggestions that you start db on solids?

And, where can I read about WHY I should exclusively breastfeed until 26 weeks? I need a refresher to reinforce my (sometimes) fading determination.

Here is a good link to a page on why delaying solids is wise.

I waited until 25.5 weeks before starting DS2 on solids. And he didn't actually get anything down until nearly 7 months.

What I did to survive that time:

• Feed lots.
• Cosleep (night feeds are less work if you don't really have to wake for them!)
• Realise this time goes by pretty fast, really.
• Remember what a bloody slag purees are. If you wait until 26 weeks, you can go straight to finger foods, which is much less work. Now, at 15 months, DS2 is pretty competant with a spoon, better than DS1 was at 2, I think.

I hope this helps, good luck holding on.

Stop telling people that she doesn't sleep - people are always trying to "fix" things when it comes to babies - and the first advice even childless males in their 50s will give you is to give them solids.

Now in the words of ds "listen to my words"

99% of babies appear to go a little odd at 4-5 months. Solids does not guarentee that they will stop being odd. After all the oddness stopping after 2 weeks could be something that happened anyway.

Breastmilk has more calories than weening foods.

Ds was a rubbish sleeper for the first year and then he just turned a corner and is now fanstastic at nearly 3. Which means that with 2 years of sleep under my belt I feel I can tell you that waiting until 26 weeks will not make any difference to how she sleeps - but that it won't neccessarily be badly forever.

I waited till 24 weeks then caved under pressure about the sleeping thing. Even my the one nice and breastfeeding friendly HV I found said he would sleep better once weaned. Now he is nearly 3 and I am still wondering exactly when this fabled better sleeping will come along

Good luck!

I exclusively fed until 6.5 months (we went on holiday at 6 months, so I thought two weeks longer wouldn't hurt ). DS did start waking again during the night before this, so we started co-sleeping and night feeding at this point. I have to say that weaning didn't reduce night feeding at all, but we got very little down him (food wise) until about 10m.

I just joked to people that I was too lazy to start weaning (only partly untrue - I hated it!) and that seemed to shut them up. I think most of my family (immediate family excluded thank goodness) were shocked by bf anyway, let alone that I did it exclusively for so long.

Message withdrawn

Also finally caved in at 24wks but not due to sleep, more the cranky daytime behaviour. Just got through it by thinking it was a long term thing - that if there was a chance I could avoid allergies etc and all the misery it can bring (I have allergies and asthma), it was worth a few extra weeks of waiting. I also kept on visualising this open gut and the thought of putting carrot etc in there was a bit grim. Having said all this, I did introduce formula at 17wks and was going to slow down bf towards a 6m stopping date (changed my mind and still mainly bf) so I don't know if my experience counts so much as not exclusive (just realised this but decided not to delete message in case there is anything of help)

Agree it is best not to complain about such things if you think the response will be to start weaning, though it is a shame as you are entitled to complain! 4m was a difficult time for us too but once past the growth spurt, I started to really enjoy the simplicity of bf. Recommend that whenever you feel wobbly about it, get onto MN and you will be reassured and supported. Best of luck

(sorry, long post due to end of first paragraph - waffle!)

Ah yes,like Laura I joked that it was a faff etc, rather than going on about medical stuff (esp. to those who had already started weaning - no point in starting an argument, they did it knowing the guidelines so their choice - too late to change anything)

God, sorry, very waffling today. Best of intentions and all...

I didn't wean dd2 till 7 months, out of sheer laziness because it's so much easier than faffing about with purees.

BBB is right about sleep going a bit weird at 4-5 months -- it may or may not have any connection with food, but it certainly isn't as simple as: solids = baby sleeping through. As others have stated, milk contains more calories than weaning foods. And you're going to feel a bit daft if you start the whole pain-in-the-neck puree thing and the sleep patterns get worse, aren't you?

I used to wake dd at 11pm for a good big evening feed, and most of the time she'd go through till 6 am ish, which is probably the best one can hope for at this stage. I never discussed her food intake or sleep patterns with HV or others, so don't know what anyone else thought. And why would I care?

Another plus of late weaning is that you can go straight to foods containing gluten and milk protein rather than faffing around liquidizing carrots. Although I should confess that dd2 was first weaned when I came back from the cafe queue in a National Trust garden and found my cousin and her GP husband spooning apple pie, ice-cream and custard into the baby's eager little mouth. But that's third babies for you.

Hello beatie .

Just lurking here with my 17 week old today bundle.

I have decided I am at the momemt aiming for no mush until at least after we come back from Barcelona (18th February) as I'm sure doing mush there would be more faff. I a, still aiming for 6 months, just giving myself little milestones.

frogs' post has reminded me. After we kicked DS2 out of our bed, I would go in and give him a dreamfeed at 10 or so. That did help him go a bit longer. It's hard work managing a bf dreamfeed, I found I had to focus really hard to make letdown happen, but it did help. I think.

hI beatie

DD started waking in the night at 4 months and I got worried! I just fed on th enight again and she sorted herself out after a couple of weeks. It was definitely a growth spurt - she was more hungry during the day, so I fed on demand (she had been on a great routine). But I waited til she was "demanding" it for real ie couldn't be settled by cuddles or silly songs.

she then got to 6 mths (just before Xmas) quite happily and moved from 1 meal to 3 in a week. We also skipped pureed stuff and went straight to mash and finger foods.

At 7 months for tea tonight she's just troughed her way through 5 ice cubes-worth of sweet and sour vegetables, a rice cake, 1/4 of an apple sliced and some Edam. She chews brilliantly and could manage without a bib cos she had lost that tongue-thrust reflex thingy by 6 months. At 5 months, ds still spat a lot of food out when I weaned him.

Also no sterilising needed past 6 months and bf is so much more portable than jars/pots/spoons/bibs/finding clean highchair.

Speaking of highchairs they can sit up better at 6 mths than at 4 so eating out is much easier - you don't have to feed them on your knee or in a buggy.

When asked by others I would just smilingly quote the World Health organisation guidelines til blue in the face - something like "it's recommended to offer solids after 6 months because a baby's stomach is not fully developed until that time, I don't want to risk allergies" Relatives usually backed off at that point otherwise they would be seen to be putting precious grandchild/neice etc at risk

My mum - an ardent bottle feeder - has changed her tune entirely and now positively boasts about my dd waiting til 6 months - but then she does like to be a bit controversial.

Personally I can't wait til it's the norm to wean at 6 mths, rather than be on the defensive all the time. It used to be 9 months!!

beatie - I would 2nd NQC in offering you the best advice I have ever found on the internet on bf matters: kellymom.com

I did bf exclusivley for 26 weeks and still bf my 19 mo old DS

The best way to deal with the bad advice and dare I say ignorance [very smug emocion] is to arm yourself to the teeth with the FACTS about bf, that way you can ward off most silly comments !!

I can totally sympathise with you in the pressure you are getting to start solids, but the best thing to say to people is that you have checked the info. given by the world's main health orgs., i.e. WHO, UNICEF, etc. and that the recommendation is that NO solids should be introduced before 6 months and the main reason for this is that early solids undermine bf and introducing a baby to solids too early can lead to allergies, including asthma, eczema, etc.

I have a niece and nephew who had very little breastmilk and their mothers began solids very early on - one has quite bad asthma and heyfever the other has asthma. I am not saying that this was due to lack of bf or solids, but the overwhelming scientific evidence is that you have a very good chance of preventing such illnesses by exculsive bf.

As for sleep, I don't believe a word any one says about the correlation between food and baby sleep. I will give you examples: I thought that my DS would sleep through the minute he got solids at 6 months, but he didn't ! He went on to wake up 2 - 3 times every night until he was about 10 mo. He is still bf but has been sleeping 10 - 11 hours almost every night without waking for the past 9 months.

I have known bf babies to sleep through very early on. On the other hand my formula-fed nephew who got solids very early on now at 14 mo still never sleeps through the night.

Good luck, and remember you are doing what is best for your baby !

I think you hit a wall at four-months for lots of reasons - I found that all my friends started finding the nights tougher and the lack of brain stimulation began to hit home too. It's a difficult stage but as NQC says, it doesn't last very long in the scheme of things. I personally HATED the puree stage and I'm pleased that I can avoid it.

Never mention sleep to anyone, they will just make you feel crap. xx

beatie - I know that my sister, brother and I were all weaned quite early although we were all breastfed beyond 6 months, but I have never even dared ask my mother what she was giving us at 4 months (I would die of shock if I knew !!) and I wonder whether that explians the fact that I have always been quite chubby ? Less solids later on and you are more likely to have a lean toddler !

Laziness (and knowing it was best with all the allergies in my family) also kept DS an exclusive bf baby for his first 6 months. And I'd look at my friends with their bags full of tupperware paraphenalia and apricot-coloured mush and just think, yeeeeuch! He was an enthusiastic feeder and I didn't need to do ANY puree.

My 11 month old dd is a far, far worse sleeper now - on three meals a day - than she ever was as a solely breastfed six month old
actually food really disturbed her sleep.

i intended to bf exclusively for as long as poss but when dd was 6 weeks old she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.along with having many medicines pumped into her tiny body at such a young age,i was told that she would need to be weaned earlier.at 12 weeks i was told to start to give her solids (baby rice) as she was failing to gain as much weight as a none cf baby of the same age.she is now 17 months,and is still bf.(although i would like to wean her off,not for her but for me).along with the cf,she also has asthma and eczema,which i do blame on the fact that she was weaned too early

the whole solids arguement is utter bollocks. most babies start sleeping badly at 4-5 months. It's when they can pick things up, sit up a wee bit etc etc. Throw in early teethers like my DS and a 5 month growth spurt......... you get the picture

The solids you introduce contain a tiny amount of calories compared to your milk. If you're BF, then BF babies apparently are used to waking mor frequently in the night.

Hold off, honestly, solids will make bugger all difference to your munchkin's sleep! (sadly)

I did it, no thanks to crap HV who hassled me to start solids at 4 months. The sleeping thing didn't matter a jot, as he was already a terrible sleeper. In fact, DS was exclusively bf for more like 8 months, as he didn't eat a thing until then.

I haven't managed it but have now realised that dd was going through a growth spurt as her demand for food has lessened. But she loves it and looks really pleased when she's eating so I'm just keeping a little bit going. It was either that though or formula as my marriage was about to crack under the strain of my lack of sleep and my dh's ridiculous work schedule and threfore his tiredness. Probably chose the wrong route but there you go - dd is about the happiest baby I know (in my own defence!) I would wait next time, if there is a next time.

I did it...well to 23 weeks as ii was h=going back to work at 26 weeks.

sheer stubborness on my part.
ds2 was 8lb 11pz born and remains between 75th and 91sr centile

that should read he was exclusively breadstfed to 25 weeks, not 23

oh and I am with aloha on the sleep thing (unfortuantely...)

It didn't seem to make any difference to DS' sleep when he started solids. At 4-6 months he was cutting his first tooth and was often fretful; that made more difference, i think.

A thread on here persuaded me to exclusively bfeed to six months instead of introducing one formula bottle a day - this keeps the gut sterile, I think, and that is why breastfeeding to 6 m helps reduce the risk of crohns disease and - i think- allergies in later life. this must be the same with solids i suppose? Well, actually I cracked this week at 5 1/2 months, dd2 has been gagging for food every mealtime for a month and the expressed milk in the freezer has run out (we've been using this for one feed a day since I got completely fed up with expressing about a month ago). So in come the formula and the solids, and I'm kidding myself that 5 1/2 months = nEarly 6 months (still breastfeeding as well tho). Hope it goes well for you