Hungry - more milk or time for the puree?

[Mumptious]

Can anyone help, ds is 25wks today and in the last week has gone from 10 - 12 hrs sleeping through to waking every three hours starving. He is about 21lbs and totally BF. I am shattered and suspect that I am not giving him enough to eat (though he is still gaining weight).

Baby rice is a waste of time as it does nothing but amuse him.... I am trying to decide whether this is just milk supply issue that Ineed to work on or if I need to fast track the weaning (which I am relucant to do).

Can you really be sure its hunger and not comfort? I hear of many babies (mine included) who sleep like angels from a very early age, and then it seems as though they get to an age where they go hang on a minute, this cot malarky isn't so much fun and start waking more often. Yes he may feed but then thats a comfort thing also so i wouldn't assume its your supply being the issue.

TBH puree really doesn't do much to fill them up in the early days as it is just a taster and a learning experience at first.

If it is comfort do you have any suggestions for dealing with it?

At 25 weeks, I personally would start to give him something very basic like potato or banana.

I would also start giving him food he's a big baby and milk is not satifying anymore.

LOL no i just used to bf dd . I don't have the answers but was just trying to reassure you that its unlikely to be your milk supply.

From that stage onwards dd and i co-slept (cos i was too lazy to keep getting up) until she was 2 and she fed frequently through the night. So unless thats what you so desire i'm not the person to give you a solution i'm afraid .

Trinity how can you sound so sure about that? How can milk not satisfy a 25wk old baby???

Because he's 25 weeks old and 21lbs and he's gone from sleeping really well to sleeping badly that would strongly suggest to me that boy is hungry!
Does he show a lot of interest when you are eating mumptious?
Personally I would try a little bit of puree or baby rice and see what he does, he will let you know if he doesn't want or need it.

Thank you all for your thoughts. I think you are right that he is hungry. Trinity2 he is totally absorbed in what we are eating and spends most of his time trying to grab at our plates/cups.

I have tried baby rice mixed with BM he totally loved it and gobbled up lots of it. But it seemed to have no impact and I was under the impression it had pretty no calorific value compared to BM?

I was thinking about giving him something else but didn't want to rush him and risk harming his digestive system. I have terrible IBS and would hate to have him suffer in the same way!

Any thoughts on what is high in calories but v gentle on the tummy?

Mumptious - have you thought about baby led weaning or BLW as mumsnetters call it? The theory is that you give the baby finger foods to feed himself, and if he is ready, he will manage to eat them, and if he is not then he will probably just play around with the food. There is a load of stuff in the archives about it, and also a couple of mumsnetters have started this website which is full of useful stuff. I did it with my ds starting on the day he was 26 weeks, and he managed really well and within four days was able to eat a whole banana on his own. I felt that it took the decision away from me because he was showing me that he was ready.
And a huge well done to you with the breastfeeding.

mawbroon This is fabulous! I love the idea of DS feeding himself. He is such a curious child and a control freak like his parents.... So I am sure he would love the chance to get his hands on his own food... the baby rice feeding has become a battle over the spoon and bowl as he is far more interested in investigating/holding the spoon himself!

As with bf vs bottles I don't like the idea of shovelling things into his mouth at the rate I choose. I am overwhelmed with how I reacted to spooning food into his mouth, I was so sad as I have loved BFing and now it is not enough. It felt strange as I am entering the totally unknown as BF was instinctive and had a clever way of working itself out. Weaning is complex and fiddly.... and I am paranoid about getting it wrong.

Did you ever worry that ds might choke? I have read what the site says, but it still seems a little risky....

I didn't really worry about choking. I was confident in the theory that if they are ready then they will know what to do. I made sure he was sat upright so that any food being spat out would drop out of the mouth. Now, he did gag a couple of times which is alarming, but it is not choking and it is easy to tell the difference. It didn't take ds long to get over the gag reflex. I've only had to feed ds with a spoon once. We were out longer than expected and the only food available was really mushy. We would do mushy stuff at home with hands, but the highchair where we were had no tray, I didn't have spare clothes etc etc. So anyway, i spoon fed him, and interesting enough, the next day, there were whole peas in his nappy which had not been chewed and digested. This doesn't happen when he feeds himself.
Anyway, I have to go out now. I'll check back later on.

Well we tried it... we started with a lightly steamed carrot. DS had a wonderful time and really got going when I showed him that mummy could put it in her mouth too.

I don't think he actually ate anything, but he had lots of fun! I was worried about the carrot breaking up and him swallowing big bits that might be a choking hazard, so we got through an entire carrot as I replaced the piece everytime he broke it into a piece small enough to pose a threat. He did seem to let the big bits drop out of his mouth, so I need to work on my fear!

Broccoli tomorrow!

Thank you so much. It is such a joy watching him actively enjoying himself and learning!

mumptious - you will probably get a surprise in his nappy tomorrow. This is exactly what ds did with carrot (which was also the first food I gave him). I was sure he hadn't eaten anything, but there it was in his nappy the next day.
The big bits that break off really won't be a choking hazard. He will either learn to chew then swallow them or he will spit them out. Obviously, you should be close at hand when he is eating.
Now that you are off, you can try all sorts of stuff. I went down the ultra cautious route regarding potential allergens, so ds was on potato, veg, meat and fruit for a good few weeks before I introduced wheat/dairy etc and we have only just introduced fish and eggs now he is 12 months. He seems to be allergic to egg but I am glad that I waited to 12 months.
Beware, banana was really messy until ds worked out not to squish it to a pulp! rinse it out of bibs and clothes before you put them in the machine otherwise everything in your wash will get covered in black sticky stuff!
Have fun

It sounds like you are having lots of fun! HV suggested that I take it v slow as I have mild allergies and IBS. I had read that it is usually best to introduce one taste at a time and for a minimum of 4 days so that allergies can be easily identified.

I kept a v close eye on him while he ate, I sat on the floor and DS sat in his Bumboo like a happy buddah! I think that I will steam the carrot a little less tomorrow so it doesn't fall apart so readily. Do you ever steam stuff in advance and keep it in the fridge? How long would you keep it? I have no ideaas I eat cold veg that has been in the fridge for days....

Do you give DS anything on a spoon at all? DS is very interested in the spoon whenever he sees it, as he ses us with cutlery, so I was thinking I might let him play with it and try feeding himself along side the finger food.

I'm so sorry for the Qs, my mother fed us on bananas mashed with raw egg yolks so I am a bit lost with this whole food business!

Do you have a highchair? I imagine that if your ds is in the bumbo then you have to hand him the food? It is even more baby led if you just put the food down in front of him and let him pick it up. You can offer a couple of different items and he will choose. My highchair had a flat tray on it (bought second hand in a joblot of baby stuff - I would never have chosen it) but until ds really got the hang of picking stuff up, he kind of pushed it around the tray then of course it would plop off the edge. I remedied this by getting a greengrocers tray which DH drilled a couple of holes in. It looks like a trough, but it is ideal!
Yes, I did used to steam stuff in advance and tbh can't remember how long i would keep it. Probably just until the next day. I also used quite a lot of frozen veg as it's so handy.
I don't spoon feed him anything at all. Things like yogurt can be managed if you mix in fruit, a favourite of DS's is grated apple or pear in yogurt (you'll probably want to wait a bit before doing dairy). One of the great things about never spoon feeding is that we can all eat together. DS rarely eats alone, we all sit together to eat, even if we are eating out. (Doesn't happen that often!!)
You do have to watch for salt content though. It is not always as simple as just giving ds a bit of what we are having. Saying that, we have all cut down on salt so that I can just make stuff for the freezer that we can all eat. I make my own bread in the bread maker, do my own oatcakes, and look for the crackers etc with the lowest salt content. I have found Ryvita and rice cakes are quite low in salt. Once ds was on dairy, I would soak them in a little cows milk to soften them, but now he can chomp on them the way they are.
My goodness, I didn't realise I had so much to say about baby led weaning!!

Do you have a highchair? I imagine that if your ds is in the bumbo then you have to hand him the food? It is even more baby led if you just put the food down in front of him and let him pick it up. You can offer a couple of different items and he will choose. My highchair had a flat tray on it (bought second hand in a joblot of baby stuff - I would never have chosen it) but until ds really got the hang of picking stuff up, he kind of pushed it around the tray then of course it would plop off the edge. I remedied this by getting a greengrocers tray which DH drilled a couple of holes in. It looks like a trough, but it is ideal!
Yes, I did used to steam stuff in advance and tbh can't remember how long i would keep it. Probably just until the next day. I also used quite a lot of frozen veg as it's so handy.
I don't spoon feed him anything at all. Things like yogurt can be managed if you mix in fruit, a favourite of DS's is grated apple or pear in yogurt (you'll probably want to wait a bit before doing dairy). One of the great things about never spoon feeding is that we can all eat together. DS rarely eats alone, we all sit together to eat, even if we are eating out. (Doesn't happen that often!!)
You do have to watch for salt content though. It is not always as simple as just giving ds a bit of what we are having. Saying that, we have all cut down on salt so that I can just make stuff for the freezer that we can all eat. I make my own bread in the bread maker, do my own oatcakes, and look for the crackers etc with the lowest salt content. I have found Ryvita and rice cakes are quite low in salt. Once ds was on dairy, I would soak them in a little cows milk to soften them, but now he can chomp on them the way they are.
My goodness, I didn't realise I had so much to say about baby led weaning!!

LOL - so much to say that I said it twice!!

We have just moved house so we are little behind ourselves with the highchair! We are planning on buying one this weekend. We had thought we would get a Tripp Trapp but we might need to rethink as it doesn't come with a table. I think maybe a cheap plastic one is a good place to start and we can always donate it to the MIL when he is big enough to sit at the table.

I let DS grab his carrot from the bowl which he really enjoyed.

DS has just woken up so have to feed him and then DH can put him back to bed. So I am going to head that way too.

Have a good weekend and thanks.

top tip mumptious - get one where the tray comes off as sometimes things do get a bit messy!