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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

OK ... so did you REALLY get to 6 months without solids??

136 replies

Ghosty · 26/05/2004 14:22

Just a little survey really ...
DD is coming up to 4 months old now and I would be very rich if I had a $ for every person who has said to me in the last week, "You'll be thinking about solids soon then?"
I have not spoken to one person in real life who has made it to 6 months of exclusive milk (breast or bottle) ... In fact most people I know started solids between 3 and 4 months (me included with DS 4 years ago) ...
I am not in any rush to wean DD yet but I wanted to know ...
When did Mumsnetters introduce solids to their babies?

I'll start -
DS ... 13.5 weeks (shock, horror, gasp!!)
DD ... nothing yet ... she will be 16 weeks on Tuesday ...

OP posts:
hercules · 26/05/2004 21:57

Must have said a third dont try.

Coj · 26/05/2004 22:11

I was happy to start when DS ready which was 7 months! compeletly refused up till then (kept trying after 5 1/2 months) Now is 8 1/2 and still not keen eater, much rather have boobie. The advice is there but every baby seems to be different. Whatever works for you I always say

muddaofsuburbia · 26/05/2004 22:21

5.5 mths - huge 98th centile ds. People tsk tsked at me for even waiting that long ("isn't he ready yet?" or the even more barbed "can he not manage solids?" )

Last year, SIL started her ds at 9 weeks (he was also 5 wks prem!! ) on the advice of her GP as a cure for colic (?). It didn't work.

Original poster
Ghosty · 26/05/2004 23:59

What a great response ... so many of you started before 6 months and some of you even started before 4 months (including me ..)
Just a question ... what has a 'big baby' really got to do with it?
DS was 10lbs at birth, mixed fed from 5 weeks, fully bottlefed from 7 weeks and I was told by my mother and the HV ... Big baby = early solids ...
But DD was 10lbs 10oz at birth ... still breastfed ... and at nearly 16 weeks is only just starting to show signs of being more hungry - ie for the last 4 days she has fed 2 hourly throughout the day and has woken much earlier in the morning for feeding ...
So ... next question ... DO babies who were big at birth generally need weaning earlier than smaller babies?

OP posts:
suedonim · 27/05/2004 00:02

Ds1 started on baby rice at 6 weeks - honest!! That was in '75 and my sil took it upon herself to give it to him while I was staying with her. He was weaned off the bottle and onto three meals a day and drinks of boiled cows milk with sugar, by the age of 6mths. That was standard advice then - amazing.

My other three started solids at about 4mths. With dd2 I could have left it until 6mths, I'm sure. She only had one lot of rice or puree a day, for ages, and if we were out or too busy I didn't even bother with that! But I'd been told by my HV that there was a window of opportunity for babies to learn to chew between 4/6mths and that if I left it any later, she's never master the skill. 'Windows of opportunity' were new to me, but even so, as a 4th time mum, I can't understand how I was idiotic enough to believe her.

Spod · 27/05/2004 00:08

dd, 6 months and no probs with solids... i too got totally p'd off with everyone insisting tat i should be feeding her solids because she 'was a big baby' , 'it'll help her sleep' ha h a ha that didnt work... i waited till 6 months because i wantedc to and she was totally fine

expatkat · 27/05/2004 00:09

Ghosty, evidence would seem to suggest that no, a big baby does NOT need weaning any earlier than a smaller baby. But in the specific cases of my children, they seemed to need weaning earlier than the smaller babies we knew and know. But I'm not suggesting in the least that what was true for my babies is likely to be true for anyone else's babies.

Piffleoffagus · 27/05/2004 00:11

my 98th centile baby weaned later than my 0.4 centile dd...
Big was no factor in his being ready to eat...Being small was no factor in dd's either...
I was def focussed on weaning late though... for sure

princesspeahead · 27/05/2004 00:25

Planned on staying off until 6mths for ds2, but at 17 weeks he was drinking 45oz a day of hungry baby milk and screaming for more in between. Started him on baby rice because it was either that or he would have chewed my arm off. He was a delightful smiling lovely thing immediately he started solids. With hindsight, he'd been really hungry for about 10 days before I'd started, poor thing

DD and DS1 were about 18 weeks each, but that was in accordance with the advice at the time I think.

Spod · 27/05/2004 00:25

oh, and dd is around 95th centile mark and she really wasnt ready for solids a day sooner (i tried the week before 6months and she wasnt interested at all)

Dannie · 27/05/2004 01:17

My HV turned up the day before DS2 hit 6 months and said "Is he eating a good range of foods?" I didn't feel like telling her off, so I just simpered sweetly and said "Oh yes".

tiamaria · 27/05/2004 01:55

18 weeks for both of mine. Both exclusively breast fed until then and breast/solids thereafter. The advice at the time (9 and 10 years ago) was 16 weeks and I felt silly for being so cautious. I wanted to go as long as I could due to all the skin problems in the family. Another Mum in the family introduced solids way too soon (about 6 weeks) and both the children have got major food intolerences as well as eczema. In my Mum's day it was '3 months or until they reach x lbs in weight, whichever is soonest'. Don't know what x was, sorry.

tabitha · 27/05/2004 02:55

tiamaria,
someone told me it was 12 weeks or 12 lbs, whichever cam first. My first three all went onto solids at 16 weeks. No 4 is nearly 16 weeks and I would like to hold out longer but may succumb as she has started to wake twice during the night. Could cope with waking once but twice is too much. Still I'll persever on milk only as long as I can

essbee · 27/05/2004 03:03

Message withdrawn

ninja · 28/05/2004 01:56

25 weeks (ish) but really she wasn't interested (in more than just a mouthful) til 8 months. Interestingly she stopped putting on weight and slept worse after I started!

kiwicath · 28/05/2004 11:13

Ghosty, wee chap 5 months today and still going strong on boob only. 6 months plus is my goal. Babe been sleeping through (with sleepy feed at 10.30pm) since 6 weeks so no "needing solids to get him through the night" - and with reference to a past sleeping thru thread - No, I'm not "lying". He's a hefty 9kgs, a happy wee soul and I'm LOVING feeding him. I'm getting a little sad to tell you the truth, as sooner or later he'll be wanting/needing more than just ME - purely selfish though Hang in there if that's what babe and you want to do - good luck. By the way, I'm the only Mum in South Sinai that seems to be still feeding - magic milk maybe???

BosworthBear · 28/05/2004 11:31

DD got to 4 months, shes now nearly 3 she may have gone longer but HV suggested it was time for solids, DS got to 6.5 months - now 10 months.
Both slept through from 7 weeks ( I know i'm lucky DD was actually only 6 weeks so I had high expectations of DS - DH was actually disapointed that it took an extra week and said he was worried he would be a bad sleeper!!)

Both dropped down the percentiles (ending at 9th!)and the HV suggested waking them up to get in an extra feed -I decided to ignore that since DD is now happily in the average range. DS is "recovering" too, has always been chubby legged and contented - not malnurished. But if they are breast fed until 6 months and sleep well at night why did HV suggest solids at 4 months even with DS! - seems like you can't win - and unless its life or death then common sense and a discussion with other mothers provides reasuring advice rather than some that HV give.

pickledbeetle · 28/05/2004 11:46

My eldest son went to solids (alongside being breastfed) at 12 weeks on Health visitor's advice. He continued with breastfeeds until he walked. Looking back, early solids were a waste of time. He was sleeping and developping fine just not gaining huge amounts of weight. He's still skinny but never ill and very active.
Second son was exclusively breastfed for 7 months with NO ill effects or problems. He continued breastfeeding until 20 months.
Do what is right for you and your baby

pickledbeetle · 28/05/2004 11:50

By the way eldest son was 7lb 10, youngest 9lb 4.

Coj · 28/05/2004 21:58

Picke- Think you deserve a medal for breastfeeding that long. It is really annoying when people say "You're not STILL breastfeeding".
What scared me was the books saying that after 6m they must have more iron for physical & mental dev. Felt like I was harming her

carla · 28/05/2004 22:08

Think mine were 4m when I tried (quite well) with baby rice. Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks!

GeorginaA · 28/05/2004 22:19

Ds1 was 4 months to the day when we started weaning, but then I'd just got over a bout of mastitis and my supply was quite low, so I'm glad he was having alternative nutrition at that stage. He took to it straight away, has loved solids over milk ever since.

Don't know if I'll last out to 6 months with ds2 - going to play it by ear I think. We're due to go on holiday to Spain when he's 4 months old and don't really want to worry about solids there, so won't be starting on the dot of 4 months this time simply from a convenience point of view! I'm not going to be too concerned if I do start before 6 months though.

Aero · 28/05/2004 23:30

Well, after starting ds1 and dd just b4 4 months it's really not happening for ds2 at the moment. We did try from 16 wks with a teaspoon of babyrice for 2 days ant the wee stomach just didn't handle it well and had bad colicky pains. Gave up for 2 wks and tried again this week with same result resulting in a trip to out of hours Dr for constipation!! Have decided now that there's absolutely no hurry whatsoever. He's clearly not ready yet, so on with the bf and hopefully we'll get a night's sleep one day.....we live in hope! This one might make it to 6mths before food starts properly. Anyone else had this experience?

Pidge · 29/05/2004 13:20

Bit late on this thread, as I wasn't internetting on Friday! But yes, I did make it to 6 months (well minus a few days under severe pressure from dd's nursery who were convinced she was starving!). I was just breastfeeding, and was very lucky that things were easy for me. Dd fed 5 times during the day, slept 12 hours without waking from 5 months, and was a completely average weight baby, a bit skinny because she is so long, but obviously thriving on breastmilk alone so I was in no hurry to complicate life with solids. Plus I have eczema, asthma, rhinitis, nut allergies, so was keen to take the whole food introduction thing slowly.

Each to their own on this one I think. But I'd hope to take a similar approach with my next baby if possible.

rainbow · 29/05/2004 16:49

DS1 (now 9yo)-11 weeks, he was breastfeed and then topped up with 7oz bottle every 3 hours d&n. Lack of sleep got the better of me. After introducing solids he slept for 6 hours straight- what bliss!

DS2 (now 3yo)-10 weeks very hungry baby and very sicky. Again breast fed and topped up. paediatrician suggested weaning much to HV's disgust. He kept solids down a lot better and gained weight up back up to his birth centile.

DS3 (now 19mo)-17 weeks exclusively breast fed, wouldn't take a bottle. He was satisfied on milk only until 17 weeks so didn't see the point in weaning him.

Wean when you feel they need it.

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