17 week old and baby rice

[pamelat]

Any opinions?

The health visitor has asked me to wait another week as she is still gaining weight well but she is cranky (and has been for 2 weeks or so), waking frequently at night, grabbing my toast (!) and crying when she cant have it.

I believe she is genuinely hungry, especially at night.

Health visitor said to put her in her own room instead as that could be why is waking so frequently but personally I would rather satisfy her hunger and have her near us?

I know that 17 weeks is meant to be the earliest you start it but what are the negatives for starting it at 17 weeks?

think i'll save my risk taking for something that has some real or even likely benefits.

night night.

I understood Tori was a childminder, have I got that wrong ?

she says she is a nurse as well. Also she commented about working in theatre. Could be that she isnt a 'registered' nurse but a support worker in which case she wouldnt be registered and unaware of professional code of conduct.

tori, you are desperately trying to find 'unbiased' evidence, and you resort to hospital guidelines for the nutrition of sick babies...the current guidelines (WHO and most countries of the world, inc. UK) are for healthy, term babies with no other compromising factors. Individualised care of sick or compromised babies has to be flexible enough to include weaning outside the general guidelines - I am not expert enough (and nor, to be frank, are you) to give a list of what these conditions might be.

I am interested to know how you define 'biased' and whether you would include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the WHO, UNICEF, (in the UK) the RCM, the CPHVA, the Department of Health - all of whom say the same thing about weaning age - in your scope of 'biased'.

You are out of your depth sometimes, I think, and you don't realise it

Haven't seen Extreme Makeover - is this going to shatter my illusions then?

It's shocking the conditions the Americans live in because the government doesn't get involved in the same way they would here. Worth watching though for the gorgeous Ty!

Thank you flubdub

Does solid food contain the "miracle cure" antibodies breastmilk does? Tori, you are so full of useful information, I'm so glad we have a nurse on here whose specialism is infant nutrition. What would we do without you?

I'm thinking, maybe you can answer this Oh Wise One, if solids are better than formula because of the lack of antibodies, should we be giving solids to newborns too?

Sorry that should be:

It's shocking the conditions some Americans

Awen,

I searched for 'nurse' and 'Tori32' and she states she is a registered nurse.

QUOTE as before I became a CM I have been a nurse in the RAF, Theatre Scrub Nurse and have also done my Flight Nurse training. UNQUOTE

QUOTE went back to work for 3mths as a qualified nurse and after childcare was paid it worked out that I was on £3.20 per hour ??. I am very sad that I studied for 3 yrs to become a nurse, lots of hard work and sacrifices due to crap pay during training to have to give it up and probably lose registration because of not being able to practice. I started childminding because it pays better UNQUOTE

QUOTE BTW I used to be a nurse on an orthopeadic ward when I first qualified UNQUOTE

Pamelot - are you still there? I hope we haven't scarred you for life!!

Tori, you've managed to grub up a study into sick babies that doesn't actually support what you think it does and yet more reams of personal opinion and dubious "statistically likely" bollocks.

You say the OP asked for advice on whether weaning early has a significant risk and say it doesn't in your opinion (which we've already ascertained is a bit dodgy to say the least).

But the thing is - if your child is one for whom weaning early is risky, then your child is put at significant risk. And (and this is all anyone's saying on this thread) without actually knowing what's going on inside your child, you don't know whether your child will be one for whom early weaning is risky.

Please tell me you can see this.

Also, why are you already deciding that your 8wo(?) baby needs weaning at 4m?

Oh come on now people! Obviously American Academy of Pediatrics, the WHO, UNICEF, the RCM, the CPHVA and the Department of Health are all wrong and biased, and Tori is right.
Why didnt we see it before?!?!
All hail holy Tori - it is she who is The Mighty One.

I very much doubt that tori can call herself a nurse now you need to reregister with the professional body every year and have done 150 hours of practice in the preceding year don't think working as a cm qualifies you for that
so you can only call yourself a nurse if you hold current registration

also being qualified as an adult nurse is no qualification for commenting on infant nutrition see the advice given by most hvs

all gone very quiet.

Sorry to wade in late, ladies, but I've just read all 10 pages and wanted to interject something that no-one has mentioned.

Could it be that the west (with it's soaring obesity rates) are in part due to the fact that from an early age we are artificially filling our LOs up so much so that they need to sleep to digest their food. If we assume that there is something wrong when a baby is genuinely a bit unsettled (and all babies go through a period of being unsettled), and then stuff them with food, are we teaching them something implicit and unhealthy about how food can comfort them?

Of course, many of us comfort ourselves with food, so perhaps it's no wonder we are desperate to pass that "gift" on to our children.

Just a thought...

I'm with you there ILoveDigestives - there's definitely evidence that in the early stages of life babies are setting their appetite levels, as it were, same as they are setting their internal thermostat and their eyesight to cope with the kind of temperatures and light levels prevailing.

So the earlier we teach them to eat more than they need, the worse it is for them, IMO, as well as the comfort thing.

Cuddles are much better for comfort - they don't make you plump and they feel really nice!

Am glad I read this thread, wavered and bought the dreaded baby rice at the weekend, but haven't as yet given any to ds (20 weeks).
Now I feel confident I don't need it, will hold off until he is 6 months, and am armed with the knowledge why he doesn't need solids til then.
Just got off the phone to a friend who's ds is 4 days younger than mine and she has just started with the baby rice "he was wanting more and more milk and seemed hungry all the time". I was in the middle of reading this thread and I had to bite my tongue - didn't feel it was my place to say to her that there wasn't anything wrong in offering more milk if he was still hungry...

totally with you there. Feel under pressure though to start solids by other mums who list all their babies are already eating like it is some kind of roll of honour.

Oh my word

Just logged on and seen the amount of responses and read a few of the comments, feeling rather guilty for having caused an online row.

Will take some time to read all 10 pages (!) but its 930pm so past my bed time.

Last night my little one slept from 10pm until 5am, which she has never done. I hadn't changed anything and was pleased this morning but now I feel a bit selfish for feeling that. When you are tired, sleep does become all important. Today I have felt much more able to function (am doing Open Uni course too - ridiculous really).

Anyway, as I say, I do feel a bit over whelmed by the quantity of response and will read through them tomorrow.

Sorry for having caused the upset I think sometimes I post for reassurance, encouragement to carry on as we are or to just get views, will be careful how I word things in future.

pamelat, you caused nothing, tbh if it wasnt this thread it would have been another.
People just really wanted you to get Facts rather than just opinions and experiences.
I hope some of the posts help you decide what to do.
Go to bed, relish in that sleep!

pamelat, you didn't cause the row, so please don't feel you have to word things carefully!

hope your LO continues to sleep well - fwiw, my boy slept worse after starting solids, because his tummy wasn't used to them!

pam - you didnt cause a row. x

No no, pamelat, you didn't cause anything - this is an old argument on MN and it just goes on and on!

Especially, don't feel "selfish" for enjoying the good sleep. The point that I and others have made is that all babies have their own natural sleep patterns. If you're lucky enough to have a natural good sleeper, that's lovely, make the most of it!

pamelat, Please don't feel guilty, certain topics gets loads of reactions on Mumsnet and early weaning is definately one of them !!!

I hope somewhere in this long thread is a post or two that helps you