Could an 8 mth old be self weaning ALREADY???! Mears,Tiktok,anyone???

[moondog]

Ds has taken to food like a duck to water. Now getting through three big meals a day. Doesn't seem to be b/feeding nearly as much though, and often feel that unless I put him to the breast he wouldn't 'ask' for it. He has three b/feeds a day (5-10 mins duration) and maybe a 1/2 hearted suck in the middle of the night. Also when he has it, sometimes he just lets it rest in his mouth and smiles (!)
I'm not overly worried, as he's big and healthy but worry about fluid intake.Should I encourage him to drink water in this case?.
So different to dd who seemed surgically attached to me for 2 1/2 years.

Is he getting any bottles?

Pupuce!!!
You know me better than that!!!! [smile}

Actually 3 feeds a day is still quite a good amount - DD use to feed for 3 mins only and when she self-weaned at 19 months old I was so full I was very surprised.... thought a 3 min feed could not be much!!!
Do you give a cup of water with solids?

DD was like this at this age. Very quickly went onto 3 meals a day and really wasn't fussed about milk. I stopped giving her the evening bottle at around a year, as she just wasn't drinking them, so I put the milk in her food instead. She also didn't seem to drink much water either. My HV told me she was probably getting enough in her food and that she would drink if she was thirsty, so just keep offering her a drink.

You know I only realised it was Moondog asking when I pressed "post message"
I am quite tired sorry...

Well I just bought a cup thing with a spout today and tried to get him to drink some water from it but he just grinned. Do you reckon I should just leave it in front of him to discover? (Have occasionally given him a sip from a cup but it's really messy-never got the hang of cup feeding either of them at an early age.)

Interesting what you both say-thought three such short feeds was nothing. As I said, worried about the liquid aspect not actual nourishment (you should see his thighs!)

I did. I had to try different types to get one she could drink from. The anyway up cups were too hard for her to get anything out of at first, but the free flowing ones were good. It just meant I had to keep an eye on her when she was drinking otherwise everything got wet.

Have you seen this?

Hope you'll find it helpful!

Some babies are very poor water drinker - IMO that is not an excuse to start juice as juice is not water..... and is a bad habit that many kids have... it fills them up, it's too sweet (and therefore not thirst quenching, it can be too sugary and bad for teeth,.... yes one of my BUGBEARS [grun]

Those doidy cups are good if you want to encourage drinking from cups without spouts.

Thank you. Merci bien!
I'll read that 'Kellymom' thing now.

Yes, I had one for dd, hunker-she wasn't having any of it. Time to dig it out methinks.

I think that was a mistake I made Pupuce. She didn't drink much water so I started adding a bit of orange juice. I thought it was better that she drank something, than nothing. She still doesn't drink a lot compared to the other toddlers in our group, but I can categorically say it doesn't affect her appetite. She's a little pig - and it's all good, healthy things she eats too!

Surfermum, my older dd loves seeing me drinking mineral water from a bottle and then instantly demands some!! Now I often just fill a bottle with tap water! Falls for it every time.

Emkana, that link was great [smile}

Thanks. That is a good idea - she ALWAYS wants whatever I'm eating or drinking.

My 2 are very different.... DS always drank very little though now that he is 5 I always ask him to drink at the very leat 1/2 his glass of water with a meal. He drinks a big cup of water once in bed though and that's fairly new!

DD drinks for England.... she always did.... my mom thought she might even be diabetic !

Cooled herbal teas are a nice alternative drink to water.

And moondog, 5-10 minutes can be a fine feed, if they're feeding well - I think my DS2 (5 months) can empty a boob in less than that.

As long as he's peeing normally, I'm sure he's fine, and getting plenty of milk.

NQC - whilst they are better than juice personnally I see too many kids who start with those and really are very difcult to get onto water later.... the thing is why not stick to water?.... it does NOT taste bad!

Message withdrawn

pupuce, I guess because I only drink water, and DH mostly drinks water, we've never had a problem getting DS1 to drink water. It's just nice to offer him a bit more range. I never give him juice, so he only gets that from other people, from time to time. Oh, sometimes he gets home-made smoothies.

I'd think the hassle of making herbal tea would keep it from being a regular drink.

moondog my dd did exactly what you are describing, but at 6 months. She dropped one breastfeed a day for a few days, then another, etc and weaned herself with no encouragement/discouragement from me. It was great because it was done so gradually I had no suffering from engorgement or anything. She was eating 3 meals a day at the time, loved food as soon as I introduced it and scoffed two courses at every meal. As for water, I did give her some in a cup from 4 months (just sips at first) so she was well used to drinking it by 6 months. as for juice, I did give it with lunch after she was weaned because I believe that Vit. C helps with iron absorption (and I've got a thing about children getting enough iron!)

I stopped BF at 8 months and found the only cup he will have is a Heinz cup. It has a soft spout and i know that every baby is different but i know quite a few people that have found this a very effective cup. I only give DS milk with feeds to make sure he is getting enough fluid. HTH[SMILE]