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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Growth spurt, starving or poorly?

14 replies

Flossam · 18/03/2005 14:28

DS is 18.5 weeks and I want to wait till 6 months for the weaning. However, he is feeding really frequently, grumpy or sleeping at the moment. He isn't my lovely happy baby. He dosen't have a temp, and is stuffing all things and sundry in his mouth. His cheeks aren't red so I don't think he is teething. I know the mouthing thing thing isn't supposed to be a sign of hunger, but he is ramming it down his throat

OP posts:

mummytosteven · 18/03/2005 14:33

I would say the mouthing thing is a bit of a red herring - around this age they mouth everything because there mouth is very sensitive, so they probably get more feedback from investigating objects with their mouths than their hands at the moment. possibly if he's very whingy/grumpy he might be at the very start of a cold, and you'll see a runny nose in a few days time???

Original poster

Flossam · 18/03/2005 14:45

He's only just had one! I hope it isn't another. We are supposed to be going away next week. I am feeding him every 90 minutes.

OP posts:

CherryEm · 18/03/2005 14:52

"When you feel it is time to introduce solids, usually between the 4th and 6th month, your baby is growing quickly and may be happy to receive the extra nourishment. But many babies still do not, at this stage, require more than milk alone. his will be a time of experimentation, and if after several attempts your baby is still not interested, delay it for another few weeks. Babies reach a stage when they require the extra nourishment in their own time and they are usually quick to let mothers know about it. Obvious signs are fretfulness after a feeding or gnawing of fists."

-Found this wee snippet online. hope it helps. I think your baby may be ready to try first solids

beansprout · 18/03/2005 15:03

Flossam, ds is 20 weeks and the fist/hand chomping is reaching epic proportions!! It really is just something they do though. Not a sign for solids - I know I don't ram my hand in my mouth when I am hungry!!

Ds is also going through an extremely grumpy phase. He is also dribbling for England. I also want to wait until 6 months (no doubt for the same reasons as you), so am viewing it as something I just have to go along with!!

NotQuiteCockney · 18/03/2005 15:03

Um, the current best practice is to wait until 6 months, not somewhere between 4 and 6.

DS2 seemed to be shoving things down his throat for ages, too. He's just gone 25 weeks (today!) and I've started solids a bit, just giving tastes.

Well, despite weeks of "signs", he's not really sure what to do with these weird tastes, and mostly just spits things back out. (Not the tongue-thrust reflex though, he's thinking about it and then pushing it out again.)

At any rate, they don't always get red cheeks for teething, mine haven't, anyway. Does he chew on your finger if it's offered?

Stick to your guns, wait till 6 months if you can!

beansprout · 18/03/2005 15:04

Also, the behaviour you describe are the classic signs of a developmental (not growth) spurt. We had the same - grumpy old Bean for a few days and then hey presto, he was starting to roll over and do new tricks!!

Sponge · 18/03/2005 15:16

I agree it doesn't necessarily sound like he's ready to wean. They do go through phases of eating more then returning to "normal" after a few days. He will chew on anything and everything as soon as he's got the co-ordination to get things to his mouth. This is normal exploration of his environment and doesn't have anything to do with hunger. Ds will put his hand so far down his throat he makes himself sick sometimes. The dribbling just goes on and on IME. It started with ds a long time before a first tooth appeared. He now has 4 and is still dribbling for England. I'd hold off for a while.

Original poster

Flossam · 18/03/2005 17:24

Thanks everyone. I ummed and ahhed and decided for my sanity I needed to go out somewhere, time out in his pram was lovely for both of us I think! He's having a nap now, which means bedtime routine is up the creek again! I really do want to wait, even to the point that I haven't seen a health visitor for I don't know how long. Every time I go to clinic I hear them saying all the stuff I've been told is rubbish. I don't want to risk my confidence being undermined more than normal! Yes beansprout, I have anaphylaxis, and several intolerences, IBS and both me and DP have (or have had) the usual three, excema, athsma and hayfever. The behavioural spurt isn't something I've heard of before, but interesting and might mean I have some new tricks to look forward to .

OP posts:

tiktok · 18/03/2005 17:33

The developmental spurt is well-researched, Flossam....there's a good book, now out of print, called Why They Cry: Understanding Child Development in the First Year by
Hetty Van De Rijt, Frank Plooij which details some of the evidence. It's actually quite old stuff, and I think there is newer stuff that confirms it.

beansprout · 18/03/2005 17:48

Tiktok - I have some info based on that book, which tells (warns) me when I can expect good and not so good weeks. So far it has been absolutely spot on!

beansprout · 18/03/2005 17:48

Oh and Flossam, you are bang in the middle of a grumpy time according to the chart!!

Original poster

Flossam · 18/03/2005 19:24

Thats really interesting! Thanks Tictok and Beansprout!

OP posts:

HUNKERMUNKER · 18/03/2005 19:46

This is fascinating! DS has done this 'getting grumpy' thing when he's learning something new. He's a year in a fortnight () and has so far been cross about rolling onto his front and not being able to roll back, being able to sit up, but not get to his front, being able to get to his front, but not sit back up again, then (most recently) being able to stand up and not sit back down again.

Each one lasts a couple of days and he has got increasingly cross with each stage. The first couple surprised me as he's normally very easy-going, but now I know to ride it out and he'll be his normal smiley self again very soon. Am off to google to find some more out about this now - very interesting!

PS - Flossam, IMO, stick with the milk Food and babies can be hard work - put it off as long as possible!

CherryEm · 19/03/2005 20:26

i'm sorry but i think while indeed its best to wait until 6months sometimes its better for a mum to introduce earlier depending on babys size, development and interest in food. it all depends on a mothers instinct i think, no one knows your baby better. In any case it is better keeping away from dairy and gluten for as long as recommended, longer if you have allergy history. Just did a quick google search and below was the caption i came up with. Not saying its gospel.

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