Completely disastrous weaning start

[squiggle]

I've just started weaning my 4 month old and after almost 2 weeks she still acts as if i'm trying to poison her. I know its early but my hv advised it as she had started to wake up 3x a night rather than her normal once and seemed to be very interested in our food. I've tried baby rice and also flavouring it with purees of apple or carrot and she almost always ends up screaming after a couple of spoons...any tips?

Just take it easily - at this age they're just getting used to having a taste of real food. You could try adding some breast or formula milk to make it a really smooth consistency - when ds had problems eating food, it tended to be because it was too thick or lumpy. Hth.

My daughter is now 11 months old and by the sound of it we had the same sort of start to weaning as you did. We gave up twice actually as we all needed a break. The breakthrough came with me giving her potato puree which she loved. Once she was happy with that I mixed other vegetables in with it but only potato plus one other initially. She still loves potatoes and eats them with her hands now as she gets bored with me spooning food into her after a while - independant little thing!

Give up with the baby rice and go with pure fruit & veg - baby rice is yucky!!!

DS2 was completely disgusted by the whole weaning lark for ages. I can't remember what he liked first. Loathed baby rice though, I remember that! He loved pumpkin (which smells awful when you cook it!)

It's early days

Other suggestions... Maybe give it a rest for a few days and then try again? Just give her the 2 spoonfulls she's happy with and quit the "meal" whilst she's happy?

Good luck!

Squiggle, if you feel that your dd isn't ready for weaning yet you can ignore your hv- we did! Could there be any other reason why she's waking? Also agree with musica about putting loads of milk in and blending it well. Our dd really liked organic dried apricot (make sure they're free of sulphur) cooked with apple and pureed with milk, then put through a sieve. HTH

Don't know if this will help, but DS2, 4 1/2 months, only likes 4 or 5 spoonfuls and then cries. Giving him solids in the morning or at lunchtime seems OK. Afternoon or evening solids seem to make him wake up at 3am and constantly b/f until about 7. Mmm, nice! We've learned our lesson, but they are all different. I think 4-5 months might be a bit early and wish I had waited, as it didn't really solve the sleep problem.

not sure if this helps but i found that when weaning my ds the knack was to give him some of his normal milk feed 1st so that he wasn't really hungry..it took the edge of his hunger & then he was quite content to try a few spoonfuls & to be honest this early on thats all you should really be worried about...weaning is about getting them used to having a foreign object (spoon) & different texture (food)put in their mouths....as you progress it becomes more about what you're actually giving them to eat....of course this is all just in my opinion. Also add as the others...baby rice was a waste of time...i just got on with the normal foods pureed...loved carrots, butternut squash & other root vegtables were quite a good starter...he also loved the fruits...apples, etc & mashed bannana with alittle of his milk was a real favorite!

I was just about to post a thread on this myself.

One thing though - my baby rice is delicious! (maybe that's because the ingredients also list sugar and vanilla, possibly not great for dd).

After pulling my hair out for a week I discovered that despite what it says on the jars, fruit is not good for my previously breast-fed four month old. She'll eat it (although clearly doesn't enjoy it) but will then scream all afternoon - we've just had a very very stressful house move so I didn't make the connection before.

So maybe that'll help. Still having massive food problems though - I think I'll start another thread for that.

Squiggle, have you tried feeding her by dipping your finger in the food and letting her suck it off your finger. she may be more comfortable with the texture of your finger than a hard spoon.HTH

Personally I'd forget it for a week or two. It's not going to do you any favours if she has bad associations with food at this age. HTH

it really is just a matter of getting them used to the spoon etc etc not really a need to get food into them. Honestly you will soon be wondering why you worried about it I know I did. A couple of spoons is excellent at this stage. Also baby rice/other freebies is usually a good starter as you really are just getting them used to the spoon and having food on their lips/tips of mouth. Good luck.

Also as anais said... forget it for a while go back to it when you and baby are relaxed enough to enjoy the next development stage. It's a bit like walking for the first time sometimes they have a go and decide to leave it for a while or ages or some just go and never look back. Keep smiling!

Also as anais said... forget it for a while go back to it when you and baby are relaxed enough to enjoy the next development stage. It's a bit like walking for the first time sometimes they have a go and decide to leave it for a while or ages or some just go and never look back. Keep smiling!

it really is just a matter of getting them used to the spoon etc etc not really a need to get food into them. Honestly you will soon be wondering why you worried about it I know I did. A couple of spoons is excellent at this stage. Also baby rice/other freebies is usually a good starter as you really are just getting them used to the spoon and having food on their lips/tips of mouth. Good luck.

I too have been trying to wean dd and gave up then started again but without the baby rice. She has had carrot, apple and apricot and banana porridge which she loves. Sometimes she doesn't want anything and other times she wants far more than I give her. I have tried different times of day but the best is lunch time between her morning milk and afternoon milk must say even a little food makes her drink less but she is also teething so I don't know if that is it, and she sleeps even less at night than before but better in the day! I now don't worry if she doesn't want it, don't force it and don't worry try again tomorrow. Good luck

Thanks for the advice, I've decided to go at her pace now (as if I ever had much choice!) and stop if she looks unhappy. Bizarrely she couldn't get enough of the pureed carrots she had for breakfast this morning whereas last week she couldn't stand them so think I'll just take it slowly.

Also have just started weaning 4month old ds2. Seems to be going well so far but I think part of the problem is that the amount of baby rice they tell you to mix up on the packet is ridiculous. Here you are with a huge bowl full and the baby, who has never eaten anything before, only wants a couple of spoonfuls. To you it seems that they haven't eaten anything and it can be quite disheartening. I make up half the amount which doesn't look quite so daunting.

I agree with all the other postings - just take it easy and go by your baby's lead.