Basic advice on starting weaning

[hotmama]

My dd is 23 weeks tomorrow and was 18lbs at her last weigh-in a fortnight ago. She has always been a good sleeper but has started waking earlier and earlier and wants her first feed NOW!

She has been formula fed from 10 weeks (was breast fed but she started losing weight so was advised to switch - dd is happy but I wish I had persevered and will try next time).

DD is now finishing all her feeds and still seems a bit moany - combined with waking earlier - seem to be classic weaning signs.

I want to try to stick it out to the 6 months watershed (especially as I feel I have 'failed' as I am not still breastfeeding - but hey I must get over it).

Basically, I would like advice from other mumsnetters who have stuck it out and when you did start weaning. Additionally,when you did start weaning - what exactly did you do?

Thanks

i started when dd was nearly 5 months. Gave babyrice mixed with bmilk as an extra feed to get her used to the taste and texture and feeding off a spoon. I had a very small soft tipped spoon and got a spoonful down her the first time. Did this once a day for a week or so and then added in an extra feed so she was having two babyrice meals a day.

After about 2 weeks I started giving her pureed carrot, then pureed apple, then pear. over time i varied the veg, you find out when she wants more cos she demands it.

i used to batch cook and freeze in icecube trays then store in plastic bags in freezer

Yep - thats what I did too, although with dd1 I held out till she was 5.5 months and this time I am trying to wait until dd2 is 6 months. For the 1st 2 weeks just baby rice (which is bizarre stuff - either runny or solid depending on what it feels like being. I would make it exactly the same and one day it would be runny and the next solid) and then moved onto veg. purees that I made mixed in with a bit of EBM. It does take them a few days to get used to having solids and then they are like baby birds.

I started when dd was 15 weeks. I gave her baby rice for the first 2 weeks at lunch time as well as her milk then replaced it with vegtable purees. The next fortnight I added baby rice again for breakfast and then again in another fortnight I gave a fruit puree for tea.

I have read various books etc - but seem so confused. I know it seems you start with baby rice and then move on to carrot/apple purees etc.

How long do you just give baby rice and then purees, when do you move to 2 feeds then 3 feeds a day, when do you drop to 3 milk feeds a day? Ahhhhh can't she just drink milk forever!

I just gave DS bits of steamed veg and fruit to chew. Then breadsticks, ricecakes, cheese sticks (lil moo ones) and chicken. He eats pretty much anything now and I didn't puree anything ever. Couldn't be arsed. DS seems fine on it!

I'd give her one baby rice a day for 2 weeks, every change you make do it at about 2 weeks. Try the pureed veg for about 3 days, to see if she has a reaction. I found the Annabel Karmel book really useful to help me with all of this

hotmama, I think if you wait until 6 months, you can leave out a lot of the faff - purees and baby rice and all that. That's certainly my plan - DS2 was 24 weeks on Friday.

At six months, you can try mashed up stuff, or soft stuff, and see how they cope. Keep a close eye on them, make sure they don't choke, and see how they feel about the food.

The advice most people give is not to try too many things at once for the simple reason that if your baby has a reaction you will be able to pin point it easier.

When dd was eating babyrice for brekkie and puree for lunch I dropped the late evening feed which enabled me to get her in to her own room and have a proper night time routine.

As for dropping other feeds that all depends on you and baby. I think the recommendation for milk is no less than a pint in a day but that could be divided between as many or a little bottles as you want. As your little one gets older the milk can be put in to the cooking or you could account for it in yoghurts IYKWIM.

NBG, I'm of the opinion (possibly misguided!) that the advice about being SO careful with introducing foods one at a time over a period of a week or so came into popular use when babies were weaned at 4 months. After all, if we continued in this vein, I'd have tasted candyfloss for the first time last week

I was more cautious when I first gave DS food (he had some of the less likely to cause allergies fruit and veg (no tomatoes, for instance) and no egg whites. I have eczema, hayfever and a few fruit allergies, so I steered clear of peaches, plums and apples for the first few months.

He still doesn't have added salt (obviously!) or sugar, so I think he eats a better diet than a lot of children his age - and he feeds himself beautifully (he's 11 months).

Thanks for all the advice so far - I'll keep looking for further postings.

DD has also got a touch of infant eczema which is being treated by Epaderm from the GP - no allergies, eczema or asthma in the family - so I hope she grows out of it. However, I don't want to exarcerbate the condition by early weaning (assuming there is a link)

Also, going away for Easter and thought leaving weaning until after would be easier?

Leave it as long as you can, hotmama It's hassle!

That would probably make sense as dd was weaned at 15 weeks and that was the recommendation at the time.

I really enjoyed making up foods for dd. It is a faff but it has to be done sometime.

I cook for DS now - I enjoy that - I just leave out the 'simply whizz it all up in a blender' bit