weaning help

[stareyes]

hi my baby is now 4 months old and iv started to wean him. he is eating but im not sure how much i should give him. iv given him half a jar or the 128 cow and gate or such like. if he is still hungry i top him up with milk after. he has just started to drink water. i know its early but he has always been advanced and he is looking for it not. he has just gone into 6-9 month old clothes and he is still getting very long for that. he is nearly in 9-12. he is not fat just very tall. im only 5ft 2. my husband is 6ft. ahhhhhhh

xxxxxx

I generally start with baby porridge for the first week or two, once a day, just a few spoonfulls to start with but more if they are keen. Then after that I introduce pureed carott and then pureed apple (don't introduce two new thing in a day or a combination of things together) give each new thing a couple of days before adding something else, after a month I would generally have them on 3 very small meals a day, one porridge, one veg, one fruit, for the first couple of months solids aren't meant to replace milk, your just getting them used to eating.
I'm not saying this is the best way to wean, it's just how I do it!

He doesn't need food at four months. He needs milk. If he is hungry, he needs more milk.

You have to remember that milk is a complete food for babies. It has more calories, protein and fat in it than any solid food they can have at this age. Read the ingredients in the jar of baby food - I'm guessing it's fruit/veg puree, baby rice and water, or similar. None of those are as nutritious for your baby as breast (or formula) milk. I would stop the jars and offer more milk for at least another month and a half.

The signals for being ready to wean are not waking in the night or looking at food. They are: being able to sit up independently, put things in his mouth independently, put things in his mouth and keep them there (ie his tongue doesn't push them back out). If any of those aren't there yet, he isn't ready to wean - and they probably aren't there at four months. I would honestly just offer more milk at this stage.

he can sit independantly, and hold things in his mouth. i honeslty don't know how at his age he is doing all thins. i can't belive it.

Sorry stareyes, you're completely wasting your time and probably making life harder for yourself in the long run. At four months your baby's gut (and this is ALL babies) is not sufficiently developed, physiologically, to digest anything other than milk. He literally can't do anything with the food you're putting into him because his gut is too immature still to be able to break it down. He can't get the calories out of it. The only thing he can get nutrition from is milk. Solids at this point can actually damage the gut and set up long-term gastric issues. Also, solid food will fill him up without providing him with nutrition, so he will actually be hungrier.

I must stress - this is not one of those things like crawling that babies do at different ages. The gut is not developed enough to digest solids until 24 weeks minimum.

There is a four-month growth spurt. Fill him up with milk, don't try to jump the gun on solids.

for the first month or so i would keep his portions to about 1-2 ice cube size portions per meal. That is roughtly equivilent to 1-2 tablespoons.

baby rice is a good place to start. Apples, Pears, and carrots are good first foods also. it is best to offer them seperately at first as it makes it easier to identify any reactions should be prove to be sensitive.

I always gave my DD milk for breakfast and would offer her solids at around 11am. THis was after her morning nap and when she seemed most enthusiastic to try new things. As she got more and more established on solids we then added dinner at around 5pm and then eventually breakfast.
Until she was 6 months i always offered milk first, that way they are only topping up their tummies if they are still hungry and not missing out on the milk which they still need.

After 6 months we offered milk afterwards. DD was an enthusiastic eater and started dropping milk feeds fairly quickly after that.

I agree with sugarplumfairy - give milk first, then try with just tastes of things like baby rice. DC will get all the milk they need that way, but you are still introducing the idea of solids.

My two DD's both began weaning around 4/5 months :)

octaviapink, the british dietetic association disagree with you.

www.bda.uk.com/publications/statements/PositionStatementWeaning.pdf

I wouldn't bother with baby rice. It only contains the nutrients of the milk you mix it with. In fact most weaning foods that are suitable from 4m are less calorific than milk. Pureed veg? Diet food.

I would say wait till six months when they can have virtually owt, and just give them what you have with less salt (BLW). No need to puree or buy jars then either. Just cut in to shapes they can handle.

Then you can all enjoy it together.

And the NHS would disagree with the BDA

www.nhs.uk/start4life/pages/no-rush-to-mush.aspx

stareyes, my baby was very tall too, and always seemed advanced to me. But actually I regret weaning him early. The fact that he could sit up quite well with support and chewed everything in sight was deceptive: his gut was still too immature.
Maybe try again in a month's time? Then he'll be more ready for it. I would skip baby rice -- it's just a filler. Pureed pear and sweet potato are good first foods and are slow-release energy, but breastmilk or formula should still be the main source of nutrition for a while yet!