help me please WEANING HELP mum going over the edge

[stareyes]

im so bloody confused with all this follow on milk and stuff like that. he is eating 2 or 3 meals a day now had to wean him early (don't ask) so he is now 6 months old. he is also getting about 2 bottles a day. im so confused should those bottles be follow on milk or is follow on milk like just a drink he should have. he has just started waking during the night again as well. I feel like i really don't know what im doing at the min. really confusing i just wanna scream. my husband works away lots and when he is home he needs to sleep so im doing it all. i end up like being a single mum. i have a lot of other bad stuff going on at the min and this is just really stressing me out.

PLEASE HELP.

And yes definitely mix everything with formula not water!

Also if he won't drink milk then you can use milk in foods to count towards the 20oz a day he should be having.

Milk in cereal is a good start and yoghurts and sauces made with milk like cheese sauce also can increase his milk intake.

I don't think your 'timetable' sounds particularly unusual. Weaning is hard work though! Mine didn't really take to it till about 8 months.
At 6-7 months they did
7ish - milk
8 - baby porridge with milk
11 ish milk
1 bit of mushed up something then milk
5 bit of toast or banana and milk
before bed / milk
in the night milk!
They definately had a lot of MILK!

What I mean to stay was at this stage they are mainly having milk and you are giving foods more to get them used to the idea rather than as their main source of nourishment.
I found it hard as it basically involved doing all the normal milk feeds + 3 extra food meals!

Hi, I'm at this stage with ds, he also turns his nose up at his bottle if he wants food. I spoke to my hv about it and she suggested:

8am breakfast eg fruit or baby porridge (make with formula rather than water)

10am bottle approx 7oz

2pm lunch - either a jar type baby food or pureed real food, also suggested something like a jacket potato and just mash it up with butter.

4pm bottle - but only about 5 oz

5-6pm tea - either a jar or what we r having but pureed, only things not to offer baby at this stage is honey or salt!

7.30 bedtime routine eg bath bottle bed or whatever you do. Bottle should be about 8/9 oz.

Apparently the follow on milk contains iron because after 6 months the stores of it that baby had at birth are depleted. As long as you are feeding a balanced diet you can stick with your normal formula, but with the offers on follow on milk and getting clubcard points or whatever it's worth considering using that anyway! With the night waking, you may be givin solids too late for your lo, imagine going to bed with a very full tummy, you wouldn't sleep very well either! Hope this helped, it set my mind straight when she told me!

Just go with loads of milk and relax till he's a bit older. I am also weaning 6 1/2 month old and just giving as much milk (normal formula on special offer) as she will take, plus whatever solids I can get down her. She has no teeth, leans precariously when sitting up, and so have said bollocks to the paediatrician's advice to give her two full meals a day complete with parmesan cheese and olive oil . 6 months is still early I think. She has four full 210 ml normal formula feeds a day and ten spoons of pureed chicken and veg, baby rice and fruit at lunch and dinner.

I also got told by her that if you started weaning early eg between 17-20 weeks, then once you hit the 6 month mark you should be increasing the food a fair bit and decreasing the milk so that food is providing the bulk of the days calories and nutrients, although that seems to be the opposite of what most people on here are saying, it came from my health visitor so I'm sticking to that.

I'm not sure the official NHS line differentiates for when you started weaning - just says that between 6-12months, a baby on 3 meals a day still needs at least 500-600ml formula a day. I weaned before 6 months but just made sure that any food was on top of milk, not replacing milk feeds til after 6 months.

At 12 months solid food should make up 50% of their calorie intake, with about 350ml full fat cow's milk between 12-24 months.

I've been wondering the same things too. My ds is now 7 months and is dropping his milk in favour of solids. FYI his day currently goes along the lines of:

7am: 8ozs bottle formula (still on 1st stuff, but am tempted by offers on follow-on to save money).
8am: baby cereal made with milk
11am: 6ozs bottle
12: solids e.g scrambled egg/beans on toast, yogurt
3pm: 6ozs bottle
5pm: solids e.g root veg mash, chicken with some fruit for pudding
6.30pm-7pm: 6ozs bottle

Like I said though, he is leaving some of his bottles, but will eat and eat if I let him! It is really difficult to know what to do sometimes isn't it?! Agree with the others though that two bottles doesn't seem enough, and to offer it first.

thanks guys. he is now sleeping through the night again and is being a happy baby again.