Weaning questions/worries

[Newmum0113]

Hi all

DD is 27 weeks. We started her with a half a rusk a day at 23 weeks. She was fine with it, no tummy upset etc.

Then suddenly out of the blue she started crying all evening and not sleeping thru (8pm-4am) anymore.

We stopped the rusks and it made no difference. HV had no advice as to why - said more likely to be teething troubles. Suggested we start proper weaning into fruit and veg (still with formula!)

So we started with baby porridge for breakfast and moved up to level 3 on the teats as I felt like it was trapped wind unsettling her on the evenings. This seemed to work quite well, and she went back to sleeping in her cot from 8pm-1am, feed then back to sleep til 4/5am.

Then we gave home cooked things like sweet potato or carrots at lunch and dinner, along with porridge for breakfast. No problem for that week.

However, I've been giving her the cow & gate food pots but the last two nights she just won't settle again, DH thinks that's she shouldn't have food at 4pm before going to bed at 7-8pm as that's what's upset her.
Also she hasn't pooed today at all, and only once yesterday afternoon (usuly get one dirty nappy in the morning, 1-2 in the afternoon) and DH thinks it might be the c&g pots being too rich.

I'm inclined to agree with him and switch back to making fresh veg for her at lunch time and skip the ready made pots altogether. Just thought they might be good for on the go?

What have your weaning experiences been like? Has it affected your DCs patterns etc? When did you start giving three meals a day? When did you start making a meal for them, ie meat and veg and drink, instead of formula/bf?

TIA x

Ok, to answer the more important points first.

Your baby needs breast milk/formula up until 12 months of age, feeds will reduce gradually (best to follow baby's lead) but at 6 months bm/formula should be the main source of calories and nutrition.

You should only move up to 3 meals a day by around 8 to 9 months, so I would only offer 1 meal a day at 27 weeks.

I would imagine that the change in sleep patterns were just coincidental and nothing to do with eating solids. It's pretty unusual for a 23 week old to sleep through from 8 till 4 btw! I doubt that a small amount of food at 4pm is going to upset bedtime at 7 to 8 pm.

The ready made pots of food are unlikely to be too rich (what does that really mean anyway?), depending on what's in them. I'm assuming they are just veg/fruit purée? I would imagine that it's just that she's having too much food at the moment and her digestion is too immature. This could be a cause of the constipation. You may find that improves if you reduce the amount of food you give her.

There's no issue with using the ready made food occasionally, as you say they may be convenient for being out and about. However I wouldn't rely on them and offer them daily - fresh family cooking (no added salt and don't use honey as it's a botulism risk) is going to offer better nutrition in the long run.

Have a look at the NHS advice on weaning or the Mumsnet weaning pages which have lots of useful info on this topic.

Hi thanks for your reply. I looked for weaning pages on here but couldn't see them. What section are they under?

I'm following the nhs guidelines but they are very general and don't really suggest a detailed timeframe, probably because every child is different :)

She did a massive runny poop this morning as usual so not sure she was constipated. I've got a book in my drawer which I will have to consult - first time mum, I think it's called.

Just wanted to get some other peoples experiences really as the only RL advice I get is from people who haven't done it for 25-30 years!

The talk section for weaning is under the "Feed the World" section, there is also a Breast & Bottle feeding section in there as well.

As it happens, I did baby led weaning with my ds. I found it made things very simple - you just put the same food you're having (no salt, no honey) down in front of them and leave them to it. It does make a fair mess in the first few weeks/months but I found it to be a method that worked for me and my ds.

Are you still giving her normal amount of milk plus meals? Drinking will help with dirty nappies. They still should be getting all their calories from milk at that age. It takes time for them to get used to weaning. Try one meal a day and go from there.

Or you could try baby led weaning and let her do her own thing with food.