Weaning - is ths normal?

[LittlePeaPod]

Hi all,

Just hoping to understand or get advice from the more experienced parents or anyone that works with LOs. When I say experienced I mean more than me. I hope this isnt a completely idiotic question.

I am a first time mother. DH and I have recently started weaning DD. DD wasn't too keen at first but since learning to swallow she seems to have really taken to her strawberry porridge and baby rice with baby pear or baby apple fruit purée.

I have noticed that she seems to be bunged up since we started weaning and every few days she gets so bunged up she won't take her milk or her favourite porridge. I still manage to get the required minimum 18oz of milk throughout the day but it is hard. She is also spitting out her Gripe Water which I have used in the past when she struggled with her poo.

Just wondering. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to help her poo eaiser? Does the poo situation get better as time goes on or should I be concerned?

Thank you in advance to anyone that can help or share information.

How old is she?

5 and a half months.

It's is warm where you are, I know it is here so may need more fluids.

I gave baby lots of pear purée (homemade) and kiwi and it helped a lot

We live in Yorkshire, England so the most warmth we have this year is a few days but this was before we started wearing her.

Weaning not wearing. Ha h

It is fairly normal as their digestive system adapts. Are you offering water alongside food? I would just hold off on the solids when she is constipated.

Five and a half months is a little early. Her digestive system doesn't sound ready for solids.

Whatever age you start their digestive system will take some time to adjust.

Ok thank you. I checked with HV and GP before starting weaning and they said ok. I will hold back weaning till she clears her system and then try a little bit more after. See how we go.

Thank you.

There's no rush with weaning - at 5-6 months it's just about tastes rather than nutrition so it's fine to just offer a little as she gets used to it. I think the NHS recommend working up to 3 meals by about 9 months.

I think I have buckled under my mother and mother-in-laws pressure. They have been at me since DD was 17 weeks old about weaning. With mother-in-law constantly saying "that baby is bored of milk and shevis clearly starving. You need to wean her" And my SIL weaned both hers at 19 weeks. Feeling slightly inadequate!

Don't worry too much about the "advice" from others.
I got loads from my dm and mil, apparently I started on solids at 4 months and never looked back and so did dh.
I just patiently (mostly!) explained that the advice had changed nowadays. Like the front sleeping/back sleeping and probably a million other issues.

Don't feel inadequate though! We can only do our best and it sounds like you're doing fine

Good idea to back off a little and then try again. As the pp said though, dot worry too much about quantity at the moment - it's more the experience of eating that's important, but no rush for that either.

Thanks Dilli. Normally I am quite strong and can deal with both of them quite well. (Eg ignore both of them) but they really have got to me. DH says his going to have a word with MIL if she continues.

So I currently have a teething, constipated and upset little girl. I will definetly back off..

If shes constipated a little cool boiled water may help along with some pear puree.

Thanks Smoke. Would you give her that with a bottle of milk (before or after) or would you give it outside the milk? Thanks again.

Maybe between bottles? She might be too full after a bottle of milk. Hope things clear up soon, its horrible to see them constipated.

I have suffered the same advice vitriol from my mother as apparently I weaned at 3 months. My baby my rules is my current mantra to her!!

As others have said don't force solids if she refuses just go with milk and water between meals if she wants that. My dd is 9.5 months and has refused all solid food for the last 2 days and will only take milk, no idea why but I am just going with it.

She struggled with constipation when we first started too but a lot it more because the sensation is different, think back to the early days and remember that she may have struggled when she went from meconium to normal poo iyswim - my dd really struggled and did when it required more effort to go with solids. Give her a few weeks and it will settle down again!

Thanks Where I really do appreciate hearing from other mothers. Thankfully at the moment my mother lives 2 hours away so only ever have to deal with her when she visits or when we visit. My MIL,on the other and is 10 mins away in a car.

Classic example of what MIL does (my mother would do the same). Last weekend MIL, SIL and I including children where in a coffee house. MySIL has a DS recently weaned and not totally weaned who is 10 weeks older than my DD. MIL had nephew on her lap before SIL and I knew it, MIL had handed nephew a chocolate chip cookie. His never had anything like that before and normally only has baby food.

My dd is bunged up since weaning (she is 8 months) and puréed prunes works wonders.

pea my dp's sister did that with an egg custard tart when dd was 9 weeks old but as it was at their mum's funeral I let it slide!!

Just remember that deep down they are only trying to be helpful and their intentions are good - if I didn't keep repeating this to myself I would have murdered my mum when dd was only a few days old!!

Her current favourite it using vaseline as nappy cream when dd needs changing at hers. Apparently it was a wonder cure in her day...frankly it's a bloody nightmare to get off again and makes the nappies leak like a bloody sieve but she won't be told!

Five and a half months isn't too early as a previous poster said, it's nearly 6 months so go for it! Maybe try more fruit and veg and less of the porridge tho. Enjoy x

Can you get some pureed plums/prunes? I'm in Sweden and that's what the HVs here recommend if they get constipated when weaning, but I don't know if they do it for babies in the UK.

Where I know they mean well and to be fair if it wasn't for MIL I would never get a time to myself. DH works long hours and also travels abroad alot. She is a great grandmother. She has her overnight 1 day a week so DH and I can get time and she also has her a couple hours in the morning on another 2/3 days so I can get to the gym. She is lovely but they both also do my head in about some things. Like finding my daughter parked outside in her pram alone on a rainy, cold day (she did have a pram rain cover on). It's good for her my mother tells me. It's good for her to have some fresh, cold rainy air.

Can't remember who mentioned it but apparently DH and I were also weaned at 3 months. We apparently also used to have rusks in our milk as new borns and we were also given carnation milk which was the in thing at the time!

Please I think Ella's Kitchen do prunes. I will have a look. Thank you.

I back the prunes solution. Worked for ds. Don't stress about speed of weaning. Babies take to it at different ages. Ds at 14 months has only just started eating for the sake if it ( rather than needing to be consoled).

Ps any tinned prunes will do. Don't have to be super expensive Ella's kitchen.