May Babies.......part3!!

[Egypt]

boo!

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Is anyone else getting grilled by family members asking when they are going to start weaning? Has anyone started weaning yet, just out of interest or are you all waiting until the 6 month mark?

Dd2 is 15 weeks old and today, yet again, my granny asked me when I was going to start her on solids. I said not yet and she pointed out that dd1 must have started solids around 4 months, well yes she did, can't remember exactly when but she was around 4 months as were the guidelines at the time. I told her guidelines now were to wait until 6 months old. Granny said you can't wait until she's 6 months old that's far too long she'll never last that long on just milk. I pointed out that she's not exactly a skinny little thing and won't waste away to nothing waiting an extra couple of months. She told me that Dr's don't know anything and that I should start her on solids soon, Gggrrrr.

Dd2 woke up at 3am this morning. It was strange, I could her her chattering away to herself, I ignored her but she kept going so I got up and she's kicked her cover off so I put it back on and went back to bed but she kept chattering and was getting a bit more annoyed. So I picked her up and gave her a cuddle then put her back to bed and she went to sleep. She wasn't hungry as it wasn't a hungry cry, she wasn't really crying anyway, but I did wonder briefly about solids. Then decided that what I should do is increase her bottles to 7oz since she's now over 14lbs. so we'll see if she wakes again tonight, hopefully not though. Might buy her a grow bag tomorrow though so she can't kick the covers off. She certainly wasn't cold at 3am though as it was really hot here last night.

Dh and I went out for a meal last night, one down plenty more still to have, lol seeing as we missed, birthdays, anniversaries etc I think we should have a seperate meal out for all of them, Dh doesn't agree of course, lol Then we went along to a 21st birthday party of someone he works with. Had a good time but after the party finished they all said they were going to the local nightclub, Dh and I politely declined, being the old fuddy duddies that we are, lol I would never have managed the dancing as I'd had a cold and wasn't feeling that great and Dh was opening the restaurant at 9am this morning plus his mum was babysitting and was expecting us home before 3am. Maybe next time.

ooh Twiglett you posted before I posted, took me ages to write that post blethering to dh while typing always makes me take ages.

I should have said that when one of us is eating Dd2 watched us and opens her mouth as if to say where's mine? That makes me think that maybe I should try her with food before 6 months but I also want to wait just to prove to my granny that I'm in charge not her. I have the Annabel Karmel book and it is from 4 months but the guidelines have changed since it was published. I have an oldish one. I'm going to check with the HV when I'm there next Monday for the Men C jab.

linnet - don't check with the HV - they are often very behind with current practice and wil probably tell you to wean at 16 weeks.

This is stuff gleaned from other posts on mumsnet re weaning.
At 4 months babies often become very inquisitive and look carefully at quite small things - this can be mistaken for an interest in food - it's not particularly the food they are interested in, but your every action.
There is a 4 month growth spurt. This often means people wean, and lo and behold soon after starting solids the baby will return top previous sleep patterns. THis has nothing to do with the solids - they will return to normal if you jsut continue with milk.
Baby rice, pureed pear, puireed carrot etc have far lower calorific content than milk (formula or breast) so starting solids won't actually help a hungry baby at all - far better to up the number/size of milk feeds. In the first few weeks of solids it'snot about providing nutrition, it's about offering different tastes/sensations.

So from listening to the above I am definately going to be waiting until 6 months.

Well done Prufrock, very timely.

So d'you reckon on not even offering tastes of things? I'm looking forward to the fun of that but obviously don't want to shock the wee guts.

I have been letting DS have a taste on the very tip of my finger of anything natural - I have a thing for fruit smoothies at the moment and he seems to like those but he really does get the tiniest amount. Right now he seems to be liking the taste of his vibrating caterpillar more.

So is everyone else getting giggles? or is my DS just very grumpy? He seems very interested in people, just not smiling at them (the photographer nearly keeled over trying to get him to smile last week . . .)

i'm glad you're mostly all trying to wait until 6 months. to be honest, the thought of weaning scares me to death. i don't want my baby to grow up!!! i haven't got the foggiest about solids - well ok, i have a fair idea, but it just becomes so much more difficult than bringing out the boob!

had our neighbours round last night. hmmmm, very noisy. all i could think was, 'they're going to wake dd'. when they went to the loo, they slammed the door and locked it like a prison cell. could hear them from outside. dd's bedroom is right nextdoor to the bathroom. i didn't say anything because i dont want to be one of those mums, but honestly. then they kept saying, "shhhhh, you'll wake the baby", everytime the other of them laughed. when dd finally did wake up at 11, one of them kept shouting at the monitor "SHUT UP DD". i was not amused. got up to go and feed her and was told "LEAVE HER ALONE, she's ok. don't rush in to her." As I leave the garden, saying, "but she's hungry, she's not going to go to sleep again". Blimey.

Anyway, she downed a bottle of formula then - just to experiment, but she was awake again at 2.30. i think i must just have a hungry baby at the moment. awake again at 5 then 8.

libb, i am paranoid about the autistic side of things too. not that she is showing any signs, but dh's cousin is, and i just worry that it could be in the genes. i'm sure he's fine if he is smiling at you some of the time. some babies are more smiley than others, surely. just like people.

bought a citroen xsara picasso yesterday . wanted the peugeot 307 that we saw but dh talked me round. spose the picasso is more practical, and i did actually really want one. the only thing is, (and this is very girly) the 307 was silver and the picasso is light blue - and i prefer silver! how sad.

no, we're not getting giggles yet libb, just smiles. as soon as a camera is put in her face, its like getting blood out of a stone though. those smiley pics are 1 in about 10 shots on the digi camera! dd is going to the photographers on weds.

Thanks Egypt! that makes me feel better already. I really felt for the back peddling friend, I could see her squirming so I tried very hard not to throw millions of questions at her but I still wanted to know more (if that makes sense?). Her DS is so sweet and really earns his darling status. Although he wouldn't talk to me afte he realised the bouncy castle had been taken down in the garden, horrible libb.

I know I shouldn't worry so much, the libblet is very alert and "chats" to me all time. I can't imagine where he gets that from . . .

am i right in thinking that everyone on here who is bf still has waking babies and those on formula are sleeping through? people i chat to seem to give the impression that that is the general rule.

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Egypt - not true. Have you seen this thread here

There are babies who do not sleep well at night, breast ands bottle.

Twiglett, I will have all my bits crossed for you! sounds like a dream routine. Last night DS slept from 8 until 5am but I think he was cream crackered from being the dandy socialite at the impromptu barbecue we had (ended up with 12 people in total!) It will be hell's wrath for us tonight I fear.

He doesn't care for his vibrating caterpilar either, has been sick on it already.

Egypt... ds2 is sleeping from 10.30/11ish through to 7am and he's completely breastfed - I think it's just the luck of the draw, tbh.

oh well, i am going to have to except the fact that night feeds are going to be here to stay for a while. she is very good mind, goes back to sleep straight away, it's just that she has begun this 11pm waking thing again, when she would usually go til 1 or 2am. to dream feed or not to dream feed, that is the question?! may just leave her again tonight and see what happens.

DD went from 11 to 4 last night. Egypt it always seems the same to me also that bf babies wake more often but as mears says its probably the type of baby regardless of how its fed. My Mum says to me 'you slept straight through the night from birth' why couldnt I have had a baby like me???
DD finally went to sleep at 10 on dp's lap and then I fed her at 10.30 and put her in her cot. She was fine the rest of the night and is happy as larry in her bouncy chair at the moment.
We dont get giggles only smiles, we do get a lot of them though. DP's comment to a friend yesterday was 'he could show her his bum and shed still smile' Im hoping he wont put this into practice, LOL. She almost rolled over yesterday, she went from back to side.

Weigh in today and she had better have put weight on this time.

In regards to weaning, my health visitor advises waiting until 6 months but I have said that I go back to work at 5.5 months and I would like to wean dd around then so that I can do it instead of mil.

kbaby - hope you don't mind me butting in but you could still wean at 6 months if you want to - just start by introducing solid food at breakfast or in the evening (I think someone suggested this to someone else on the April thread).
I am considering weaning my dd earlier than 6 months but that is because I don't know if she will take a bottle and I want her to be able to get some nourishment from food if we have a problem getting milk down her.

hewsletdaughter thanks, i didnt think of that, because all the weaning books recommended doing it on the lunch time feed i didnt think i had a option. At the moment she's way off weaning anyway. She seems quite happy on milk and doesnt seem hungry.

Do you mind me asking what weaning books you have? I saw what looked like a good one a couple of years ago - it was by Susannah Oliver, but I can't find it now.
Should have said - I'm going back to work at 6 months so that's why I'm thinking about the milk/food thing at the moment.

kbaby - I weaned my last baby at 6 months and was working. I expressed milk for her and when I started solids, I did it when I was off. How many hours are you going to be working? Is it shift work or Mon-Fri. Is there a time you are home every day? Perhaps you will have qweekends off. You can wean and woork at the same time. There are ways round it. I had a huge stock of frozen milk in the freezer for going back to work. I just replace it with whatever I expressed - didn't always have time to do it at work but it sorted itself out. Sometimes I expressed when I got home because DD had already been fed. After starting weaning at 6 months, she very quickly increased to 3 meals a day - probably within a month. I did not always give her milk feeds when I was working. I tended to always leave EBM for night shifts but if my stock ran low, she had juice with her solids and me when she got home. I never used formula at all.

The book I have is what to expect in the first year. I need to buy a proper one with recipies in etc. My plan is to continue bf and express at work. Ill be working full time mon-fri. im hoping the expressing will be ok as I cant normally get that much milk when I try at home, not sure if a electric pump would be better. If not then ill do formula in the day and bfeeding at home. I was hoping to try weaning just for 1 meal a day so that if I do have problems expressing hopefully I wont have to do as much milk as if I hadnt weaned. Dont know if this is correct or not.

God, how much expressing do you have to do for a full week at work? sorry if that sounds a bit negative but how does it work? do you have to express on the job (like the lady on the side of the avent isis box I suppose)

Kbaby is your mil your childminder then?

Hewlettsdaughter have you got a childminder all lined up for your dd? I think Libb has one (a fairy godmother type person by the sounds of things )...Who else is going down that route, and is anyone checking out nurseries already?

spots - am supposed to be sorting out a childminder instead of being on mumsnet...

you should check nurseries as early as possible - childminders can be sorted nearer the time you go back (IME)