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Parenting

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Original poster

weaning help please

20 replies

mummyjenjen · 03/03/2008 20:54

i have been weaning my son since he was 4 months as hes always been a hungry baby he has 9 ounces of hungry baby milk at 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 7pm and at 12pm he has 4 teaspoons of a savoury babyfood then at 3pm he has 4tsp savoury and 4tsp sweet baby food like fruit puree and hes been sleeping through since i added the 12 solids meal but today i went to the baby clinic and they said if he puts much more weight on he'l be overweight hes 5 months old and 19pound 15ounces im really confused as to what to do now and how to progress his weaning without making him overweight please help i just need some kind of routine on how much of what to give him and when and when to introduce say a sweet after the 12pm feed or a breakfast! i no its a big ask jut need some help!

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VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:05

How old is he now?

TBH I wouldn't give hungry baby milk and solids if you're determined to feed him solids, can you not put him back on normal milk?

You say he has been sleeping through, did you know this isn;t a good indicator of actually meeting the right requirements food/milkwise, it often seems a target for new mums to get baby sleping through but this shouldn't be achieved by overfeeding, you could make him poorly and I'm sure you don't want to do that.

It can be incredibly hard and I'm sure someone will have better advice than I do tbh.
Hang in there and you'll get the help you need.

VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:06

Sorry, I just noticed you said he is 5 months old.

Does he need the solids yet? I mean really? How does he react if you don't give him them?

blissa · 03/03/2008 21:11

Hi mummyjenjen your little man sounds just like my ds was at that age, I've just checked his red book and at 19 weeks he was over 18lbs!

Have you considered cutting out the 12pm bottle and giving more solids with some water?

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Original poster

mummyjenjen · 03/03/2008 21:23

i dont overfeed him it kind of went like this , i breastfed him until 6 weeks
then i put him on normal milk at 5ounces every 3 hours
then he ended up crying his eyes out 1hour before he was due a feed so i upped his milk to 7ounces
this helped until he was around 12weeks and the health visitor told me to give him 9ounces
then a week later he was showing signs of hunger (crying,rooting etc) 1hr and a half after his feeds so i went back to the health visitor n she told me to put him on 7ounces of hungry baby milk every 31/2 hours so i did and this worked for a while the next time i saw the health visitor she told me to give him 9ounces hungry milk every 4 hours he was great on this untill 4months when he started showing signs of wanting to wean again i followed my health visitors advice as she told me to start on baby rice . I asked her if i should reduce the milk while weaning and she told me that DS would kind of do it himself so i continued to progress with the weaning. the thing that annoys me is that every week when my baby was weighed and was bigger than other boys his age i asked the health visitor if i should worry about his weight she told me he was a great weight and a v.healty baby every week i ask the same and she assures me hes fine untill now , it annoys me that if she had told me her concerns earlier id of been able to do alot more about it! i can assure eeryone that my son is not overfed and that i let him eat to his appetite sometimes he'll leave some and i dont try and coax him in to eating it!

If i went back to normal milk wouldnt he just be starving all the time? and would i increase his solids intake then?

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Original poster

mummyjenjen · 03/03/2008 21:25

im just really scared that he'll be really hungry and that ill be cutting his milk too soon i just feel lost on this whole weaning thing!!! yea at 19weeks my son was 19pound 3!

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VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:33

Thing with HV's is they can quite often be clueless and give crap advice, it may not have been that he was hungry but obviously you're going to listen to her and he will get used to what he ahs been given.

I'm not suggesting you're force feeding him but maybe he was crying because he ate/drank too much? Hunger and being overfull can feel very similar to a baby.

Also when babies are formula fed they need water for thirst sometimes, maybe try offering him water before his feeds to see if he is just thirsty rather than hungry?

blissa · 03/03/2008 21:33

Some babies are hungrier than others.

What advice did the hv give you today?

You can make up the loss of one bottle by giving yogurts, cheese, etc

VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:34

Also if you're going to cut anything, change the milk to normal formula, and/or cut out his solids.

He doesn;t need solids yet and if you're worrying about his weight then it wouldn't hurt to try.

Lulumama · 03/03/2008 21:36

feed him milk on demand, and not in a routine, let him guide you, feeding him as much as he wants when he wants it will let him work with his own appetites

hungry baby milk and solids at this age is a lot for a small tummy to cope with

you can drop food at this age as weaning age is receommended to be 26 weeks

you can go back to basics, feed him stage one milk as often as he wants, and then reintroduce food

no need for water IMO, his tummy needs filling with milk and milk alone

you don;t need to introduce pudding or in fact worry about how much food he has as long as he gets lots of milk

Flum · 03/03/2008 21:39

Yeah I would give him ordinary baby milk not hungry baby. I spose if you were really worried about his weight you could dilute it a little bit more than it says so he gets more water. I don't think pureed veg will make him put on weight though#!!

VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:41

You shouldn't ever make up bottles incorrectly should you?
I thought that was a health risk.

Lulumama · 03/03/2008 21:42

no, do not dilute the milk, it is designed to be made up to the specifications on the tin, so that the right amount of nutrients are in the feed.

it is really imporatnt to make up formula correctly.

Lulumama · 03/03/2008 21:43

milk is the main source of nourishment for the first year, so for a 5 month old, milk should be the focus, and made up correctly.

Original poster

mummyjenjen · 03/03/2008 21:44

thankyou flum thats what i thought , thanks everyone i might try putting him back on normal milk , the health visitor told me to increase his solids and decrease his milk but wouldnt that just give him exactly the same calorie intake?!

and is it really ok to go back to normal milk after hungry milk? i thought it was a kind of no return zone!

OP posts:

VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:47

Jen, all the hungry milk does is take longer to digest, it's filled with extra bits to make it last longer in their stomach, the night-time mil (pretty similar) has potato starch and rice flakes in it

You may find he wants a bit more of the normal milk til he gets used to it but I really would try cutting it back to the normal one.

VictorianSqualor · 03/03/2008 21:48

Also, if your HV is complaining about his weight, tell ehr you're only doing what she suggested and don't feel she gave you the best advice at his age he needs milk, not solids, she shoudl have tried to help you better.
It's not on.

blissa · 03/03/2008 21:49

I tried ds on hungry baby milk and then went back to normal, perhaps make up 10oz and see what he takes

Seona1973 · 03/03/2008 21:52

hungry milk has the same calories as normal milk but if your lo is happy on it I wouldnt think you would need to switch back. Hungry milk can be given alongside solids (I did it till 9 months then moved to follow on milk as it was a bit cheaper - I did try to change to follow on around 6 months but ds got unsettled so I stuck with the hungry milk till 9 months).

I didnt start weaning ds till he was 5 1/2 months but by then he was over 20lbs (he was 19lb 1oz at 21 weeks and 20lb 13oz at 25 weeks). I have never had negative comments about his weight and his weight gain did slow down when he started crawling, walking, etc. The extra weight has also served him well when he was ill with chicken pox, d & v and a viral infection - if he had been lighter he would be looking a bit scrawny by now.

Your lo doesnt sound as if he is taking that much solids so I doubt that a bit of fruit/veg is piling on the pounds. Some babies are bigger than others and need more feeding - I'd keep with what you are doing and ignore the 'helpful' hv advice.

Seona1973 · 03/03/2008 21:56

p.s. hungry milk is not filled with 'bits', it is simply more casein dominant compared to whey dominant first milk and can take longer to digest. My ds still took the same amount at the same intervals but seemed more satisfied on it compared to first milk. (the night-time milk is full of other stuff but hungry milk is not)

Original poster

mummyjenjen · 03/03/2008 22:02

thanks seona i was starting to feel like the worst mum in the world! he is an extremley happy baby rarley cries and sleeps through all the time untill today i felt i was doing a great job as everyone loves my big strong boy! he is not over weight yet so i think hes ok for now and like you say the weight will come of when hes more active!

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