Weaning help

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

DD was born 33+6 and IUGR, v small.

She was growing ok tracking 9% corrected line until she got severe bronchiolitis (full ventilator for a week) She then got it again and needed c-papp, and generally has picked up every bug going all winter so is now sat on 0.4% line. On omeprazole for silent reflux but low dose and we are gradually reducing it. She has also had a 10 course of antibiotics which we had to force into her 4 times a day this month.

Paediatrician said start solids at 6m actual.

We have been trying for a month now and are feeling really despondent, she absolutely will not accept a spoon at all (She is worse now since the antibiotics, before this we had been able to get an odd spoon of things like yoghurt in).

We are offering every finger food under the sun, and she will try to chew at these but she simply doesn't have the motor skills to actually consume enough for it to be the meaningful contribution to her diet that she needs.

Has anyone had this experience? Have you eventually managed to get your little one to accept a spoon?

Hi @NoIDontWatchLoveIsland , I’ve had two full term and one preemie (25 weeks) and none of them were good with a spoon. I deliberately did almost entirely finger foods with the full term babies and when my preemie got to weaning (at 4 months corrected) she wasn’t keen on spoons either. The advice with the full term babies was that most of their growth still comes from milk until at least 9mo. They would go for days without taking much solids, especially if teething. So I didn’t worry too much with the preemie if she didn’t take much in. I think it can take a few months to get to a meaningful amount, it’s more about getting the practice in at this age.

Has your paediatrician or dietician said how much they expect her to be eating? Practice often but don’t make it pressured, get her to join you and copy you at mealtimes. Mine ate better if they shared my plate and copied me.

If she likes finger foods then try ones that melt in the mouth and get swallowed by accident! Overcooked broccoli and bread fingers spread with thick soup were favourites for us.

There’s lots of good advice on the bliss website too

www.bliss.org.uk/parents/about-your-baby/feeding/weaning-your-premature-baby

Thanks. The issue is she also hates having vitamins & iron by syringe (she's breast fed, well, exclusively pumped) i was really hoping to get more iron rich food into her to prevent anaemia - there's some research suggesting bf babies really do need solids from 6m from an iron perspective, and she has already needed one blood transfusion. The blw foods we've come across don't seem great from an iron perspective.

Ps thanks for responding on this quiet board

No problem. We also had problems with rejecting vitamins. Preemies are often very stubborn!! You’ll get there in the end. One day at a time.

We used to put the vitamins in a bit of expressed milk before the main feed when she was super hungry. Until she started refusing bottles, grr. I know they need vitamins and iron earlier than full term babies but it’s hard when they still have the gag reflex and can’t swallow until 6/7 months past due date.

We dropped from 50th percentile to 0.4 and then had fortifier in ebm for a long time before creeping back up again. Now aged 2 she’s between 10-25th percentiles.

Keep trying the broccoli- it’s full of iron. Or try letting her suck on a piece of cooked beef to get the juice. Ironically my daughter is now two and the only thing she hates is broccoli, so maybe I overdid it!!

Hope it gets easier soon