Early weaning experience - any thoughts?

[Lplateson]

My LO is now 11 weeks old and I am seriously thinking of starting weaning at 17 weeks. My reasons for considering this are more due to the fact that we struggle to get much milk down her at times and would like to supplement her intake. She is lactose and CMP intolerant and appears to have a silent reflux so has been placed on nutramigen AA. Her milk intake is very hit and miss: occasionally she will take 180 ml but quite often we struggle to get more than 90- 120 ml down her in one feed and quite often she is incredibly worked up after her feed and as a consequence is not really taking any more than she was when she was 5 weeks old with no real indication that she will up her intake (we have had no indications of increased milk intake for growth spurts). Whilst thus far she has put weight on she has dropped into the 25th centile and I don't think there is a cat in hells chance that we can get more milk down her.
I'm gearing up for a conversation with my HV about this but don't really have a lot of confidence in her so was hoping I could pick any advice people may have!

If your dd already has food intolerance the last thing I would do is introduce solids early.

I'm sure you will get good advice from other mners. but if not try the NCT or ask to be referred to a specialist if you think your HV is not up to it.

We saw a dietitian when we kept our ds off dairy due to a family history of allergy.

Some kids have to be at the 25th centile! It is OK

Introducing solids could mean she will fill up on rice / pears / whatever and have even less appetite for milk. Rice / pears / whatever have less calories than milk.

See what your HV says but I would delay.

Second toomanychristmaslights re "some kids have to be at the 25th centile" - she is still as big or bigger than 1 in 4 so not really very small at all.

What centile was she born on? How big are you and DP? What centile is she for length?

Sorry for spanish inquisition

toomanychristmaslights & RJandA thanks for your thoughts. Sounds very selfish but feeding is very traumatic both for me & for her - she often gets that wound up that it can take an hour to calm her down: I am not certain that she is ever satisfied after a feed - its normally a case that we 'give up' to calm her down and that can be after 90 mls.
When she was born she was squarely in the 50th centile and was there for a while before she started to drop. Her length puts her in the 70th centile. She isnt a small baby she is almost bursting out of the feet in her 0-3 month clothes. She is bigger than I was as a baby and looks like she will take after OH in that respect (I'm 5 1 and OH 6 2)

Dd1 had reflux and was a very, very unhappy baby. Our hv recommended weaning at 4 months, which we did. Started with just baby rice then gradually introduced pureed fruit and veg. Only started with meat when we got to 6 months.

She changed almost overnight. Was able to keep food down, the reflux stopped burning her throat so she wasn't waking up constantly.

She is now 5 and has always been a fabulous eater (although I put this down to coincidence rather than early weaning).

This is different from your situation but thought I would share our experience.

Sorry I agree with the earlier posters - I wouldn't consider early weaning with a baby who already has intolerances and isn't taking much milk. Small amounts of milk will be much better for her than small amounts of solids.

My DS had reflux and we were advised to start him on solids at 4 months - it was a big mistake. Feeding him on solids was just as stressful as feeding him on milk and made his reflux worse not better. It also gave him horrendous constipation so he ended up in even more pain.

I'd try and get a bit more help with the feeding if possible though - is she on any meds for the reflux?

I have a difficult to feed baby (no intolerances though - just not very keen on milk/bottle/breast). She was physically strong and had good head control very early on, sat well with support very early on etc. She didn't have reflux but was very sicky/windy.
I tried weaning at 16 weeks slightly out of desperation maybe and discovered that not only had she lost her tongue thrust reflex but that she loved food. We went very slowly, I did lots of research on food types etc and do not regret my decision one bit.

Weaned both my children at four months but both happy to carry on with milk too after this. They had good head control & were interested in food so allowed them a few mouthfuls of pureed fruit & veg as I figured go with their interest & do it before they were hungry since learning any new skill (eating) when hungry is difficult.

More relevantly to you - there is no some sciencfic debate about the current WHO guide lines of waiting til 6 mths - see this currently running study. Sorry I have no experience of reflux but I'm sure others will.

If her gag reflex has gone - so she doesn't push food out her mouth all the time, then give it a go. You can always go back to just milk. Good luck

That's an interesting study Grece and I'm glad they are doing it as I never really understood this fear of weaning before 6 months. It would be useful to have more conclusive evidence, one way or another.

Incidentally, dd1 also had very good head control from birth, was sitting up unaided at 4 months etc. This was part of our decision to wean her "early".

Agree with Grace K about the scientific debate.

Reflux babies respond differently to earlier (from 17weeks) weaning, some do brilliantly some not. You could give it a go and see how she is.

By mixing Nutramigen AA with baby rice she is getting some more milk that way. You can make it with quite a high ratio of formula to rice, so that it is the consistency of thick soup. You don't have to add in any puree fruit/veg just yet.

i qam also sceptical about having to wait 6 months too

i am thinking of starting at 16 weeks and will contunue to bf

that said if she has intolerances...tread carefully

You need to get specific advice about your DD from a paediatrician and / or a paediatric dietician and your GP. You sound like your situation is complicated. Don't make decisions on the basis of this board and / or a HV.

Who prescribed the Nutramigen AA...usually it's on the recommendation of a paediatrician or a paed dietitian. If not already being seen by a paed dietitian, it is definitely appropriate that she gets a referral if she has a CMP allergy/intolerance and is not taking enough formula. (I'm a paed dietitian)

DD2 is 10 months and is having 180 ml per/feed.
90 to 120 ml seems to be normal for 11 weeks.
Talked to some peadiatrician if you are concerned.
I weaned early (18 weeks) DD 2 but she was ready, it was baby led and checked with pead. and MW beforehand.

Thanks for all your thoughts. Bethyrose she is under a paediatrician. She was initially given pepti jnr and whilst she didn't appear to mind the taste of it she was still having bad tummy aches etc which is why the paediatrician gave her nutramigen AA. I have an appt mid January at which I intend to raise the issue of weaning but she has been really unhappy for the last couple of days (hence why I haven't had a chance to comment earlier)so I am considering whether I could bring this forward.
I have mentioned her intake to the HV on a number of times but basically because she is under the paeds it feels like they wash their hands of it on the grounds they are better placed to advise.
I am well aware that weaning a child with intolerances needs to be managed carefully and that we can't just 'dump' the milk but on occasions she appears to be hungry but unable to take more milk :-(

thats not small at all, my lactose intolerant sever reflux baby was below the 1st centile for a year. And had multiple allergies on weaning, it was a good job we waited.. I think he was 30weeks?