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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Routine Ideas

28 replies

Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:00

I have posted and posted with my weaning problems!!! Sorry but need more advice... Can anyone please give me their feeding routines that have worked for a 5 and a half month old. I have introduced the basic fruit and veg and baby rice etc but am now stuck with when to give them. I am very keen to start a daily routine of 3 meals a day and have tried giving solids at the same time as her bottle but if I give solids first she will not drink her bottle and if I give bottle first she will not take solids. I'd like to begin a breakfast/dinner/tea routine but don't know what to give and what time or when she should be waking or going to bed! Help I am drowning in my own private pool of insecurity!

OP posts:
startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:02

this is our routine....

6.45am milk
9am breakfast
11am milk
12.30 /1ish lunch
3pm ish. milk
5pm dinner
7pm milk

madrose · 30/10/2005 22:04

we follow something quite similar and now DD is nearly 8 months she have the odd snack inbetween - ie rice cake, dried fruit, stuff like that.

startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:05

i ofund it much easier to give the food between meals than to mix it with feeding time"

charliegirl25 · 30/10/2005 22:05

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:07

And do I need to reduce her milk at all or expect her to take the same amount and solids too?

OP posts:
charliegirl25 · 30/10/2005 22:07

Message withdrawn

startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:10

didn't seem to with ds! lol

but then, at the start he was only having a few teaspoons of baby rice or pureed fruit which doesn't really fill them up

as you increase the amount and they are having more substantial meals then it doesn't matter so much if they cut down on milk consumption
they should have a minimum of a pint a day at 6 months

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:12

Charliegirl, I am also a Gina Ford mum and have been such a fan until weaning, her method of giving solids with milkfeed do not agree with my baby. As a result I am desperate for advice without my Gina Ford "how-to" giuide! Since beginning weaning she will not follow the routine at all, wakes at 5:30, will not sleep for longer that 45mins in the day and guzzles 9oz of milk at 10pm so am very reluctant to reduce that feed as she wakes too early as it is.... it's all gone a bit pear shaped....

OP posts:
charliegirl25 · 30/10/2005 22:12

Message withdrawn

startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:14

i think this is one of the downsides of gina ford... if baby decides not to play along then it is really hard to figure out what to do!

go along with what your baby wants... s/he knows better than anyone if s/he is hungry or not!

charliegirl25 · 30/10/2005 22:14

Message withdrawn

startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:14

if you're only just starting weaning then it really doesn't matter how much they eat... you're just getting them used to taking solid food

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:17

Tried the hungrier baby formula, made her horribly constipated... switched back after a very traumatic weekend!

OP posts:
startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:18

yes there shouldb e no need to switch to hungrier baby/follow on milks

i think they just need to get used to the new routine tbh with you

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:20

I thought weaning was meant to HELP the baby to sleep longer not wake them earlier!!! I'm kind or abandoning GF routine now (hence this thread!) as it's not working for me anymore, it served it's purpose and taught me alot but I need to go another way now.

OP posts:
charliegirl25 · 30/10/2005 22:21

Message withdrawn

hunkermunker · 30/10/2005 22:21

First foods contain fewer calories than milk and can cause constipation and unsettled tummies, hence sleeping problems.

If you're having problems, leave off for a week or so. Six months much easier time to start giving food IME.

startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:22

i agree charliegirl!

i am SO unorganised that i could never follow GF if i wanted to! so ds has never had a routine... but has now kind of fallen into one by himself

fisil · 30/10/2005 22:23

Ds2 is also 5 1/2 months, although he has been on solids for nearly 2 months now (yes, I know about the recommendations, but the poor boy was desperate!). He has never been a routine baby, which has annoyed me cos me and ds1 are obsessive routine people!

At first he had just one teaspoonful at his best time of day (10:30 ish). Then it moved onto two lots a day, so he had them at the same time as ds1, just for convenience - so he had solids at 11:30 and 3:30. In the last week we've added the 3rd meal, which is breakfast at between 7 and 8. So he is now in a routine with his solids, purely because ds1 has to stick to his routine and it fits in neatly. However, sometimes he will have a bottle and the meal, sometimes just the meal and the bottle at some other time. I try to fit to a rough structure with his bottle feeds (and a strict timescale at night), but this baby just is not a routine baby!

I don't think I'm really answering your question, except to say, she will eat when she needs to and get the food she wants (because babies are great and eat purely for nutrition, they don't have all the hang-ups we have). And that it's probably best to get the solids into a child/adult pattern, as the most important aspect of eating (in my opinion) is the social aspect.

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:25

Sorry, Halloweenylover: what do you give at each feed? Can I give apple and babyrice at 9am? Then Carrot / sweet potato puree at 1pm? Then baby rice and butternut squash at 5pm? And should all the milk feeds be about 6-8oz? (Sorry, horribly insecure, terroried I'll break her)

OP posts:
charliegirl25 · 30/10/2005 22:26

Message withdrawn

startingtobehalloweenylover · 30/10/2005 22:28

trust me you won't break her!

give whatever she wants at each feed! what you have suggested sounds absolutely fine. i think for the first 2 or 3 weeks of weaning ds only had one meal... then moved to 2 and then after perhaps 6 weeks we added another in... it's worth starting slowly

keep giving her whatever milk she already has... only cut down if she isn't drinking it all

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:34

Thanks Halloweenylover!!! Yes charliegirl, I've been the same with GF's routine, I stress out if she wont go to bed at the alloted time and worry if she's not drinking her bottle all in one go, but yes, she has slept thru the night since I began the routine and in many ways I owe GF my sanity, but in another way it's been bad for me, lots of people have been very critical that I wake her up to feed her at 10pm and I am now desperate to stop this feed but yet scared to stop! Have you stopped it yet?

OP posts:
fisil · 30/10/2005 22:35

And about what to feed ... I make up loads and loads of ice cubes of mushed fruit/veg. I do label it as it goes in the freezer, but there's no point really, cos I just grab a couple out and throw them in together. So he might get swede for breakfast, then pear and butternt squash (together) for lunch, and peach for tea.

Just make sure you only introduce one new food a week. So the first week would be all banana, if that's the first food you give her.

Original poster
Ironmaiden · 30/10/2005 22:36

Can I puree tinned peaches in juice???

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