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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

getting the milk/solids balance right

10 replies

MamaChocoholic · 25/04/2011 20:01

dts are 6.5mo, blw, dt1 is really taking to food, and bf much less. some days she refuses most feeds and her nappies have been much drier than normal, other days they are still wet. dp is keen to give her water with every meal and she loves this too. after a non-eating ds1, I'm a bit out of my depth with a eat everything in sight baby!

I understand that with blw I really should just let her lead. But given that her diet today has included carpet and grass, I'm a bit Hmm at her knowing what she needs. I also know her main nutrition should still come from milk at this age, but some days she's either too full to bf, or just doesn't want to (we've had a minor nursing strike and lots of biting in the last month, starting before we introduced solids).

how do you get the balance right? what does your 6/7 mo eat?

OP posts:
RitaMorgan · 25/04/2011 21:32

Are you offering milk first? I always did food about an hour after a breastfeed.

Original poster
MamaChocoholic · 25/04/2011 21:51

Oh yes, but she quite often refuses to feed, or bites me. then she'll wolf down some food and get really excited by the cup of water. and because she's a twin I can't help comparing her to her naturally chunkier brother who still has a good feed every 2 hours and chews but doesn't swallow much. maybe she's getting the balance right and he's not... but how do I know?

OP posts:
runnermum2 · 25/04/2011 21:59

I'm watching this thread closely as have a similar issue with DD. She is 6 mo and we've been doing BLW for 2 weeks (Started a bit early cos she could sit up and put toys in mouth very easily and was desperate to grab food off our plate). Now she eats loads (and spills loads - but her poo has really changed so know quite a bit going down) and somedays (like today) has only BF twice since 8 am (and only quickies at that). I wasn't sure whether I needed to worry either ....

nailak · 25/04/2011 22:01

i think once they et over the excitement of eatin they will settle down and drink more ime

fartingfran · 25/04/2011 22:04

I think as long as BM is freely available and truly on demand, and the food they're getting is appropriate (eg full fat, not too high fibre etc) then I can't really see a problem.

Plus, with twins, at least there's one of them keeping your supply going for when the other one decides she still wants milk after all!

Original poster
MamaChocoholic · 25/04/2011 22:27

it's freely available for sure, but not so much on demand. I tend to offer before and after each nap, but we fell out of the demand part early on. now I don't know if I could read a demand if it was there. was hoping frequent offering would make up for this. most of the food is starch, with some fruit/veg and a bit of butter/avocado/cheese for fats.

hopefully it's a novelty thing nailak. we started solids about 3 weeks ago runner. they were 6mo. she has fed maybe 3/4 times today, but like you say, just brief snacks. although she had a good feed at bedtime. are your dd's nappies still wet? the occasional days of dryish nappies have me most worried. altho there's also part of me who's taking this preference for solids over my milk a little personally

OP posts:
nailak · 25/04/2011 23:01

i was amazed how much my ds was eatin at 6mnths, but now at 9 hes calmed down

runnermum2 · 26/04/2011 13:06

We have matching babies!! We too fell out of the demand thing - mostly because DD just does not seem greedy for milk but also because I would get twitchy if she went 4/5 hrs without and so used to offer and she would usually take it. So now she doesn't seem to bother asking.

Most nappies are wet - the overnight one is always like a brick - but the daytime ones oftne vary and some can be dryish. But I figure the bigger nappies take more wetting??? My Mum keeps telling me not to obsess about nappies if she's clearly content which she is mostly.

It's funny what you say about taking offence! I was desperate to wean as have not really enjoyed BFing but now I do feel a little bit slightly miffed which I never ever thought I would!

Original poster
MamaChocoholic · 27/04/2011 14:14

We do! Except dt1 does sometimes go the whole night with barely a wee (has done since she was little). Well, she (my dd) does seem content too, so hopefully your mum is right.

OP posts:
ellabella2 · 29/04/2011 21:14

My DS 7mo is very similar. He has taken to solids like nobodies business ( a mix of spoon feeding and finger foods) but over the last week or so has really lost interest in BF. I wouldn't worry about him having more solids and less BM but I think he has been getting dehydrated. His nappies are a lot drier and he keeps getting constipated.

Interestingly when offered fluids, whether BM or water, in a bottle he woofs it down Confused It is like he can't be bothered with the effort of BF anymore and prefers to take drinks from a bottle. This way he can still look around and not miss a milisecond of what is going on around him unlike when facing me to BF Hmm

I am now seriously considering offering some FF to ensure he gets enough milk as I just can't express enough each day for what he should be having at this age. I never planned to FF so feel rather frustrated and sad that I managed to get this far with BF only to fall at the final hurdle!

It is certainly a real minefield and so unclear about how to get the balance between solids and milk. I have had such a wide range of advice from professionals and books.

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