weaning & bf - not a clue where to start

[pinkyp]

With my 1st ds he mainly ff at weaning age but this time my ds is totally bf. I have no idea where to start weaning, do i drop feeds? I've been feeding him 6am on a morning in bed b4 we get up then we'll get up about 8am and i'll give him some puree fruit/baby rice about 9 am then he'll bf feed about 10 and have a nap. Am i doing it right? should i just introduce one meal for a few weeks b4 introducing another? How many feeds should ds be having when weaning? and when do i introduce water? I feel like a first time mum but this is all different to my other ds.

this book was really helpful for me, even though I mainly spoon fed.

Keep feeding on demand and he'll sort out dropping feeds himself - you don't have to make him drop them.

Sounds like what you're doing is fine, just be lead by him on when you introduce meals. You could wait a few weeks, or you could move quicker if he takes to it well. Up to you really! Is he around 6 months?

A good general rule is to give food after milk, because milk is still more important at the moment. I used to do food an hour after a milk feed.

Around 5 months just before we started weaning my ds had about 8 feeds in 24 hours, by about 6 months he was having 6 feeds and 3 meals. Now at 9 months he has dropped to 4 feeds. This will vary hugely depending on the baby though.

I just started offering water in a sippy cup alongside food - took a while for ds to really drink any though.

Keep feeding to demand, he'll let you know when he's ready to drop a feed. Depending on how well he takes to food he might not drop any feed til 9-10 months and milk is still the main source of calories at this point.

My Boy is 8 months and not dropped a feed yet though the 11anoise is more snacky and short now. He's only just starting to accept breakfast as a regular thing and eating a whole bowl of porridge etc. Other meals are still very hit and miss. I'm just going with the flow.

my ds is just over 5 months so i'm not wanting to rush meals, he's just pretty much started on the morning fruit puree, which i do give about a hr after milk so i'm glad i'm doing that bit right! He's currently having about 8 feeds a day

*11am feed

Sounds normal to me. Be led by him and don't worry about right or wrong. All babies are different, some take to it very quickly and others like mine are more suspicious of it. As long as he's growing well and healthy is all ok.

thank u feel a tad lessed stressed about it all

Been there. I thought weaning would be easy and he would be on 3 meals a day by now but he's been a little sod more likely to ignore food than experiment with it til the last couple of weeks really.

Definitely noticed a difference this week with poos changing to more set so even though it seems he's not doing much it must be stealthily going down somehow. We usually do *spooned brekkie like yoghurt and fruit or porridge etc, and self feeding the rest of the time. That way at least I know he's getting one decent meal a day.

• by spooned I mean he refuses to let us anywhere near him with it and he will try - and fail - to do it himself so what normally happens is it gets tipped onto his tray for him to stick his hands in and suck it off his fingers

A surprising amount goes down this way.

thats what i was hoping to do, spooned breakfast (which is just what we've started with now) then hopefully introduce him to finger foods for lunch & dinner. BUT thats just what i'm hoping to do it might not work out that way

Thats the spirit! They all do what they bloody well want to, regardless I think.

I started weaning DS a week ago, he's 24 weeks and i too had no clue what to do and am just kind of muddling through, but it seems to be going pretty well just following his lead and fitting in meals around his wake/ milk feed times. I started by BFing first thing in the morning (which with my DS is usually 6.30/7am) and then giving him cereal about an hour later. He then goes does for a nap 8.30/9am. He took to weetabix and porridge really well so i decided to up it to two meals per day from today - first trying sweet potato. My guess is that he'll wake from his nap around 11am. I'll give him a milk feed when he wakes and then give him lunch about an hour later. I'm very baby led as DS isn't happy being forced into a routine, but this seems to suit him at the moment. I assume that over time he'll reduce his milk intake as he increases solids, but i really have no idea which milk feeds will be dropped and which will remain!

From his first week i don't think he's going to struggle with new foods, and he's really interested in what we're eating and tries to grab it. If it's appropriate food we let him have a little taste. It's such a joy to watch.

I just really want the milk feeds sorted by the time i go back to work in 3 months and DS goes to the childminder. In all likelihood she'll be giving him his breakfast, lunch and dinner. No idea about milk feeds!