small apetite and premature...still wean at 16 weeks?

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lon sorry....my dd is 14 weeks on friday and only drinks max 5 oz's and usually 3-4ozs 5 times a day. she was born 4 weeks early weighing 6lb 3oz and now weighs 13lbs.
my concerns are:
will she necessarily not feed well on solids too? should i delay weaning till she is taking more milk?
i feel that she will never take more milk and am already visioning the distress of now trying to get her to take food from a spoon. she is very determined when she refuses more milk, and i sometimes feel she is doing it to wind me up...however on the serious side i have spent many a night crying about her lack of interest in food, and wondering when/if she'll ever be 'normal'

may sound melodramatic but this issue of small feeds has made the last 15 weeks so stressful and takes away my energy to enjoy my dd. she is really coming along well, cooing, smiling, balancing her head, but still only 13lbs and feeding little.

the growth charts count her as 9 weeks corrected, but feel this is a farce, because gives a false impression of her growth (75th centile) when if she was born a week later she would have been classed as 'term' and hence been on the 25th centile at this weight.

feeling confused with respect to how to treat her...as a 9 weeker or as a 14 week old? she definetly is developmentally closer to a 14 week old, but weight is more like a 9 week old and apetite like a new born...all good fun eh

recommended to wean at 26 weeks now. keep giving that milk!!

Current advice is not to wean until 6 months so given how small your dd is, and the fact that she's only 9 weeks corrected, I wouldn't be thinking of weaning her any time just yet.

Um, I really don't know anything about weaning premature babies. But the advice about weaning for all babies is to wait until babies are six months old, to ensure they get the best nutrition (milk is better for tiny babies than solids, has more calories and nutrients). Also early weaning carries a higher risk of developing food allergies.

I would guess that for a premature baby you would be well-advised to wait until at least six months.

Sorry you are having such a worrying time - I hope it gets easier soon.

milk gives more calories than solids.

Current recommendations are to wean at 26 weeks so as to give their digestive system a chance to develop properly. I would have thought that evenmore pertinent with a premie baby (although im sure someone will correct me on that if im wrong)

Mine were very prem @ 27 weeks and we used the corrected age until over a year old

SO IMHO treat her as an individual baby rather than what friends or family may be saying to you

So keep going with the milk, you are doing a good job

Difficult to tell but she doesn't sound ready for weaning from what you've said. Is there really a problem with her taking 5oz at each feed? All babies are different after all. If she's coming on developmentally, she's doing fine and you can't force her to eat - my first refused solid food for a month at around 9 months old after taking it fine from 19 weeks so I know what I'm talking about! He's now 21 months and 50%th centile and a perfectly happy healthy little boy. If you are stressed about milk feeds, solids will make you even more stressed so try and relax (I know easier said than done). The milk is the most important thing for the first year and they get very few calories from food to start with so I'd stick with the milk if I were you for now especially as she was prem. Feeding cuts to the core of being a mother though so I can empathise but the only thing to do is to try and take a deep breath and calm down about it. We have days now when ds eats like a horse and days where he eats nothing - you get used to it!

Hi, my DD was 5 weeks pre. and my HV advised me to do everything 5 weeks later the first weeks. she was born january 2004 and my HV said to start weaning her at 4 months + 5 weeks and when I wanted to give her weetabix she said 6 months + 5 weeks. Hope that can help you. But we alsoknow that there are just as many opinions as there are Healthsvisitors.

My DD was the same weight as yours and was on the 25th centile then dropped to the 9th (not that I payed any attention to them) she was 2 weeks premmie so technically term. I weaned her at a week off 6 months, she was happy with this. She was a bit take it or leave it with solids to be honest, they never really took off until she could feed herself. She still detests being spoon fed and prefers to do it all herself, she's a proper little madam.

Like others have said milk is the best food at this age, her digestive system is still very young and immature, don't make it cope with anything more than milk just yet. Also faffing around with the ice cubes of puree is a nightmare, best to hold off on that too. I would just keeping getting that milk into her.

I have to confess I weaned both mine at 16 weeks/4 months (despite knowing the recommendations). HOWEVER, they were both big boys, with good appetites, if I was in your situation I'd definitely hold off for quite some time yet.

I used to worry about how little dd ate and how small she was. She is 3.5 now, still small, still eats like a sparrow, totally happy and bright and healthy.

If I were you I'd leave weaning until she grabs the toast out of your hand, and I'd try to stop counting how many ounces of milk she has had. If she doesn't look well, worry then!

My dd was born about 10 days early, small -ish (6lbs 12 oz), and has sat exactly on the 9th percentile throughout (she is now 7 months). She was never a great eater, and like yours would never take more than 3-4 oz in a sitting for ages, and was a bit refluxy too, which didn't help. Very cheery, alert, mobile, but teeny. Was advised to try weaning at 5 months, and she took to it immediately. Wouldn't say she eats giant amounts, but importantly, she now LOVES her milk and is a much keener drinker, though that might be partly because I think the purees etc helped settle her reflux a bit as she didn't always have all that liquid sloshing around in her tummy. I was going to hold out until 6 months, couldn't see the point of introducing a small, disinterested in milk, 5 month old to solids, but in retrospect, think it was the right thing to do (was advised by lactation consultant of all people...). She is still only about 15lbs, but still bang on her percentile line. What I would say, is that if you try it and she isn't interested, then you can stop and try again in another few weeks.

I'd definitely leave it - sounds like milk is satisfying her appetite for now and adding solid food this early for her might constipate her. She'll get all the nourishment she needs from her milk - and it sounds like she's doing brilliantly too, developing really well.

Some people are just meant to be slender - sounds like your DD is one. Please try not to let the feeding issue spoil your enjoyment of her. Perhaps don't get her weighed as often if it's upsetting you - just get her weighed if you think there's a problem (ie she's listless or goes off her milk completely). If she's perky and alert, she's fine, honestly.

My dd was born 3 weeks early, weighing 4 lbs 9 oz. She drank milk really well until about 4 months and then went off it, this went on a few weeks until I decided to wean and she practically bit my hand off and took to eating like she always knew what to do !! I had assumed she would easily go to 6 months due to her size but solids was the way to go for her. Not necessarily true of every case and if your dd isn't interested in food and happily drinking milk (even if 5 oz) I wouldn't push it and wait until she seems to want it !

thanks for all of the advice ...the general theme is to leave weaning till 6 months, or until dd is trying to get the food out of your hands, which ever is sooner.

feeling a lot calmer about things and intend to take a deep breath before each feed and go with the flow...pardon the pun