29 wks old struggling with weaning and bfing every 2 hrs

[Minnie24]

Pls can anyone offer any advice. Started weaning 3 wks ago but dd not interested. When offered a spoon wont open mouth and if I do get anything in she just spits it out again. Tried baby rice and usual fruit & veg purees but same reaction to everything. She will chew on slices of the fuirt & veg but isnt really eating it.

She is bfing every 2 hrs day and night and after the 4th feed of the night is then awake for 2 hrs wanting to play.

Every one in the house is suffering (2 other kids and husband.) My husband and i havent slept in the same room for 3 months as he was really struggling getting no sleep. I am going to bed at 9 at night so we are literally not spending any time together which is having a big impact on us. I am so tired I cant think straight and keep doing things wrong. Such as sending my daughter into school today in casual clothes for a trip out when the letter clearly said uniform, not putting a spoon in her lunch box, forgetting to put her library book in her back etc etc

I have had varying advice. Some say carry on as we are and she will get the hang of the spoon eventually, others say dont feed her during the night so that she is hungry in the day. I appreciate that if she is filling herself up with milk she wont want food, but similalry I am concerned that if I restrict the bf's she wont be getting enough nutrition as she is not eating anything.

Any advice would be more than welcome. I dont know how much longer I can survice on 2 or 3 hrs of broken sleep a night.

I don't know what to suggest but just to let you know that you are not alone on the night time thing and my DS2 is eating 3 meals a day! I am knackered too and DH sleeping in another room. DS2 is the same age as yours.

I have noticed that there are some finger foods which get in more than others, for example, broccoli and mango. Have you tried avocado? Toast fingers? It's all academic though, cos like i said DS2 is eating a fair amount and still waking at night for several feeds. I do feel that he has cut back his day time feeds though, as this was every 2 hours before weaning. I think you just need to stick with experimenting - at this age eating is all a bit hit and miss. Does your DD take a bottle at all, and so could your DH do a couple of feeds? MY DS2 doesn't but we are going to work on it this weekend! Perhaps we both need to get a bit tougher at night?

You are doing a great job, and remember it could all change tomorrow (that's what I tell myself ).

Do you think your LOs are hungry every two hours? Do they eat little and often during the day?

-Perhaps they are falling asleep before they have had a full feed,and so are hungry again quickly (in which case keep them awake as long as possible - i pat my fingers on her side, almost tickling her, and if she does fall asleep I put her back on the other boob which seems to wake her up for some reason)

-or perhaps they aren't actually hungry, just want to snuggle up to your boob to fall back asleep. We have had this too. We tried 'pantley's pull off' from the no cry sleep solution. I'm not convinced it did anything put the problem has got slightly better. We started to always put her down snuggled next to her big teddy- I can't remember if it suggests this, or if it was my own idea to introduce another prop, but at least I'm not the prop and it sometimes seems to work.

You may find suggestions on the sleep board. We have only just started BLWing so am no expert, but from what i have read, solids often aren't a magical solution to sleep problems.

Minnie I am in EXACTLY the same boat!

Half of the time she's not interested at all, but even when she is she doesn't seem to know how to swallow it. I was told to expect a certain amount of gagging, but with puree? And with every mouthful?

At 'lunchtime' today I tried to make her wait longer before feeding her, and then gave her only a tiny breastfeed before trying the solids. Well, she was hungrier, but just cried in her high chair, refusing to eat anything until I gave her the rest of the breastfeed.

Please someone reassure us that out LOs will learn to eat soon!