exclusively b/fed -which is worse...

[k74]

19 pounds, 5 months, HUNGRY baby. Which is worse, early weaning or formula? My boobs can't take much more, he is permanently attatched - he needs something else, he is just not satisfied anymore...

thanks

I dont think either is worse. Personally I'd try him with some food now.

I'd go for some food too, rather than formula, that way you can keep him away from dairy until six months.

I tried before and he wasn't ready. But I think you are right, he must be ready now! Feel pleased to have got this far i suppose - purreed carrot, here I come....

Neither is worse. Formula won't kill him and neither will food. If you want to carry on feeding exclusively from the breast (milk wise of course!) then I wouldn't hesitate to wean at 5 months personally.

You're only starting off on baby rice and pureed fruit or veg.

Hi there. Was in exactly your situation and started little bits of rice and pear puree at 22 weeks.

Now have a 22 pound six month old, so not really sure much has changed. Certainly hasn't done any harm, though.

I had a (probably irrational) desire to avoid giving ds formula and am pleased that I went for food. Also it meant that I could go very slowly with weaning, which I wanted to do.

And I feel (perhaps irrationally again) that it hasn't interfered with my breastfeeding, just very gradually and gently brought it to manageable levels.

Until recently I still gave a breastfeed with every solid feed, whereas I couldn't have done that if I had replaced a feed with formula.

Weaning to start with will probably mean a few spoons of this of that a day and won't make much different to his hunger

I'd go with formula

Your breast milk is tailored to the needs of your 19lb 5mth old, whereas the composition of formula remains the same, so probably at this stage formula won't do much to fill him up. Neither will fruit & veg purees to begin with but you build it up gradually so that after a month or two he will probably have cut down the bf by himself..

Why don't you ask your baby? Okay, not literally, but if your baby is watching you eat and looks interested then maybe give him a mouthful of something solid and see what he thinks (everyone else has said baby rice as a first food but our ds hates it and prefers to wolf down a mashed banana; he'll let you know!). Let him get used to the sensation for the first few very small mouthfuls, then if he likes it, he'll be enthusiastic. Otherwise, formula is great. Even better, with a variflo teat and formula he can slug it down as fast as he wants and won't get that frustration that some babies get when your breasts aren't performing to the baby's preferred standards.

I've seen formula such as SMA white in the shops which is labelled "For Hungrier Babies" but have no experience in using it.