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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Nappy Hell!

16 replies

K7 · 03/01/2006 13:29

Would appreciate some advice here. Have started weaning 5-month-old gradually over the last few weeks - just a bit of pureed veggies, fruit etc - but for the last ten days DD's nappies have been soiled almost after every feed. It's all very runny and gunky (sorry for description) but now I'm not sure whether she has a tummy bug or it's the side-effect of new food. She's changed from having a poo once a day to 8 or 9 times! Help!

OP posts:

beansprout · 03/01/2006 13:34

Perhaps she is not ready for solids yet? Current guidelines are 6 months as it is now known that the gut is not mature enough to deal with food until then.

mumfor1sttime · 03/01/2006 13:55

It could be that she is not ready for solids or that she has a tummy bug, depends how much she is eating or what she is eating.
I would have a chat with HV, also make sure she is drinking some water to stop dehydration (from runny nappies).
When I weaned ds (at 5.5months) his nappies did change a bit which was his body learning to digest. Although I would say 9 nappies is alot.

sazhig · 03/01/2006 17:11

I would personally stop the solids until the poo returns to normal & then try again - if it was a bug it gives your LO's digestive tract the chance to recover quicker & easier, if the poo again changes then you will know for definate that maybe she is not quite ready for solids.

NotQuiteCockney · 03/01/2006 17:17

It could also be a specific reaction to one of the fruits or vegetables. I've known a child who got the trots from bananas, so anything can cause problems.

Original poster

K7 · 03/01/2006 21:49

Thanks for the thoughts. I did stop all solid food for five days and the nappies were as ghastly as ever - would have expected some improvement by then, surely? And DD was ultra-hungry without something more substantial with her milk. The doctor has tested for e-coli and salmonella and seems to think it's a virus. He's told me that if it hasn't improved in a week, he'll test again. But interesting what you say about banana, NotquiteCockney - my HV told me to give her banana to bung her up!

OP posts:

NotQuiteCockney · 03/01/2006 22:07

Banana is normally constipating. But for one friend of mine's DS, it isn't. It gives him loads of big scary nappies.

Maybe her nappies are funny because of teething?

It's worth pointing out, that milk is more calorific than pureed veggies and fruit. So if she's hungry, at 5 months, she should have more milk.

donnie · 03/01/2006 22:08

this happened to dd1 when we weaned her...we stopped all solids for about 10 days and she was fine after that. Sorry she seems unwell...bananas make my dd 'go' as well!

gigglinggoblin · 03/01/2006 22:10

banana quickly came out of ds3 looking and smelling exactly the same as when it went in. sorry no advice re tummy bug, but just thought i would add that

hope she is better soon

Original poster

K7 · 05/01/2006 13:43

Just thought I'd add one more thing - I saw a doctor yesterday who explained that once a baby has a tummy bug, it can take up to three weeks for the nappies to return to normal. Even though the bug has gone, the bowel remains inflamed for up to three weeks. There does seem to be some improvement in the last two days - only four dirty nappies, rather than the nine. Thanks for all the help, though.

OP posts:

bellomum · 06/01/2006 18:39

I'm in a similar situation. Had a very hungry baby who exhibited signs that she was ready to eat early so we started some fruit and rice cereal around 4.5 months. She went from a dirty nappy once a day to once a week! Finally last week, after 8 days and a large bm, she has now had many dirty nappies a day. I'm trying to get in touch with her doctor. I think in large part it is her system getting used to new food. But I also think it's the increase in formula (now gets three bottles a day and two breast feeds) (and wondering if another kind of formula would be better)). And then there's the thought of teething causing dirty diapers. Baby is great, doesn't seem upset or unwell. But I'm a little nervous.

hercules · 06/01/2006 18:41

just out of interest what were those signs?

gingernut · 06/01/2006 19:07

K7, my ds2 had a bug when he was 3 or 4 months where he did up to 10 dirty nappies per day and it did take weeks to get out of his system. He seemed well in himself all that time. In the end, the nappies gradually changed back to normal. So it could be a bug. In his case it was def. nothing to do with solids because he was still on milk only.

bellomum · 06/01/2006 22:38

The signs I referred to in terms of "being ready" were the obvious like constant hands in mouth, lack of interest in nursing first thing (after sleeping more than 10 hours when she should have been starving!), watching me eat/drink (she now drinks water out of a cup which is so cute), and just generally, there was a period right around 4 months where she didn't want to nurse in the morning much. She would make up for it later in the day. Ped said to just go for it with solids. She's been slow to come around to it but now is getting it quite well. Fruit only though. Will not eat the veg I've offered. That's my next hurdle.

And still no word back from my doc today. So frustrated. I feel terrible that baby's got so many nappies during the day and is often straining. And now it's the weekend so chances are this will have to wait until Monday.

hercules · 07/01/2006 09:24

At the risk of being slaughtered bellomum I would say perhaps your baby wasnt actually ready and these signs arent signs for weaning. If I were you with a baby of 41/2 months who showed these signs after having solids, I would hold back the solids.

Original poster

K7 · 09/01/2006 15:26

In my case it was definitey a bug. The day before the nappies went haywire, DD was very, very dozy, slept for 3-hour stretches in the day and was generally grumpy. I remember saying to my sister that I thought she was coming down with something and then the next day we went up to 10+ dirty nappies a day. At the moment we have a dirty nappy after each bottle but HV explained that it wasn't that bottle going straight through her, but that when babies feed, the whole digestive tract is stimulated so they poo at the same time. Things are definitely calming down here though. Only one dirty nappy in the night as opposed to the five we had per night in the first few days. And this is 2 and a half weeks later.
It's difficult to know when you're starting solids, but both my doctor and HV told me that it was highly unlikely that anything other than a bug could make a once-a-day-girl and once-every-two-hours one!

OP posts:

shellybelly · 09/01/2006 15:40

I weaned my dd at 22/23wks (was advised by doc at the hospital to do so) I probably would have hung on till the 6month mark otherwise, anyway my dd wasn't particularly regular but since weaning she has been, she is (sorry if tmi) first thing in the morning before feed, then mid morning as i'm giving her solids and again tea time when i'm giving her solids, as been said if you are worried speak to hv/gp

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