No way my baby can wait till 6 months to eat!!

[JAMW]

My DS has just turned 3 months, I LOVE the idea of BLW (especially since I'm terrible with food and want to do my best to not give him the same weirdness I do).
Trouble is he is a BIG baby. He breastfeeds pretty much non stop. At night it's every hour, and during the day it's every hour and a half - 2 hours. It's verging on ridiculous. He's been putting on nearly 1/2lb - 1lb a week since he was born. There is nothing wrong with his feeding, we go to BF clubs every week and his latch is fine, he's offered both boobs etc.
There is no way I can keep this up, I think it's a miricle i'm still breastfeeding to be honest because he is literally draining me. In-laws, my parents, aunties and uncles (basically everyone from the older generation) have said to us that once he gets on baby rice he'll be much better, that's when they can start sleeping through a bit. Am I being selfish introducing baby rice at 4 months?

I think you need to go and talk to a HV and get specific advice for you individual circumstances. The guidelines are just that - guidelines. But I think it would be better to get advice from a HCP before departing from them.

The health visitor was very young and was very pro BLW. All she kept going on about was how good breastfeeding was and not to introduce anything else till 6 months! Was really un-helpful.
Just wanted some reassurance from anyone else with a big baby that needed a bit extra!

Poor you, that sounds exhausting.

I'd be very cautious of thinking that weaning is the answer though. Baby rice is a very low calorie as a food stuff, so may actually make the problem worse (because he will be filling up with a food stuff which is lower density). I'm fairly sure that there have been some detailed threads on this in the past. Studies have also shown (think you might find them on the Kellymom site) that early weaning does not help sleep. Also, 17 weeks is at the very bottom of the range even for 'early' weaning, so I'd be wary of starting so very soon.

I would go and look at the nutritional and calorific value of baby rice and compare this to breastmilk. Then do the same with weaning foods such as mushed carrot.

Unless you are intending on weaning onto pure avocado, then breastmilk has much more calories than any other food.

If you're going to bf clubs then you should have been told that your breasts aren't every entirely drained - they continue to make milk and therefore are never empty.

I would say speak to a HV, but I have seen some really bad advice given out by them. There are very specific reasons why no baby should have solids before 16 weeks, but your baby is now past that so you wouldn't do any physical damage by giving baby rice at this age. If your LO is ready then BLW can start as early as 19 weeks - I know my DD was able to hold up her head, pick up food herself and put it into her mouth herself at that age, so that's when we started BLW. If you sit your LO with you on your lap at all mealtimes, he will let you know when he is ready for weaning because he will grab your food and shove it in his mouth.

It's also worth remembering that readiness for weaning is nothing to do with how big your baby is, but when they are developmentally ready for weaning. BLW takes the guesswork out of this because baby does all the work, not you.

JAMW my DS was exactly the same - the 1st 4 months or so were hideous. He started sitting unaided at 4.5 months though, and so we started BLW then. Just the distraction seemed to help, even if he didn't get much food down him! he started really eating solids at between 5 and 6 months though. We started him with bits of banana, avocado, and steamed veg, like carrots and broccoli, so no wheat or dairy until he was 6 months plus.

MY local BF councellor even suggested supplemeting him with formula at one point when he'd had yet another massive feeding session. Sadly it made sod-all difference, and he still wanted to feed every 45 minutes for an hour or so at a time.

sadly, using baby rice is not guaranteed to make a difference, so don't think it will cure his sleep/feeding issues. Have you been co-sleeping/feeding lying down much? that kept me sane in those early months. DS is 2 now, btw, and doesn't feed in the night at all, it took a bit of effort, but we did night wean him eventually!! He even sleeps most nights now!

Other than starting on solids, surely the only other answer is formula? Which would be much worse for his health surely?
Health visitors keep saying that breastfed babies are never 'overweight' they only take what they need. But I have a seriously greedy baby, and fillling him with something that takes a while to digest (ie baby rice) would only be the same as giving him hungry baby milk if he were formula fed?

thanks kveta yes only in the last week I've been feeding him lying down! Actually the only thing keeping me sane at the mo! Was thinking about sitting him in his bumbo with something mushy just to keep him occupied. Might try that!

My only other bf friend did it by the book and didn't give her baby a thing other than breastmilk for 6 months, but she's a tiny little girl and DS dwarfs her even though she's 10 months older! Don't think people realise the drain of feeding a big babY!

worldgonecrazy I do understand his size isn't an indication of readiness for solids, but I sort of just wanted reassurance that the combination of baby rice and breastmilk would be better than just formula, because I can't keep feeding him at this rate!

Formula is not bad for a baby's health! Breastmilk is better - because it is what we are biologically designed to eat, but formula is not 'bad'.

I am sure you don't mean that nastily, but it could be very upsetting to those who ff. If you took what you are saying to its logical conclusion, if you couldn't breastfeed you would give a two week old baby solids, which would clearly be bonkers.

People are often a bit about hungry baby milk too.

JAMW- I really feel for you, because it sounds exhausting. But just so you know, size of baby is no indication of how often they will feed or how 'draining' it will be. DD1 and DD2 are opposite ends of the spectrum, and both equally demanding (2 hours night and day).

If you are feeling that drained, I would also look at your diet and drink intake. Are you taking any vitamins? i always feel much better when taking a bf supplement (because my diet is a bit rubbish...) Feeding frequently is not unusual, he is still young.

I was ff as was DP so I obviously mean nothing bad by saying that secondtimelucky, but we're a vegan family, so I would never touch cows milk, so I wouldn't want to feed DS something that I wouldn't eat myself! But I can't carry on feeding him like this, so was hoping that I could fill him up a bit with porridge or rice!

I've lost 3stone since I had DS and I am still taking pregnacare tablets that you carry on during breastfeeding, as well as non stop eating!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12180052

Been looking at loads of articles, is the 6 month rule more to do with under developed countries???

If he genuinely needs those calories, he needs those calories and you will struggle to find them in baby rice. Introducing solids is nothing to do with hunger and is about developmental readiness. I wouldn't 'plan' when to introduce solids but look at the signs. When he's sitting up, lost the tongue thrust reflex and is able to accurately pick up and put things in his mouth, his gut will probably cope with solids. This will happen somewhere around 6 months, not before 17 weeks.

I had a v frequent feeder and not only did she last till 6 months, she wasn't ready until just after 6 months. And she weighed 25lbs ish at that point. Went from 50th centile to off the charts by 3 months.

Remember that feeding is also comfort, habit, familiarity, thirst etc. And if you've got a frequent waker who has learnt to associate settling with feeding, it might look like your baby's unsatisfied when really they're using bf in one of its myriad other ways. Nowt wrong with this btw.

It's much easier to change what you're doing, look at your diet and rest and let your baby follow his natural patterns and introduce solids at a time he's ready for it.

I sympathise though. I have an 11wo who is following the same pattern as dd. He's already gained 8lbs since birth.

No NOT to do with underdeveloped countries. The WORLD health organisation recommends it based on biology, hence why the nhs adopted it. Nothing to do with which country you're in.

I think you need to listen to your DS here. Can he sit up and has he lot the tongue thrust reflex? If so sit him in front of some food and see what he does. If he picks it up and eats it, he's ready.

If he's not ready then he really probably is best on breast milk only still. Baby rice may take longer to digest but it doesn't have the calories or nutrition that he needs. Can you express so you can have a break from it for a bit? It does sound exhausting.

For what its worth, I would suggest that a formula top up although not advisable for someone who really wants to EBF is better and more beneficial to your child than babyrice.

JAMW, ten years ago 99% of babies had baby rice at four months. Babies are surprisingly robust and most ten year old children do not have long term problems.

However I think that early introduction of solids will make very little difference to sleep. Most babies cannot digest baby rice at four months. It will just go out of one end through the other.

If you are vegan you need dietry advice. Children really need their milk. If you want your lo to be a vegan then you really need to consider breastfeeding well into toddlerhood.

My DS was exactly the same - fed either every two hours, or sometimes if he felt I was coping too well every hour. I rang the HV when he was 5months and a week, or something ridiculous and asked if they thought it was too early to try him on solids (God knows why I thought I had to ask permission!). Anyway, they said it would be ok, but then retracted that when I said he was EBF. So we did wait another couple of weeks. DS didn't sleep through til he was about 12months old and kept feeding through the night til about 10 months. I feel for you though, it is so draining when it seems like they're permanently attached. It isn't that they're not getting enough milk, it's just that to get enough they have to feed loads and loads, that thought helped me to carry on. I might have stopped if I thought he actually wasn't getting enough, but I know he was.

Early weaning will not make any difference. Seriously. There are no calories in it, either mush or baby rice. Take it from someone who weaned early and regrets it.

If you are so tired, I would look at your diet - pulses, carbs, iron high foods. Reduce sugar and caffine. Also may be worth having five small meals rather than three big ones through the day, as it spreads the energy out a bit better.

If you read up on it, you'll find that the reason it's recommended to wait till near 6mo is because EBF provides a lot of benefits, and that we don't need to introduce solids until we have to. However it is safe to introduce food after 17 weeks. Like reallytired says the problem is many babies can't actually digest the food, so what goes in one end comes out the other. You'll notice it once you start weaning. I see bits of carrots, broccoli, beans etc out from the other side!

Also, like it's already pointed out, baby rice and many weaning food have less calories than breast milk/formula. Think about your apples, carrots. Do you eat them when you want to pile on some weight? Or when you are on a diet? I believe the exception of the early weaning food is bananas and avocados, both are more calorie rich than milk. And you can't feed them meat and slow-burning caborhydrate until 6mo.

Formula isn't harmful. It's a breastmilk substitue. If you need a rest from the breastfeeding, consider formula. At 3mo, that's what I would use. At 17 weeks, I may consider baby rice as the start of weaning.

FYI, I wait till 24 weeks with my DD. She hasn't dropped a bf since weaning two months ago.

Also remember if you start weaning at 17 weeks, you aren't supposed to replace bf with solids. You give solids in addition to bf. I spent the last 2 months cleaning around the high chair 3 times a day, sitting with my DD to eat for 30min each time, plus bf 7 or 8 times a day. (She has always been 7-8 times). Also, I found until DD can sit in a high chair without any support cushions, I was stuck at home for all meal times. You might be better at feeding on your lap, but I'm rubbish. She only managed to sit in any highchair at 7.5mo, though she could sit in the ikea antilop with the cushion at 5mo. (She wobbles a lot before 7.5mo, and the highchairs in restuarants are very big. If they wobble too much sitting up, they can't eat iyswim).

My DS was exactly the same, so I introduced solids at 17 weeks. The only thing I achieved was to make him really constipated!!

He still B/F the same amount, and woke 3 or 4 times in the night for a feed, same as always.

I stopped giving him solids until 2 weeks ago when he was 5.5 months, and he grabbed a bit of melon off my plate and wolfed it down no problem. We are now doing BLW, very successfully, and for the record, he is still B/F exactly the same amount as he always did.