DD off milk, not sure shes ready for weaning (what HV advises)

[wolfcubEm83]

DD is 24 weeks old tomorrow. (im a first time mom)

She has been off her milk for nearly 3 weeks now, she will have maybe 2 ounces when she wakes, then 2 ounces every 3 hours(ish) until bedtime at 7 when she will drink 14 ounces in 2 hours. She sleeps through no problem.

Her weight gain has really slowed, only 3oz in the last 2 weeks and HV has suggested that i start weaning. ideally i wanted to try blw but shes not ready for that yet, she can hold the food but not quite get it in her mouth and she gets really frustrated. I have given her a couple of spoonfuls of mushed up veg (squash and carrot) whilst letting her hold the spoon but im not sure whether any actually went into her tummy she enjoyed the experience though.
She cant sit up yet.

Everyone is telling me to wean her, DP, mother etc but im worried that it will fill her tummy up with no calories and she will be even more off her milk.

Hmmmm....any ideas??

Shes on 25th centile for weight (15lb 3oz)

Why will you be filling her up with no calories?

For the first year she should be getting most of her nutrition from milk, regardless of when you wean her. It takes a while for the digestive system to 'learn' how to extract the goodness from food.

If she can't sit up yet unaided (unless there is a disability) then she is definitely not ready for weaning. If you are already familiar with Baby Led Weaning of the NHS website "No rush to mush" it will tell you what the physical signs are of a baby's readiness for solids.

HVs are notorious for giving really bad advice.

I'm not sure how many ounces of formula a baby is supposed to drink. Is she getting the right amount in 24 hours, regardless of how it's spread out? Maybe she just is one of those people that eats a lot at certain times of the day and not much at others?

coccyx the 'no calories' is to do with early weaning foods being nutritionally low in calories, e.g. mashed up carrot, etc. The only weaning food that has more calories than milk is avocado.

I just cant see there being many calories in carrot, she seems to like the taste but id rather her have milk.

She has about 22 ounces of milk in 24 hours, she used to have 35 (she would more or less drain 5 x 7ounce bottles) She isnt waking in the night for food so im guessing she isnt hungry, her dad is the same but hes a fully grown man (if a very skinny one) so i dnt worry if he doesnt want tea.

Its worth saying she had teeth very early, one at 18 weeks and one at 20 weeks so it could be the pain of that but she wasnt off her milk then.....do the top teeth hurt more??

I think ill keep a diary of her milk intake for a week to go and see a doctor with and in the mean time keep offering her bits of finger food to play with.

Is she alright otherwise? Is she teething? Maybe have a bit of a cold? Maybe shes feeling a bit off? A baby this young will still see milk as their only source to fill her tummy, as you already know. When you wean it's solids in addition to their normal amount of milk. And it takes a while before they drop feeds.

Please don't worry about her weight, it's very normal for thier weight to tail off as they get older because they get alot more active! Stop getting her weighed, there is no need to weigh a healthy baby, look at how she is in herself, happy, content, weeing, pooing, growing out of her clothes etc. Alot of babies go off milk at certain stages, life is far too interesting to be wasting time eating when you are 6 months old.

Just offer fingerfoods, if she eats it she eats it, if she doesn't it's no big deal. Two of mine weaned at 28 weeks and 32 weeks. You don't need to see a doctor, your baby is fine!