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Weaning

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

Original poster

milk refusal - but at 21weeks and after only 3 weeks of weaning

45 replies

whatstheplanstan · 10/08/2006 17:13

Has anyone experienced this with their little ones? If you are all being good and following health visitors advice, then maybe there aren't too many of you weaning at 18-20 weeks. Thought we'd start slowly but dd is already on three meals a day - health visitors say be guided by her appetite but at the moment I feel if there was more food in the pot she'd keep eating!

She is opening her mouth for the bottle but chewing it and whinging after an ounce or two. I tried her with fromage frais instead and she wolfed it down then seemed happy to have a couple more ounces of milk. This has happened a few times now. Overall she might just be getting a pint but only just (she was on 30 ounces before we weaned her). I've seen lots of threads where babies are refusing milk at 9 months or older but at 21 weeks and after only 3 weeks of weaning?

Thought it might be her teething, but she doesn't have red cheeks, gums or a fever.

Any advice much appreciated!

OP posts:
Mum2FunkyDude · 10/08/2006 19:27

Yes, I had the same he dropped from 32 oz right down to 16oz, I panicked as everyone said he needs his milk more, but I made sure he got at least one small fromage frais or greek style yogurt a day, apparantly one of the small yogurts are equal to a 6th of a pint of milk in calcium and proteins. The only trick that really worked for me was to make sure that he's "lunch" at around 11:00 co-insided with a milk feed and gave him half a bottle before lunch and offered the rest afterward instead of water, I gave water at the 5pm feed. He also goes to bed with a bottle, which if I'm lucky he will take around 4oz of. Have to add I weaned at 25 weeks.

Good Luck

FrannyandZooey · 10/08/2006 19:30

Up until a year, babies shouls be getting most of their nutrition from milk, so I would back right off with the solids.

You might like to have a look at the fromage frais ingredients list as well - there is usually quite a lot of sugar in there.

Original poster
whatstheplanstan · 10/08/2006 19:52

Thanks guys. I am getting her weighed regularly to make sure she is gaining enough/not too much and all seems fine on that front, bowel movements are normal too (sorry if too much detail!!!). Have been sneaking in a couple of ounces with feeds, addding it to fruit etc. Will try offering milk instead of water with one of her feeds and see how that goes. As long as she stays around the 20ounce mark I guess that should be okay, just wish she enjoyed the milk more!

Will check out sugar in the fromage frais - thanks for the tip, although if the milk drops any further, better that than nothing.

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 10/08/2006 21:03

I think I would back off altogether, really. You don't want to be replacing formula milk which is designed for a baby's sole nutrition prior to 6 months, with something like Petits Filous (I am assuming it is something like this we're talking about?), which contains:

Fromage Frais, Sugar, Strawberry Purée (5%), Fructose, Aronia Juice From Concentrate, Flavourings, Milk Calcium Complex, Stabilisers: Pectin, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum; Modified Maize Starch, Acidity Regulator: Lactic Acid.

I understand your hv has said be guided by her appetite, but milk is really all she needs at this stage and is so much more important for her than solids. If solids seems to be putting her off her milk feeds, then I would strongly advise dropping them altogether until she is older, at least 6 months.

morningpaper · 10/08/2006 21:05

Agree with Franny

Give her insides time to get used to each thing

You're still in charge remember, even if she does seem to want more

Original poster
whatstheplanstan · 10/08/2006 21:31

Think am gonna stick with it. She is a big baby (in proportion, not fat - slim if anything, but very tall (98th centile height, 50th weight) and very active. I was planning to wait til 6 months but I started weaning a few weeks ago when I realised she was opening her mouth every time I put food in my mouth and she was following my food with her eyes. The fact that her digestive doesn;t seem to be affected reassures me.

I guess I just wanted reassurance that other babies have behaved the same way. Shes had 22ounces today so not bad, and if I try and sneak some in her food that will help. I'll minimise the fromage frais though - does anyone know of any sugar free brands?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 10/08/2006 21:46

Plain Fromage frais mixed with a fruit puree.

FrannyandZooey · 10/08/2006 21:50

I don't know if this is useful to you:

"The Department of Health recommends that you avoid giving cow's milk or milk products (cheese, yogurt, fromage frais), fish and shellfish, soya beans, citrus fruit (including orange juice) or eggs, until your baby is six months old"

from Babycentre weaning guide

Bawdbabe · 10/08/2006 23:43

Hi, my boy also lost interest in milk when I started weaning, I mixed milk with baby rice and added some fruit puree or veggie puree into this (only about an ounce but hey it all adds up). We started on this kind of stuff at about 21 weeks now at just over 6 months he still prefers his solids like this and doesn't take the full 500mls every day as is recommended but I think its important to remember that these guidelines are for the average baby and that each baby is an individual.

Bawdbabe · 10/08/2006 23:43

Hi, my boy also lost interest in milk when I started weaning, I mixed milk with baby rice and added some fruit puree or veggie puree into this (only about an ounce but hey it all adds up). We started on this kind of stuff at about 21 weeks now at just over 6 months he still prefers his solids like this and doesn't take the full 500mls every day as is recommended but I think its important to remember that these guidelines are for the average baby and that each baby is an individual.

FrannyandZooey · 11/08/2006 08:16

No, Bawdbabe, the guidelines are for all children, not just the average child, and are the result of years of study as to what is best for children's health. Some babies are bigger than others, but the guidelines are to do with maturity of the gut, which is not affected by size of the baby, and is the same for all babies - not just average ones.

Bawdbabe · 11/08/2006 09:49

That may be somewhat true however, you must admit that not all people 'mature' at the same rate and the same is true of babies. It doesn't happen that bang on 6 months old a babies gut is suddenly mature or that bang on 7 months a baby is able to sit etc. You are right these guidelines are based on the study of many babies but if you were to talk to your hv (as I do regularly - as well as other health professionals) about a specific issue regarding your baby I am sure they would not just quote you the textbook standards but would look at your baby as an individual. I'm not saying its right to ignore these recommendations just to take this into consideration...

Original poster
whatstheplanstan · 11/08/2006 09:51

Thanks Bawdbade. I agree with you about the 'average' - thats the way science works. A sudden milestone at six months for every baby isn;t logical. The six months will have a margin of safety in. I suspect they will have looked at later life complications (allergies, kidney problems etc are the ones they cite), and drawn a normal distribution curve to see what age they should recommend.

FrannyandZooey - I have a science background and you seem to know your stuff, can you point me in the direction of any papers on the matter? It would be interesting to see what data set they used. Also how did your child(ren) adjust to eating solids? Did they lose interest in milk at any point? Were they really on the same amount of milk as pre-solids right up until the age of one?

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 11/08/2006 09:52

Hmm, it's possible that one baby's gut matures a week earlier than another's. But you can't tell by looking at them whether this has happened.

And until a year, milk is meant to be their main source of nourishment. Cutting down much earlier is not a great idea.

Original poster
whatstheplanstan · 11/08/2006 09:52

Morning Bawdbabe - looks like we posted at the same time - and said the same thing essentially!

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 11/08/2006 09:54

Oh, and I couldn't tell if my kids lost interest in milk, as they were bf, so I never had any idea how much they were getting. But they seemed to be doing fine, and didn't lose interest.

Here is a good webpage on why delaying solids to 6 months is a good idea.

Original poster
whatstheplanstan · 11/08/2006 10:12

Hm, it is difficult, Thats why I stopped breastfeeding just before I weaned.

OP posts:
Mum2FunkyDude · 11/08/2006 10:25

I think that you should not loose focus on the fact that they are only guidelines and not regulations. follow your instinct, if you feel baby needs to drink more milk, balance by taking away some solids, however, it is not as if you're replacing milk all together.

Mum2FunkyDude · 11/08/2006 10:26

My baby was 9lb4 at birth and weighed 20lb when I started weaning, milk wasn't filling him anymore!

NotQuiteCockney · 11/08/2006 10:38

Huh? Why would you stop bf before weaning? I'm not sure it makes sense to suggest that to people, does it?

Bawdbabe · 11/08/2006 10:42

I've almost stopped bf as I'm due to go back to work soon I still bf in the mornings and evenings (and nights sometimes too!!) its a shame that weaning coincides with the end of my 6 months maternity leave as its such an important time... But I agree if I wasn't going back to work I would have just carried on with the bf, changing to formula has its own issues...

Jackstini · 11/08/2006 10:45

WTP - that might be why you are getting milk refusal - changing to formula and introducing solids at the same time...?
Even after 3 weeks you can go back to BF if you want.
Just because she is enjoying the new food does not necessarily mean it is the best thing for her
NQC - that is a really good link by the way

Jackstini · 11/08/2006 10:46

Bawdbabe - have you had any luck expressing?

Bawdbabe · 11/08/2006 11:16

No expressing was a nightmare, for lots of reasons, mostly though I was using a battery powered Medela unit and it made the carpal tunnel problems I already had worse. When I read up on using a hand powered unit they are not recommended if you suffer from carpal tunnel... so expressing was out... I very reluctantly use formula most of the time now. He always had a night time bottle so his Dad could feed him and I have slowly increased this so he has 3 - 4 bottles over 24 hours.

FrannyandZooey · 11/08/2006 11:20

Whatstheplan, I haven't got any more helpful links than the WHO ones on kellymom, sorry. Probably a case of me appearing to know my stuff as usual

I would agree that a HV "looking" at the baby before giving advice to go against the WHO guidelines is daft, though, unless she has developed some new way to see whether the gut is mature.

Personally, I also bf, so hard to measure amounts of milk, but yes I think my ds did lose interest in milk, so I cut down on solids around 8 months. I offered milk first as advised, and he continued to have breastmilk as a substantial part of his diet until he was well over 1 year old.

Mum2FunkyDude,

"follow your instinct, if you feel baby needs to drink more milk, balance by taking away some solids, however, it is not as if you're replacing milk all together"

I never quite get why people feel that on this particular, very important health issue, they would rather trust their instinct, than follow well researched guidelines drawn up by the world's leading health advisors. In this case, it does seem as if whatstheplan's baby is replacing milk altogether, so we are advising she holds back with the solids for the sake of her health.