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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

What age is best to start weaning

27 replies

Sars123 · 10/03/2014 23:46

Hi, I'm a first time mum and my son is 5months. He wakes up roughly every 2 hrs during the night and my husband works nights so I'm like a waking zombie most the time. Everyone keeps telling me to start weaning him but my midwife says to wait till he is 6 months. I'm confused. Will it really even make a difference?

OP posts:
Lj8893 · 10/03/2014 23:50

My health visitor said between 17 and 26 weeks, when they are ready and showing the signs.

Signs being:

*able to hold head up
*showing an interest in food
*hand, eye and mouth co-ordination
*if you feed them and they push the food out then they probably arnt ready as they haven't yet developed their swallowing reflex fully

Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 00:07

He has the top 3. I tried a bit of baby rice which was v watery, he didnt seem to know what to do and just dribbles it everywhere! Lives chewing the spoon though. Is it worth trying anything with a thicker consistency and if so any suggestions of what is best?

OP posts:
Lj8893 · 11/03/2014 00:11

I'm not sure, my dd is only 19 weeks and only just starting to show the signs. She tried some mashed banana which was a success but I haven't tried anything else yet.

Sunnysummer · 11/03/2014 00:18

Showing interest is not considered a sign any longer.. The big ones are ability to sit up, coordination, and ability to swallow www.nhs.uk/start4life/Pages/babies-introducing-solid-food.aspx.

There's no magic day that it all becomes okay at 6 months, though, we started gently a few weeks earlier with some veggies, and then ramped up baby led weaning at 6 months which worked really well.

AnythingNotEverything · 11/03/2014 00:23

Current thinking us that weaning dies not improve sleep. Food (especially baby rice) is less calorific than milk so it makes sense that it wouldn't fill them up more.

The NHS site has some great info.

AnythingNotEverything · 11/03/2014 00:24

Oh, and there are certain foods you shouldn't give before 6 months, which is one of the reasons lots of people wait. Much easier to give them a bit if your dinner (modified) rather than stewing and pureeing fruit especially, just for them to spit it out.

Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 00:36

Thank you I have already started reading and think I've got a study day tomorrow Smile this is prob gonna sound really stupid but when it says ability to swallow surely I won't know that till I try him or am I being a prat?

OP posts:
ExBrightonBell · 11/03/2014 00:38

The NHS advice is around 6 months, and definitely not before 17 weeks. Which is not quite the same as anytime between 17 and 26 weeks.

There's no need to rush to wean, and from what I've seen, no connection to sleeping. If you wait till nearer to 6 months then it becomes a lot easier - and from 6 months you can give any food (apart from honey, and things like whole nuts).

Sunnysummer · 11/03/2014 02:33

With the swallowing, it sounds like you've already experienced what 'not quite ready' looks like Smile Once he's ready to swallow you'll clearly see him taking it in rather than just pushing it all out with the tongue (although there may still be plenty on his face / hands / the walls!)

Eletheomel · 11/03/2014 08:22

Just wanted to say that my son slept much worse once we started weaning, as he started having random poohs at night and started waking when he had trumps (think he thought they were poohs).

Weaning is now some magical panacea for a baby that takes a lot of milk feeds during the night - it won't make them sleep through, there are far fewer calories in pureed carrot than fatty milk.

We started weaning DS2 at 6 months, but to be honest he couldn't sit up by himself (without flopping forwards in his chair) until he was closer to 7 months, but we felt he had all the other signs and so we sat him on our laps for each meal until we felt he could go in his highchair comfortably (was very messy for us :-)

As pp poster said, the day they turn 6 months isn't some magical moment where everything will come together for them, but by then most babies will be showing most of the signs and be able to give it a go.

(DS2 took to food straight away (very happy to swallow) and by 7.5 months was having solid poohs, whereas DS1 was very much a milk monster and while he was happy having tastes from 6 months, in all honesty wasn't eating as much as DS2 until he was closer to 11 months - they're all so different - but they all get there in the end :-))

Eletheomel · 11/03/2014 08:23

ooops, I meant *weaning is NOT (rather than now - doh!)

MunchkinJess · 11/03/2014 09:08

my little one is five months old and I am considering starting weaning soon. .first time mum here too.

not that im an expert what sort of bed time routine do you have abtd how much milk does your little ome have during the day ?

my daughter was up every two or threw hours about a 6 weeks ago. I have beem preserving with a nightime routine since she was 10 weeks old. bath at 6pm, bottle at 6:30pm and bed at 7pm.

she now sleeps through from 7pm to 6:30amish. I did find once she reached a certain a weight and started taking 7 to 8 ounces every 3 to 4 hours and 8 to 9 ounces for her last bottle before bed it really helped her through the night.

MunchkinJess · 11/03/2014 09:10

sorry about typos. .. posting from my phone

once my little one took enough milk during the day it helped get her through the night.. all babies are different of course.

my new hurdle is getting her to nap during the day ..she is allergic to day time naps Wink

Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 09:14

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful. Gonna stick with my gut and leave him a while. All I had been hearing was how I should have started already

OP posts:
Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 09:20

Hi munchkinjess, bed time routine is the same as yours but I have to be really careful with his daytime naps! He has to have two roughly one hr naps or he gets so tired that he gets really moodily and won't sleep. The most he ever drinks if 4oz then he will fall asleep.

OP posts:
Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 09:21

Also he is demand fed. So I don't know if that makes a difference

OP posts:
Smerlin · 11/03/2014 10:08

I would go by the signs - our 18 week DD can sit up well, pick things up from the table and put them in her mouth and is interested in food but I am waiting till 5 months as I feel uneasy starting so so early- I don't think she'd want to wait much past 5 months though as showing all the signs already (haven't checked tongue thrust obviously yet). But we did see a paediatrician who advised us to start weaning her (many issues with milk) so that has helped with my decision.

MunchkinJess · 11/03/2014 10:20

Hi Sars my baby is demand fed too and bottle fed.

when she was getting up every two hours she wouldn't drink more than 4ozs at a time.

maybe your baby isn't getting enough milk during the day?

once she started drinking 6ozs a feed she was sleeping for longer at night.

have you tried a few more ounces a feed? or maybe a bigger feed before bed? just an idea but when I was at my wits end on no sleep I really found a bigger feed before bed really helped and more ozs per feed.

Artandco · 11/03/2014 14:09

Have you tried sharing night feeds? A healthy adult should be fine to work etc on 6/7 hours sleep a night. Could your partner at least do all wakings before midnight. You could then go to bed early at 9pm for a few weeks and get a few hours sleep in first. If he's fed at midnight then should sleep until 2am at least so you could sleep 9pm-2am without interruptions. And your partner 12-7am or whatever

Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 19:53

Hi artandco, we do that at weekends but my husband works nights :(

OP posts:
Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 20:00

Hey munchkinjess, he drinks roughly 3bottles(27oz) during day and then between 11/2 and 2 at night (12 and 18oz) but he never wants to take more than about 4 oz at a time or he will just fall asleep mid feed. How did you increase the amounts?

OP posts:
Gerty1002 · 11/03/2014 21:59

Sars Have you tried using a bigger teat? My DS used to fall asleep mid-feed, was a revelation when someone suggested he might be ready for a faster flow teat.

Lj8893 · 11/03/2014 22:02

Yes I found the same as gerty.

Original poster
Sars123 · 11/03/2014 22:09

I will give that a go thanks

OP posts:
MunchkinJess · 11/03/2014 22:14

ive been in your shoes and I posted on here and got so much helpful advice. . it will get better Smile

  1. I echo what another poster said about teats, what teat is your baby using? I found when I moved on to medium flow instead of slow flow my little one was finishing her milk off much better.

  2. I started off by putting an extra ounce so about 5 to 6 ounces. half way through a feed I would wind her and give her a little 5 min break then give her the rest of her bottle. slowly her capacity increased.

  3. to keep my baby awake during feeds I would do what my health visitor advised, slowly stroking the cheek, gently blowing on the face to wake her up.

  4. I did do dreaming feeding for a little while in order to teach my little one to sleep for longer, once she slept for at least 6 hours straight with a dream feed. was getting enough milk during the day I dropped the dream feed .

I was told by my health visitor that babies dont know how to sleep and we have to teach them how to be good sleepers, once they reach a certain weight and drink enough milk during the day, when they get up alot during the night its a learned behaviour. .. not sure how true this is!