Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Weaning

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

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

Is he ready do you think?

74 replies

DetentionGrrrl · 25/10/2006 07:28

I posted a while ago about my son (now 18wks) as he was taking alot of interest in my eating and trying to pull himself from his chair etc. For the last few days he's been trying to put things in his mouth, and also has been insatiable with b/feeding- has fed almost constantly for 3 days and nights (am amazed i don't look like a prune!) Does it sound like he's ready to try food? I can't cope with this constant demand for milk!

OP posts:

ludaloo · 25/10/2006 07:32

I know all the professional advice would be to leave solids until 6 months..... but I actually started solids with all my 3 at 4 months...my ds was slightly before as he started to become uninterested in breastfeeding completely.
You could maybe try a weak rice meal to start with..and just one meal a day for a while??

Original poster

DetentionGrrrl · 25/10/2006 07:35

I'm not sure what to do- i like the idea of BLW. If i offer him a stick of courgette of something, it won't hurt will it? And if he's not ready he won't want it will he?

BTW can you make up babyrice with breast milk?

OP posts:

FrannyandZooey · 25/10/2006 07:39

Lots of milk is all he will need at this stage, as his gut is not developed enough for other food, and it can cause allergies and digestive problems to give solids before the recommended time. I know someone will always be along to say "ah my baby was fine", but I personally know several adults who have problems which they attribute to early weaning, and the advice from the WHO is quite clear.

How lovely that he's developing fast, though, and showing an interest in what you are eating. It sounds like he will be quite ready and keen when you start weaning at 6 months. Meanwhile make sure you are eating lots yourself, and feed him as often as he wants, as this will help your supply. If he is having a growth spurt, your suplly has probably not quite caught up yet, so he needs to be feeding all the time to make sure there is enough milk. It will settle down in a few days, I expect (before the next spurt). Meanwhile an excuse for plenty of cake and filling snacks for you...

FrannyandZooey · 25/10/2006 07:40

Cross posts, if you give a baby anything at this age, they will put it in their mouth - it doesn't mean they are ready to have solids...

ludaloo · 25/10/2006 07:41

A stick of courgette???? I would start off with something slushy!! He won't know how to chew yet..or might choke!
You can use breastmilk for rice.. infact you can express and use milk to mix with most baby foods.

redbullbloodandbump · 25/10/2006 07:45

to be honest ds (now 5)i started on weaning at
3 1/2 months and i will do the same for this baby when they come along, its done ds no harm and when we were babies we were all weaned at that age and its done me and my brother no harm (and we dont know anyone with any problems that they would put down to early weaning.

just go with what your instict is telling you

FrannyandZooey · 25/10/2006 07:49

Ah, the "go with your instincts post"

yes, when dealing with an important health matter I always find it best to ignore all the research from experts, and just follow what I think is best (eg what my mother did and what my hv who hasn't had any training since 1962 says to do)

FrannyandZooey · 25/10/2006 07:55

Oh and DetentionGrrl, I think the thing about BLW is that because you leave it until 6 months before starting, you can give things like courgette and so on, because they are physically capable of managing the odd lump. Can your baby sit up yet? Has the tongue-thrust reflex gone? I think those are more effective pointers for readiness, than "watches me eat" (let's face it, they watch us do everything )

You might find this page useful

fluffyanimal · 25/10/2006 08:12

Franny, I've just told another poster to go with her instincts on another thread. It's not such bad advice; obviously mothers should make informed decisions and be aware of govt advice, health research etc, but don't forget every baby is different and you can't fit them all into prescribed govt schedules. It's a question of balance. I don't think you should scoff like that.

FrannyandZooey · 25/10/2006 08:16

I don't think babies are wildly different in how fast their guts mature, not really. I apologise for impolite scoffing but would you advise a poster to go with their instincts on other important medical issues?

"My baby has purple spots and a high fever. Is she ok at home with me, or should I take her to A and E?"

"Oh, I don't know. I mean the doctors would probably say yes, but I think you should trust your instincts."

The thing is, people's instincts are telling them to give their babies solids at 16 weeks, at 12 weeks, there was a case on here once of a baby of 6 weeks being given rice. I am sorry, but that mother's instincts were shit.

Wordsmith · 25/10/2006 08:40

Obviously it's ideal if WHO guidelines are followed, but how do you account for a child who was born a month premature, or three weeks late? The digestive development of one could be seven weeks ahead of the other - should they both be weaned at 6 months? A friend of mine has a baby at 34 weeks. After a couple of weeks in SCBU she was allowed home and developed normally. She was weaned at 6 months, when her development was actually 4.5 months - should she have waited till 8.5 months?

Guidelines are just that - guidelines. Some babies will be pounds heavier than others at 4 months or 5 months. And it's not just instincts that tell mothers to wean at 4 months - as I said on another thread, when I had my first child (back in the dak ages of 2000) That was the official advice. So was that 'shit' too?

lulumama · 25/10/2006 08:48

forgive me for speaking on franny;s behalf

she was saying the mother giving the baby solids at 6 weeks was 'shit' not going with instincts on the whole

i have a child with a nut allergy....therefore i am tried to avoid weaning DD until 6 months as wanted her gut to be mature and hopefully less likely to be an 'allergic' baby...! she was 10 days shy of 6 months when i started weaning...

there are reasons for the guidelines....i agree they shouldn;t be followed blindly, but there is a huge difference in the maturity if a 12 week old to a 26 week old...

my DD couldn;t tolerate hungry baby milk at 5 months- but could a month later....

lulumama · 25/10/2006 08:49

i do agree with listening to your own instincts....but ...not at the expense of researched advice and medical guidelines....

lulumama · 25/10/2006 08:50

i think that;s what franny was saying.....that's the way i read it anyway re that comment...!

Original poster

DetentionGrrrl · 25/10/2006 08:52

The courgette suggestion was from a colleague whose son was similar to mine in terms of behaviour/development etc, and was BLW at his age with things like that.

Am trying to stick it out, but got a feeling my milk isn't enough for him at the mo.

OP posts:

lulumama · 25/10/2006 08:58

milk is the only food recommended for babies this age..it is hard when they seem really hungry... can you not persevere with the feeding ..the more you feed, the more milk you will have? it is frustrating, but at this age, anything goes in their mouths and they are interested in everything going on...try to hang on in there...! my sister is having a similar problem with her little one....20 weeks and very hungry...but due to lots of allergies in the family..is resigning herself to feeding a lot over the next few weeks....it will pass...

Original poster

DetentionGrrrl · 25/10/2006 09:00

Well, my instinct says to give him another week or so, and if he keeps this up to try a small amount of baby rice with breastmilk. He's feeding every hour (or less!), day and night- feels harder than the 1st week of b/feeding!

OP posts:

Waswondering · 25/10/2006 09:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

DetentionGrrrl · 25/10/2006 09:08

Thanks waswondering. I figure if he's still like this in a couple of weeks, it's not a growth spurt. I'm hardly going to kill him if i try a bit of food, and i'm not planning on giving him cows milk/nuts etc- i'm not daft. Hope this passes though- knackered more than anything!!!

OP posts:

fluffyanimal · 25/10/2006 09:08

I think Wordsmith may have put it better than me, but I did try to say this in my o.p. - it's a question of balance. Franny, OK so your case of a mother weaning at 6 weeks is a case of someone making an ill-informed choice, but you did seem to imply that a mother's own instinct/gut feeling, call it what you will, has no place in the decision making process. I'm sure you wouldn't tell a mother whose breastmilk supply is poor that she has to continue bf exclusively until 6 months because current research says that is best?, Or that a mother who doesn't have room in her bedroom for a full-sized cot is wrong to move her 3 month old baby into a separate room because it has outgrown its moses basket, because current research into SIDS says babies should sleep in their parents' room until 6 months? DetentionGrrl came on here asking for information - and as on every MN thread there are a range of views, and at the end of the day it's up to her to take account of govt advice and what other people have told her, and use her instinct/brain to decide what works in her individual scenario.

Wordsmith · 25/10/2006 09:28

Fluffy I think you've put it much better than me!

hunkermunker · 25/10/2006 09:40

Franny, good posts.

DG, they do have a growth spurt at this time and just when you think it's not possible they'll ever stop feeding, they settle again.

hunkermunker · 25/10/2006 09:43

Fluffyanimal, the two scenarios you present are practical problems.

With breastmilk supply, there are things you can do in most cases to improve that, and I would personally post those things rather than just say "go with your instincts" in a rather woolly fashion.

And a full-size cot might not fit in the parents' room, but there are again other options for sharing a room with your baby till they're 6m. Co-sleeping, sleeping in your baby's room (we did this with DS1 - with DS2 we've shoe-horned the cot in so our wardrobe doesn't open fully).

But to wean early? Not really the same thing as your examples, IMO.

harpsichordcarrion · 25/10/2006 09:44

actually yes, fluffy animal, I do think that babies should sleep in the same room as their parents until six months. that is pretty clear advice from FSID/government.
I think talking about a mother's instincts wrt the development of a baby's gut doesn't make much sense tbh. I know about my baby's behaviour, but readiness for weaning is related to the development of something internal. how could I possibly have an instinct about that?
btw I think a nice softly cooked stick of courgette is the perfect first food . my instinct tells me that if a baby is too small to eat food without choking then he is definitely too young to wean

harpsichordcarrion · 25/10/2006 09:45

oh and if the baby's cot didn't fit in my room, I woud go and sleep in the baby's room until he was six months.
but my instinct said she was safest co sleeping with me

Flip

1 2 3