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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

17 week old - too young to wean???

124 replies

emwad · 01/04/2007 22:19

My 17 wk DS has started waking up in the night (usually between 4-5am) for a feed, he has slept through for 5 wks. He has been feeding 4 times per day, and finishes 8oz quite easily. He weighes nearly 18lb (only 7 lb 12oz at birth).
My HV told me not to start weaning for at least 2-3 weeks but I've given him baby rice today and he munched loads as well as his usual 4x 8oz feeds, but now I feel awful incase I'm starting it too early.
What would you do?

OP posts:
KathyMCMLXXII · 02/04/2007 20:52

You really need Tiktok to tell you what research there is - she is really good on it.

bobsmum · 02/04/2007 20:58

Someone on here once compared this argument with the introduction of the advice to take Folic Acid while pg - very few people would argue against that now - even though it's relatively new advice.

So why is advice on weaning so different? I just don't get it??

Just follow it and do the best for your child IMO.

Ceebee74 · 02/04/2007 21:00

Bobsmum - exactly!! I have always thought the same about the SIDS advice that babies should sleep on their backs - I bet very few people ignore that advice now although in the 70's when I was a baby, parents were told to put their babies on their fronts - guidance changes as more research is done!

So why is weaning any different?

TwinklemEGGan · 02/04/2007 21:05

That's very true CB, however I found that I did want to go back to the research on that one too. I'm just not very good at taking advice for granted unless I've read and understood the reasoning myself.

I think it is quite hard for people as well when they're parents and grandparents might be telling them something very different. I always countered those comments (you haven't still got DS in your room? you would NEVER sleep on your back, what about choking? etc.) by explaining that the guidelines have changed, but then I was 29 going on 30. IME younger mums in particular tend to believe what their mums tell them first and foremost.

TwinklemEGGan · 02/04/2007 21:05

Not implying that you just believe what your mum tells you emwad.

Ceebee74 · 02/04/2007 21:14

I know what you mean about that Twinkle although there was no way I was going to let DS sleep on his front and I panicked when he could turn himself over and seemed to prefer sleeping on his front - wondered how I was ever going to relax again during the night!

But, a friend's baby wouldn't settle unless he was on his front so I guess that is comparable to weaning (iykwim) in that she had to make a choice, against the guidelines, that suited her baby

TwinklemEGGan · 02/04/2007 21:21

Me either CB - DS was always on his back, although my dad did get me worried about him aspirating vomit . It's all academic now since DS turns himself around every which way these days!

mish2 · 02/04/2007 21:30

Go with your own instinct, i agree it is best to wait til 26 weeks but it is not always managable especially if your babe is a hungry hefalump. With regard to hungry baby milk isnt that supposed to been really dodgey on your bowels? I was told to try and wing it an extra week or so on normal ff before weaning but not to go down the hungry baby milk route. I am weaning my ds slightly earlier than 26 weeks and it has been going well as we have been taking it verrrrrryyy slooooooooowly however he is still goign through a spurt and is now waking a toot earlier and for an odd feed through the night. If weaning b4 26 weeks it is important not to give them anything other than baby rice, fruit and veg (not citrus though). The end (mother of 12)

mish2 · 02/04/2007 21:31

well 2 actually!

VeniVidiVickiQV · 02/04/2007 21:37

Mish, what is "unmanageable" about not giving solids and making up an extra bottle?

bristols · 02/04/2007 21:37

I put my LO on the hungrier baby milk with no problems. Would also echo the advice of the 11pm 'dreamfeed'. Four 8oz feeds doesn't sound much to see a baby through the night. Hold out if you can. I did, and weaning was sooo easy. DS could sit competently, hold the spoon, have finger food, and not be limited on what he could eat. IMO I do think your LO is to young.

bristols · 02/04/2007 21:38

Weaned at 6 months, btw

mish2 · 02/04/2007 21:43

not managable - well i guess if its getting to 22-24 weeks and your ds or dd feeds 2 hrly 9 oz feeds and your hair is falling out coz he or she never ever settle and you have terrible post natal depression and feel like the end is nigh then its a fair bet it is unmanagable and that you little ones belly just cant take any more liquid milk and just requires a little substanance - i dont mean 'couldnt be arsed to make another bottle so gave him a snickers bar to tide im over while i watch neighbours' iyswim

bobsmum · 02/04/2007 21:46

I am surprised that a 17 weeks old is only on 4 feeds a day tbh.

ds was registering off the centile chart at this age and was needing 5 feeds including the dreamfeed.

DaisyMOO · 02/04/2007 21:50

OT, sorry, but I was lectured at uni by one of the paeds who introduced the back-to-sleep thing in the UK and apparently he got death threats because people didn't agree with this advice

Original poster
emwad · 02/04/2007 22:00

Thanks for all your advice.
I've not given him any rice today. He fed at 8am, 12noon, 4pm then 7.30pm all 8oz.
He slept from 7.30pm last night until 8am this morning. I tried to wake him for a dreamfeed but there was no way he was entertaining it, I felt awful for trying to make him. If he wakes up tonight, I'm going to up his feeds to 9oz and hope for the best. I can always go back to rice in a few weeks.
Thanks again for all advice

OP posts:
bristols · 02/04/2007 22:23

Emwad - If you did want to give the dreamfeed a go you could do it like we used to. We would put the lights on, give half the feed, change nappy then turn lights off for the rest of it. That way DS was awake enough to take the first half well and then totally relaxed again and ready to sleep by the end of the second half. Just a thought. Hopefully your LO will sleep through again tonight and you won't have to use it. Good luck

TwinklemEGGan · 02/04/2007 22:25

Alternatively, we used to try not to wake him at all and just pushed the bottle in his mouth and he sucked. He might wake up a very little but was very dozy and went straight back to sleep again.

tiktok · 02/04/2007 23:28

"If weaning at 4 months was so dangerous, society would be a walking disaster - we'd all be suffering from food allergies and skin problems " says Wilkie.

Er......

I don't know about a 'walking disaster' but you must live in a different world from me. There are many children and adults with food allergies and skin problems.

But no one says weaning at 4 mths is dangerous, at least not for the majority of babies in the UK. It's just not normally necessary or desirable. I think the allergies thing is going to be less of an issue with a baby who is already formula fed, anyway, but to give solid food to a baby because they are waking up is not a good nutritional response. Better to try with more milk, if there is some question about his intake. Surely this is not controversial any more?

lulumama · 03/04/2007 11:21

By jetjets on Mon 02-Apr-07 18:43:00
lulumama: "you cannot do anything wrong by waiting to wean, so why not wait?"

My HV would disagree with you there...! told me that they mustn't wean before 6mo at which point they should start purees and they'd better like them because if they refuse they'll suffer iron deficiency. Also if you dont introduce solid food before 7mo then your baby will not accept anything lumpy. And BTW you mustn't rush the process. What do you make of that?! Way to confuse and panic a new mum!

Still it would seem that HV aren't always to be trusted, if this topic is anything to go by!

The iron deficiency is a red herring, iron stores start to deplete around 6 months, don;t suddenly vanish over night ! and by giving iron rich food such as broccoli , apricots , red meat etc... you boost their iron levels...

there is no 'window of opportunity' to get a baby weaned , and if you miss it , baby will not eat lumps, or be a fussy eater..

that is what i have learnt , and i am prepared to believe it !

it is hard and it is confusing, but on the whole, the advice given by Tik Tok et al is valid and worth following, IMHO x

Original poster
emwad · 03/04/2007 12:20

DS woke up for a feed at 5am this morning!!

He is the approx weight/size of an average 25 wk old and has been averaging 32oz each day, (on my Cow & Gate milk box this is the average a 6 mth old drinks.)
I know not all babies are the same, which is why I'm so glad of all the different opinions on this thread. I've tried to give DS extra milk but he is just sick or not interested so that is why I tried the rice.

I'm going to just go with what he wants - stick with the 4 feeds of 8oz and if he wakes up at 5am, so be it. I'm sure he will soon settle back down to sleeping through.

If it gets too much I'll try the dreamfeed again .

Its all so different to when my 9YO was a baby!!!

OP posts:
AitchTwoOh · 03/04/2007 12:23

i really, really wouldn't set too much store in what the side of the box says, tbh.

Manictigger · 03/04/2007 14:13

We're all fed (hah!)this idea that the last 3 generations weaned early but is that really true? My mum bf me and my sis for longer than 6 months and talking to friends, their mothers did the same (mainly I think because of the cost of ff)and my fil (aged about 70)was bf for 2 years (but his mother did come from an Italian family so maybe that's the difference). As for low incidence of allergies in society, have you LOOKED at the Sainsburys 'Free from ...' aisle lately? (Sorry .. don't mean that in a chippy way, just can't be bothered through tiredness to rephrase it)

FoghornLeghorn · 03/04/2007 14:50

My DD2 is 18 weeks now and has gone backward in her sleeping - she previously had last feed at 10.30 then woke at 7ish - now she's up twice in the night for a feed.
She will not, no matter how hard I try, take anymore milk in the day so I think anyone who seriously thinks the answer is to always increase the milk no matter what is pretty blinkered.
DD1 was weaned before 6 months and there is nothing wrong with her gut and I have a strong feeling I will be weaing DD2 before the 6 month mark if she carries on in her sisters footsteps.

I am not saying to start weaning babies at ridulously young ages is right and I am not saying trying to increase the number of botles throughout the day is wrong but sometimes, it's not that simple. Every baby is different and i am from the camp of, you know your baby so you do what you think it right.

hercules1 · 03/04/2007 14:57

Sadly a lot of the problems such as IBS which may be caused by early weaning dont often appear until adulthood.

The size of the baby is not an indicator to when its stomach is able to cope with solid foods.

Ds's best friend is 11 and wasnt weaned till he was 6 months.

I really dont get how pureed carrot which has less calories than milk can possible fill a baby up better than milk.

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