How does weaning work?

[Angeliki159]

I'm not really sure how to go about weaning my DS.
He is 4.5mths at the moment and for a couple of weeks we have been giving him a little bit of baby porridge before his 4pm and 8pm feeds.
He loves it and takes it really well.

I mentioned it to the HV and she went batshit at me.

Reason we started the baby porridge was at 4pm he would have his bottle then by 5pm he would be screaming the house down. If we gave him another bottle He would throw it all up. Gave him a little porridge (2tsp worth) then the bottle and he is calm.

I'm not planning to give him anything other than that until he is 5.5/6months.
When the time comes, how do I do it?
If I use the pouches, how much of the pouch should he have? And a bottle aswell? Do I replace a bottle with a pouch?

Can't ask my HV cos she won't even entertain talking to me about it.
There is an NCT course on baby weaning but only for babies born in certain months, he wasn't born then.
Doctor said to ask HV.
Don't know where else to go.

Read up on baby led weaning. There’s no need to waste money on special ‘baby food’ or do purées.

Weaning is the process of moving your baby from just milk feeds to solids as well as milk. Ideally by 12 months they should be eating family foods, 3 meals a day alongside breastfeeding or cows milk from a cup (350ml a day of cows milk is recommended to get the necessary calcium, but it's not compulsory).

You've started that process by giving foods other than milk. By the sounds of it you want to do traditional weaning, which involves giving puréed food, spoonfeed. When they are able to sit up and hold food you can then give finger foods so they can have a go at self feeding and eating non-puréed food. You then introduce lumpier purée, then mashed, then as it comes. Annabel Karmel does a series of books that take this traditional approach.

You can also do baby led weaning, which involves waiting until they can sit and self feed. You then give them solid food from day 1, and they feed themselves with their hands. Gill Rapley wrote the first book about this and if you're interested in it then maybe get her book out from the library and read up.

You don't need to try and actively replace milk feeds, they should drop naturally as the amount of solids increase. The NHS advice is to get to 3 meals a day by around 8 to 9 months, starting at around 6 months but never before 17 weeks.

Maybe you could get a few books about weaning out from the library and see which approach suits you the best?

Oh, also you don't need to use pouches or jars. They're meant for convenience when out and about, or if you can't give normal food for some reason like being without cooking facilities. A range of fresh family foods is best.

Can I just ask how many floz of formula he’s having in 24 hourscand what does he weigh?

I found the Annabel Karmel book really helpful, OP.

Sorry, I’ve done the usual MN thing of not answering your question

Here’s the MN info.

NHS starting solids.

Start for Life.

And this guide from the Caroline Walker Trust even gives sample menus and portion sizes

He's having 5x 5oz
Weight is 11.5lbs
His weight had dropped off his centile line but after having the porridge that's coming back into line now. Although he has been poorly for the last week and hardly having any of his bottle so his weight has prob dropped back down. He's getting better and almost back to what he was having now. Getting him weighed on Thurs to check him out (and get another ear bashing)

Hi Amgeliki I remember your threads about his weight now. I’m glad you’ve managed to get him up to 25 floz.