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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

does baby rice go through a teat?

55 replies

bumbly · 03/12/2007 19:24

..and how do you use when bottle feeding

LO 4 1/2 months old and i think it is time...but clueless re how to do the baby rice thing

he is always crying too early after a feed and i think he needs "MORE"

but due to poor head control i feel solids/purees would be too much since he isn't upright enough

and also hungry baby milk seems cruel to me - to give something that uis hard to digest

he has enough digestive porbvlems as it is

help

so to a 240 ml bottle how do i prepare baby rice???

OP posts:
Mercy · 03/12/2007 19:58

Bumbly, I am from a generation of babies who were fed baby rice through an enlarged teat (and at a much younger age). My mum said it made no difference to anything - sleeping etc.

If your baby has poor head control and digestive probs I really would wait tbh.

Have you sought advice re the digestive problems?

LIZS · 03/12/2007 19:59

poor Bumbly , she has a had such a rough time with her ds and her hv is cr$p by all accounts. Hence the, probably perfectly innocent, question.

Bumbly please don't read these post as getting at you personally, the advice is well intended. Did you get anywhere asking for a paed referral from gp, that would be my first thought iiwy.

Camillathechicken · 03/12/2007 20:00

agree LIZS..

SpikeandDru · 03/12/2007 20:07

Hi bumbly

Don't bother with the baby rice. If he's hungry then the hungrier baby formula is an excellent thing to go with - certainly far better than giving baby rice at this stage.

I know from reading your previous posts that you've had a really hard time so far - I can remember feeling really tired and your baby sounds just like my DS was as a baby. Honestly the hungrier baby stuff is a better option than the baby rice - if you really don't want to go to that then try and see if your DS will feed more often.

Hang on in there - it WILL get easier as time goes on.

themulledsnowmanneredjanitor · 03/12/2007 20:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Habbibu · 03/12/2007 20:09

Hi Bumbly

I agree with the others, but do sympathise. This is, as others have said, classic growth spurt time, and they do seem utterly insatiable. Remember the mantra - it will pass, it will pass.

JacanneAbox · 03/12/2007 20:25

Have to agree with everyone else. Also the baby rice causing constipation thing is true. I weaned dd1 at 4 months on baby rice and her constipation was so bad I had to do what my GP euphemistically referred to as "digital removal" as the poo was stuck. DD1 has had endless problems with constipation since and I am sure that they were exacerbated by too early weaning. Also baby rice has no real nutritional value so you'd be much better off just giving more milk (hungry baby or otherwise). I hope you get it all sorted

Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:07

hi all WOW glad got time amongst a disatsrous day to read this

not really being ignorant here re baby rice but for everyone here - am not english and my question stems ftom fact that in my country they do actually give a biscuit in milk through a teat

hence the question

but on reading post - will reread it properly now t double check - sounds like i need to find out more and guess i wont feed him baby rice...

as i want him to still be on bottle

as he cant hold himself up...

but isnt next milk hard on digestion and causes constipation and cruel??

OP posts:
PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 22:14

hi bumbly, i don't know your circumstances sorry but do you give him a dream feed? that can be a good first port of call during that 4 month growth spurt from hell.

Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:15

every time i post people say he has a growth spurt

hmmmm..saurely he cant be on one every day???

i think that phrase used for every time there is a problem

;)

OP posts:
Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:16

thankx again fora ll your advice!!

just have a bay that eats loads i guess

OP posts:
Mercy · 03/12/2007 22:17

Bumbly, 'hungry-baby' milk worked for my dd at 5 months old (no constipation etc) but not for my second baby. But dd was pretty small.

BUT neither of them had any digestive problems.

I think they are unnecesary tbh.

PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 03/12/2007 22:18

they do feed A Lot when they're wee... it's pretty relentless.

Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:23

every 2 1/2 hours at 4 1/2 months?????

  • hmmmm
OP posts:
Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:26

every 2 1/2 hours at 4 1/2 months?????

  • hmmmm
OP posts:
Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:26

every 2 1/2 hours at 4 1/2 months?????

  • hmmmm
OP posts:
coldtits · 03/12/2007 22:26

You have a hungry hungry baby - some just eat a lot. I don't know why! Ds1 ate twice as much as ds2 yet were both the same size. Try the hungry baby milk, but to be honest it makes very little difference - makes their poo a bit greener, is all. Ds1 ate a huge amount until he was 1 - and when he was on solids he ate a lot of those too. just feed him what he wants and be happy about all the vitamins he is drinking up, instead of manky rice

jojosmaman · 03/12/2007 22:27

Hi Bumbly- Don't worry, many people told me to give my ds rice or rusk in his bottle from about 6 weeks!! Luckily I ignored them and weaned at 6months since being a new mum you are not sure what to believe! Anyway, I fed my ds hungry baby milk from 8 weeks and he thrived on it (dp bought the wrong one and it was middle of the night on a sunday so we had no choice.. but he ate every drop and slept soundly after, not bringing up his usual sick and so I carried on with it and he was fine, no constipation or tummy troubles as yet!

And re growth spurts, you will be amazed how often they come and go, i know it sounds like the easy answer but whenever my ds was not settling, waking more in the night and generally cranky, I would check my books and see that his age was corresponding with (another!) growth spurt!! Lo and behold a week or so later he would settle down again.

Good luck!

Original poster
bumbly · 03/12/2007 22:28
Smile
OP posts:
coldtits · 03/12/2007 22:29

bumbly ds1 ate that much that often at that age, honest. Is he draining his bottles? Could he go for a bigger one, do you think?

naturopath · 03/12/2007 22:30

Yes, mine fed that much. I actually gave him solids at 4 1/2 months, but not in a bottle and he had very good head control. In any case, he wasn't that interested and is only beginning to eat a little bit now, at 5 1/2 months.

Babytomsmum · 04/12/2007 10:31

Hi bumbly (sorry, this is a bit long - hope you will bear with me!) i agree that it's not the best idea to start weaning just yet as your lo is a bit little. as you probably know there are signs to watch out for which will indicate that they are ready to start taking some solid food. believe me you will know when this happens as they start to show a great interest in what you are eating, literally watching every mouthful from your plate to your mouth! they may also try to take food from your plate, and to be more unsettled at night than they may have been. there are loads of places where you can read more about the signs that your little one is ready. there's no need to give cereal in a bottle, however tempting it may be if you feel your baby is unsettled/not sleeping - i think this is something that used to happen a lot some years ago as lots of people my mum's age suggested this to me when my ds got to about 4 months. the same people also suggested weaning to me at about this age, as again in years gone by (certainly when i was a baby in the 70's) mums were advised to wean much earlier than today. also, although the recommendation is to wean at 6 months, if you feel your baby is showing signs of being ready from about 5 months onwards i understand that is is ok to start giving small amounts of baby rice (literally a teaspoon or two from a baby spoon or your finger tip), but do check with your hv. many mums i know started weaning at 5 months. hth, really not trying to tell you what to do, i know myself it's so hard to know what to do for the best sometimes isn't it? good luck though xx

NAB3littlemonkeys · 04/12/2007 11:04

Mine fed every 2 hours until 6 months.

nimnom · 04/12/2007 11:26

I have just read this thread and I too agree with no baby rice in a bottle.
However - it was not so long ago(less than 5 years) that the advice was to wean from 16 weeks, so it makes me really cross when people are so horrified and holier than thou about weaning earlier than the magic 6 months. There are many of us whose children were weaned at 16 weeks with no detrimental effects.
Having said that(I'm running for cover now!)I think in this case you should really take advice from your hv or gp, especially as your lo has had digestive problems already.

Babytomsmum · 04/12/2007 11:31

well said nimnom - i was quite surprised when i read the initial reactions to this thread. i know people were only trying to help but some messages were a bit strong i thought. loads of people told me to start weaning from about 3 months on - in the end we started at 5 months like lots of our friends as ds was clearly ready and hv said it was ok.

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