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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

15 WEEKS OLD AND FOOD!

250 replies

loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 22:54

My almost 15 week old has been showing a keen interest in food for a couple of weeks now, putting hands in his mouth when we are eating, leaning forward when we have food, fussing when he sees us eating. So today I tried him with some baby rice pudding and he couldn't get enough he was pushing the spoon to his mouth, and was excited everytime the spoon was approaching his mouth. He now weighs 15lb and has been breastfed to this point and Iwill carry on breasfeeding, but is it okay to carry on feeding him, he woofed down a full tin of the small Heinz Rice Pudding. I fear the health visitors won't be happy, but DS seemed so relieved, content and a happy little boy after he got his food!

OP posts:
suzi2 · 13/02/2008 23:01

OK, this might sound really preachy, but I don't think it's a good idea to give a 15 wk old solids. And if you really had to, something simple like baby rice, pureed veg or fruit might be better than babyrice. I think that a babys gut is still quite immature at this age and milk is really all they need.

AFAIK, the majority of 15 wk olds shove hands in mouth, show real interest in food etc. They also show real interest in you going to the loo or when you drive the car. It doesn't mean they're ready to do those things. 15wk olds are just nosy. And their fists end up in their mouth as it's as good a place as any to stick them to play. I get excited by chocolate cake and can't get enough... doesn't mean it's the best thing for me.

Can I ask: you seem very confident in your decision, why are you asking on here? You'll just get shot down I would think. (as I have done... sorry)

MrsBadger · 13/02/2008 23:03

um

what would you like me to say?

you know the guidelines are 6months
you know they're 6m for a reason

your call how you feed your child

but I would say to go really, really carefully though - no dairy (whoops), no gluten, no nuts, no salt, no sugar (whoops).

Baby rice (NOT rice pudding, which is made with milk and sugar), fruit and veg only.

suzi2 · 13/02/2008 23:04

sorry should read "better than rice pudding" not babyrice...

BoysAreLikeDogs · 13/02/2008 23:05

What suzi and mrs badger said

Sorry

scanner · 13/02/2008 23:05

On the other hand..... when my dc's where babies the 'rule' was to start solids at 16 weeks. All of mine where big and I began with veg puree's around 16 weeks, dd2 was like your ds and I started at around 15 weeks. She is 6, has no food alergies, is a normal size and eats the most well balanced diet of all three of mine. We are told to rely on our instincts as mothers - go with yours.

MrsBadger · 13/02/2008 23:06

yeah, veg purees, not rice farking pudding

louii · 13/02/2008 23:07

Rice pudding, not very appropriate imo.

scanner · 13/02/2008 23:07

Ok, true, but if you're new to it all ....

Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:08

He was virtually pushing the spoon to his mouth! This is my second baby and my first wasn't like this at all until he much older, he was exclusively breastfed, and never really showed a great interest in food, and just wanted to be breastfed for months after the 6 month mark. I have problems with my first eating now and is extremely fussy very difficult to get a meal in him he is almost 2 and a half. I guess I don't want to make the same mistake with my little one. I have been breastfeeding him and he just doesn't seem full, and he has been like this for the past week. I know about growth spurts, but this has been going on for over a week.

OP posts:
Habbibu · 13/02/2008 23:09

Agree with suzi and Mrs Badger - and size of baby has nothing at all to do with readiness for weaning.

MrsBadger · 13/02/2008 23:11

sorry, that was rude

loopyredangel, you do know that baby rice isn't the same as rice pudding, don't you?

don't you?

Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:13

I know I know baby rice pudding is a no no, but it was all I had in the house, he seemed starving, I will tread carefully, and will be getting my hubby to get something sensible(I am disabled and couldn't get out). Thanks scanner for the info about your kids. See that's why I tried my little one now because he was so interested, and my other DS who is now 2 1/2 is now terrible with food even though I did everything by the book!

OP posts:
Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:15

To be honest I thought the tin we had was just baby rice, but they fancied up the name! How dense am I? DOn't answer that ladies!

OP posts:
Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:17

Habbibu I was just putting his weight down as I was including all the info.

OP posts:
Habbibu · 13/02/2008 23:20

Fair enough - I was just hassled to wean dd a lot as she was 99.6th centile from birth. She was happy with breastfeeding till 6 mo, which was good, as I wanted to do BLW. I just get a bit fed up of people saying, "oh, big babyu, must wean early", but I do understand that's not what you were saying - sorry if I appeared snippy.

seeker · 13/02/2008 23:25

Ok - I'm really not sure why you posted on here. You seem very happy with your decision, and you're ignoring the fact that every single response is saying that what you're doing isn't a good idea. It really isn't, you know - he's too young for solid food - he needs milk, and if he's having a growth spurt he just need more milk. He's not even 4 months old - he's two and a half months younger than the WHO guidance say babies should be weaned. Doesn't that give you pause for thought?

Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:29

it's okay don't worry about it, he is just so interested in food showing all the signs, that I thought I might try him with something. I am seeing a dietician about my other little boy on Friday, he has the oppostie problem and doesn't eat properly, he too was a big baby but never really showed interest until he was over 6 months and never really liked food and still doesn't, but this little one is completely different, I was just testing the waters with him, and to see if anyone else had experienced this.

OP posts:
Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:31

seeker it does make me wonder if i am about to do the right thing, that is why I came on here to see if anyone else had experienced this? I have been giving him more breastmilk but he just doesn't seem satisifed, and I didn't know what to do for the best.

OP posts:
seeker · 13/02/2008 23:34

As someome else said, most babies love playing with the steering wheel of the car, but you don't let them drive! Honsetly, if you feed him more, your supply will increase to match him and he'll get past the growth spurt and be settled again.

Original poster
loopyredangel · 13/02/2008 23:41

I know seeker, but he did seem very content and happy after he eat. thanks, just looking for a bit of guidance from everyone not a shooting down! Sometimes it feels like this site is like just one big hormone fitting to burst (not talking about this particular topic), but when people are genuinely looking for guidance I wish people would think before they type their response. Thanks everyone, will take all your info on board, will see how he goes over the next week or so, try and perservere with milk only until he as least 4 months old and take it from there.

OP posts:
seeker · 14/02/2008 08:49

I'm sorry if you felt "shot down". The trouble is that it's very hard to offer guidance that doesn't sound like criticism when somebody's doing something that is actually a mistake and they seem to be looking for someone to say "Yes, that's OK, carry on". The bottom line here is that your baby is too young to be eating solid food. All the professional guidance agrees - I don't think there's a responsible expert anywhere who would say that babies should be weaned at 15 weeks. I think it would be irresponsible not to tell you that. What you do with the information is up to you.

smartiejake · 14/02/2008 09:10

dd2 was weened at 15 weeks dd1 at 16 weeks. When my dds were tiny the recommendation was 4 months.There is NO WAY they would have lasted till 6 months. I had an amazing milk supply (I could regularly express 10oz in one go!) but dd2 was on me ALL the time

They are now perfectly well proportioned and revoltingly healthy 9 and 11 year olds.

There are generations of mums who weaned there dcs at this age. Not quite sure why the guidelines have changed by 2 months in the last 10 years or so.

seeker · 14/02/2008 09:14

Yes but Smartiejake, when I was little nobody used car seats, thought it was safer to put children to sleep on their tummies and didn't realize that smoking near a baby was dangerous. Knowledge grows, things change, we learn more and realize that there are better ways of doing things.

pelafina · 14/02/2008 09:20

Message withdrawn

ghosty · 14/02/2008 09:26

OK - how do I come out with this without upsetting people and looking like I am supporting your decision to wean early (I am not btw)?
When my DS was a baby (8 years ago) the recommended weaning age was 16 weeks. I weaned DS (with the support of my HV) at 13 weeks.
He has never had an allergy, eats everything put in front of him and Seafood is his favourite food (and I don't mean fishfingers - I mean prawns, lobster, crab, mussels, oysters etc etc)

HOWEVER ... when my DD was a baby (she is 4) the recommended weaning age had moved to 6 months. So I didn't go near her with solids until about 23 weeks (3 weeks early).
Both children were very large babies (over 10 lbs at birth) and DD was happy to be exclusively bfed for that long. So size had nothing to do with it. (She fed 3/4 hourly for 10 minutes at a time and stayed on the 98 percentile all along).

DD, unfortunately, is my picky eater. Pasta, cheese and broccoli are the only healthy things she likes and she would live off biscuits if she could ...

BUT if I had any more children I would stick with the WHO guidelines. Absolutely, without a doubt. If I could turn the clock back I would have pushed the HV off a cliff and waited longer with DS ... It was way too young.

I think if you really want to carry on feeding your baby solids you should take it really really slowly - stick to pureed veg and fruit and that's it. Do not replace his milk with food. Yet. Please.