36 weeker...will he wean earlier or later?

[macaco]

Hi my DS is now 15 weeks but was born 4 weeks early. He's doing great-up tp 50th percentile now from 5th at birth. He's ff, was mixed fed til 9 weeks but then all went pear shaped and descended in full ff.
Is he more likely to wean earlier cos he'll be hungry sooner or later as his gut might mature more slowly?

bump

My DD was 4 weeks early as well and I think I started to wean about 24 weeks which HV said was fine. Or she said I could wait a bit.She was around the 50th as well with a mix of FF and BF. The usual absolute minimum is 17 weeks so prob best to wait till 17+4 but I'd hang on as long as possible with just formula- much easier!

thanks quickerthistimeplease, that's very interesting. My plan is to just go with the flow and see what happens, certainly at moment he's nowhere near it so he won't be weaning at 17 weeks!

The recommendation is 6 months, because of gut maturity. Not sure if you would need to adjust this or not. One thing: many babies have a big growth spurt at about 20 weeks, this doesn't mean they need solids (which are less calorific) but more milk

you should wean around his 6th month ( 26 weeks). that is current DoH and NHS advice...corrected age...watch for signs of readiness too.. i.e ability to sit up unaided, loss of tongue thrust reflex, able to pick up a piece of food and chew and swallow.. being hungry at this age means he needs more milk .. weaning too early can cause health issues... search the archives on here for posts by welliemum, aitch and vicotriansqualor.

also, have a look at this site for fuss free weaning www.babyledweaning.com

You could also try baby-led weaning, where you bung a bit of finger food in front of them and they start eating when they are ready (also much easier than faffing about with purees)

Seems a bit of a minefield when it comes to weaning prem babies. Some say don't adjust (like my doc who told me when ds was 17 wks adjusted I could go ahead, although I wasn't happy with it and waited a while) others say adjust. I was totally confused myself but just waited until I thought my ds was ready himself. He was also 4 wks early and I started weaning at 26 wks uncorrected (so really 22)