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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

I know its bad but who has weaned their lo earlier then 6 months?

54 replies

lauraloola · 03/09/2008 12:07

DD is 3 months old. She has started waking at 4am for a feed and doesnt seem satified after her bottle.

She watches us eat and has started trying to put things in her mouth. She has also started being sick after feeds from where I think she is having too much to try to fill up.

I am trying to hold off until she is 6 months old but I think she will be ready before then. DD is bottle fed on Hipp Organic and they dont do a Hungrier baby milk. HV advised to try her on some baby rice.

What is the earliest that you have weaned your lo? Have they had any problems?

OP posts:
FrockHorror · 03/09/2008 12:18

DD was weaned at 4 months as per the "rules" 4 years ago and tbh, I don't think she was ready for it. She suffered from reflux anyway so was sick all the time but purees seemed to make it worse and every bout of vomiting was bright orange. She was permanently hungry. I don't think it helped at all.

DS is now 3 months and never satisfied with his milk feeds. We moved him from first stage Cow and Gate to second stage, but it played havoc with his belly, caused him to be sick, constipated and generally grizzly, so we switched back and although he feeds more regularly, he winds better and seems to have very little discomfort. Following our trial with the harder stuff, we have decided to wait as long as possible until 6 months mainly because we do not want DS to suffer in the same way with digestion that DD did.

People do keep telling us to give DS baby rice in his bottle, but I can assure you that that will not be happening.

Have you tried offering her water and getting her to fill up a bit on that? DS is very good and will drink 2-3 ozs of water in between most feeds when he starts getting anxious to be fed again.

lulumama · 03/09/2008 12:21

are you offering a full feed? 9 oz?

she is having the classic 3 month growth spurt

NHS says 'no solids before 17 weeks' in their leaflet, with the aim being to get to around 26 weeks

baby rice is not going to fill up your baby

why not try a differnt milk, one for hungrier babies? it might give her tummy ache though

ride out the growth spurt and ignore your HV

signs of readiness for weaning are:

sitting unsupported

pincer grip to allow picking up food and getting it to the mouth

loss of tongue thrust reflex

being a certain weight or watching you eat are not reliable indicators that your babies gut is mature enough and ready enough to tolerate anything other than milk

stripeymama · 03/09/2008 12:21

Not surprising or unusual for a 3mo to wake in the night for a feed IMO.

Certainly not a reason to risk introducing food to a baby so young. Search on here for threads about early weaning and see what other posters more knowledgeable and coherent than me have to say.

lulumama · 03/09/2008 12:22

also, i personally would not give water to stretch out time between feeds, if a baby is hungry, feed them milk

VaginaShmergina · 03/09/2008 12:22

I cannot imagine having waited 6 months with either of my DC's , DS had reflux too but with gaviscon in his milk and cranial manipulation we got it sorted.

At the end of the day regardless of "rules" I think you need to do whatever to get a happy baby that is contented, sleeps well and therefore a happy Mummy!

MrsParker · 03/09/2008 12:22

Hi, from what i've read on mumsnet have a feeling you may get shot down for suggesting to wean before 6 months. Think 3 months is too early myself. My ds is 24weeks, advised to wean by hv at 17 weeks as weight was not going up. Also weaned my dd now nearly 5 at the same age. Guidelines recommend 6 months, so maybe hold off a little longer.

Ewe · 03/09/2008 12:23

There is no way you should consider weaning at 3 months.

I haven't weaned early as such but have been doing food play since DD was just over 5months and she has really enjoyed although not exactly eaten much. This has been inspired by Baby Led Weaning, read about it here.

WigWamBam · 03/09/2008 12:24

Give her more milk. The small tastes of food have less calories than milk, so aren't the answer to filling her up.

The being sick may be because she is guzzling and taking it too quickly. Can you try a slower teat on her bottle?

It is normal to watch you and try to put things in her mouth. She would watch you whatever you were doing, it's not the eating she's interested in. Putting things in their mouths is normal at this age too; their lips are very sensitive and they like to mouth at them to feel them.

Your HV needs a slap if she is seriously advocating that a three month old should be starting on baby rice. Which is revolting stuff, by the way, and not fit even to use as wallpaper paste. Wait for a bit and give her real food later!

Original poster
lauraloola · 03/09/2008 12:53

Thanks everyone.

She only has a maxiumum of 5oz and that is twice a day. The other 3 feeds she will only have around 3oz. If she has too much she brings it back up.

I told the hv this and she said to give her baby rice! I think they say that as its the easy answer.

Not sure what else to do. She was only SMA Gold but developed bad eczema which went when we changed her to Hipp. For this reason I am reluctant to change her milk.

We have her on a varie flow teat.

I had thought about offering her a bottle every 2 hours instead of her usual 3/4 hours??

OP posts:
IAteDavinaForDinner · 03/09/2008 12:56

Offer her feeds when she wants them. That may well be every 2 hours, but it's only for a short few months and soon she'll be bigger and more easily satisfied. Water or solids are not the answer if she's hungry - they will make things worse because she'll be taking in even fewer calories.

lulumama · 03/09/2008 12:58

oh goodness, in that case she is not even a hungry baby ! i would seek an opinion from the GP re the vomiting.. she might have a reflux issue. or if she is crying a lot before her feed, might be getting really windy, too tired to feed properly, hence not taking a lot and being sick

can absolutely assure you she will not benefit from baby rice

Bunch · 03/09/2008 12:59

Slate me then. My DD8 started weaning at 12 weeks and my DS4 at 10 weeks!

goingfor3 · 03/09/2008 13:01

My ds is three months old and still wakes at night for milk, it's normal and as others have said could be a growth spurt.

19 oz of milk is not very much for a three month old, a two month old should have around 5 6oz feeds per day. Every two hours maybe the way to go as she only has small feeds. I really can't see a need for solids.

LadySanders · 03/09/2008 13:05

i weaned ds1 at 4 months because that was the advice at the time (7 years ago).

am currently weaning ds2, started a few weeks ago at 6 months, he is eating TONS and thoroughly enjoying everything (even prunes, odd child) but makes no difference at all to the large number of milk feeds he has (nor to his sleep, for the record). its really clear that the food calories are tiny compared to the milk.

likessleep · 03/09/2008 13:07

My DS had reflux and whilst he was breastfed, small but frequent milk feeds helped him keep his milk down. So your instinct of feeding every 2 hours may be worth a try?
I don't know much about bottlefeeding, but surely if your DD is having the recommended amount (or thereabouts) every 24 hours, that is OK (no matter how frequently she is fed)?
If she has eczema, she may be more suscetible to other allergies too.
My DS was naturally quite 'awake' from 4-5am. Is it that she doesn't seem satisfied, or that she is just ready for the day?

MarlaSinger · 03/09/2008 13:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bunch · 03/09/2008 13:08

I don't know but he did.

Original poster
lauraloola · 03/09/2008 13:13

I thought she should be having more. She is putting weight on as she should be. I took her to be weighed last week and said to the hv how much she was drinking - She said 'its probably the hot weather!' - Its not even that hot anymore. If she doesnt start taking more I will take her to my gp.

I think I will try her every 2 hours and see how we go. I have tried her with water but she just spits it out and gives me a dirty look!!

OP posts:
likessleep · 03/09/2008 13:14

bunch - feeding aside, have you got 12 kids (dd8+ds4) ... respect to you, do you have any me time at all?

lulumama · 03/09/2008 13:14

he would not have know anything other than milk existed if you had not given it

if a baby is showing the signs i posted lower down then i think they are more likely to be ready..whether babng on 26 weeks or not

but 10 weeks is too early

NHS clearly advises no earlier than 17 weeks and encourages 26 weeks or so

lulumama · 03/09/2008 13:15

if she is weeing ,pooing, alert, and gaining weight and seems well, apart from the vomiting, she is taking what she needs. she might well take more in a week or two

likessleep · 03/09/2008 13:17

lauraloola, i hope the two hour feeding works for you.

MarlaSinger · 03/09/2008 13:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bunch · 03/09/2008 15:03

He was taking 9oz bottles 2-3 hrly.

lulumama · 03/09/2008 15:54

that is normal milk consumption for a 10 week old, who is hungry and on the larger side and probably in the midst of a growth spurt

feeding well every 2 - 3 hours is normal. not a reason to add food IMO