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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Any Advice for me....23 week old, had been very interested in weaning and now has gone off it?

24 replies

faireyqueen · 02/12/2008 19:53

My gorgeous 23 week old baby was very interested in food so we began weaning at 21 weeks. There is no allergy history in the family, and I do have another child who is 5 so I'm not a virgin weaner! I just don't remember this happening with my first. Or if its the norm. Not too worried just an out there thread wondering if anyone has any pointers. Thankyou!

OP posts:

LizSpain · 02/12/2008 19:58

My son did the same he'd been eating solids for about 4 weeks then seemed totally uninterested in anything but milk, about a week later 2 teeth appeared & he soon went back to loving his solids!

seeker · 02/12/2008 20:03

I would say it's because you started too early - I would just leave it till he's older. The guidelines say that babies should be on milk only until 26 weeks so that you can be absolutely sure that their gut is mature enough to deal with solid food.

MoChan · 02/12/2008 20:04

my little girl showed a lot of interest in food from about five months. I held out until she was nearly six months, and then began weaning, first couple of weeks she was pretty enthusiastic. Then she got bored, and stopped being interested, ate no more than a tiny peck at any given meal and really made me worry that she wasn't eating enough. After worrying for several months, I decided that there was no point worrying any more, and just let her do her own thing and eat if she felt like it, which she didn't seem to, most of the time.

She only really began eating with a vengeance around the 11/12 month stage ( I think she may have started to get genuinely hungry around that time because of all the walking around she began doing). She is now nearly 16 months, and generally eats quite well, with the occasional refuse-everything-but-cheese week to throw me.

NotanOtter · 02/12/2008 20:05

i think although they love food at this age the milk satiates them faster

3 weeks in - novelty worn off a wee bit - keen on milk again

21 weeks is easily late enough in my opinion so just keep doing what you have been hth

LizSpain · 02/12/2008 20:21

My son was 17 weeks when we started weaning because he started waking up in the night and was very interested in food. I started with just a little once a day then increased it to 2 then 3 times a day then increased the amount too the only time he went off was when teething. I wasn't sure why so asked Health visitor who just told me to persevere! Good luck!

Original poster

faireyqueen · 02/12/2008 20:39

Thanks for imput guys. Good to know others have gone off it too
Seeker I am fully aware of the guidelines, and was hoping to just come on here for some advice, not a telling off for early weaning thanks.
Like I said before, I have another child who is very well on weaning a lot earlier than this one Im just asking what others have to say. For me its a good few years on from my first. Thanks!

OP posts:

seeker · 02/12/2008 22:22

I didn't tell you off -I just drew your attention to the most up to date information just in case you had missed it - as you said it's a while since you last weaned a baby.

But now I know you were aware of current advice but chose to ignore it, I'll bow out - baffled as I always am by the choices some people make!

NotanOtter · 02/12/2008 22:26

fashions change seeker

faireyqueenwithsnow · 02/12/2008 22:48

Baffled as you are seeker Im not here for anyone to tell me i shouldnt wean until 26 weeks. If you don't want to hear of people weaning before the'26 week' guideline why are you looking at his thread? Sorry, Im not after a row on what age to wean, just advice on what im doing. Thanks

littlelamb · 02/12/2008 22:52

My ds is 25 weeks and we started offering him a few bits 2 weeks ago but he has lost interest too. I think in hindsight he hs just come out of a very fussy stage which I interpreted as hunger but was not. He was impossible to settle at night and wouldn't bne put down in the day either, but he is going down brilliantly now. I am not worried tbh. He is a big boy and obviously thriving on his milk (I do wish he'd take a bottle though- he is being very stubborn about that!) I will try again in a few weeks and see if we have more luck.

Neenztwinz · 03/12/2008 09:25

Fairey, I found that my DTs went off food after a few weeks (I started at 22 weeks). I just went back to offering them the foods they started on (the ones they did like) cos when I looked at what I was offering them that they were refusing I think maybe I had gone a bit far too quickly IYSWIM.

So I just started mixing lots of milk and baby rice with everything and they soon got the hang of it again!

Seeker you are being quite patronising to the OP. It is one thing pointing out the guidelines, but quite another to say you are 'baffled by the choices people make' - the OP did not ask for your opinion on her choices. FWIW I weaned my twins because they were cluster feeding (BFing) every hour all evening every day. I could not cope with that so I introduced food. They then stopped cluster feeding and now sleep 7-7. What's baffling about that?

Original poster

faireyqueen · 03/12/2008 17:21

Thanks for replys all. Strangly enough she was really interested in food this evening had to get another lump of pear out of the freezer. Dont know if it was maybe because I tried her later in the day rather than lunchtime. Anyhow, hopefully she will pick up again now.

OP posts:

bamboostalks · 03/12/2008 17:29

Yes, hopefully she will be on a roast dinner next week.
Seeker, do not bother in future. You tried to help, (unaware that OP happily ignores advice) and all you received were nasty replies.

passroundflourymincepies · 03/12/2008 21:34

Fairy - My LO is goign through this too at the moment, she is 6 mths and i weaned her at 22weeks. She has gone off veg the last few days but loves anything fruity, i keep trying veg but dont worry im sure they will be interested soon

Bamboo- seeker did not try to help the OP asked for help on a baby who had gone off food, all seeker did was state the guidelines wheres the help in that re answering her question

seeker · 04/12/2008 06:59

I didn't just state the guidelines - I suggested that the OP's baby may have gone off food because he wasn't yet ready and maybe starting again later would be better.

And I really don't see what's wrong or patronizing with saying that I am baffled that anyone would be "fully aware" of the guidelines but choose to ignore them.

neenztwinz · 04/12/2008 09:41

Because they are only guidelines ffs, we don't ignore them, we take them into consideration and do what we feel is best for our child. There is a lot of difference between weaning at 22 weeks and weaning at 10 weeks. There is a risk in weaning before 26 weeks but it doesn't definitely do harm to your baby to wean before then. Weaning before 17 weeks is the real problem and no one here is saying that is OK.

Original poster

faireyqueen · 07/12/2008 08:34

Ha ha bamboostalks, yep will wizz up some roast for her today
It now has all made sense why she was off her food. First tooth appeared yesterday

OP posts:

neenztwinz · 08/12/2008 12:59

That's great Fairey, I've heard they hate a spoon in their mouth when a tooth is coming through.

Maria2007 · 08/12/2008 19:15

Interesting this suddenly about the guidelines being so sacrosanct. Shall we then remember that official guidelines don't recommend co-sleeping because there's a SIDS risk (supposedly)... How many of us, and especially APers follow that, hmmm??? Personally I've been happily co-sleeping for a while now, regardless of the 'guidelines'. And I do understand perfectly well why some people choose to wean a bit early, again regardless of the guidelines. I seem to remember that in these threads health visitors are often ridiculed or ignored etc (especially when they don't agree / don't know about BLW etc, but maybe I'm being mean!). So why this sudden interest in the official guidelines?
(Haven't entered the weaning debate myself, but for god's sake, these guidelines change all the time, and it's not as if the OP needs to be told what the guidelines are, she's an adult).

neenztwinz · 08/12/2008 21:57

Oh Maria (we meet again )... welcome to the weaning boards, where anyone who weans before six months and doesn't do BLW is made to feel like they are poisoning their babies.

Good analogy with the co-sleeping BTW.

fadingfast · 08/12/2008 21:58

FWIW the same thing has happened to my DD. Weaned at 27 weeks (no interest before then - do I get a prize?) and was doing well until about 31 weeks and now at 33 weeks she is just not bothered. I find it very frustrating and a bit of a worry, but I remember exactly the same thing happening with DS. He was weaned at 22 weeks and seemed to lose interest after a few weeks of enthusiasm.

I think this is quite common, whether due to teeth, boredom, growth spurt or who knows what - but I'm doing my best this time to stay calm and not panic. I do hate having to chuck out so many lovingly prepared meals though

Puddlet · 08/12/2008 22:09

I think reasons for this can vary - perhaps sometimes it's going to fast and it helps to go back. On the other hand when my dd had a fussy phase a couple of weeks ago it was because she was being a big grown up girl who didn't want to be spoon fed (except for yoghurt which is baby ambrosia). I looked up lots of finger food ideas and we tried those - mostly well received. At the moment though she has a cough and gags on her little sandwiches so we're doing mostly puree again. She likes to have her own spoon so that she can wave it around enthusiastically. I think you just have to try different things and see what works - they are very random sometimes!

neenztwinz · 09/12/2008 09:27

Yeah, I was chucking away lots of food - went back to more simple purees and they were happy again.

Original poster

faireyqueen · 09/12/2008 19:51

My LO is very happy now, back on her purees! Twice a day . Thanks to those with helpful advice/there own experiences, thats just what I was after really, not the guidelines recited to me again. Like Neenz pointed out they are guidelines. I wouldnt dream of weaning before 17 weeks, I think at 22 weeks she was ready but obviously teeth set her back a bit.
The WHO change the guidelines quite often, so they mustn't be quite sure themselves, It was only 5 years ago that it was a deffinate 17 weeks. I appreciate that new research has been done since then, but there is still a call in some babies to wean earlier than 26 weeks I think. I think every mum should be following their own babies lead(like most of us are I think) Mumsnet is here for advice from likeminded. If there is a thread you dont 'approve' of I dont really think comments are welcomed, It just turns into a row, which isn't why most folk ask questions(I know some do Its because they are worried about something. Rant over. Thanks!

OP posts:

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