How do I wean an E.A.S.Y. baby??

[CT123]

I always did the Baby Whisperer E.A.S.Y. routine but now I'm trying to wean him we're all over the place. I guess I have to give him fixed meal times now, rather than just feeding him when he wakes, but we're both completely confused. I just tried to give him his lunch at 11.45am but he was tired and wanted to sleep. Now when he wakes up, he's going to expect food but I can't give him anything until his mid-afternoon milk. Oh dear! Does anyone have any tips for moving off E.A.S.Y. and onto fixed meal times?

Is this your first baby I am guessing? You sound like I did first time round - constantly fretting about routine. With the benefit of experience and more children I would say forget everything you have done in the last 6 months and just try to move with your baby and their appetite. You don't HAVE to give fixed meal times you know (do you eat at the same time each day??), he will let you know what he needs and when and a new pattern will emerge. Just keep offering solids a little at a time until you gradually work up to three meals a day and reduce his milk down as well. No rules, just trust your instincts. Good luck

offer him food when you are eating

if he's asleep wait till he wakes up

of course you can feed him before the BW says you can, ffs don;t make him wait till mid-afternoon if he is hungry

and besides, to him at 6mo solid food is just a new kind of play activity, he doesn't get much nutrition from it - that's what milk is for.

this is the trouble with books IME, you end up listening to them and not the baby, then when you move beyond the scope of The Book you are all at sea...

Well, I do have fixed meal times myself, yes, within half and hour or so. Also, nurseries have fixed meal times, so he will eventually have to eat at regular times. I didn't force him to eat when he wasn't hungry and I won't let him go hungry when he wakes, I'm just not sure how to get off the 10 or so breastfeeds a day that he was having and onto the 5 more regular feeds that he will have now. I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on how to begin making the transition.

Nursery meal times are a bit of a red herring ime

DD ate at set times when she was in nursery, but at home her mealtimes were flexible, depending on what we were doing. There was no problem with this at all, she didn't suffer from the lack of a nursery routine at weekends.

follow his lead

who says he has to have '5 regular feeds' now?

Carry on bf on demand and stick him in the highchair and offer him food when you're eating. Eventually he will probably, of his own accord, ask for milk less often and eat more solids - this might take some time but that's ok .
For what it's worth, they seem remarkably good at working out that there can be one set of rules for nursery (eg bottles of EBM at set times) and a different set for home (eg BF on demand) and don;t seem to get muddled.

I counted solids as the activity part rather than the eat part (which is the milk feed at this stage). Give milk as usual and then give food when you have a meal e.g. at 6 months our day was like this (roughly)

7am - milk
8am - breakfast
11am - milk
12pm - lunch
2.30/3pm - milk
5pm - dinner
7.15pm - milk
in the night till 8 months - milk

I moved on to 3 milk feeds and made them bigger.

1. am brakfast (water to drink)

10 - milk (8oz) 11. - sleep 1pm - lunch (water to drink) 3 - milk (8pz) 4.30/5 - dinner (water to drink) 6.30 - milk before bed

We also have different routines for during the week and weekends when dh is home e.g. we go out for a late lunch on a Saturday so the kids have early snacks instead of a proper lunch. If they are hungry later on as dinner was early then they have a snack before bed.

If she only had a little sleep in morning I put in another one after her milk in afternoon.

Thanks guys. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with it all today!

CT123 - the Baby Whisperer website has lots of people's sample EASY routines for 6-12 months - might help if you want to try and stick to EASY.