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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

Not enough space for my desperate questions..............

14 replies

backintraining · 19/09/2009 12:36

There has got to be a mumsnetter out there who can help us.....
DS is coming up to 8mo and is well and truly on hunger strike. I have posted before when I was worried because he was going off meals and it is now just getting worse as he now eats NOTHING!! He is on 3 7oz bottles a day (just about), he was on 4 bottles but he kicked his 11am off a couple of weeks ago.
I weaned on purees, nothing against BLW, I just didn't know anything about it. Weaning initially went great and he ate well (mixture of homecooked and jars), we then went on to lumps and he wasn't too impressed but did eat them and did it without choking - but over the past couple of weeks if he has had one spoonful of anything we have been lucky (over the entire couple of weeks). I have offered finger foods and last night he sucked on an organic biscuit and ate a piece of cheese but today he doesn't want to know. Over the past couple of days his poo has been horrendous (sorry if TMI), stinking and dark olive green - virtually black - is this connected to teething?? His first bottom tooth has just about come through.
We have looked for support, DS was prem and we saw out pead yesterday who says DS is doing great and we shouldn't worry, I know, I know he's an expert but it is easier said than done. I don't want DS to dread mealtimes. He is so tiny and really cannot afford to not eat, he currently weighs 15lb 13oz and only put 10oz on in the last month.
Do I sound completely desperate? I feel like the worst mum in the world. Should I knock spoon feeding on the head? Can you start to BLW when you're already halfway through the process? Have I completely buggered up his eating........Heeeellllllllllp!!

OP posts:
PinkTulips · 19/09/2009 12:50

firstly....... Breathe!

He's tiny and honestly doesn't need the food so personally what i'd do is go back to step one (and ds2 isn't a fan of food so infact that's pretty much what we're doing)

Offer food once or twice a day, give him something to hold and offer on a spoon too so he can choose himself which method he prefers, once you find out his preferances use just that method.

Offer the food but the instant he becomes agitated or upset simply remove it and go do something else, don't keep offering and don't try giving a top up meal later on, just feed again that evening or the next day as you would have if he's eaten loads.

Some days he might eat a bit, some days he won't... but as long as you offer but don't fore then the choice is his and i wouldn't worry.

I don't know how premmie he was but if it was 2 months or more than keep in mind his adjusted age is only 6 months, plenty of term babies don't eat til 8/9 months or even older so he's extremely young yet

PinkTulips · 19/09/2009 12:50

firstly....... Breathe!

He's tiny and honestly doesn't need the food so personally what i'd do is go back to step one (and ds2 isn't a fan of food so infact that's pretty much what we're doing)

Offer food once or twice a day, give him something to hold and offer on a spoon too so he can choose himself which method he prefers, once you find out his preferances use just that method.

Offer the food but the instant he becomes agitated or upset simply remove it and go do something else, don't keep offering and don't try giving a top up meal later on, just feed again that evening or the next day as you would have if he's eaten loads.

Some days he might eat a bit, some days he won't... but as long as you offer but don't fore then the choice is his and i wouldn't worry.

I don't know how premmie he was but if it was 2 months or more than keep in mind his adjusted age is only 6 months, plenty of term babies don't eat til 8/9 months or even older so he's extremely young yet

PinkTulips · 19/09/2009 12:50

sorry about that... computer got a bit confuzzled on me!

LuluMamaaaaarrrrr · 19/09/2009 12:53

stinking dark green/black poo.. have you checked that out with doc or HV? neither of my FF babies ever had that even when teething, tended to have runnier yellow poo.

i agree with pinktulips, don't stress about getting solids down him,especially if he is teething and under the weather

offer as much milk as he will take, is he draining the 7 oz each feed?

he is not getting a huge amoiutn of milk, i would be incliend to forget food at the moment, offer more milk, and maybe some finger foods whilst you are all eating, but try to up his intake of milk as that is going to be more nutritious and calorific than food.

Original poster
backintraining · 19/09/2009 13:03

Thanks for the replies, sorry I maybe should have put a bit more info in, my head is a shed at the minute.

PinkTulips - he was 7 weeks early (and thankyou for reminding me to breathe!! I read my post back and I sound like a nutter!!)

Lulu - this is the most amount of milk he has ever comfortably taken. At the point just before we started weaning he was taking 2oz (two!!) at the most and then screaming. We started weaning and his milk intake improved but he never drains a bottle. A couple of weeks ago we were on four 5/6oz bottles at a push and he started refusing his 11am one, he knocked it off and we managed to up his other 3 bottles to 7oz but that's your lot really.
We did mention all of this to the Consultant Pead yesterday who said his milk intake was fine and he was perfectly happy with him. I am at a loss.

OP posts:
LuluMamaaaaarrrrr · 19/09/2009 13:07

if you offered him less milk more frequently, do you think that would help ? just trying that again, especially if he has been a bit under the weather

if he was 7 weeks, early, he might just not be quite ready for food, and certainly not large amounts..

my view would be offering more milk, in smaller and more frequent amounts, finger foods only as a compliment to milk and keeping an eye on him, which you are doing anyway.

and always offer milk before food

PinkTulips · 19/09/2009 15:46

I agree with lulu on the milk issue, my gut instinct reading that was that he might be more comfortable with a little and often approach than with 3/4 bigger feeds a day... babies have such tiny tums at this age, all three of mine were bf so hard to compare but they all fed/feed many times a day until 8/9 months, sometimes every hour but never more than 3 hours apart and even after that it's 4/5 a day or more until around a year.

Original poster
backintraining · 19/09/2009 18:51

We've tried that. When he started refusing his 11am bottle I gave him less in the morning (milk and brekkie) with the thought that he would have more milk if he had more bottles a day. When he was on 5 bottles a day (4 and a dreamfeed) some bottles he took as little as 3oz, some were good at 6oz and some he refused.When I offered less in the morning all he did was have less milk in the morning and still refused 11am one! Believe me he is actually having consistently more milk by having the 3 bottles a day. I'm sorry if I sound argumentative, I don't mean to be, I'm just letting you know what my weird and wonderful DS gets
up to!!

OP posts:
stripeysox · 20/09/2009 08:06

You can't force feed him milk or food so best just to carry on with the 3 bottles a day if that's what he's happy with, no point in you both getting stressed out. If he was 7 wks prem he's he'll be around 6 months developmentally and perhaps his digestive system isn't ready for more than tastes of food. As someone else said, milk has more calories than early weaning foods. Maybe let him play with food and explore textures, mashed stuff he can suck off his fingers as well as bits he can hold in his hand.
Is he on Nutriprem? Should be off it by now but sometimes paeds forget, its got more calories than regular formula and babies tend not to be very interested in food till they come off it.

Original poster
backintraining · 20/09/2009 09:31

Thanks stripeysox, to answer your question he is on regular formula, Cow and Gate 1. He has been on this since the week before he was discharged from hospital. He went on to that from Nutriprem.

I totally understand what you are saying about an immature digestive system, that was the first thing that crossed my mind which is why I wasn't even going to try weaning until later but due to issues with milk we were advised to start. However, could it be his digestive system not being ready if he has gone from eating a fair amount of food to having nothing at all?

OP posts:
stripeysox · 20/09/2009 10:29

Very young babies (ie 6 wk olds, not mumsnet babies of course, lots of stories on other sites of very early weaning) will suck and swallow purees if a loaded spoon is placed in their mouth. Some may try to push food out with their tongue but parents who persevere can over ride the tongue thrust reflex and the baby gives up and just keeps swallowing.
A 6 month old who doesn't feel hungry and is quite content with just milk can let parent know by grabbing spoon and chucking on floor, turning head away so food goes in ear, clamping mouth shut etc.
Of course I'm not saying you started too early, you followed advice, but maybe your baby has realised he doesn't need to eat much at this stage.

PinkTulips · 20/09/2009 12:37

You don't sound argumentative at all backintraining, it does sound like he's keeping you on your toes with his pedantic ways

My dd started off gobbling everything that was given to her on the spoon at 18 weeks, by 6 months she was getting awkward and by 8 months she was almost impossible to feed... she's 4 now and still a picky little madam i'm afraid. I think when it's new and interesting they tend to take loads just out of curiosity but once they get used to solids their natural appetites and tastes kick in and they can become a lot more finicky

Original poster
backintraining · 20/09/2009 13:31

Ooooh crikey stripeysox, are there really mums out there who wean at 6 weeks, good lord!! We weren't as early as that, I am talking we started at about 24/25 weeks!! I think it is going to be a case of trial and error. DH and I are determined to chill out, the last thing I want is a baby/toddler/kid who is scared of food. He's a little tinker who knows exactly what he wants (I just wish he'd tell us). This morning I offered cereal, didn't want to know so I left him some tiny bits of toast on his tray which he ate... yet this lunch time was happy to take chicken/veg from a spoon and then eat a yoghurt. I'm sure that I'll look back on this and laugh one day!!

OP posts:
cara2244 · 20/09/2009 20:48

Milk will help him grow and gain weight. I give mine Greek yoghurt as well as it is easy for him to eat and it is rich and fatty.

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