FF 8M old weaning issue, which Formula

[AbiBub]

Hi all
First time mummi here and would appreciate advice on which formula to use. Our DS is really making a half hearted attempt at being weaned, we have tried a fair few things, sometimes he likes the stuff, other times he doesn't (bit like us I suppose!) The issue that I am having, is the thought of should our little man be on follow on milk (SMA 2) whilst we are trying to wean him?? I know it says to compliment the weaning diet, but he is not eating sufficiently enough for it to compliment. Milk(formula of course!) is still very much his main thing (he loves it!!)

I guess what I am trying to work out is, because we are still on stage 1 milk, is that what might be preventing him from being weaned better so we should move over to stage 2, or is it better to keep him on stage one for the time being ( am about to get a tin of one or the other!)so that he is getting sufficiant enough to be living on whilst we just keep giving the weaning a go??

I hope this makes sense?! Thanks

won't make any difference - stage 1 is fine till 12m

lots of babies don;t get inot solids straigth away - dd ate very little till about 11m.
how is he with finger food? a lot of them prefer feeding themselves than having spoon spoked at them...

He doesn't necessarily mind the spoon thing (I also give him one to play with) but he just gets bored with the whole eating thing! he has sucked and knawed on a farleys rusk, but probably gets more all over the place then actually down his throat! he has sucked on cucumber, and a couple of sweetcorn rings (organix I think??) he like bread sometimes, but again, most of his stuff he doesn;t actually eat, he plays with it more, which makes me think that he might not be very good with BLW as I get concerned that he wont take much in if he does it himself. I am not panicing yet as he is happy on just formula at the minute, and is maintaining his weight, even has his fourth tooth coming through, I just wonder whether he would do better if he is on stage 2 or whether that would upset his routine at the minute for feeding and also if it would upset his sleeping through the night. Is there much ingredients difference between stage 1 and 2 SMA??

Thanks for your reply. If anyone else would like to share advice please do, the more the merrier!

there is no real difference calorie wise between stage 1 and stage 2 milk, but stage 2 is fortified with more iron which can make babies more constipated.

and, as far as I'm aware, the follow on type milks were only introduced as a response to the ban on advertising infant formula and are completely unneccesary.

MY HV advised me to stick to first stage milk until my DS1 was 12 months and then swap to cows milk.

IME as well; the times you offer food is pretty crucia. If they are either too hungry or have recently had a milk feed then they won't be interested in solid food at all. A also found that by eight monthsish they were definately into finger foods and would happily plug away at a tray of cheese cubes, toast fingers, soft fruits etc.

Have a look at some BLW sites for finger food inspiration.

Ahhh thanks for this post, I didn't know what the difference would be, (and certainly don't want to make the little man constipated!!) He is quite happy on his stage one (loves it in fact!) and I am glad you have cleared up that there is not much difference, I thought by keeping him on stage one it may have hindered the weaning process, but I guess it is just him!!

Thanks for the BLW tip on websites, I will have a look, but to be honest because most of the stuff we have given him has either ended up on the floor or round his face than down his gullet, I was kinda hoping that he would get used to a bit of spoon feeding too!!

I will not stress about it, but it does get a little frustrating when you see lots of other being able to wean their little ones easily! Oh well.

Any more advice, please do post.xx

oh also I forgot to ask - there is more iron in the progress milk, but isn't that because by about 6 months their natural store of iron drops and has to be sufficiently catered for, again, he hardly has ANY foods apart from milk ATM.

Thanks

The iron thing is a bit of a red herring Ali. It was commonly believed that BF babies needed to be supplemented after six months as there wasn't enough iron in BM to cope with the depleted iron stores, but as I understand it, new research has shown that the iron in BM is more bio-available, so although there is less, they take more.

If you have been FFing, then this won't be such an issue as your DS will have been getting all the iron he needs from the stage 1 formula and this level of iron is all he needs until he is a year and eating a varied and balanced diet.

The formula companies are a bit devious in their advertising and like to convince mums that they need the second stage milk (knowing that most will continue with it way beyond a year) and the iron thing is one of their arguments. the second stage milk really isn't needed at all. And if he is happy with his current milk, then why change and risk upsetting his tummy with the change, or making him constipated?

I took great comfort from the phrase "Food is Fun until 1" after stressing that my DD didn't take to weaning as readily as my DS1 who I started weaning at 14 weeks on the advice of my HV (almost eight years ago now). He'll get there with it, just keep offering him tastes of different things, when you are both relaxed and unhurried and it'll all click.

Perhaps once he has more teeth he will be more enthusiastic? and a thought on that, if he is teething he might have sore gums and not like the hard spoon in his mouth? Try some teething gel or chamomilia granules 10 mins before trying to spoon feed him; it might help?

oh wow, thank you soo much for your advice, it has really helped me. I was reluctant to change his milk as I know that he is happy on it. So many people (including family) feel that he should be eating a whole range of things. TBH I am quite happy trying him on things here and there to start off with, testing things as we go along, and trying to not fuss too much ( I think that can confuse them sometimes!). My partners family keep asking everytime " how is his weaning going" and then I say oh just little bits here and there, seeing how we go, then they start saying, "have you tried this, and this and this", and then it starts me thinking and worrying about weaning process again!

How silly of me, but ATM it is far less stressy to try him small amounts here and there and mainly feed him his formula, and selfishly easier for me!

He is weird and a bit like me when toothache or sore gums appear, he likes to press down on things on his gums and teeth. We do use dentinox and he loves that, but I try not to overdo the meds (just me being me!)

I think I just need to perserveer with my small amounts here and there and as you say, it might just click one day!! Thanks for the tip on the granules or gel 10 mins beforehand, I will give that a go!

Again thank you sooooo much, I will sleep easier tonight, and then, rush out tomorrow morning to get his normal tin of milk :D (forgot ir was sunday and me supermarket shuts at 4pm! I tell ya, I am not on this planet sometimes!)
xxx

No worries Alibub

Gill Rapley's book on BLW is really good, and even if like me you only do BLW lite , it still has some reassuring stuff in it about how babies see food. Well worth reading

Thank you very much for the heads up on this. I am completely reassured.
Will definately look up that book.