How can I wean EBF 6 month old? Its not working and I can't go to work!

[HalfMumHalfBiscuit]

I am feeling trapped and really want someone else to help feed DD who is EBF. I just need someone else to be able to feed her once or twice a day so I can go to work or just have a little time to myself. I've been trying to get her to take a bottle for a month or so but have had no success. I am supposed to be going back to work in 1 months time but if she stays like this I won't be able to go.

We have tried 2 different kinds of bottles with formula or ebm. She just will not suck. It pours into her mouth and she spits it out. DH has also tried feeding her with no success.

Also so far she will not eat any solids. After speaking to my health visitor after she showed signs of being hungry, in the last 2 weeks I have tried baby rice with formula, pear puree, sweet potato puree and apple puree on separate occasions and at different times of day. I put the spoon in, she makes a face, rolls it about in her mouth and spits it out.

I have also tried BLW with banana, carrot and broccoli which she put in her mouth and spat out.

She is 6 months this week. She does seem hungry and wants to feed more often now. Last night she fed at 10pm, 3am and 6.30am.

I am sooo tired and a bit fed up. I just want to be able to get someone else to feed her. I also have a DS aged 3 which makes things more complicated with the feeding etc. I would like to start to cut down the breastfeeding gradually over the next few months. I hope someone can help.

Hi,

Any updates on anyone? DS2 seems to be making good progress, albeit very, very slowly. Still not eating much breakfast. But will eat lunch (the best meal of the day), have started mixing in a cube of my home-made creamy chicken thing with 1/3 of a jar of some chicken thingy. He doesn't seem to mind that. He also has yoghurt, which he loves. As for dinner, he had half a jar last night of sweet potato and beef and I am going to start putting a cube in of home-made puree with that tonight. It's been such a struggle... But we will get there! He has had a few settling in sessions in the nursery and seems to be eating well there. Argh! Can't believe it...

Ax

DD is still not eating purees or mushy food on spoons.
Yesterday I was bfeeding her and she reached out and grabbed some of my baked potato so I gave her some of that but she takes/eats hardly anything.

She has a cold at the minute and wakes in the night at least 3 times for feeds.

I'm feeling like I'm never going to stop breastfeeding her . Its' like I am feeding her more now than ever rather than the gradual cutting down of feeds that I was hoping for. I was really ill a couple of days ago and it was so hard to look after her. I had to get a friend to help in the end because I couldn't move (it was a migrane/virus thing).

I am hoping the cold is what is putting her of her food or is causing her to need more feeds and she will get back to normal soon. I'm pretty depressed about it since she is 7.5 months old now. Her weight has plateaued at 14.4lbs.

I've got no idea what to do now except carrying on offering her stuff. At this stage I would even pay for help but I don't know who could help?

halfmum, big hug to you, it sounds like you're going through a really rough patch. When do you have to go back to work and is it full time? I feel your pain. I think all you can do is keep offering her things. What's been happening at nursery as far as her eating goes?

My challenge at the moment is that my CM resigned a week ago, saying DS was too attached to me because I'm still breastfeeding him!! There's a thread about it here so I won't bore you with the details here. I have managed to cut down the feeds to three a day (morning, midday and bedtime, sometimes once in the night if he wakes) but for solids it seems to me he's always eating the same thing - we've got into a chicken/beef/salmon mixed with sweet potato/carrots rut and I don't know how to get out of it! I tried some mashed potato and broccoli this evening, but he wouldn't have any of it. Ho hum, it's not easy, is it?!

thanks bunnyfrance.
am feeling particularly low as have been looking after the dcs all day on my own

am off to read your thread

bunnyfrance - what a pain. You're probably better of with him being with someone else so you don't have to worry about it.

I am going back to work at 3 days a week in July but have lots of holidays so don't have to go back straight away. Also the nursery dd goes to is really near work so I can pop in to breast feed. BUT I DONT WANT to be doing bfeeding then!

halfmumhalfbiscuit So sorry to hear about your DD's lack of progress. Is your HV any help in at least referring you to someone? Hugs to you! You sound so low in your last post.

bunnyfrance Sorry to hear about your CM! Hope you find someone better soon. Whether you choose to BF your DS or not is your prerogative and your CM should support that. Also, have you tried the Annabel Karmel site for recipe ideas. I often have a look if I run out of ideas. I don't stick strictly to her recipes but find they provide some inspiration.

Hope this gives you hope but DS2 suddenly seems to decide to start eating a few days ago! Breakfast is still rubbish, he will have a few spoonfuls and that's it (even if his milk feed was at like 6am and brekkie is at 8-ish). But for lunch and dinner, he's actually started to open his mouth to eat. Still not eating huge amounts but a huge improvement on nothing. And he actually seems to be coping with not-so-smooth stuff. Today, I made macaroni cheese for DS1 and blended some for DS2 and it was rather gluggy. So I added in some jarred cauliflower cheese and he ate it! He also seems to like spag bol and I made him some chicken, peas, sweet pot and apple the other day and he liked that too. I'm still mixing in homemade purees with some jars but will attempt to do so 'pure' homemade stuff from next week. Two significant things I've done (or have happened) that seemed to have contributed to this improvement:

• DS2 has had a really bad night-time cough that seems to come and go for a few months now. He seems to have finally stopped coughing completely at night in the last few nights and that seem to have coincided with an improvement in his appetite.

• He is sitting up better so I have started putting him in the high chair (used to feed him in a bouncer chair) for feeds and he seems to be feeding better on a high chair.

I really hope this lasts!

Argh! Sod's law! I can hear DS2 coughing...

Hi all.

It's official. DD is doing BLW. In fact she was always doing it on her own it just hadn't clicked with me.

My lovely HV leant me the BLW book and I've read half of it and it sounds like DD is doing all the BLW type stuff and getting bfeeds in as well just like the book says. So I have had to chill a lot more and let her get on with it.

I am taking my holidays in July/Aug so I don't have to go back to work properly til Sept.

I also had a chat with my nursery today to make sure they will be able to do the BLW with her. She had a bit of a go there today and they gave her some veg to eat and she just got on with it.

Hope you are getting on OK angel1976. By the way it was me with the thread about not coping with 2 under 4 the other week thanks for your posts . I am feeling a bit better now.

HalfMum - > Sorry I just saw this thread again, how did I miss it? Hope you are well. I'm doing okay. DS2 got weighed on Monday and he is now 7.1kgs (15lbs 10ozs) so he has just moved above the 9% line instead of ambling just below it so that's one piece of good news.

In terms of weaning, some things are better... Mealtimes are still hit and miss. He refused porridge this morning (munched on some toast crust), had a couple of spoonfuls of lunch (my own puree mixed with jar) and wolved down dinner. Basically, I've discovered that DS2 loves anything stinky cheesy. Anything with a cheese/white sauce, he can't get enough (cauliflower cheese the other day, today, it was salmon in creamy cheese sauce with spinach), everything else is met with a . Which leaves me with a new dilemma, do I just give him cheese sauce anything? Or should I persist in terms of weaning him on different tastes?

I'm also letting him have more finger food, he seems to be keeping his food down better and if he gags, 7 out of 10 times now he just regurgitates out the bit he has choked on as opposed to everything he ate in the last 2 hours. Things are slowly getting better. I hope you are coping better with 2, it's so difficult at times isn't it? I had a good couple few days (where the boys' routines are slotting in nicely with each other's) and thinking 'oh my god, could things be finally getting better?' Then yesterday was day-from-hell; DS2 refused to nap and DS1 just tested my patience all day...

have you tried a tommee tippee spout cup. my ds would not ever take a bottle but did drink out of this cup from about 6 months.

angel - his gag reflex sounds much better.

kalo - am trying her again on spout cup.

we had a bad night with her feeding what seemed like every 2 hours. somethings gotta give.

am now going to try all i can at breakfast

OMG DD has just taken 1.5 oz from a bottle.
I visited a friend the other day and said I had given up trying the bottle with her and she said 'don't give up' and so I just tried 3 oz of formula and held her arms down a bit as she does tend to push it away and she sucked the bottle for the first time ever!

I know she didn't take much but my mind was racing to the thoughts of other people feeding her and having a bit of freedom. I know its a long way off yet but I can fantasise.

As for the BLW - yesterday she had avocado, rice cakes and rice and tonight she tried a bit of nan bread and mild curry! She does spit most of it out but at least she is getting the tastes. DH gave her a couple of spoons of his yogurt too.

One question. As DD is 7 months old what teat should she have on her bottle. It is a tommee tippee one.

HalfMum Well done! So happy for you! Glad you have some supportive friends too. Sometimes it just takes time (should heed my own advice!). At 7 months she should be on size 3 (for 6+ months). My DS2 was on size 3 from about 4-5 months.

I was away all weekend (DH away on a stag do so went to stay with a friend whose DH is away on the same do) and DS2 ate really well. My friend made a fish pie with just cod, cheese, mash and leek and DS2 loved it. He even ate it without me pureeing it, just mashed! I couldn't believe it. He also ate a good-ish lunch (third of a jar mixed with a cube of my homemade puree. And this morning, at my friend's, she asked me to try Oatso Simple and he ate quite a few spoonfuls! Couldn't believe it as he would not eat his baby cereal... He had a good lunch as well and a rather small dinner but I am just so glad he is finally eating. Small amounts but still much better than before...

angel - DS's eating sounds brilliant! Its such a relief isn't it.

DD took that 1.5 oz but no more, she pushed it away and turned her head away. She may have been full? or fed up, I don't know. Anyway she is at nursery tomorrow so I will tell them my ahem 'technique' and hope that they can repeat it. Fingers majorly crossed.

I would so love to have a full nights sleep/ go out in the evening. I hope we are getting somewhere.

Come back guys I've got some progress!

DD just started taking a bottle!
Also she ate a yogurt the other day from a spoon and has had a few spoons of puree/jarred food!

Anyone trying to get a baby to move from breast feeding to bottle feeding can try the following;

1. Try when the baby has just had a nap and about 30 minutes before their usual feed.
2. Have the milk slightly warmer than normal and make sure the teat is warm.
3. Tuck one of the babies arms behind you and hold the other arm down if they keep pushing the bottle away.
4. push the teat into their mouth and wiggle the teat a little to stimulate the sucking reflex
5. If it doesn't work distract, make them laugh, walk about a bit then try again. Try three times in total and then give up til the next feed time.
6. If it doesn't work wait 10 mins and give the usual breast feed.
7. Keep trying.

I tried at the same time every day and it worked!

Hi Halfmum,

Great to hear you've made so much progress! It can and does happen!

How are your nights now? My DS still wakes at least once for a feed, if not twice...on the very rare occasion he will sleep through 12 hours, but that's only happened about 5 times since birth, and he's 9 months now...

My latest challenge is that I'm trying to drop the pumping session at work (it's getting very tiresome and DS hardly drinks any of it anyway) - both times that I've tried to stop, I've ended up with mastitis! I just don't understand how other people just stop breastfeeding so easily...my body says no way! Have you actually dropped a feed yet, or not? How did you go about it?

Well done HalfMum I am still here and cheering you on! Looks like bunnyfrance, you and I are left!

Update on my DS2, he's completely dropped all his night feeds, going from his last feed at 6.30pm till 6-ish in the morning. He drinks most of his milk feeds now (about 25oz a day), used to struggle a lot to drink most of it... As for his eating... Well, breakfast is a complete failure (won't have any and I have tried everything, I think he's just not that hungry). Lunch is usually good-ish, he's up to about 4-5 cubes of puree. Dinner is usually 4-5 cubes too. But there are still days where he will refused most solids but he is drinking his milk way better so overall, I'm feeling pretty positive.

The newest challenge is getting him to eat fruit, he seems a bit constipated, really struggling to poo and doing either tiny amounts, eventually resulting in a big, sticky one... But he just won't have it. I've tried fresh fruit puree, the commercial ones, and the Innocent ones and he's just not interested. Tonight, I even gave him a fresh strawberry and he mashed it all up on the floor...

But I am actually quite relaxed about the whole thing at the moment. I think it's because everything seems to be easier. DS2 is easier to put to sleep now, he's very smiley and happy and I can actually tell he is putting on weight (somehow!). bunnyfrance I have no idea what to suggest to you! I'm no good at bf-ing...

bunnyfrance - DD has a feed at around 7am, then a bottle (5oz) at 10.30am then breast feeds for the rest of the day. For the first few days I gave the bottle first then a quick feed on both breasts. Then a few days later I just didn't bother with the breast feed at that time and my boobs sort of re adjusted. Sounds like you need to drop the feed(s) really gradually, a bit at a time. When I stopped breast feeding DS I sat in a hot bath and the last of the milk came out. Expressing a little bit might help too.

angel - DD doesn't have much solids in the morning. Also probably because she isn't hungry because the little naughty is having feeds at night!

DD still doesn't seem to eat much puree and is eating less solids now she has a bottle a day. I am meeting up with the HV and going to put a plan together to sort things.

Keep going guys.