The Weaning Thread

Random post: Lidl were selling these baby bananas yesterday - perfect for little hands! They're a bit green so I have to put them in with the Daddy bananas to ripen
They also have donut peaches, very tasty and my lad loves them!

nikpmup wrote: »

Random post: Lidl were selling these baby bananas yesterday - perfect for little hands! They're a bit green so I have to put them in with the Daddy bananas to ripen
They also have donut peaches, very tasty and my lad loves them!

Love the peaches!! We stocked up on a couple of boxes of them and froze them!

Hi guy's thinking of starting to wean my little boy ... He is 14 weeks but I can not keep him fed ! Any tips to make it a smoother transition ?!

lazygal wrote: »

The guidelines are to wean onto solid foods at six months. Once baby can sit up in a highchair you're ready to go. I think 14 weeks is very young, is there a reason why you think he needs to start solids so early?

I tend not to explain my choices to anyone but the Public Health Nurse advised to start him and he can sit up in a high chair .

LH2013 wrote: »

I tend not to explain my choices to anyone but the Public Health Nurse advised to start him and he can sit up in a high chair .

There's no need to be so defensive. The PHN guidelines are solids from six months old.

LH2013 wrote: »

Hi guy's thinking of starting to wean my little boy ... He is 14 weeks but I can not keep him fed ! Any tips to make it a smoother transition ?!

Everybody's different and I can't tell you what's right or wrong for your baby. However I weaned my baby around 14 weeks as he was very refluxy and I hoped the heavier food might ease the pain. It didn't really help and it also brought along a string of gastro/wind problems that I suspect were as a result of an immature digestive system. The guilt I felt was immense and I absolutely wouldn't rush it again. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Yes temporary problems but the poor child was just miserable for a while.

I'm not sure what visiting the gp will achieve to be honest. They will probably recommend you hold off until 6 months so it mightn't help you make a decision. If you do decide to start early, just go very very slowly with tiny amounts.

kknitter wrote: »

Did you stop then in few weeks if he was miserable n then start after few weeks? Or continued? I m really sorry if I m asking too much.. Feel free to not answer .. Thanks for your reply

No we didn't stop. I suppose at the time it wasnt that apparent that it was the move to solids that caused the problem and by the time I realised,he was probably old enough to be on them. Maybe he was just an outlier as he also had reflux. Anyway, if I have a second child and they're hungry I think i would firstly increase his milk supply and if that didn't satisfy him, explore an alternative formula such as hungry baby (even though I am completely sceptical of that). If you could hold out another 4-5 weeks and then started him it might be better. Only you know your baby though so its a judgement call for you.

I found breastfeeds reduce dramatically when you introduce solids. My fella went from 10 feeds a day sometimes to three or four quick feeds and a big feed in the morning. So I wouldn't stress too much about introducing formula but if baby is constipated P foods help the problem, such as pear, prune, peas and peach. My first child had a bottle from an early stage but my second never took to bottles so at ten months I've decided to leave it because I'd be dropping bottles at a year anyway. I offer water in a zippy cup with meals and offer a variety of food in addition to the few feeds.
If he's feeding a lot after a tummy bug its probably just to build himself back up after the illness, I know its really tough but it will pass.

Bagheera wrote: »

Just looking for advice from those of you who breastfed up to 6 months then decided to change to formula as well as introducing solids. How did you make it go smoothly and avoid constipation and the like? I'm going to introduce my almost 25 week old to solids but after 6 months of very little sleep I feel broken and can't cope with feeding any more so I want to change him to formula also. My supply seems to be very low as both myself and my baby had tummy bugs early in the week, so he's feeding all night and getting frustrated. I had planned to fully introduce him to a variety of foods before considering stopping feeding but I just don't think I can take much more unless I get a nights sleep.

Hi! Not sure I can offer much advice really - we have already started the process but each baby is so different

Our ebf LO has had silent reflux and has also been very windy since day one - she also has frequent constipation but I put that down to her reflux meds. Despite everyone telling me I should start her on solids, I stuck to my guns and ebf until she was 24 weeks as I felt her digestive system was waaayyy to sensitive to start solids before then. We started slowly, introducing one food at a time and then combining them. However, at first our poor LO really struggled with terrible trapped wind and constipation upon starting the solids - especially so at night time . We give drinks at each meal and also throughout the day but had to resort to giving diluted prune juice a couple of time to get her to poop - the first week of solids she didn't poop for a whole week :eek: By week 3 her tummy had settled and she is happy now apart from the odd unsettled time.

We wanted to introduce a bottle of formula also (our LO had never really taken bottles and I got ill a few weeks ago and was told that I would have to go to hospital 1 and half hours away so as you can imagine I was distraught as to how LO would cope ). We also thought it would maybe help her get a good nights sleep. We started on Aptimal Comfort, 2 oz's the first evening and gradually increased the quantity to 5 oz at the moment and this seems to the max that she wants. It hasn't made a blind bit of difference to the amount of times she wakes during the night though (sorry !!) but I am happy that at least we can fall back on the formula if I get sick again I'm happy to keep bf'ing the rest of the time for the moment. I'm interested in seeing what everyone else says - each baby is very different

loubian wrote: »

I'm looking to wean bubs off a daytime bottle, how do I go about it? Just stop and introduce water?

I just stopped and made sure to give him plenty of water. The odd time ill give him some milk in his cup after lunch. It so nice seeing the bottles dwindle!

I'd have taken a similar approach to nikmup by adding more protein, first to one meal then to two. Breakfast stayed about the same. In terms of trying more textures try fork mashing or only a few pulses of the blender adding less liquid. See what the little guy can handle and adjust. Quinoa is a rich source of iron and can be added to any soup, sauce etc cos it goes mushy. Pulses, eggs, green veg also good sources, as are fortified cereals like ready Brek and super milk. Red meat is generally considered to give the most easily absorbed form of iron but there are plenty of vegetable sources too if you don't want to have to buy meat too often.

nikpmup wrote: »

Just made H some baby beanz, and he devoured them Considering I could burn water (and actually have done in the past!) I'm proud of me!

Sounds yum, my little Hoover loves beans. Any chance of a link to the recipe?

icescreamqueen wrote: »

I unwittingly cut my 11 and a half month old down to two bottles of formula during this heatwave as I wanted her to have more water instead. Can I introduce cows milk now?

I gave both of mine cows milk from 11 months without any problems. They were getting some on their weetabix from 6 months so I knew they weren't allergic or anything.