Weaning BEFORE 6 months

[Jade&Evie]

Evie is taking 7ozs of SMA white every 3 hours now She was 6lb 6ozs when she was born and is now 10lb 9oz She's 10 and a half weeks

I wanted to get to 6 months but I don't think she'll last that long! Now we are aiming for 16 weeks and every week on top of that is a bonus.

How do you go about weaning? I like the BLW idea but for the first couple of months I planned to puree some fruit and veg up for her.

Any advice? I know, Jen, you weaned James early- how did you go about it?

 

[Sherlock]

Usually they don't advise you wean before 4 months for health reasons iirc.

Also if you go to your health visitor run clinic they shoud run small groups on weaning etc for parents. Ours does and in a few weeks I'll sit down and have a listen and chat with the HV and other parents

 

[charlie84]

As what Shelock and Midna says really.

I had a HV come out the other day to talk to me about weaning, she gave me loads of helpful leaflets and advice about how to approach it when the time comes However she advised not to wean before 4 months at all. Maybe your HV can come out to you or pop along to the clinic for advice.
As Calleigh is breastfed i have no idea what her milk intake is, so i just let her feed whenever she wants and for however long she wants. She is just over 14 weeks old and weighed 13lb 13oz last monday. She feeds about every three hours sometimes less than that and has now started waking in the night, but i am putting that down to a possible growth spurt.
I know she is no where near ready for weaning yet, she is still a little wobbly with her head and has really only just started taking an interest in objects and putting them in her mouth. She is not showing any interest in any food me or OH has either.
Think i may go down the route of baby led weaning if possible.

 

[laracomps]

cooor thats a lot of milk! I'm lucky if Phoebs even drinks 5oz every 4 hours bless her. She has a little tum I think. Normally she has 3-4oz, though the past few days she's been drinking more!

Not sure about early weaning... I'm gonna try and get Phoebs to 6 months, they say one of the signs is they should be taking an interest in food you eat and watching you etc - Phoebe couldn't be less disinterested to be honest! About the only thing she isn't interested in lol.

Someone I know was advised by their GP to wean early though because of the sheer amount of milk they were consuming at a time - you don't want their tummy to stretch either.

Have you asked HV about it? I don't suppose they are too bothered by her eating a lot if she's not moving up massively on the centile lines? I asked a HV (not my normal one, this one was actually good! lol) about when to wean (just out of interest) and she said 6 months is a target, but they understand this doesn't often happen. 20 weeks was the absolute earliest they would recommend.

When Phoebe was 10 1/2 weeks I think she weighed about 12lb 11oz & she started off at 7lb 3.5oz

 

[Manda&Thomas]

im the same but thomas is on 6oz bottles every 3 hours sometimes he wont even go that long
he was 6lb 12oz and was weighed monday (9 weeks) and hes 10lb 13oz
my sister weaned one of my nephews at 14 weeks because the milk wasnt filling him up or lasting at all and because its soya you cant get a hungry baby one lol
some babies just need the food lol
xx

 

[lisa&alex]

teds weaned at 20-21ish weeks..i really wanted to get to 26 weeks he was having about 56oz of milk in 24 hrs..9oz bottles when he should have been having about 36oz so in other words he has having over 2 bottles more a day..

he also woke up loads in the night where before he was just waking for 1-2 feeds a night the final straw was him waking 33 times in one night.. and the next day i thought it must be because hes hungry..

so i tried him. and he was starving.. really gulping down the food, advise was to give 1-2 spoonfulls he had about 6 lol.. and he woke 2 times in the night. he carried on eatting really well for a while then about 3 weeks ago he went all funny with food. he would only have one meal a day and that would mean about 8 spoonfulls of food a day, he just prefured to have food in his hand and do it himself so he has been having more finger foods now he is 6 months. the last few days hes back into eatting and is having a lot more.. and looking for it a lot more to.

i would say up the milk intake demand feed and wait till she is atleast 17 weeks. if you are struggling talk to your health visitor about it.. follow your babies lead but try to wait till after 17 weeks because the babies gut isnt ready before this. remember before 1 years old the babies main food should be milk. after that its food. so more milk is better than more food at this age. xx

 

[poppy160]

We haven't started weaning yet, and that's purely because Ella is not ready. She isn't a big eater at all and struggles to take in 6oz every 4 hours. She weighed in at 13lbs 15oz the other day and follows the 25th centile. Baby led weaning is my preferred method of weaning but if she needs to start before that then so be it.

I was going to suggest hungry baby milk but I've no idea what's in the SMA range as we've been Aptimil users since Ella switched to formula.

Also, babies have growth spurts around 12 weeks so her feeding may settle down soon?

 

[Sage]

Im another believer of not weaning too early. If they're demanding milk every three hours then thats normal. Id stick with milk even is she asked every 1 hour at 4months. I started giving ky the odd taste every now and then at 5months but they were never big enough "tastes" to be considered meals or to fill him up. Ive only started giving him a proper breakfast and lunch this week. we're still waiting to introdcue tea and snacks although hes going through a growth spurt at the moment and wants to eat or drink a bottle constantly. very tiring! i feel like a zombie sometimes i think i could make a bottle or food up whilst in my sleep its all i seem to do! Cant wait till i dont have to sterillizer or make formula up!

 

[lisa&alex]

sage u dont have to sterilise or use boiled water nemore..

 

[Magic Monkey]

I am with the others and am aiming for as close to 6 months as poss, also you have to wait until 17 weeks not 16 as this is 4 calendar months.

 

[Sage]

sage u dont have to sterilise or use boiled water nemore..

Ive heard that but was then told by my HV i had to do it until he was 1?

 

[valentine]

Jade, I really agree with the others. I know Evie seems hungry but I'll bet she's really not ready for solids yet - it'd be much more beneficial to her health to wait. She was a small baby born as well wasn't she? I waited til 6 months and my DD was over 8lbs when born.

Weaning is really hard work, particularly if you cook/prepare/make everything yourself. I would never hesitate to wait until 6 months again as it was brilliant and easy when DD was just on milk, so much less work.

It sounds like you want her to grow up really quickly - she has not long gone onto hungry baby milk - maybe let her just stick with that for the moment and enjoy your little girl while she's still tiny.

Valentien Xxx

 

[littlepip]

I do agree to wait as long as you can altho i started ryan on solids a few weeks ago as he was drinking every couple of hours and was sleeping less at night. For the last few weeks i have been giving him a few spoons of a jar and he loves it, he literally has less than 1/4 of a small jar but he now goes 3 hours between feeds and sleep from 10pm-9am without waking and also his colic is better, so i would wait if you can but if not theres no harm in giving her a few spoon fulls but do what you feel is best xxxx

 

[Jade&Evie]

I'm not weaning yet- I'm going to wait as long as poss but I really dont think she's going to wait til 6 months!

I just want to get a good idea of the kinds of things I should be doing as I want to freeze some purees up while she is still happy to sit on her own and sleep!

 

[Magic Monkey]

I'm not weaning yet- I'm going to wait as long as poss but I really dont think she's going to wait til 6 months!

I just want to get a good idea of the kinds of things I should be doing as I want to freeze some purees up while she is still happy to sit on her own and sleep!

I don't think that purees keep for that long in the freezer - I am sure that Annabel Karmel says 6 weeks, so it's not worth making too much up too soon.

Although I said that I will aim for as close to 6 months as poss, I also know loads of people who started at around 17 wks, so I think that as long as you don't start until then it is fine - every baby is different, you need some sanity and if she is still feeding that regularly when you get to 17 weeks you will probably be going mad!

My HV as much as told me to start at 5 months the other day, saying that she thinks you have to rush through the puree stage and onto mashed food if you wait till 6 months.

 

[valentine]

My HV as much as told me to start at 5 months the other day, saying that she thinks you have to rush through the puree stage and onto mashed food if you wait till 6 months.

But that's one of the benefits of waiting til 6 months, no need to bother with the boring pureeing stage, just straight onto mashed and/or finger foods.

Valentine Xxx

 

[Sage]

Another thing id like to add is i starting giving "tastes" to ky at 5 months and he was ok with it but re-starting again last week and he's taken to it so much more!! its been so much easier. Hes a millions times better at taking it from the spoon, more interested and absolutely loving it.

she will wait hun she doesnt know any different yet. lol ya guna be a busy mum making bottles for a couple months!!!

 

[jennywren]

Oran was weaned at 4 months and loved it - he never took to his milk properly and came on in leaps and bounds once he was eating. We never had a problem going from pureed to lumps to solids either, neither have any of my Nieces and Nephews!

If its what YOU feel is right hun, do it, don't feel pressured IN TO or OUT OF anything.

Once she is 4 months (so like 17 weeks I think that is) you could try a few jars of pureed fruit. We just did it very slowly TBH, started of with breakfast (baby porridge a small portion) and one meal a day (started off lunch) he would have 2 spoons of pureed fruit for a week, then we would up it to 3/4 for a week and just built it up like that - When we felt/got the signs he wanted more he would get another spoon or 2 untill he was on 1 full jar. Then we did the same for Tea (but with a savoury) till he was on a small jar size each meal (sometime we would use the jars and sometimes I would blend up food for him and measure it in to one of the small jars)

 

[muppetmummy]

I personally would rather feed her more frequently than introduce solids at this stage. From what I remember from last time weaning is a pain in the arse and much more hassle than preparing bottles. I'd gladly delay it till 6 months if possible

 

[skairdykat]

Both mine started to take a bit of baby rice at around 12-14wks

Think they said wait till 16wks then but not sure what the say now. Never did mine any harm though but will try and wait longer next time.