When to wean a hungry baby!

Hi I have a 10 week old baby and i personally think he is ready for food but the H.V says not to wean him until 21 weeks at the earliest!

My other two were on solids at 6 and 8 weeks but then the restrictions were lower. I understand there is new research all the time and the experts know what is best for baby but they are all individual.

My son was 7.6oz at birth and at 10 weeks he is just shy of 13lb. he usually sleeps all night but he is feeding more and more during the day and this morning has been up since 4 and fed four times already!

So do i give in and feed him like i did the others who had dairy allergies or do i perserver and try and keep him going for longer?

How long has he been feeding this much for? Do you think he could just be going through a growth spurt and that he might actually settle down again in a few days?

Most of the information I have read is that you shouldn't wean a baby before 16wks - this was from a hv and also from books. I didn't start weaning my son until he was a little over 16wks but I know of people who have begun giving a little food much earlier on. I would just say do what you think is best as you know your own child better than anyone else.  

Hi Rach

Thanx for replying.

Basically Jack has been sleeping through from 5 weeks and it is only today that he was up so early but the feeding more and more through the day has been going on for a while now.

I have fed him 6 or 7 times since 4 am this am and he is still hungry. I think he is having a growth spurt as they tend to at around 10 weeks but i also think he is getting hungry too. I dont know whether to buy a few cartens of hungry baby milk and try topping him up when he is so hungry but i know from experience with my others that this will gradually wean him off me and they were badly intolerant to dairy so we had other problems with milk!

I tried him with some baby rice about an hour ago but he was not having any of it and kept spitting it out. I am abit stressed today with it all cos i am tired and i cant seem to get any jobs done during the day when he is like this. He is feeding all the time. Gosh you would think that by baby number three i would be a bit more chilled with it but the info has changed so much since my first 9 years ago. Then they said 3-4 months for weaning! 

Hey how are you ?

we were chattin about weanin on jan mums the other day ! well i am plannin on feedin Lauren in 4 weeks shell then be 16 weeks old - i know they now say wait till 6 months but you know your baby ! but the fact he now night waking would make me think hes ready ! are you still breastfeeding as i think they seem to eat more anyway - maybe he just having a growth spurt -

hope he settles for you

ellie x

Hi.

Know its not usually recommended to wean babies as young as yours but, as others have said, you know your child best. At about 12 weeks my daughter was feeding constantly, so I switched to hungry baby formula, and soon after began weaning.

It is early, but as he had fed 4 times already by 8am, think some solids would be a good idea. Would suggest using very plain foods such as baby rice, or pureed potato.

Good luck. Em x

Thanx Girls.

Ellie i ought to get back on the Jan thread but there are so many posts to catch u on and time is tight LOL

I have tried him with a bit of baby rice today and he kept spitting it out. He slept for about three hours between 10 and 1 and then i have had him on the boob pretty much every half hour since! i am going to try the baby rice again tonight (as soon as my breast pump is sterile!) and see if he prefers it at night.

I have tried formula to see if it makes a difference but he wont take it LOL In saying that I know from my other boys that brest milk gets stronger as the baby demands more and formula didnt make them go longer so i am not going down that route. I would really prefer to feed him myself.

I will try him tonight and let you know how i get on. My H.V will go potty on Monday when i tell her but i need a rest, my boobs are killing me he's sucked them so hard!!!

Hi have you tried the formula for hungry babies ? aptmail do it. I used it with my son as he was always hungry to. Hipp do a thicker milk for nite time only but the baby must be at least 6 months old or maybe water.

You do whats right for you both I tried the breast and lasted 2 wks and after a section and feeling pants and getting masitus that was it. He is great now and is 8 months and prefers his food

Good luck

Tracey x

Hi Tracey,

I had mastitis an thrush with my first and gave up the boob after 6 weeks of hell, it hurts doesnt it? It must be ten times worse after a section!

My second fed so much better to 5.5 months, but they were both weaned early and this one is following suit, dispite my efforts to keep him on breast milk for longer!

Funnily enough I have bought some aptamil hungry baby cartens today but he wont take it. He will take my milk from the bottle or water but not formula! I have managed to get a little baby rice in him tonight at 8.15 but he has fed twice since then for about 15/20 mins each time and is routing for more. I think i have a very hungry baby who is also having a growth spurt!   I am shattered though and could have done with an early night lol x

Poor you that must have been a nitemare, I watched a programme about the very same thing with the baby whispherer. There are teats you can buy online similar to the breast and little by little the baby got used to it.  Hurt I tell ya having my toe nails out would have been less painful!!!!

He is great now and on goats milk  as he is allergic to cows milk bless ,maybe ask about that as its sweeter and better than formula. How are things tonight? Luca is fast asleep n that hopefully will be him till 7am. He has been great since he was small mind you all babies differ and we want another.. I must be mad will have to have another section as had placenta previa..not the best wish I could have been natural did aqua n yoga.

tracey xx

Hi Tracey

Both my boys were bad with dairy and one is one rice milk, the other on soya! nevr thought of goats milk but i am bad with that so it may not agree with him either.

Jack eventually went to sleep at 12am I had been up since 4am, then he slept till 4 this am and has been up ever since bar 2 hours this afternoon but i had so much ironing to catch up on i didnt get any rest! He took a little bit of baby rice tonight at about 6but spat half of it out! He has fed 3 times since then on both sides and my boobs are red raw! I tried him again with the neocate formula but he wont have it. Not that i want to give up Breast feeding at all but I could just do with a break for a few hours.

Re the birth etc. My first had the cord round his neck and we nearly lost him. He didnt sleep a full night till he was 2 then he was 5 before he slept all night for a week and 7 before he settled at night. I had loads of problems with BF and he had a slight intolerance to milk so formula gave him the runs and terrible colic.

My middle boy was so placid and would have slept from 5 weeks but he had sever reflux, a dairy intolerance that meant he reacted to my milk if i had any dairy and accumilative digestive disorder so he would spend a few days in hospital, come home for a week or so then back in for days..he also developed a hernia which they didnt diagnose till he was 3  and he too had terrible colic, but once all that was sorted out he has been fine.

Then my youngest was not the best pregnancy with placenta previa, breech baby, SPD, low BP and anemia but he has been a modle baby and has slept well until this last few weeks. The only issue i have with him is that he is so hungry!

My point there is not to put you off lhaving more lol, but just to say they are so different and just cos one goes a certain way doesnt mean the next one will. I adore my boys and I have learnt so much from them. I would love more, but i think i have enough on my plate with three LOL My pregnancies, births and the babies after have ll been very different. I guess my main concern about weaning is that Jack may have the problems George did with dairy, even though he is showing no signs. So if i could keep him on milk till he was 6 months then maybe i could avoid problems but it just isnt working out that way! Deep down i know the dairy problems and digestive problems could not have been my fault but i still feel guilty and i feel that if i had not weaned him so early he wouldnt have been so bad, but in allfairness his problems started before weaning and he was not half as sick on solids as he had been on milk!

Hi.

Persevere with the baby rice. Takes most babies a few tries to get used to solids. If you keep going I would think after a couple of weeks things will be much easier for you (and your boobs!)

Em x

Hi everyone.

Hi Phil and Ellie!

Im from the Jan mums thread and this topic is very pop with us at the mo...

I have a 17 week old baby, and only the otherday i found out he is mik intolerant .

Since 16 weeks i ahve been giving him baby rice 2/3 times a day and has been sleeping well.

I went to the hv and she made me feel so bad for starting early ( 1 peasky week!) now shes sai i have to feed him 1 baby spoons worth of rice mixed with formula. he can only have this between 4-6 .

he is now waking throughout the night these last few days so i have decided from tomorrow i am going to  give him more ricefeeds and maybe inroduce somehting else as i want to puree eveything myself.

Just wanted some advise as not impressed at all with HV!!Also the fact that he is milk intolerant i dont want to upset his digestive system (although when i was giving the reice x3 a day he was fine!)

Wpuld love any advise 9(as so scared of hv now) what to give and when . My feed times are usually 9, 12, 3, 6, 9.

ps i have to admit it is late and i havent read any posts but will come on agin 2 mo. so if i ahve missed anything out i do appologize1

HI Eva

Tell your  H.V to knob off. You kow your baby. Jack is 13 weeks now and has breakfast and tea. He loves it and is sleeping through the ight again! I told my H.V and she was not impressed but i have a good one and she said i know my baby and seeing as he is my third she trusted me to go slowly...which i have! I still feel quilty that i have weaned him early but he was so ready for it. A Mother knows when her baby is ready for food.

Carry on feeding him as you were if he is settled. As long as you don't give him too much too soon he will be fine. If he is 17 weeks now i would go straight to blending your own foods for him. (When Ben was a baby 17 weeks was standard for weaning!)Most of the jars have dairy in but there are a few that don't. Cow and gate do some dairy free stuff. I you email or write to them they will send you a list of all the things they dothat Theo could have.

Has the doctor put him on soya or neocate active milk? If so use this in your cooking for him. I.E to help blend food down, making rice puddings, etc I use rice milk for my boys now that they are older but I used to use their formulas in their food.  

My elder two son's were on more rice than Jack is at the mo at the same age and they are fine.

It's funny as i thought your little boy had a dairy intolerance in the early days didnt i? LOL It took months to get my two diagnosed but Jack doesnt have it...Thank goodness. Ben was slightly ill with it, George was seriously ill for a good 2 years but now thay have grown out of it and eat normally. If you need any advice on keeping Theo dairy free drop me a line xx

I will pop on the Jan thread when i have a chance but please give the girls my love x

Hi Gill sounds like your baby is as hungry as mine. Jack is 13weeks and I have just fed him a good bowl of baby porridge for his tea as he missed his breakfast and he has been starving all day. he wolfed it back and so i gave him some more and he cleared that too LOL

In my opinion, babies need more than milk when they are that hungry. The all do it at different ages but i have had three and they have all been on baby rice by about 2.5 months and dinners by 4months! Go with what you feel is best for you both just start slowly with quite watered down rice and build it up as and when your baby is ready.

Jack has been on baby rice for 3 weeks now & loves his grub! LOL

Good luck x

Thanks Phil would really appricate that.

No the doc really hrd work would not even give me the milk o preseciption- do you thinki should try and get it for example the Nutramingen one you suggested ages ago?She said that they were not very good- i just dont know i think she just being difficult may go and see another doc.

i think from next week i will satrt weaning on purees form next week. sometimes he taked the rice sometimes not i dont know how much to give now and when- what would you suggest?

Theo had bas nite last night kept waking crying he has stuffy nose that is bolcked and been streaming al yeserday. Got him nasoal and carvol drops. poor lil lamb!

Im glad Jack is ok- yoiu are so right muma lways nos best and hs insticnt- noboddy would listen to me about the intolerance- so thank you for pointing it out to otheriwse i would have thought i am oe of those nuerotic mothers and doctaors i think started to think then i was like look my granma is a peadiatrician so give me the goddamm stool test!

See you on the Jan thread soon Phil

x

hiya girls - my baby,chester  is 10weeks old - hes also a lil starver - hes bn on aptamil baby milk since birth - at 2weeks old i put him on the number 2 for hungry babies.hes always feedin.few days ago i gave him baby rice he loved it.i bn weanin him slowly - hes had 2 bowls of babyrice in last few days.it does help as he goes longer til his next bottle.

he is my 3rd baby.my other 2 were also greedy babies.i had both of them on solids by 3months,they r ages 10 and 6 now with no allergy problems.they got nothin wrong wiv them,completly healthy - got no allerggies in family.

chester was a month early weighin an ounce short of 8lb.hes 10wks now and is 14lb 4oz,hes in 6-9months clothes.i think this new thing of weanin babies at 6 months is ridiculas - as if a baby can go 6months just on milk... the thing is,like my health visitor said - - by 6months babies should b on lumpier foods,but wiv these new guidelines babies r stugglin 2 swallow lumps at 6months cos theyr only then gettin used 2 babyrice!!! she thinks that 4months is fine 2 wean a baby but its their job 2 'inform' us of the new guidelines.

anyway i think u should do watever u think is best.as long as  u only use babyrice as its not 'heavy' 4 his tummy....i think its fine.chester sucks the rice off a baby spoon which i steralise wiv his bowl n bottles.

xxx love from amie

my hv said to carry on with baby rice till i see them again in 3 weeks- so you think i should keep him on this and not introduce fruit/veg purees?

its so confusing esp as theo has a allergy i ont want to upset him