Discovery Home & Health

I'm after a little bit of help / advice...my little boy is just over 10 weeks old, he is a bit of a bruiser and weighs in at 13lb 8oz (last weigh in 2 wks ago) Just before xmas i put him on hungry baby milk as he never seemed to be satisfied and i've now had to up his milk to 7oz as he started to scream for more when he'd finished 6oz. He has this roughly every 3 and a half to 4 hours and drains each bottle. He doesn't sleep well during the day and i'm lucky to get two one hour naps but he does sleep well at night. What i'm wondering is if to introduce a bit of baby rice with his evening feed or if its too soon? I know the health visitor will tell me its too early but wondered if any of you had done it this early? I'd appreciate any advice.......

Hells x

Hey hun. My ds was a hungry boy too. At 12 weeks he was on 9oz of hungry baby milk and screaming at the end of it. I began weaning him and he loved it, alot happier too. I would maybe wait till Jake is on 8/9oz then try him with some rice. Trust your instincts hun. Your his mum, you know him better than any hv or gp.

Btw, there's nothing wrong with my ds, a big strapping boy that turns 3 on tuesday!!

Hope this helps hun KJ xxxxx

Hiya

Ben was a hungry baby & was taking 10-12oz bottles of hungry baby milk at 10 weeks old, I waited until he was 3 months & then started to give him some baby porridge as he hated the rice when he was still not satisfied, it never did him any harm. Trust your instincts, you know your baby better than any HV so do what you feel is right.

Michelle x

I weaned isabelle at 12 weeks old, we hadnt had a good start with her and she was put on prescription milk from about 3wks old, i was convinced back then (and still am) that she's not fussed about milk so she was basically crying constantly because she wouldnt take much milk and was so hungry!
anyway, by 12 weeks i had had enough and decided against all of recommendations that i was going to try her on solids. she absolutely hated the rice but the creamed porridge was a different story and she started to blossom! i kept her on the porridge mostly until she reached 4mths and then started introducing other things.
i also decided not to tell my health visitor etc as i knew that they would try and talk me out of it and i knew that i was doing the right thing for her.

trust your instincts, if you think he's ready then just try him with a tiny amount!

Hiya

Just wanted to add my experience...we weaned Connor when he was 10 weeks too. He was such a big boy, breast milk AND formula wasn't ever going to keep him going from that stage. So I started him on baby rice, then porridge for about a month, then slowly added other flavours in.

My health visitors were very supportive (I guess I was lucky!) and said that he obviously wanted and needed solids. Although there are guidelines to what you should feed you baby and when, they are just that; guidelines! All babies are different, and as a mum you'll know what's best for bubs.

xx

Hi,

All 3 of my boy's were weened early, the eldest at 7 weeks and they are all fine. DS1 is now 15 5'11" and not a medical problem in sight in fact he hasn't needed to see a doctor in years.

DS3 was on 2 meals a day by the time he was 16 weeks, and DS2 was having 3 meals with puddings by 5 months.

The other girls are right go with your gut, you are his mother, HVs have to warn you against it as it is there job. I say if he is hungry feed him.

Good luck
Jayjay

hey, bailey was 3 weeks prem and we weened him at 12 weeks, as he was a very hungry baby and was draining 9oz bottles evey 3 hours of cow and gate hungry milk, we just started a lil baby rice or a rusk in a morning and he was satisfied for the day he took to it like a duck to water and after that we introduced things at a very slow pace

maybe u should try upping the oz of milk first and wean early at the last point, but like the other girls have said hes your baby and u know him do what u think is best

also my hv was very understanding and helpful when it came to this i didnt tell her till i had started tho lol and she was very helpful

I weaned DS at 14 weeks but my sister has weened all 3 of her children at 10-12 weeks and they are all big strapping kids. As long as you stick to bland stuff at first like rice and porridge why not? You know best what your baby needs so go with your gut. I agree with the others - try upping the milk first before going onto solids just to be on the safe side
x

Thank you ladies for all your advice, its so difficult knowing what to do for the best! Today has been a nightmare Jake has screamed for probably 80% of the day, I'm actually thinking that all the crying may have coincided with him going onto sma hungry baby milk and it may be a bit heavy on his tum, apparently sma is quite rich compared to some of the others? He still drains the 7 oz though! I'm going to change his milk tomorrow and see how it goes.

Thank you all again

Hells x

hey, switching milk from normal to hungry milk can cause babies to get an upset tummy but it soon settles down

i never used sma i used cow and gate and nver had any problems at all

I hope it is not too controverisal to give the otherside of the argument. I think it is important to know why the guidelines now say 6 months so that you can make an informed decision.

The advice waschanged as a result of new research into babies’ development. This showed that before 6 months babies’ digestive systems and kidneys are still developing. Weaning too soon may increase the risk of infections and allergies. The Health protection Agency states that "Weaning later may reduce the risk of asthma, eczema, digestive problems, allergies and obesity in later life." The link with early weaning and obesity has been showen in quite a few large scale studies.

It doesn’t really matter what weight your baby was at birth – the digestive system and kidneys will still develop at the same rate as a smaller baby. The Health Protection Agency states that "You should never wean before 4 months (17 weeks)."

This is not to say that most babies who are weaned early will have the problems listed above. This thread shows that is not the case. however, it does mean that the chances of them developing such problems are slightly higher.

I hope this is helpful. Please don't think I am being critical of early weaners, we all decide what we think is best for our babies. I just wanted to share the research I did when deciding when to wean DD.

hello all!!

just thought id put my experience in my dd was weaned at 16 weeks. she was draining a full bottle every 3 hours on hungry baby milk. She wasnt a strapping girl she very dinky and petite but she eats for england. i really think you have to go with your gut feeling. as long as you use bland stuff to start with and make sure there no salt as i knwo that can ffect babies kidneys.

when we did switch dd over to hungrier baby milk SMA she had a upset tummy for a few days but soon readjusted to it.


x

hey, can i just add if u doo give some solids maybe just a small spoonfull in the morning or somthing dnt give too much as still very young

Hey Everyone, thanks for your replies, spoke to the health visitor today about jakes unsettledness and that i thought the sma was too heavy on his tum (he's been on it for about three weeks now) she said that it is richer than others and suggested i try either cow and gate plus or aptimal, i've gone with cow and gate so we'll see how he gets on with this!

Thanks again

hells

my first boy was huge and was drinking 20oz in the evening. The health vistor said no weaning but my elderly doctor said a little bit of baby rice wouldn't hurt and it didn't. he's eight now and no problems.
I waited with my second son to 5 months.
I now have a 'little' (not so little 9lb 5oz) girl who i'm weaning at 4 months as she is waking again at night, crying when we eat and doesn't really seem to like her milk.
Health advice changes all the time but i'd follow your instints and let your baby tell you when he's ready.