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When did you begin to wean your baby?

As the title says, when did you begin to wean your baby and how did you start?

I asked my HV if I could start giving Liam abit of rusk mixed with his milk before bedtime at 16 weeks (he is 15 at the moment) she told me not to even consider this before 6 months and asked why I wanted to. I wanted to start because Liam is still feeding through the night, and wondered if he was satified more then maybe he would go a little longer. I was told to start hungry baby milk, just the one before bedtime, but this hasnt worked at all, infact there has been no difference. I have tried upping his bottles to 7oz but he still only sticks to 6oz.

I'm not trying to get him to sleep through, im just trying to help his hunger through the night.

What to do, what to do???

Emma xx

[Modified by: Mrs Hall on 14 June 2010 20:08:32 ]

Replies

  • I think the rusks thing is something they used in the 70s and I haven't found a HV or MW who advocates it now. They also told me to look at what was in rusks as they are NOT good for babies.

    I'm not really expecting Amelia to start sleeping through the night until 5-6 months when she is weaned and this seems about right. If it's only 1 feed in the night, this would seem on course. Each baby is different - you hear about babies that sleep through the night at 7 weeks and some that still don't sleep through the night at 12 months (horror!!)

    Keep trying the 7oz bottles he might start to make headway soon and it's only a couple more weeks until you can start with baby rice.
  • I started weaning Lily at 17 weeks because my HV said I could "start giving her a bit of dinner if I wanted to". I did so, being a first time mum who takes her HV's advice and all. This time I'll be waiting longer - the guidelines do say 6 months now and not 17 weeks as they used to, but moreover I want to keep my baby a baby for as long as poss (and not have the faff of purees and nasty weaning nappies any longer than is strictly necessary).

    I hope I don't sound mean as it's not intended that way, but I'll be weaning her because she's interested in food and seems to want to try some, not to make her sleep through the night (in any case it never worked with Lily, not until she was on 3 solid meals a day at 6 months).
  • It was around the 5 month mark. Sam is only sleeping through the night now, at 9 months so definitely don't do to get more sleep! I think its completely normal for babies to still be feeding at night at your LO's age.

    Also, I was excited about weaning so started before 6 months, but regret it a little now and hope to not start early with next baby. Like PinkToothbrush says, it's just another thing to think about and do - just milk is so much easier!

  • the advice is 6 months due to their digestive system mmaturity. also, when books do offer youadvice on what to use if you decide to wean early for whatever reason, they said not to gve rusks. and i have also read the same about sleep, it wont make a difference. babies who have previously slet through do stop around 5 months as they go through another stage and will need more mil. weaning food is for taste and texture more than calories, as this should still mainly come from milk.
  • Thanks guys.

    I didnt write what I wanted to say clearly first time round. I'm not intending to start weaning early to try and get Liam to sleep through, the reason why is beacuse he never seems to be full for long during the night, and is waking for feeds more often than not, and its feeding he is wanting, not just because he has woke or has lost his dummy etc etc. I keep trying to give him more than 6oz to see if he will be satisfied for longer, but this doesnt work as he will only take 6oz!

    I was intending to wait until Liam was 6 months, but now he is wanting more and more and has taken an interest in what were eating I was just wondering when all you lot started it.

  • HI
    I also started at six months. I would echo what everyone else has said. My little boy didn't start sleeping through until 7 months ish. It is completely normal still to be waking for feeding as they have little tummies that need feeding regularly.

    Of course there are always some that have their little ones sleeping through at six weeks (I used to want to stick pins in their eyes!) but I think they are usually in the (lucky) minority.

    I don't want to get into the whole 'rusks in milk' debate (I seemed to cause offence last time we had this debate!) but tritied is right. It was someting the previous generation did, out of love for their little ones, because they didn't know any better. We do now which is why HV don't recommend it.

    If your little Liam is only taking the 6ox before bed even when you're offering more, then that is probably all he can manage. Don't worry the night time wakenings will stop before you know it (it all seems like a blur already) and then you will be wishing he was a little baby again!
    All the best x
  • I weaned my first before six months, but not because he wasn't sleeping through the night, but because he was drinking 9oz bottles and needed more... (little porker).

    I wouldn't advise rusks though, as someone said they aren't good. Baby rice is the best thing to start with, but when you feel ready and Liam is ready.
    But there are so many different websites saying when its safe to wean, I read somewhere yesterday that it shouldn't be before 17 weeks, as there disgestive system isn't ready(longer if they are prem),. It all depends what site you read.

    Sorry not much help emma, but he will sleep through soon
    xx
  • Hi I started weaning Lizzie early at 17 weeks but this was on doctors advise due to bad colic.
    how many bottles a day do you give your LO? would it be worth trying to get in an extra bottle of normal formula during the day?

    xx
  • I started weaning Rhys at 17 weeks as he seemed ready for it and that was a bit of baby rice. Looking bac though I think it was me wanting to do it as it seemed exciting lol. Alfie however is no where near ready yet and like Pink Toothbrush says I want to keep him little longer ha ha and I'm not ready for all the pureeing yet.

    If you do think he's rady for it, I would go along the baby rice route though rather than the rusks and I hope he starts sleeping longer for you soon x
  • We weaned the boys at 22 weeks, on the advice of our dietician (I wont go into it all now! lol)

    Anyway, I think its totally up to you when you wean your baby, and what you give them, but im not sure I would start with rusks. Reason being that they now make 'low sugar' rusks, which scared the hell out of me! lol!

    Oh, and at 8.5 months, my boys are still up 2 or 3 times a night, and at different times so im up 4 or 6 times!! Not to feed though, we stopped milk at night when they stopped drinking it. I pray for the days they start sleeping! lol!

    Gemma, Ryan and Alfie 8 months
  • I started weaning at 23 weeks, he's coming up 26 weeks now and his sleeping is worse than ever, so please don't even think about weaning to get more sleep, as it has had the opposite effect for me. I realise that this isn't what you intended to ask but thought I'd let you know my experience.

    I do share your frustration though, at 16 weeks my LO was up regularly to feed at night and could easily get through 10 oz. It has gradually reduced and now it's more like 3-4oz. I'm just hoping it's soon nothing so that I can get a good nights sleep, then again, I'll probably wake wondering why he hasn't woke up!

    Definitely don't do the rusk in the milk, IMO that really is messing with their digestive system. Good luck xx
  • we started with tastes at 15 weeks then started weaning at 17 weeks,

    in my experience you need to use hungry baby milk exclusively to make a difference, we were on 6 8oz bottles of hungry baby before weaning. we are now at nearly 6 months on 3 meals a day and we dont have a baby that sleeps through although he is not eating in the night just waking, he is however much more contented in the day, we started with just porridge before his morning bottle and gradually added a lunch then a dinner

    i find it funny that some hv are dead against any form of early weaning, by early i mean before the time the clock strikes exactly 6 months to the second, mine was asking us how we were doing with weaning when LO was 5 months at the last weigh in, so obviosly not all think i am doing the devils work!

  • I weaned our dd when she was 14wks ,I used to mix my boob milk with baby rice it was so runny she could have prob drank it though her bottle,I weaned her early as I didn't want to give her formula & 1 boob had given up so she wasn't getting enough food,my advice is you know your baby best if you feel that they need something more then do it you know your life & baby better then hv good luck xoxo
  • Hey there, we weaned at 19wks. I was totally 'I'm not weaning until 6 months!' but when my LO was downing 8oz of Hungry baby milk, and screaming for more and then was guzzling down a further 5oz an hr later, IMO that amount of milk was not good either!! Persevere with the hungry milk, as to begin with I was really unsure about it and only gave one bottle a day, but from HV advice I moved him on to it completely to have more of an effect. It did help a bit, but certainly didn't help him sleep through (something he still isn't doing at nearly 8 months!) but he certainly doesn't wake for food!

    My advice would be if you do choose to start early, take it slow. As we started early we just stayed on one small meal (lunch) for a few weeks before introducing breakfast, then finally tea. I think in the AK meal planner she moves it through a bit quicker, adding another meal each wk, but we were a lot slower as early.

    I would also stay just stick to fruit and veg before 6 months and we did a lot with baby rice. Although you don't actually have to use baby rice at all!

    xxxx
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