Early Weaning
Hi Ladies!
I was wondering if any of you could send a link to an article on the perils of early weaning?
My baby is 5 weeks old and is very hungry. He was nearly 10lbs when he was born and is taking 6oz every 2-3 hours including all through the night. My milk didn''t come in so I am ff. I'm trying to hold off putting him on hungry baby milk for as long as possible but my oh is adamant that he needs baby rice before bed!! He's from Kenya so I don't know if its a cultural thing but its got to the point where I don't trust oh to make his bottles anymore!
I know that babies shouldn't be weaned till 4 - 6 months but I'm not totally sure why and if I could scare oh with what the affects might be he might drop it for a while!
Faith and Jason
I was wondering if any of you could send a link to an article on the perils of early weaning?
My baby is 5 weeks old and is very hungry. He was nearly 10lbs when he was born and is taking 6oz every 2-3 hours including all through the night. My milk didn''t come in so I am ff. I'm trying to hold off putting him on hungry baby milk for as long as possible but my oh is adamant that he needs baby rice before bed!! He's from Kenya so I don't know if its a cultural thing but its got to the point where I don't trust oh to make his bottles anymore!
I know that babies shouldn't be weaned till 4 - 6 months but I'm not totally sure why and if I could scare oh with what the affects might be he might drop it for a while!
Faith and Jason
0
Replies
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html
Although it references exclusive breastfeeding, explain that it's the same argument for exclusive formula feeding - it's just that it's a breastfeeding info site.
This specifically addresses the 'rice in a bottle' issue and actually gives info from a study that was done that proved that adding rice or other cereal to a baby's evening feed did not have any impact on their night time sleep.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipcerealinbottle.htm
6oz every 2-3 hours isn't actually that excessive for a 5 weeker that was a big baby at birth.
Tell your oh that your baby needs to be showing signs that they're ready to be weaned, and that it is VERY dangerous to wean them without medical advice before 17 weeks. Mainly, there's the choking hazard - if your baby can't hold his head up and sit in an upright position, then there's a very real chance he'll choke on something more solid than milk. He doesn't need it, and weaning too early can cause digestion problems and all sorts, both now and later in life.
Any early weaning needs to be done after seeking medical advice. Babies of the age that your lo is don't tend to sleep through the night anyway, mine didn't - 2-3 hours sounds about right. As for the amount, every baby will vary, as long as he's putting on weight and staying relatively in line with his birth weight, he's doing just fine.
Hope that helps hun x x x
get out your birth to 5 book, info on weaning is in there.
also, there is no nutritionsl value in babyrice, so throw it away. that way he cant put it in her bottles. the nhs stuff does make clear that nothing should be put in bottles.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/916697.stm
my baby was 13lb at 8 weeks nd 8lb at birth, so he doesnt appear to be growing unhealthily fast.
i wasnt saying i thought you expected baby to sleep through btw, i thought you meant your husband thought he should sleep through.
I'm not really concerned to be honest I just think it'll be a long 5 months arguing with oh about this! I've forwarded him those articles so hopefully he'll get the picture lol!
I personally wouldn't EVER add anything to the bottle, and just increase the milk intake as much as poss during the day - Abby was exactly the same as your LO sounds, and I know how hard it is, but the longer you can hold off on the baby rice the better. By 13 weeks Abby was able to eat off a spoon, so she was in control of what she was eating, and had the option to spit it out when she'd had enough, also my GP told me that by this stage, they will just vomit up anything that doesn't agree with them (kind of like a weaning safety net).
I wouldn't worry about the amount of milk at this stage, if you notice LO is getting too fat then it's time to switch to hungry baby, but as long as their weight gain is OK, then don't worry.
I don't like HB milk (unless your LO is very over weight) as I think that a greedy baby needs the food and HB milk is like sawdust (just empty stodge to fill them up - with no extra nutritional value). Young babies aren't greedy by nature - if they want food it is usually because they need it.
The best advise really is to have a chat with your HV about it all (if you have a good HV that is!), follow your instincts, and ignore all the nasty comments you'll get for not following the govt guidelines. (easier said than done!).
I personally wouldn't EVER add anything to the bottle, and just increase the milk intake as much as poss during the day - Abby was exactly the same as your LO sounds, and I know how hard it is, but the longer you can hold off on the baby rice the better. By 13 weeks Abby was able to eat off a spoon, so she was in control of what she was eating, and had the option to spit it out when she'd had enough, also my GP told me that by this stage, they will just vomit up anything that doesn't agree with them (kind of like a weaning safety net).
I wouldn't worry about the amount of milk at this stage, if you notice LO is getting too fat then it's time to switch to hungry baby, but as long as their weight gain is OK, then don't worry.
I don't like HB milk (unless your LO is very over weight) as I think that a greedy baby needs the food and HB milk is like sawdust (just empty stodge to fill them up - with no extra nutritional value). Young babies aren't greedy by nature - if they want food it is usually because they need it.
The best advise really is to have a chat with your HV about it all (if you have a good HV that is!), follow your instincts, and ignore all the nasty comments you'll get for not following the govt guidelines. (easier said than done!).
I personally wouldn't EVER add anything to the bottle, and just increase the milk intake as much as poss during the day - Abby was exactly the same as your LO sounds, and I know how hard it is, but the longer you can hold off on the baby rice the better. By 13 weeks Abby was able to eat off a spoon, so she was in control of what she was eating, and had the option to spit it out when she'd had enough, also my GP told me that by this stage, they will just vomit up anything that doesn't agree with them (kind of like a weaning safety net).
I wouldn't worry about the amount of milk at this stage, if you notice LO is getting too fat then it's time to switch to hungry baby, but as long as their weight gain is OK, then don't worry.
I don't like HB milk (unless your LO is very over weight) as I think that a greedy baby needs the food and HB milk is like sawdust (just empty stodge to fill them up - with no extra nutritional value). Young babies aren't greedy by nature - if they want food it is usually because they need it.
The best advise really is to have a chat with your HV about it all (if you have a good HV that is!), follow your instincts, and ignore all the nasty comments you'll get for not following the govt guidelines. (easier said than done!).
I personally wouldn't EVER add anything to the bottle, and just increase the milk intake as much as poss during the day - Abby was exactly the same as your LO sounds, and I know how hard it is, but the longer you can hold off on the baby rice the better. By 13 weeks Abby was able to eat off a spoon, so she was in control of what she was eating, and had the option to spit it out when she'd had enough, also my GP told me that by this stage, they will just vomit up anything that doesn't agree with them (kind of like a weaning safety net).
I wouldn't worry about the amount of milk at this stage, if you notice LO is getting too fat then it's time to switch to hungry baby, but as long as their weight gain is OK, then don't worry.
I don't like HB milk (unless your LO is very over weight) as I think that a greedy baby needs the food and HB milk is like sawdust (just empty stodge to fill them up - with no extra nutritional value). Young babies aren't greedy by nature - if they want food it is usually because they need it.
The best advise really is to have a chat with your HV about it all (if you have a good HV that is!), follow your instincts, and ignore all the nasty comments you'll get for not following the govt guidelines. (easier said than done!).
I personally wouldn't EVER add anything to the bottle, and just increase the milk intake as much as poss during the day - Abby was exactly the same as your LO sounds, and I know how hard it is, but the longer you can hold off on the baby rice the better. By 13 weeks Abby was able to eat off a spoon, so she was in control of what she was eating, and had the option to spit it out when she'd had enough, also my GP told me that by this stage, they will just vomit up anything that doesn't agree with them (kind of like a weaning safety net).
I wouldn't worry about the amount of milk at this stage, if you notice LO is getting too fat then it's time to switch to hungry baby, but as long as their weight gain is OK, then don't worry.
I don't like HB milk (unless your LO is very over weight) as I think that a greedy baby needs the food and HB milk is like sawdust (just empty stodge to fill them up - with no extra nutritional value). Young babies aren't greedy by nature - if they want food it is usually because they need it.
The best advise really is to have a chat with your HV about it all (if you have a good HV that is!), follow your instincts, and ignore all the nasty comments you'll get for not following the govt guidelines. (easier said than done!).