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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

Replies

  • This is a good jumping off point with links to further information.

    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.
  • You're right, he doesn't need baby rice, apart from the fact that he's way way way too young for it, it probably won't make a difference. My baby stopped sleeping through at 5.5 months and everyone told me to give him baby rice, even though I was holding out for 6 months to wean him because he showed no signs of needing to be weaned. In the end, I made it to 6 months, lo was still not sleeping. I gave him baby rice, he still wasn't sleeping. It's not a miracle cure!

    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
  • i have always fed my baby every 2-3 hours. she is above average but still happily on the charts at 91st centile, although at 2 months she would sleep longer at night. 5 weeks old is very young to be expecting him to sleep through the night. was he 95th centile at birth if he weighed10lb? i only have the girls chart here. have you had him weighed recetly, where is he on the chart now? you have to put your foot down.
    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.
  • hes probably going through a growth spurt at the mo, heres a link for you to try x

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/916697.stm
  • btw i have not been drinking. i just seem to have lost the ability to type. that and my keyboard is rubbish.
  • Thanks ladies. I have no anticipation that he should be sleeping through the night at all. I think its just the sheer volume of milk that he's eating that seems to be bothering oh. I do really think that part of it is where he comes from because his mum had 12 children several of whom would have been infants at once and she wouldn't have had enough breastmilk to feed them and didn't have enough food to feed herself so several bottles a day would have been tea or boiled water so he feels like its a bit freakish that he drinks 60oz of milk a day sometimes! As soon as possible she would have been giving her babies ugali which is a porridge made of maize flour that is very cheap and filling. I must admit that I was at the end of my tether last night as he had 2 6oz bottles one after the other at 9 and then woke every 1 1/2 hours through the night. He hasn't been weighed for a couple of weeks he was 12lbs 9oz then. I might take him up to the baby clinic next week and talk to the hv. She was a bit taken aback when I told her how much he was drinking but not particularly worried.
  • if you are formula feeding you can ask for the ff growh chart, as the one in the red book is based on breast fed babies.

    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.
  • Will he take a bigger bottle, faithie? Just wondered if he would drink 7 or even 8 oz then go slightly longer in between, and that this might appease your DH?
  • Ocaasionally he takes another oz but most of the time there is a dribble left in the bottle so haven't moved up an oz again yet but probably will next week. He lost 1lb of his birth weight and was readmitted to hospital with dehydration in the first week because I was breastfeeding but he wasn't getting anything from me so it took a while for him to regain his birth weight.

    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 weaned Abby early - at 13 weeks, and that was after taking a lot of advice from various professionals (GP, HVs etc).

    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 weaned Abby early - at 13 weeks, and that was after taking a lot of advice from various professionals (GP, HVs etc).

    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 weaned Abby early - at 13 weeks, and that was after taking a lot of advice from various professionals (GP, HVs etc).

    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 weaned Abby early - at 13 weeks, and that was after taking a lot of advice from various professionals (GP, HVs etc).

    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 weaned Abby early - at 13 weeks, and that was after taking a lot of advice from various professionals (GP, HVs etc).

    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!).
  • does he actually need the milk though or is he just taking it out of habit? mine LO takes 8oz at 7am, 11am, 2.30pm and 6pm and has a dreamfeed of just 4oz about 11pm (shes nearly 4months), when she was tiny she fedd roughly every 3hours and i found that inbetween she would just take her dummy and quietly sit and observe. have you tried other things like dummies, taking him for a walk for an hour or so or go out in the car to the shops just to put off having to feed him? he might take the hint then and only cry for it when hes well and truely hungry. just a suggestion...x
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