trying not to wean yet
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- trying not to wean yet
11/10/08 12:30
10/10/08 18:11
well, being a bit lazy is part of why im holding off weaning!!! My dd actually slept through last night horay!!! Had one of those mornings where you look at the clock and turn to dp, 'did you feed her?' no..... horay she slept through!!
Dont know how long it will last but just gonna keep going, she is 18 weeks now cant believe time flying so quickly, she will soon be 6 months and then i reckon weaning will be much easer, they can eat so much more at 6 months. Gonna check out blw, although i must admit im a bit scared of it.
Keep up the good work.
10/10/08 18:01
DS is 14 weeks and weighs 17lbs 8oz, the hv at the clinic on Tuesday would not believe me that he was solely bf. People continuously comment that I am going to 'have' to wean him soon but I don't agree. He is currently sleeping from 8pm-7am with only one night feed at 4am and is content and happy between feeds during the day so i see no reason to introduce solids yet. DD was a different story, was hungry all the time and we managed to hold out til 22.5 weeks at which point she took the spoon off me and fed herself!!!
10/10/08 17:44
There is a girl at my baby group who has a little baby girl, younger than my 22 week old and much much much much lighter, i think she is 13lbs to my 18lb baby and she's on 3 meals a day already!!!
She keeps saying to me, have you fed him yet? ..........um.........yes..........he gets breastfed
TBH i am quite glad Theo isnt having meals etc yet cos that means i'd have to take out food with me!! Cant be bothered with that.
Oh and last night he woke 2am, 4am and 6am and thats a good nights sleep.
10/10/08 16:46
I'm a first time mum and my dd has just turned 6 months. 5 of us were all pregnant in work at the same time, all due between end of March and middle of May and I was due first. Out of the 5 of us I was the only one planning on breastfeeding and the others thought I was mad for wanting to try, especially as I'm the youngest of us (don't know why that makes a difference!) I spoke to one who said she started weaning her little boy at 15 weeks as he started waking in the night again and "she couldn't be bothered with that". All the others have also weaned early (even the first time mummies) and they are all on 3 meals a day now. My dd did have little tastes of foods before she was 6 months but I held off weaning. True she was waking at least twice a night for a feed but I can cope with that. In my opinion she is only a baby for such a short time I don't want to spend the time wishing she would sleep through or trying to make her grow up too quickly. I didn't want to wean her for my own selfish reasons thinking I would get a decent nights sleep. Elinor is 18lb too and is the biggest out of all the babies, even though she was the smallest when she was born. One mum said her ds was on hungry baby milk and asked what I do about that and should I still be breastfeeding!!! She looked at me soft when I said your body adapts to what the baby needs as she grows! I'm proud that it's my milk that has done her good.
Now at 6 months she is doing so well with her food, she is loving everything I give her and there's hardly any mess as she has got the whole eating process sorted! I am loving trying her with new things although I do miss the not-so-smelly breastfed nappies! The other 4 are also weaning on jars and laugh when I say I make my own foods. I just feel that she is my baby girl who I love more than anything in the world and I want to do the best for her. If other people feel that their child is ready to be weaned then that's great for them but even though I was weaned at roughly 12 weeks I wanted to try and stick it out until 26 weeks. I know they are only guidelines but I am so glad I waited.
If you have made the decision to wait until 26 weeks then good on you, like the original post said, it's good to have some support on here. I'm not one of these people posting warnings etc on every weaning thread but as this post is titled "trying not to wean yet" I thought I would share my experience! Sorry this post is so long! Good luck everyone when you do wean!
Nat x
10/10/08 13:19
does he just have a dairy allergy or is he lactose intolerant?
10/10/08 11:14
My eldest DS who is now 3 was having 64oz of hungry baby milk, we were advised by a dietician to start him on solids at 16 weeks, so we did and never looked back.
My DS2 who was 6 months a few days ago isnt really established in weaning. We have had so many problems with him since birth and have only got to the bottom of it. He was breastfed until his 5 month birthday, however has screamed his whole life until then. Turns out he has severe reflux and dairy allergy. He was losing weight rapidly, however switching to Nutramigen has changed my son completely. He has been gaining between 1lb 4oz-1lb 8oz a week, obviously making up for lost time.
We are under a paediatrician and dietician for his reflux and dairy allergy and BOTH have said that they suggest weaning at 5 MONTHS!!!!! Not 6, but 5! They said a baby has so much to get through in the first year with regards to weaning that they suggest starting at 5. That doesnt mean having them on 3 meals a day at months (although some babies will be), but even a spoonful of rice or something.
Dont feel bad about weaning early. If it has to be done, then thats what you have to do! People can preach all they want but what good is it going to do? I'm sure whatever you give them, its to help them by rather than fill them up. Good luck to all your lo's and I hope they all enjoy their grub :D
10/10/08 10:55
don't ask ali!! my idiotic cousin decided to copy a load of my posts on nearly every thread i've been on in the last month! shame he didn't notice i'd missed out mango on my list of fruits to avoid before 26 weeks though cos he coulda added it in for me haha
9/10/08 20:07
Hi thanks for info babbaloo but not to worry, this thread is for those of us who arent weaning yet, ill check out link about the book on mumsnet though thanks for the info. Id really like her to sleep through tonight, I had a word with her before bed.......... we shall see if it works!! If not ill buy the book!
9/10/08 18:14
also have you seen this?
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/04April/Pages/Arsenicinbabyrice.aspx
9/10/08 17:47
*** class="comment">btw if anyone is weaning before 26 weeks you need to avoid allergenic fruits so bananas, strawberries, kiwis, citrus fruits, tomatoes.
***>9/10/08 13:00
thanks at the mo ive got a very grumpy dd she has had 2 naps today but both for less than an hour so she def tired im gonna take her out in the pram now, thanks for tip, ill order it secretly on amazon!
1
9/10/08 12:19
yes it is fantastic. you might be able to get a cheap copy on ebay. we also did EASY but with no set amount of time inbetween cos like you otherwise it went tits up after the 2nd feed.
9/10/08 11:59
Is that any good babaloo? Was thinking about getiing no cry sleep solution, I made a mistake and bought 'healthy sleep habits, happy child' its generally horrid! Was thinking about buying no cry but id have to buy it secretly my dp hates the growing collection of parenting books I now own!!!
9/10/08 11:26
have you tried the no cry sleep solution?
9/10/08 08:37
The only way I can get him to sleep this long is to have him in the sling attached to me. I was more worried about getting him to have enough sleep than forming bad habits. If he's anywhere else DS goes to sleep fine but is awake after exactly half an hour and won't go back to sleep even though he's still tired.
He sleeps really well in the cot at night so I'm not really fussed if he needs some extra cuddle time by day. Eventually I think they grow out of the clingy stage and will sleep for longer anywhere. I'm going to really miss him when it happens though....
8/10/08 23:14
i can't beleive your babies sleep for 2 hours during daytime naps!! I'm lucky if Joshua sleeps for 40 minutes at a time. Luckily he does crash out from 8pm-6am with just a feed at midnight but I wish i could get hime sleeping better in the day!
8/10/08 11:36
I'd go a bit stir crazy without activities but I've had to limit them to things which are on at times when DS is likely to be up for it. I've heard of the HSHHC book but thought it sounded a bit regimented for us. I think provided you get a couple of good naps in the other can be in the pram or a bit flexible without it having to be a a huge issue.
Had to give up baby massage because it was on too early and DS would always melt down before the end as he was tired. Got to the point where it just wasn't worth it anymore, most baby activities seem to be on a bit later though.
8/10/08 11:12
Hi stella, yes im having trouble with nap times at the moment. I bought 'healthy sleep habits, happy child........ dont buy it!!! Far too long and intense for my sleep deprived mind, also lots about controlled crying which i didnt really want to do. All a bit harsh and dogmatic for my liking.
Basically all I have picked up is...... babys cant really stay awake for more than 2 hours, they need to learn to settle themselves to sleep, use an attachment thing, blanket teddy, you! to help them sooth themselves and that babies tend to sort their daytime sleep out at 4 months which is why things can go a bit 'iffy' at this time.
Anyway like yourself im a fan of the baby whisperer, I try to keep in cycles of EASY but my dd cant really manage more than an hour and a half of awake time and she likes to feed every 3 hours so like yourself after the second feed and sleep it all goes a bit tits up!
I honestly feel trapped in the house at the mo and i feel like im constantly walking up the stairs to put her to bed. My dd hasnt read the book and she dosent understand she is supossed to have 2 hour naps!!
Anyway i think my plaan is to give her 2 naps at home in her cot so she is getting some good quality naps and arrange to go out in the afternoons otherwise im going to go bonkers!
8/10/08 09:44
ali - do you have trouble with nap timing as well? In theory I'd like to follow the baby whisperer routine where they eat, have active time and then sleep. However DS has settled into a 3 hourly feeding pattern with more of a 4 hourly sleeping pattern which means it all goes haywire after the 2nd feed of the day. I'm just going with the flow as it's easier than trying to get him to do things at times he doesn't want to.
When I took dd for her 3rd lot of injections the HV asked how she was sleeping so I said I was up usually twice a night so she asked how much food she was eating so I said none as she was 19weeks old. She told me that for her size she should be on 2 meals a day and to start that from the following day and also to give her rusk just before bed to fill her up! I wasn't happy with this advice so didn't do what she said and spoke to my usual HV who said to try and hold off until 26 weeks. If I had felt that she needed food and was totally ready before 26 weeks then I would've started. It was only when she was 25 weeks that she started grabbing food out of our hands! I'm now taking it at her pace, we introduced lunch last week and today I have introduced breakfast and I'll give it another week before I introuduce dinner. I thought jumping straight to 2 meals would be too much for her little tummy, especially at 19 weeks! As she is breastfed I haven't given her any drinks yet as she doesn't need them but she is starting to grab at cups and glasses and put them to her mouth so think I'll buy her a cup and just leave it there when she has her food for her to get used to. I have considered baby led weaning but am also a bit scared of this! As she will be 27 weeks tomorrow I might start with little bits and pieces if I pluck up the courage!
Nat x