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Weaning

WILL I BE SHOT AT DAWN!

107 replies

mish2 · 20/02/2007 10:35

I have read all the advice on weaning and know all what goes with it, i weaned my dd at 14 weeks 4 yrs ago ad she is fit and well and healthy. My dds is 15 weeks and 15lb and does not take his milk well, he fights each feed and i have tried everything, if left to his own devises he will take anyhting from 3 -7 oz per feed but generally only the 7 if forced - averaging about 28oz in a 24 hr period with one or 2 night wakings. He is a happy chappy until feeding and it has become so stressful that yesterday after a 11am fight and condecding at 2 oz i made up some baby rice and offered him it - he loved it and was like a bird. Should i cont today and until 17 weeks with just baby rice at one feed or should i just go for it? I am taking to get weighed tomo. I expect some of you will be quite alarmed at starting to wean early but you havent been fighting my son for 15 weeks!

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NbgsYellowFeathers · 20/02/2007 10:37

The thing is mish, is that he wont really get much from the rice. There are more calories in milk.
I can understand your frustrtaion with him not taking milk because my ds is doing the same atm and he is 6 months and will not wean at all

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crispyduck · 20/02/2007 10:38

Probably!!!!

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colditz · 20/02/2007 10:38

Stop fighting with him for a start, force feeding is quite abusive.

he will not starve, he will drink what he needs, but if you don't allow him to regulate his appetite himself you run the risk of him developing eating problems and obesity later in life.

RE the baby rice. he may like the taste, and he may have been at it like a bird, but 15 weeks is TOO YOUNG and you could seriously injure his bowel and digestive system.

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Twiglett · 20/02/2007 10:42

how the hell do you force a baby to drink when he doesn't want to?

I don't think anyone will shoot you at dawn for weaning early but you are doing your child absolutely no favours, and potentially and based on research over the last decade increasing his risk of developing some serious conditions in later life

but fuck it eh? we've all got a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer haven't we? we may as well smoke then and bugger the increased risk

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KathyMCMLXXII · 20/02/2007 10:49

Just out of interest, Mish, why are you fighting him to get him to take 7oz? I ask because my dd tended to drink around 20-24oz breast milk a day (I was weighing her nappies to find out how much I had to express for when I went back to work!) and she grew fine, so can't you just leave him to take smaller feeds if he prefers?

I probably wouldn't wean at 15 weeks, btw - the research does look like it might be harming their guts in ways that only show up when they are older.

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colditz · 20/02/2007 10:49

In short, by weaning him at less than half the recommended age, you are increasing the risk of him being fat, having irritable bowel syndrome and eczema.

Attractive.

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Flamesparrow · 20/02/2007 10:49

If he was breastfeeding you would have no idea how much was going into him and you just have to poddle on regardless. Let him drink as much/little as he wants, and leave him be.

My DS would have happily taken rice that early (swiped the odd bit of food from DD ), but we managed to get through to 25 weeks, he was fine, and is a happy little chap now.

He doesn't need the rice. If anything it'll be filling him up and getting even less calories in him.

Try spoon feeding milk if you really wanna shove a spoon at him.

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VeniVidiVickiQV · 20/02/2007 10:54

15 weeks is way too early. But you know this.

If you having a struggle getting him to take his milk, then perhaps a visit to the GP/HV might be worthwhile? Maybe he has silent reflux? This is preferable to early weaning, simply because milk should be his primary nourishment for the first 12 months irrespective of when you wean him. Giving him baby rice isnt going to help him gain weight.

Go to your GP and/or HV.

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kiskidee · 20/02/2007 11:02

the thing is mish, i would say to stop stressing out at feeding times. and i mean milk feeding times. your baby is not underweight or malnourished. some babies are gannets and some are hummingbirds, needing little and often. my dd was a diddy baby who fed little and often. she is still diddy and feeds the same way at nearly two. but she has a lot of bang for her buck.

it is a shame that neither you or your dd are enjoying feeding times. chill out so you can both enjoy her babyhood.

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kiskidee · 20/02/2007 11:03

i meant to say too that it sounds like you are running the chance of having the same stressful relationship with weaning food whether now or later if you don't chill out.

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hunkermunker · 20/02/2007 11:03

Stop fighting and forcing - whatever you are feeding, you run the risk of setting him up with food issues for life if you keep struggling with him.

Get the milk sorted before you wean though - post a thread asking for advice about milk feeds, perhaps?

Don't give him rice - it's too early, as you know.

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mish2 · 20/02/2007 11:07

Thanks, the official guidlines is between 4 and 6 months according to my hv today and this i am led to beleive was to discourage from doing less than 12 weeks as people did. 17 weeks is the average time for devedelopment of gut etc and to minimise allergies is 17 weeks (my friend is a dietician)but dependant on baby and some may be weaned earlier, no i dont force feed him in an abusive way but when it gets to the 5 pm feed and hes only had 8 oz all day it kind of becomes an issue. Had him checked and not reflux just a slower metabolism maybe. Anyway i have took heed of your advise and he has actually just took a 7oz feed without a battle so i will se how we fair the rest of today and have a word again withthe HV tomorow. i dont want to wean early but i just wanted to sound you all out, thanks for that.

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FrannyandZooey · 20/02/2007 11:08

When is dawn, these days?

and has anybody seen my shotgun?

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VeniVidiVickiQV · 20/02/2007 11:09

Your HV is way behind the times mish.

Official guidelines are 6 months and have been for several years in the UK now, and over 10 years from the WHO.

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colditz · 20/02/2007 11:10

You health visitor is spouting crap, they often do.

The 6 month weaning guidelines are

Not just for developing countries like Africa
Not just for breastfed babies
Not to stop people weaning at 12 weeks
Not just for babies that aren't 'hungry'


The advice from the World Health Organisation is 26 weeks.

Not 'over 17 weeks.'

Not 'Between 20 and 26 weeks'.

however you choose to interpret their advice is up to you, but your hv is misinformed.

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piglit · 20/02/2007 11:12

In fairness to mish, she has been told exactly what my HV said. It's an outrage that HVs who have such a major role to play in the health and development of our dc get it so wrong.

I weaned ds1 at 23 weeks and ds2 at about 30 weeks. I stopped going to see my HV because she kept pushing me to wean early.

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saltire · 20/02/2007 11:14

Can i just ask, if they guidelines have been 6months for weaning, as advised by the WHO ten years ago, why was my HV's advising me to wean at 4 months when my DSes were born in 1998 and 2000? Surely if the guidlines were 6 months, then I should have been told that, and all the books, magazines etc i read also said 4 months

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MrsBadger · 20/02/2007 11:15

Because at that point statutory maternity leave in the UK was only 4 months and it made the government look bad.

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MrsBadger · 20/02/2007 11:15

...and it depends which books and magazines you read, of course, even then.

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kiskidee · 20/02/2007 11:15

because the gov't did not officially change them for the UK until about 3 yrs ago when ahem, coincidentally, it also extended paid maternity leave till 6 months?

the WHO only publishes guidelines. it is up to individual countries to implement or ignore them.

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saltire · 20/02/2007 11:18

So if my children develop problems later in life, I'm now going to feel guilty for weaning them at 4 months, because that's what i was advised to do

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mish2 · 20/02/2007 11:19

yes my dd was born in 2002 and it had only just moved from 3 to 4 months then. all the books annabel karmel, lorraine kelly and gina ford weaning books go from 4 - 6 months. Surely we should be led by our babies more than the regimented regs. Anyway i have sounded you all out and now feel somewhat slapped wristed, i will cont as i am but yes thakns i will de stress at feeding times and i will discuss further with my hv tomorow and hold of till then and then if no improvement i will start proper weaning as early as 17 weeks . shock horror

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clarinsgirl · 20/02/2007 11:19

ooooooohhhhhh, a health visitor taking crap, my favourite subject - what is the point of them? Mish2 - my only advice is to try to relax. In my experience babies instinctively know how much milk they want. Let him take what he wants and try not to focus on how many ounces. In a bid to do the right thing we often get caught up in facts and figures and its not always helpful. If you find he is losing weight / unhappy then talk to your doctor (and bin your HV).

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clarinsgirl · 20/02/2007 11:21

TALKING crap, obviously!

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mish2 · 20/02/2007 11:21

thanks clarinsgirl. Incidently i was weaned at 10 weeks which is shocking isnt it? but my bowels are like magic ! If i die in the next couple of yrs i will sue my mum and post on here so you can all mutter your disgust

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