Weaning

We are waiting until 6 months as advised by our dietician, gp and HV. Little one has severe CMPA and suspected other allergies bless her so weaning could be scary!

@Emily aww no I hope she’s not suffering too badly with her CMPA fingers crossed for you

They have their entire life to be eating solids. I'm ok to wait for a few months and follow official medical advice. I feel like weaning early has nothing to do with baby needs and mostly to do with parents being excited to do something new with their LOs (which is just selfish)

@St I get what you mean with the whole parents being excited to do something new. Like any of it the whole experience of having a baby is new and exciting but if LO is showing signs and trying to steal food then go with that surely not every baby follows the same text book path much like every other milestone

I think if a baby is sitting up on their own, holding their head, showing interest in food, watching people eat, and trying to minic it, then offering them some options of baby led weaning is okay for them to get used to food flavours, practise putting food to their mouth and practising chewing movements before 6 months but maybe not on purees and spoon feeding until 6 months maybe 😅

Yeah I’m defo not rushing. I remember when I started weaning my son I thought about how much more straight forward it is to just get them milk haha. I’m gonna wait til 6 months to start with first tastes! I wanna make sure her tummy is okay for it.

@Abbie they might be interested in food surely, but their digestive system is just not ready yet. I suppose babies put absolutely everything in their mouth (toys, hands, feet), this doesn't mean they are ready to eat solids.

Fair enough I’m not starting till 6 months I was just curious as to what people thoughts were is all

It’s your choice! You know your baby best! I will be weaning my baby just after 4 weeks as she drinks 9oz of milk and she just isn’t full. She is showing signs of hunger before 3 hours and will no longer sleep through the night where as before she would go 4/5 hours without a feed and sleep through. She shows all signs she’s ready and loves watching us eat! There is advice there but at the end of the day it’s YOUR child and you know them best! Baby porridge, rice and purées from 4+ months are okay, but i wont be starting her on proper food until 6m. It may be a case they try it and don’t like it! So you can wait and try again.. But it’s your choice! Only you know your baby! Remember each baby is different! X

Ny child will be getting done early however we were advised due to medical reasons to start giving some baby rice once a day though he hated that and it's banana porridge. Each child is different and you should always speak to a health care provider before giving food anyway.

I’m same as Emily, waiting for dietician before introducing anything due to CMPA

My baby is sitting up by herself already and showing all signs of being ready but I won’t be giving her anything until 6 months. I’m looking forward to it but the risk of choking is too scary to rush into it. I’ll be doing strict BLW, no purées or spoon feeding at all. Baby rice has so little nutritional value they’re much better off with milk x

Mine is just over 4 months and has started having some purree and baby porridge and he’s more than ready for it. He was having 9oz bottles every 2.5 hours and hungry all the time. Every baby is different you know your own baby.

@Emily don’t be too scared by it lovely. My baby boy is also CMPA and allergic to soya too. I also have 7 year old twin girls who were CMPA until 4.5 plus allergic to egg, all nuts, lentils, kiwi and coconut! Weaning can be challenging but it’s not impossible. We didn’t have any dietician support with my girls so I went in blind but took it slow and steady.. and they thrived on it.. we have a dietician for my boy but I can’t stand them so I’m going off instinct again.. I have started giving little bits to my boy as he’s literally snatching food out of our hands. So far we’ve had banana and blueberry and he’s been fine with those (I’m waiting to introduce more as I want to BLW really and he’s not ready for that just yet) My advice as an long standing allergy mum is introduce one food at a time and keep that going for a week minimum.. if no signs of reaction introduce something else.. and keep a food diary of everything. Good luck mama xx

I’m going to wait until six months as advised by our neonatal consultant. However it could take my daughter a little longer to get the hang of it as she was born at 33 weeks. 🤷🏻‍♀️ anyone got any advice for weaning preterm babies? I have had a look at the bliss website and got the free pack from Ella’s kitchen 😊

@Stacey thank you so much that's very reasurrance ❤️🥰

@St I agree entirely about giving babies solids earlier mostly links to parents impatience. Foods introduced before babies digestion is ready can link to digestive issues in adult life. Also babies showing interest in food isn’t always a sign of readiness as it’s a normal developmental sign to show interest in what they see adults doing and want to copy (bring food to mouth etc) it’s more if they can sit unaided and steady, coordinate their hand to their mouth and swallow without pushing foods out. X

My little one has CMPA and reflux, and we are weaning early (at 4 months). The dietician said it was no problem if that's what we want to do, the Health visitors have been supportive of us. We have been able to remove his meds for his tummy since starting, and he is so much less pain. If anyone can find the studies that recommend weaning at 6 months, please send to me, I know it's the guidance but I like having the actual studies to read aswell. I haven't been able to find anything but a study on pigs and mice. I am making all his purees at home and he is doing really well. He has been able to sit up and hold his head up for the a while and leans in when I eat as if he is going to have some. Not sure if that helps at all x I think mum's instincts are normally best to go by x

@Jasmine my baby turns 17 weeks tomorrow and our dietitian has said I can start weaning her to help with her reflux as she is constantly bringing up sick has it helped with the constant clear liquid spit up weaning early?

At the moment, we are just on lunch time purees and the rest are bottles, but there is a noticeable difference at lunchtime. It's hours without any sick or pain and im able to do tummy time then, so I definitely think it has. He isn't extremely constipated anymore either, so I don't have to give him lactulose x. I hope it works for you and your LO, fingers crossed x we went through the clear spit up its really difficult. We also raised all his mattress on one side so he can play in his cot straight after a feed and it means there's no pressure on his tummy (it's not recomended but in the day I'm always with him) x