Help! Should I start early?

[dee12h]

I've always been a "wait til at least 6-mo" person, but here is my deal. First of all, he is a really distracted eater. He'll eat from me for like 5 min & will act fine after, but if I give him a bottle, he'll take 3-4 more oz. If I don't do the bottle & just wait til the nx feeding, he's hungry 1.5-2 hrs later! It's not a growth spurt bc this has been going on for way more than a couple days. Even when I do fill him up with a bottle, he only goes 3 hrs, sometimes 3.5. When we eat, he just stares at us & moves his mouth up & down like he's chewing. lol. I was eating an apple & put it up to his mouth & he opened immediately & bit on it/licked it (might not mean anything).

My Question is: Do I keep doing what I'm doing with the bottle after each feed (I've been having to give some formula as I'm not pumping quite enough), or should I start solids early? TIA!

[MummyToBen]

Hi  

Have you tried taking fenugreek and upping the amount you are eating/drinking to help your supply?  The problem with givign formula is that it becomes a viscious cycle of your body being told to produce less milk, to baby gets less from you, and takes more formula etc etc.  Sure you know all this already though!!  I had to suplement with formula for various reasons (lo not feeding as in pain when feeding due to acid reflux etc) and it really affected my supply so I ended up in the same cycle.  

In terms of your lo being hungry then I would still focus on getting more milk into him (tough I know), as the solids that most lo's eat at this age are not exactly high in calories (fruit and veg are what adults tend to eat when they are dieting not trying to fill up on calories!!).

We did baby led weaning and this approach is based on the premise that when a baby can sit up on their own, hold finger foods and get it to their mouths then they are physiologically ready to eat solids.  For most lo's this  is around their 6 month 'birthday', perhaps a week before, or a few weeks later on.  (The approach does still advocate waiting til 6 months though).

You might find this article interesting - particularly if you like the idea of you lo getting stuck into 'real' food (like apples  !!), and it talks about the relationship between milk and solids.  The book is more detailed, but this gives some helpful stuff.  http://www.rapleyweaning.com/assets/blw_guidelines.pdf

xx

[dee12h]

Thanks! I forgot to put in my OP that it's not a supply prob as that's what will come to ppl's minds, I know. Whenever I follow up with a bottle, I always pump after to keep my supply up (so the bottle he gets is usually BM). When he comes off he has milk dribbling out of his mouth, so I know he's getting it when he's on.

What food did you start with? My nutritionist says to stay away from grains for as long as possible, so I don't want to do cereal. He said maybe try avocados. ??

He is almost 2 wks away from 6 mo, but I always wanted to wait, kwim?

[MummyToBen]

That's great that he's getting lots of milk and your supply isn't struggling 

Ok, so I might get bashed down ( ) but I personally don't think that something *magic* happens on the DAY they turn 6 months...it's not like they wake up and their body is all of a sudden ready for solids!!  I think it is more meant to be a gradual adjustment - that when they start being weaned at around 6 months they should start off with small tastes of foods, and over time build up to 3 meals, and then at 12 months solids are then their main source of nutrients.  The thing is though, if you want to start on small amounts now I think you still might have some of the milk issues, as he's not going to be eating enough solids to fill him up  . 

You could start him off with some things like roasted vegetables - sweet potato, carrots, cut into fat stick shapes so that he can hold them and gum them.  Or baked apple or pear, again cut into large pieces (halved or quartered) so that he can hold it himself.  We also tried avocado early on - but the only thing was that it is so slippery it kep flying out of his hand!! 

Up until one food is just 'for fun' (so the saying goes!) - so don't worry lots if he doesn't want to eat but would rather play with his food - milk will still be where he's getting most of his calories from. 

Hope that helps

x

[First Time Mom]

Claire, you're bang on with your info (you will be spared a bashing ). I'm really not needed on this board .

The solids that are introduced at the beginning will do nothing to fill up lo as the start should be 1-2 teaspoons of solids or cereal (mixed with bm, formula, or water to make a runny consistency) one time in the day to begin with. A second meal can be added in the 2nd week and a 3rd, in the 3rd week. New foods should be added 3-4 days apart. Being 2 weeks off from 6 months will not really make a difference, most doctors recommend starting solids somewhere between 4-6 months depending on if lo is ready. I started my ds this past week, on the day he turned 6 months (so that I can remember the date of his first food when I do his scrapbook page ).

I know you say you don't have a supply issue but I wanted to mention that a bf lo will often take extra milk if offered a bottle regardless of hunger. A bottle is no work for them, it practically flows freely compared to bfing so they will take it. It's sort of like us eating desert after a meal- we're full but it tastes good so we say yes to it. Also, just wanted to add that some los can't go the full 4 hours between feeds if they are bf as bm digests easier. My dd wasn't able to go 4 hours until she ate solids and my ds is not able to go 4 hours yet (in the day).