Author Topic: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old  (Read 4681 times)

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Offline ManjM

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Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« on: February 21, 2012, 21:25:20 pm »
Hi everyone. I am new to posting on this forum.  I've read a lot of threads in the past and have tried to impliment EASY whch has had its ups and downs mainly due to my son having reflux and so napping only used to be 30minutes.

I have a question about weaning and am hoping you can all help me with this. My son has been having purees etc for the last 2 months and as he will start daycare for half day from mid-march i've started him on finger food as they follow BLW.

We have lots of problems at the moment with sleeping etc but will leave that for another topic.

My question is this - my HV told me i was feeding my son too much milk and to cut down so i visited a weaning specalist at the day center today. She has come up with a routine for me which i will implement tomorrow and see how it goes for a week or so. For some reason i'm not sure if the routine looks right as it doesn't seem to follow baby whisperer and not sure if the A times make sense to me.

I'm going to post our EASY  and also the routine she has said to try and follow. I know he is having too much milk and i do need to cut down. The EASY is a typical day but what seems to be happening instead is the meal seems to follow the nap instead of being before. I need to make sure it is before as the daycentre do breakfast at 8:30 and lunch at 12:30

awake 7am normally (even when awake before i don't get out of cot til 7)
E 7:30am milk bottle 7oz
A  8:30 breakfast (can only stay awake 2 hours)
S 9am (for 1 - 1.5hr. recently it has been 1hr 15min exactly)

E 11:30am 7oz
A 12:30 lunch (stays awake between 2.5/2.75hr)
S 12:45/1pm (1-1.5hr typically 1hr 15m)

E 3:30 7oz
A meant to feed dinner in this time but as mentioned above food normally ends up after nap time for all day trying to change that (max 3 hours before sleep)
S 5pm (1hr as i wake by 6 but sometimes it can go to 6:30)

Dinner 6pm/6:30pm

E 7:30/8pm 7oz

sleep at 9ish. another feed at 11/11:30 of 6oz

..............................

routine as suggested by weaning specialist

7am - bottle 7oz
8:30 breakfast
9 nap
10:30 snack
12:30 lunch
1:30 nap
3pm snack
5:30/6 dinner
6:30 - bath wind down book etc and bottle 7oz
7-7:30 bed
11pm 6oz bottle

any suggestions comments woudl be very much appreciated as i am so confused.

I am going to post my EASY on the other board to see if i can get help with that as baby is starting to fight naps and sleeping is gettign harder.

many thanks

Offline Buntybear

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2012, 22:00:19 pm »
Hi and welcome to the forum  ;D

Neither routine looks too bad to me TBH. From the A and S point of view they are fairly similar, no? Just bringing bed time forward. I would def post your EASY on one of the sleep boards for advice there.

Re the milk, tbh I BF'd and so don't have much experience. However it looks like the new routine is dropping a day bottle but keeping the DF? I would have thought you would be looking to drop the DF and keep them in the day? 4 bottles is normal at 7.5 months.

What do you think? Would you like me to move this over to the bottle feeding section if your questions are mostly around that?

Offline ManjM

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2012, 22:12:06 pm »
hi thanks for the reply

i think you are right it does fit better in the bottle feeding section. i didn't realise until you mentioned that - sorry  :)

I have posted both routines in the EASY section as I know my routine definately needs tweaking and the one i was given to try looks like it has a big A time towards the end as it says i need to drop the afternoon nap.

The difference bottle wise is dropping from 4 bottles during the day to 2 bottles. I don't know if i would be able to drop the DF yet as he drains the 6oz and i don't thionk he would be able to go through the night. he used to go from that feed to morning but lately he has started waking up every 3 hours. last night he was up from 3am-6am which has never happened before.

Offline Lolly

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2012, 22:23:55 pm »
4 bottles at 7.5 months is totally normal and the average amount of milk is around 30oz at this age. I don't think your LO is having too much milk at all really and the amount the specialist has suggested is only giving him the bare minimum needed from 6 months.

Personally I would stick with what you are doing and maybe start weaning the 11/11.30pm feed as that one usually goes around 7/8 months. I think by reducing his milk intake by the amount suggested you are more likely to be getting hunger nightwakings as milk has more calories and fats than early solids.

Most bottle fed babies have 4 day feeds until around 9/10 months when they drop to 3 and then 2 bottles around 1.

Why are they concerned about his milk intake? You maybe need to work to dropping the catnap as that may be having an impact on his night sleep, the last feed could be a bit late too. Tracy suggested doing a dreamfeed between 10 and 11pm as any later it could have an negative impact on night sleep. Have a look at this link to see some routines others have used for babies the same age as yours http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164030.0

What do you think?

Laura


Offline ManjM

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2012, 23:00:27 pm »
Hi Laura

Thanks for the reply. for some reason both the HV and the weaning lady have said that he is getting to much milk. His daily intake is 34 oz including his DF. They have said that i need to be inreasing his food and getting his milk down.
He has started naturally reducing his milk and on avaerage during the day has 6oz instead of the 7 i make. morning and evening milk is still 7oz. sometimes he will only have 5. it depends on what time he has his food. if we gets caught up and he has it after his naps then his milk intake is less.

i have had a look at a few of the samples and will go back and have another look. At the moment i think i also need to be increasing is activity so that i can phase out the afternoon nap. i really shouldn't let him sleep after 5:30 as i know that affects his BT.

I've also posted on the EASY board and hope to get my routine looked at in relation to activity too.

What time do you think the evening feed should be and weaning the DF - would that be by reducing oz or more water to less milk?

Offline amayzie

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2012, 08:17:00 am »
Hi hon- I'll leave the bottle feeding ladies to keep nutting out the feeding issues with you- but just a couple of thoughts on the EASY routine. With his age and his naps getting a little shorter, i think you can be pushing his A times up towards the 3 hour mark (slowly) and get rid of the cat nap- rbringing bed time shorter. Here are a couple of links that give you the details of that:

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=84884.0

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=220768.0

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=128419.0

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64837.0

See how that goes!
Katy, Mummy to Hamish!


Offline ManjM

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2012, 12:35:42 pm »
Hi hon- I'll leave the bottle feeding ladies to keep nutting out the feeding issues with you- but just a couple of thoughts on the EASY routine. With his age and his naps getting a little shorter, i think you can be pushing his A times up towards the 3 hour mark (slowly) and get rid of the cat nap- rbringing bed time shorter. Here are a couple of links that give you the details of

See how that goes!

Hi. In the morning he is only able to do 2hrs. The rest of the day is nearer 3. Should I work on one activity at a time or increase all of then by 5/10 minutes. Have just gone through the links and ur is definitely fighting his naps now. Nw have increase and the last few nights he has been waking and staying awake from 1hr to 3hrs. That has never happened before. I am so tired and feel like just sitting and having a cry. He has also been waking every 3 hrs on the dot.

On a side note went to the Dr today to get more zantac for the reflux he agrees that the milk needs to cut down to morning and evening but if I want to I can give 4oz with lunch. Getting more and more confused

Offline Lolly

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2012, 18:25:10 pm »
How much does he weigh and what dose of zantac is he on?

I think with the milk you really need to follow the advice you are happiest with (and remember we aren't medically trained ;)). From 6 months babies need a minimum of 20oz a day, but most will be taking between 24 and 32oz. My babies were on 4 bottles until about 8 months and we dropped to 3 then because they took more milk then (both refluxers too). With reflux it may make him more comfortable to have less milk in his tummy, my DD was happier when her solids increased. You need to watch that he doesn't get dehydrated if you do reduce the bottles right down too. We can't tell you what to do, you know your baby best, but most of the advice I've read suggests 4 bottles until around 9/10 months to make sure that they are getting at least the minimum amount of milk in 24 hours.

Laura


Offline ManjM

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2012, 21:07:23 pm »
Hi Laura

He weighs 10k and is on 1mg twice a day. He was having Gaviscon in his feed too but the doctor stopped that today. Last time we stopped the Gaviscon he went downhill. The last few days he is bringing up a lot of milk but Dr says he is on max dose for zantac. I feel like his reflux is flaring but feel ignored. His Dr has normally been good in the past. Now I feel like he just sees me as an anxious mum.

4 bottles a day seems to make more sense to me.worried about dropping the DF because I'm worried it will cause him to wake even more.

He slept for 1 hr this afternoon waking at 5:50 because he only had half hr at lunch. He's had pm milk and was falling asleep drinking it but didn't go to sleep. Currently rolling round my bed wide awake. He sleeps in my arms and when I try he fights me. Plus a runny blocked nose from last night is not helping. I dread night times now

Offline Lolly

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2012, 21:18:48 pm »
Can you check the strength of your zantac for me? The usual dose for zantac is 2-4mg per kg x2 per day. For a 10kg baby the dose range would be 1.3-2.6ml if the liquid strength is 15mg per ml (or 150mg/ 10ml). If your liquid is that strength and he is having 1ml x 2 per day it's a low dose.

The gaviscon is really only a thickener so you could try adding a thickener to his milk. Carobel is commonly used in the UK and is available from pharmacies, there are also reflux formulas available if he is on an ordinary cow's milk formula. My two did well on Enfamil AR and ranitadine, DS didn't start on it until he was 6 months so you could still change if you chose to.

Laura


Offline ManjM

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2012, 22:00:57 pm »
It's 150/10. In the last hr he has brought up milk twice. When his reflux started it was silent and he never actually brought the milk up. He is having Sma gold at the moment. I changed to red but it caused him tummy ache so went back to gold. All the Dr keeps saying is he is putting on weight so no concern

Offline Lolly

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2012, 22:10:26 pm »
{{Hugs}} that's quite a common thought for Drs who don't maybe only know the basics of infant reflux. My paed tried that on with me when DS was a baby so I really laid it out about how his sleep was being effected and how much pain he was in during feeds.

So, at that strength he isn't even having 2mg per kg dose so he is nowhere near the top dose for his weight. My two needed the full 4mg per kg dose for it to be effective. Have you thought about trying a reflux formula? It may be worth a try, SMA do a stay down formula or the Enfamil AR we used you can get from pharmacies (it may need to be ordered and you can buy it but is available on prescription).

Here is a link to a site in New Zealand that is for reflux, if you click on the bit that says "by clicking here, you agree to the terms and conditions above...." it takes you to a dosage chart for ranitadine which you could print off and take to your Dr to ask about the dose. It's not a UK site but the dosing regime is the same for the UK. http://cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/medicaltreatment/dosageschedule/?wpmp_switcher=desktop.

The other thing you can do is to insist your Dr refers you to a paediatrician if he is unable to help more. My Dr would only prescribe gaviscon so we had to see a paed for ranitidine and the formula.

Laura


Offline ManjM

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #12 on: February 22, 2012, 22:16:49 pm »
Thanks Laura. It's nice to be able to speak to someone who has experienced it with their children too. I was looking up zantac and it says that it doesn't stop the milk coming up just stops the acid. Will definitely look into the milk and see if I can get some for him to try. Did changing formula cause ur DS problems?

Offline Lolly

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #13 on: February 22, 2012, 22:23:58 pm »
Did changing formula cause ur DS problems?

Not at all, I swapped mine straight over with no problems, DS was 6 months and DD was 10 weeks when they started on it! The Enfamil has rice starch as a thickener so it can potentially make them a bit constipated but it's not as bad as the gaviscon. As your LO is on solids you can give extra water to help that if it happens. Just as an aside, it is advisable to check with your HV if you are going to change milks even though they are suitable for babies from birth.

Ranitadine/ Zantac is a H2 antagonist which reduces the amount of histamine the body produces. The histamine release is what triggers the proton pump cells in the stomach to produce acid so a reduction in histamine means less acid is produced. It doesn't switch the acid off totally, there are drugs called PPIs which will do that.

Laura


Offline RachelC

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Re: Confusion over weaning for 7.5month old
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2012, 02:17:41 am »
Getting the reflux under control is key here.

As far as the night wakings, he may be waking because he is not getting enough A time during the day.  I would begin to push that first A time, at the very least.

{{hugs}}


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