Weaning prem babies

[woopster]

Anyone else had experience of weaning prem babies?

We saw the babies' consultant yesterday for a check-up.  Babies are fine, doing well, but he said that I could start solids.
They are 16 weeks old which means they are only 4 weeks corrected age.
I did check with him, and he said their gut is developmentaly correct.
He said that current guidelines reccomend that bf babies don't start til they are 6 months which I already knew, and that they would be ready as they are bottle fed.
To me, they don't appear ready, they still sleep loads, seem satisfied with the bottles, and so far have not shown any interest in what we're having for tea!
I'm not the 1st parent who has been told this - my friend who was in hospital the same time was told the same thing, and she thought it was strange.

Any thoughts???

[Katet]

Wendy it appears to me Dr's in the UK reccommend solids earlier than here in Aus.
My friend who had a premi... due 2 days after Liam was born & is doing great was told to wait until his adjusted age unless he really showed signs of wanting solids... like sitting well & reaching for her food.

I think as a mother you should trust your instincts. If you don't think Sam & Lydia are ready & are doing great on just milk no Dr can make you do it & also Drs aren't god... heaven forbid the number I have worked with that get it wrong or change the info they give out a few months later!

 Liam (my 9kg heffalumpa) isn't going on solids until past 6mo as all my research suggests not to do it too early preferably after 6mo & it has been suggested as he is such a big boy it would be fine to offer solids... but he showed no interest in my banana today when I held it near his face . Also I was reading in our Australian guidelines that even with formula fed babies, unless they are taking over 1200mls/day (about 40oz)it is advisable to hold them off too.

[N Lou]

Wendy, i would go with your gut instincts! (pardon the pun!)

You know your babies and if you don't feel they're ready or don't need it, it's not going to do any harm if you wait.
My thoughts would be that the gut may be mature enough but are they?  Are they 'old' enough to do anything other than suck IYKWIM?

[woopster]

Hiya girls, thanks for backing me up!
I think I will hold off for a bit longer, I just don't feel comfy starting now.

[karen1973]

Hi,

My son was 6 weeks premature and I was told to wean at his corrected age as his stomach would not be mature enough until this time.  I started slowly and he has really taken to it with no problems.  He slept well anyway and was happy but he was wanting feeds more frequent than normal and was watching me when I was eating, so I tried him with a small amount of baby rice and he enjoyed it.

[rooby-rooby-roo]

Hey Wendy - i told you i had read this didn't i - seems so weird to me! Red is not developmentally ready yet, and it strikes me as odd that your doctor might think that S and L are ready. I think what you should take from this is that, should you so desire to start solids, then their guts are developmentally on track, but if you don't (and having met them i can't possibly see how they could take solids - they can't even support their own heads yet!!!) then this is ok too. I am a firm believer in - whatever the 'rules' are then use you own baby as your guide. Some are ready earlier, some later. I started Ruby at 17 weeks, but Red - well we'll wait and see - it won't be for a while i hope. I would go by the normal signs: Interested in your food, waking more at night, feeding more and often etc.