24 weeks. Still sleeping well. Not that hungry. When to start solids?

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Hi there,

The title kidda sums it up.

DS is 24 weeks tomorrow. He has 5 breast feeds between 7am - 7pm. I struggle to feed him his 2nd feed of the day until 4hrs 15mins.

HV's seem to suggest that I start at 6 months regardless of signs. Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing. I know things could change in a couple of weeks but I am jsut trying to get things sorted in my head.

Would appreciate some views.

J

[*Natasha*]

If he is feed 5 bf's from 7-7 thatwould mean he is not on 4hr EASY is that correct. Could you post your current routine for the day?

[KellyC]

That does seem to be the opinion of HV's doesn't it?  I think they struggle to accept that the advice they've been giving for years has changed and if they haven't advised you to start weaning before 6 months then they're desperate for you to 'catch up' once you hit 6 months.  I'm a believer that your LO will show signs when he's ready and that there's no need to rush until this is the case.  This might be helpful:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html

Kelly x

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Hi ya,

Thanks for the replies.

Up until 2 days ago DS's routine looked something like this:

E 7am
A
S 9-11
E 11/11.15
A
S 1-3
E 3
A
E 5 or 530
A Bathtime
E 7
S 710

It went a bit wrong this weekend because I needed to get out so we messed the afternoon sleep up two days running. Normally I try not to ruin the same sleep the following day to keep us on the routine. DS was up last night and I wasn't sure if he was overtired, hungry or his snuffles were bothering him.

You never know DS might be answering my question for me. I am still hoping to get to 6 months but it looks like I'll have to ensure he feeds well during the day in order to get there. I think the margin for a bad feed isn't there any more.

J

[KellyC]

Have you tried eliminating that early evening cluster feed or does he need it then?  I wonder if it's putting him off taking a good bedtime feed.  You could still split the bedtime feed and give him one boob before the bath and one after but make it more like 6pm then bath then 6.30pm then bed?

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Hi ya,

I have tried doing that but and its touch a go. We sometimes end up with the early morning wakings (say 530 / 6ish).

This evening it worked out that I fed him at 8,12,4,6,710 and he did seem to take a good final feed still.

The last couple of days he's been unsettled. I just hope I can get it back on track so I have a good platform to introduce the solids from.

I will go and check out the website now.

Cheers J

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

I think the wakings are to do with illness. It looks like DD has passed on what she had. Just as I've sortied one thing out there's another blip.

Looks like I am going to have to be patient with my lo whist we get throught this blip. He's normally so good at settling I've had little practise at how to help him.

I understand why you don't just wean for the hell of it but my anxienty is coming from a point that normally when he is well he sleeps 12 hours. I really don't want to start night feeds again.

My DD didn't really show any signs of weaning. It just reached a point where she started waking up after sleeping through from 8 weeks (we started at 5.5 months). Perhaps I should have accepted the night feeds. I can never remember her being intersted in our food, she didn't sit up until 9 months, tongue reflex had gone though and was needing more milk feeds. I remember her all of a sudden waking every 2 hours through the night and she had only just had a growth spurt a week or two before. I know each baby is different but my DS doesn't look like he will be sitting for a while and if this a weaning guide then perhaps I should prepare myself now that we will be back to night feeds if we go by this cue.

Don't know what everyone else thinks.

J

[KellyC]

I think you do you read all the guidelines and know your stuff and then make an informed decision based on this and your understanding of your own baby.  I always say we weaned Zander at 6 months but if I remember rightly it was about 1.5 weeks before he got to 6 months - I wasn't going to beat myself up about that!  He also wasn't sitting perfectly unsupported but he was able to sit in his highchair well for a long length of time.  He started waking for a night feed at around 5 months and continued with that until he was 7 months even though he was on 3 good meals a day at that point.  I'm pleased to say we're over them now though   

I'm sure you'll make the right decision - it can be difficult even to get to the stage you are now with various people wondering why you aren't giving your baby 'proper' food yet.  You're doing a great job.

Kelly x

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Hi ya,

Thanks for the reply again.

I have just got my DS weighed and he has only put on 1oz in 2 weeks. He did this at 9 weeks and it all picked up again. I don't know what to read into this.

Of course the HV's said to start weaning but I am still not sure. I am thinking I will try and do a couple of extra feeds in the day and see if he'll take them. I just tried one a minute ago at the 3 hour mark and he did feed pretty well. I can't seem to work out if he's on a growth spurt right now or it's his cold as he wants to sleep more (but of course he was up a lot last night but it wasn't all hunger that's for sure)b.

Did you use the weight as a guide to your introduction to solids??

J

[KellyC]

No - I never got him weighed as I feel those charts are so stressful for new mums (and inaccurate if you're BF) and I always knew he was healthy and growing.  I had no idea what he weighed from about 10 weeks until his 8 month check!

[Mom to M&M]

IMO I'd at least wait until DS is feeling better. My DD doesn't eat her solids well at all when sick or teething.

BTW - if you put him in his high chair for short periods of time now say to play or watch TV or read, it will help him develop his muscles for sitting.

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

Ok.

Thats a good idea.

Cheers J

[Mum of girl, boy, boy]

I've just posted this. I guess it's kinda related:

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=62274.msg457515#msg457515