Hi all

Im looking for a bit of advice for weaning premature babies. My daughter was born at 34+4 weeks and is now 4 months old. My hv told me that I should not even consider weaning her until she is 6 months. I thought this was fine until I was reading a few things and it said that premature babies should be weaned early due to being low in iron or something like that.

Has anyone started their premature baby earlier than 6 months and if so how did it go? I just don't know what to do. I think I will mention it to the HV again. I know she is not ready yet to be weaned as she is showing no signs yet of being ready. If she is ready at 5 months though I wouldn't like to hold her off if its ok to wean her at that stage.

Confused!!!!

Louise

hi my son was born at 32week and i weaned him at 4 1/2 months and he was ready for it cos the bottles werent satisfying him but that was 10yrs ago and i know alot has changed since then.But saying that you will know when shes ready for it

Hi, my son was born at 29 weeks and I was advised by the Neonatal nurses to weak him at around 18 to 19 weeks because he wasn't settled on milk alone. You wean from their actual birth day not the day they should have been born because their digestive systems have had milk for just as long as a full term baby would have if that makes sense.

Kenny is 8 weeks now and is a hungry wee man. He was 33+1. My mum is trying to persuade me to add a tiny bit of rusks into his diet but im not keen. She said she fed that to me and no harm was done and I loved the taste. Kenny has to take liquid Vitamins for a year and when I give them to him, his face lights up because of the different flavours.

My twin girls were born at 32+5 and I started weaning at 21 weeks (13 weeks corrected). They were no longer satisfied on milk alone and the food has really helped and they clearly needed it.

The BLISS website suggests starting prem babies early and my HV suggested holding on until 6 months.

I've found with my girls that they are very good at giving me signs when they are ready for me to take the next step.

Denise re rusks, if you do introduce them make sure they are gluten free. We're playing safe and staying off gluten until they are 8 months (6 months corrected). We found Baby Rice is a great food to start them on and then start on veggies and fruit. Annabel Karmels book is great for ideas and hints.

Eve was born at 31+5 weeks and I weaned her at 4 months (actual age) - she was so starving I had no choice and she loved it!!

i weaned my twin girls at 4 1/2 months, they were born at 32wks. just start really slowly, teaspoon at one feed for at least 3 wks, and take it from there.

Thanks. Is it better to give her the rice before her bottle or after it? I think I will start her on it next week and see how it goes.

what i started with was, give her a little bit of milk so she knows she is being fed, then show her the spoon, show her that your putting it in the food, make a big fuss of it and put it to her mouth and let her taste it then go from there. then give her the rest of the milk. do it at the time of day that ur relaxed and when u dont have visitors so that she has all your attention. they say not to try when they are screaming hurngy as they get to disstressed. i made the rice really runny the first time so that it was more like milk. good luck, let us know how u get on.

Hi just to let you all know that I started Kara on baby rice on Friday. She got on really well. I gave it to her at her lunch time feed. She was a bit funny with it but took a few wee spoonfuls for me. I couldn't give it to her on Saturday as she was screaming for her bottle but I gave it to her yesterday and today and she loved it. She didn't want me to take the spoon out of her mouth. She was whinging to get more. She then finished her bottle. I was so proud of her. I hope this continues. She will be 5 months on Saturday. Her daddy can't wait to see her tomorrow getting her spoonfeeds as he has been working all weekend.

I was just wondering how long do I keep her on one solid a day before I start introducing more. I was going to give her a different taste every couple of days and alternate the rice but still keep it at 1 feed a day but I am not sure what to do. I don't know when to start on 2 feeds a day and so on. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Louise

glad ur going well. i had the same food for a week but i only did that for about two and a bit weeks and then i just gave the same food for two days or so and just now add new foods in all the time. and as for two feeds go slow, i gave it three weeks beforei gave a second feed and i am still only on two feeds and thinking of adding in the third.

Hey girls, I though I would bring my weaning questions back to this topic. This might be a very silly question, but here goes anyway. Do you sterilise their bowl and spoon or can they just be washed in hot soapy water. I asked my friend who has 2 girls and she cant remember what she done. Kenny is 5 months in 1 week and I was going to wait but might try him with something today.
xx

Denise

I just wash the bowl and the spoon in hot soapy water. I have loads of spoons though for Kara so I tend to just put the spoon in the dishwasher. Apparently you don't have to sterlise bowls and spoons just the bottles. Hope Kenny enjoys food.

Thanks nashy, I gave him a little bit of Rusks at lunch time and he loved it. I washed and sterilised the bowl but with your advice I wont bother with the sterilising now. He would have eaten the lot if he had the chance but I dont want to give him too much too soon so he had a few spoonfulls and Im glad I had his bib on, what a mess, lol. I will so the same tomorrow and just see how things go.

lol thats great. The mess is so funny. Kara always loved the rusks although I haven't given them to her as often now as she is on 3 proper meals.

If you are going to use jars watch the ones with the vegetables and are coloured orange as they stain everything and have destroyed a lot of my bibs. I keep these bibs now for this type of food.

Good Luck with weaning its not easy.

Thats great that Kara is taking 3 meals a day.

Iv bought baby rice to use instead of the Rusks as I was worried they were to sweet and they were not gluten free. I borrowed the Annabel Karmel book from the library as I dont want to use the jars and would rather make my own food. She recommends that pre-term babies are weaned between 4-7 months uncorrected age so im confident im doing the right thing weaning him now and bugger the HV if she doesnt agree.

Exactly the HV are only going by books and rules. Mums always know best. I gave Kara baby rice the first few days although I found her very windy with it. I had intended of doing my own meals but I am not very good at cooking as I don't eat a variety myself and wouldn't know what to mix with what lol. I know I'm terrible. I have heard about the Annabel Karmel book but I didn't want to buy it in case I didn't use it. Maybe I will go to the library and see if they have it. I never thought of that. Then I could be the best cook ever. I would prefer to do home cooking for her although the jars are handy at times.

I got two of the Annabel Karmel books and they are a godsend. Easy recipes even a rubbish cook like me can follow.

:o:o:o I can't believe what I'm reading! This is totally the opposite of what I have been advised by my HV. Weaning advised at 6 months, my LO was born 5 weeks prem. So take 5 weeks, divide by 2 = 2 1/2 and plus onto 6 months = 6 1/2 months. Well, nothing much else I can do now, as LO is already over 6 months and I'm starting weaning in 2 Saturdays time, as I want hubby to be home when she has her first solids... But I don't think she's at all interested in food yet, and she only has 4 x 7 oz a day and doesn't want more. So hardly starving her...

Good luck with the weaning. I think its a bit of a grey area when it comes to weaning premmie babies but im going by advice from Bliss. He is doing really well with the baby rice so im going to try him with carrots tomorrow.

My HV told me to wean her at 6 months corrected age - she would have been 8 months!
I started weaning Morgana at 5 1/2 months uncorrected age and she seemsto enjoying it, laughing with food in her mouth and opening wide for the next spoon. I'm trying to make sure to give her higher calorie food with vegetables and fruit, such as greek yoghurt and potato and cheese.
I think most HV don't know much at all about premature babies, so I followed the advice Bliss gave.

Yes I followed others advice rather that my HV as well because I don't think they know much about premature babies either.

Also I went to the library and got the Annabel Karmel book. I am going to be the best cook ever now. Some of the meals look hard though lol. Can you now tell how rubbish a cook I am. I am the plainest eater ever and it looks all so exotic for me lol. I will try it though as I don't want Kara to be as fussy and plain an eater as me and her daddy.

Hi , my wee boy keelan was born at 35+6 weeks, im starting to consider introducing solids, he is 15 weeks now, the only thing holding me back is he is on a lactose free milk, we r waiting to see pedeatrican to see if he has other allergies, as his 2year old cousin , cant hav diary, wheat, eggs and peanuts. so wot im wanting to knw is how can u tell that they are ready for solids???

Hi Jellybaby, when are you seeing the doctor cause maybe you should hold off starting solids until you get advice from them.

I knew Kenny was needing to try something else because he was still hungry after a 7oz bottle, screaming like he had never been fed for hours. He now gets impatient if you dont get the rice on the spoon quick enough! He wants everything done yesterday and he takes that from his daddy.
xx

Kenny got weighed yesterday and has only gained 3 1/2 oz in 3 weeks despite him guzzling an extra 2oz per feed and the solids iv been giving him. The HV was worried he wasnt feeding well but in fact its the opposite. I told her iv been giving him food and she didnt say much but it was at the busy baby clinic with about 10 people waiting after me.

He is now 11lb 8oz but I think the scales are wrong and I dont understand how he could put so little weight on when his appetite is so big.

When I got Kara weighed at almost 5 months I was surprised that she didn't put a lot of weight on but she was feeding well. She was only on bottles then. The HV said that it is normal around this age for their weight to slow down. I was a bit put out too as I expected her to be more. I was thinking of making an appointment shortly for baby clinic to get her weighed as she will be 7 months next week and on 3 meals a day. I stood on the scales with her in my arms and she is approx 14lbs but I am not sure as this is not really accurate. The last time I done this I wasn't far out.

Kenny is now eating 3 meals per day but showing no signs of reducing his milk. Iv increased the amount of solids he is taking each time and still guzzles 7oz after that and is still not happy there is none left! When should i try to reduce his milk? I dont want to do it too soon as he is a hungry lad. Also, since iv been weaning him he keeps spitting out one of his liquid vitamins and wont take it anymore.

docs have said prem babies always wean early my two sons were both put on solids at 3 half months and elise was weaned at 4 and half months so basically i would always go with what your gut instint says. If we all listened to hv we would end up going crazy lol
mariax

Your right Maria. I weaned Kara at 5 months and she done very well and was on 3 meals a day pretty quick and is a great eater. She eats better than me and her daddy as we are really fussy. We give her all her fruit and veg as we don't want her to end up like us lol.

yeah elise loves her porridge and apple puree and has munch on a rusk now and then although think she follows me because she does like a bit of choccy pudding now and again lol

Hello, I just wanted to say thank for this thread. My twins were supposedly born at 30 weeks (though I think they were around 34 weeks... as did all the nurses... but sonographers know best...) and are now just over three months old. They're not ready yet for solids, but their feeds are getting larger and larger every couple of weeks and are now on 6oz every four hours, and I don't think it will be long before milk no longer satisfies them. No one has told me that prem babies could need to be given solids earlier than full-term babies, I thought it would be the opposite, so thank you so much for enlightening me!
I am seeing the consultant at their hospital tomorrow for their check-up so I will be asking her her advice!!

Hiya im new to this chat forum, but my daughter was borm at 27 weeks and is currently 6 months (3 months corrected). I speoke to my neo natal nurse this morning who said i can now start weaning her. im just slightly confused with the amounts to give and frequencies as well what to add and when. if someone could help id be grateful thanks

nat

Hi Nat and welcome to the premature forum.

I started weaning Kenny at 5 months with a few spoons of baby rice before his lunch time bottle. After a few days I made him some pureed butternut squash and he loved it and wouldnt touch the rice again. After a week I tried him with carrots, parsnips, apples and ate it all. Week 2 I introduced baby porridge for breakfast made with formula milk. By 6 weeks he was eating breakfast, lunch and dinner with his usual milk feeds in between.

See how your daughter does with the solids, some dont take to it and others love it, go at her pace and you will be fine.

xx

re the iron thing my twins were born at 31+3 and we have to give them once a day a syringe well 1ml of an iron supplement up until their first birthday, I will try and hold off weaning until they are about 5 1/2 months uncorreted well obviosuly will do it early if they looking for it. You can get a really good booklet free from the BLISS website on weaning premature babies.

Hi Louise,

My little girl was born at 27 weeks +0, I have just been googling 'weaning premature babies' and I came across your blog so decided to register.

Jasmin is now 17 weeks + 2 (4 wks +2 corrected). She had her first check up at the hospital yesterday and I asked the pediatric nursing staff about weaning her. The general opinion is that weaning should be based on the birth date, not the due date as your babys tummy should be mature enough from having the milk from a young age.

I came across this article on the bliss website that I have found really helpful....

http://www.bliss.org.uk/page.asp?section=584§ionTitle=Weaning+your+premature+baby

(or just google 'weaning premature baby' and go to the bliss link)

i agree. the HV dont know much about preemies. my daughter was born at 26 weeks and i started weaning her at 6 months actual age, almost 3 months corrected age. start off with just a few spoonfuls of baby rice or porridge before a bottle. then move onto pureed veg. sweet potato is a good one. i made the mistake of going onto fruit too early and then she refused veg so i had to start all over again. good luck

i need some advice please, my daughter was born and 30wks and is now 4 months old, i gave her some rusk in with her bottle because she wasnt satisfied on bottles alone but now my HV is being very funny with me and says tht i need to stop doing tht and have her on bottles alone till she is 6 months corrected but tht would make her 8 months, im really confused because i really do think tht Lily is ready for solids, please help

You don't have to wait till 6 months CORRECTED but it is usually advised to wait till 6months BUT if you think she needs it I would mix some rusk with some milk but feed it off a spoon NOT from a bottle.

Sure others will have advice too!

Hey Lilysmyprincess
My special care officer said that I would be best waiting until Skye was approx 5 months corrected age if at all possible b4 weaning her. Think I held off until about 4 1/2 months corrected though as we were having reflux probs too.
Best not to mix rusk in with bottles though as the first step to solids, mainly as it can cause babies to possibly choke when taking the milk from the teat as they are not expecting anything other than fluids. I started with baby rice mixed with milk from a spoon b4 the lunchtime bottle as the first step too. And then after about a week moved onto carrot/apple/pear/parsnip purees at the same time of day. They say to give first tastes of food at lunchtime in case their tummy gets upset by anything, and therefore they should be settled again in time for bedtime, not causing their sleep to get disrupted.

Iz & Skye x (born at 33+2)

This is a helpful leaflet from Bliss.

http://www.bliss.org.uk/page.asp?section=584&sectionTitle=Weaning+your+premature+baby

I weaned Kenny at 5 months actual age, he was less satisfied with milk so started baby rice at lunch and he loved it. Couple of days later he had porridge for brecky then tea a few days later.

I agree with Crafticharlie about not putting rusk in the bottle, its not recommended.

He also had reflux and he was a little less sick with the solids.

Hope this helps
xx

[Modified by: denise007 on July 07, 2009 09:01 PM]