Hi
My son is now 26 weeks old and we started offering some first tastes at about 21 weeks as he could sit up, hold a spoon and seemed to love watching us eat.

Until now we used Annabel Karmel recipes but went slowly as he wasn't 6 months. He's now having 2 solid meals a day and I'm offering milk at both though he doesn't want a lot.
He doesn't seem to be interested in sippy cups as he's teething quite badly do wants to chew. This also means he's tired and sore so not a good time to force the issue.

It seems to me he'd eat more solids at each feed If I offered it but then I worry he's not taking enough fluids or calories.

Our HV says to go with it especially as bf might hurt whilst teething but I'm not sure. Another HV seemed to think we were going too fast.

His poop is starting to get firmer so I do want to get more fluids in but not sure of the best way. Any ideas? Perhaps more pur????e would help as there must be a reasonable amount of water in there?

I also now don't know whether I should move on to more foods as in the Annabel book or stave off. My instinct is he's ready for more flavours and actually that he'd take a third meal. Maybe I should go with it an keep an eye? Perhaps he's telling me e can't cope with boob right now? But then the jars in the supermarket say the next stage is 7 months although I am making most of his food and technically he's about a month ahead in starting. He's been having 2 meals for about 3 weeks now so don't want to ruin our progress by boring him.

Very confused!

HI Tulip,

Ollie is a bit older than Connor but as you know we weaned early as he too was ready. He has three meals a day and I have just started the wider range of foods and more textured food as Ollie just swallows the puree without really tasting it! I think they are labelled 7 months becuase if you weaned at 6 months then after a month they would be ready for them?! (Ollie also had a tummy bug and stopped solids altogether so we had to start again a few weeks ago)

Ollie can hold and eat with a spoon, gnaw on things and chew a dry rusk! In terms of liquid could you give him weetabix for breakfast made with milk? Ollie has this and loves it and it would be a way of getting fluid into Connor.

If you think Connor is ready for more food then go with your instincts. Ollie is always on the go and soon lost weight when he had a tummy bug so I don't now worry about the amount he eats.

HTH

SB x

Thanks hon x

Do you use formula or cow's milk on weetabix?

I use cows milk. x

I had a similar problem with my dd when I weaned. I would recommend offering water with his meals from a bottle, he may only seem to take a tiny amount but the more you offer the more he will take. My dd started with water from a bottle but never took much, still a little is better than nothing. I also got a hard spouted tommy tippee cup that I offered her watered down orange juice from(to combat constipation - the only thing that works). She loves biting the teat whilst teething and also manages to take on little bits of juice.

With the food I would recommend introducing a pudding. I started with fruit puree for breakfast, pureed veg for lunch followed by fruit puree and the same for dinner. However, very quickly breakfast became baby porridge and I started to introduce chicken and pasta from 6 months. I also swapped one of the fruit puddings for petit filous because they are high in calcium. I only introduced one new food every 4 days so that she could get used to it. I also introduced finger foods like toast with unsalted butter, banana, rusk, Organix vegetable crisps etc. When I gave her a jar I gave her the 7 month jars from 6 month,s I just blitzed it down a bit, I still do because she is teething so badly.

With milk, I try and time it so that she has her milk an hour before she has her food. That way she has had time to build up an appetite and is more likely to take a little more. You will find that he takes less milk as he takes more food, it is normal and the way it is supposed to go.

Good luck xx

Thanks Glitterbug.

Its so good to have some practical tips from real Mummies who are going through it at the same time.

I'm very scared of finger food because I just dont know what to offer so the above really helps me!

Can I ask how many milk feeds she has now? And does she take much water now or is it still a work in progress? ;o)

Can i ask you both roughly how much food they take at meals? I think Connor is on around 100-150ml at the minute.

I spoke to a friend of mine yesterday and she weaned much earlier than us and said she offered the tippee cup over and over and in the end her son just grabbed it one day whilst having his nappy changed and hasn't looked back.

I suppose from the early days you panic so much about dehydration and weight that it sticks. But his weight is good so we'll keep persevering and I'll try not to get too hung up on it all.

Hi,

Phoebe has just moved from 4 feeds to three. She has never been a big milk drinker but would usually take 5oz at each feed. I dropped one of the feeds because she had started to only take 2oz so I thought that she could do without it. Her new routine is a 6oz bottle on waking (of which she takes 5oz), about an hour later she has her porridge. She has another bottle (again only taking about 5oz) at about 11-12ish followed by her lunch an hour later, and then her tea at about 4ish (roughly four hours after her last meal), then she has a bottle before bed. We only started yesterday but last night she slept through (only the second time ever!) so I know she isn't hungry or missing the extra milk. With the water, she probably takes an ounce over the whole day, so it is still a work in progress, but she also takes about an ounce of juice too.

As for the food, for breakfast she only has a small amount but with lunch and tea she eats the equivalent to a 7 month+ jar, which is about 200grams. She doesn't always finish it, particularly at lunch time. I always offer a pudding or either petit filous or fruit puree which she really likes.

If you plan on introducing finger foods then I recomend checking out this website:

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2300.aspx?CategoryID=72&SubCategoryID=722

Phoebe has never choked, although she has gagged once or twice, but my hv recommended it and its nice to feel like I know exactly what to do if she did. Good luck and happy weaning! xx

Thanks again ladies.

He seemed to be sick a lot when I introduced cheese and yoghurt (although he loved both!) and was taking 100-120ml of puree plus a yoghurt at 2 meals so I can't tell if he was taking too much in or is reacting to the dairy.

He also had a bump on the head and the doctor said to only give him milk for 24 hours so in some ways we've started again.

I think I'm going to stick to more plain foods for a bit and build the confidence and also get used to the amount he wants. Then I can add in new flavours at a slower rate. I think as long as he is taking some meat then he will still get his iron etc.


Are you guys offering milk at the same time as solids too or like glitter are you keeping them separate?

How close together are your milk vs solid feeds?

Oops just re-read your posts and you suggest offering solids about an hour after milk.

I think my issue is that I stuck to 2 meals a day when he probably could do with 3 smaller meals.

I'll give that a try and might see if I can keep the milk and solid meals more separate once we get going again.

Hi Tulip,

Ollie has his milk with his meal but has been dropping the amount he has from 8 to about 4oz. i don't think it will be long before he drops one altogether!

I offer him water in his sippy cup especially in this warmer weather and he sips it, dribbles it back out and throws it all over himself!!! He thinks it is great fun but I know that he is drinking some of it so is getting fluids! He also gets lost of dairy from other sources, cheese, yogurt etc so I am not worried.

It seems like he has suddenly got that the solid food can fill his tummy like the milk did if that makes sense. When I tried stronger flavours to start off with he didn't like it and wouldn't eat it but now he will eat anything!

Also when I started trying the more textured food he pulled faces but it was because it was textured and not because he doesn't like it! Be warned the faces are funny!

HTH

SBx