Weaning

Rusks and bananas don’t have anywhere near the nutritional value of formula so if you think he’s having less milk because of the food I’d def cut back. He should still be getting majority of his calories/nutrition from milk until he’s one

You should 10p% stop with the rusks, the banana and the Ella's kitchen pouches. Rusks are pure sugar, if you're advised to wean early you're supposed to start with pureed veg. Single tastes. What you're essentially giving your child right now is junk food I'm afraid. You're also giving him too much, his calorie intake should be coming from milk until 9 months of age.

Switch to first tastes of veg, this is how I started weaning at 4 months x

Thankyou everyone, i'll leave the rusks and stuff for now and stick to formula, im all new to weaning and just been listening to what other people are telling me. It's only yesterday his milk intake went down and this does happen sometimes randomly even before weaning especially if he'd had a few days of taking 32+ oz in 24 hours which he had done for the past 5 days but i definitely think i over did it. I knew he needs most of his calorie intake from his formula. Weaning is confusing. he was never full enough on formula and starting chewing when he seen people food and if we where eating when he was sat on our knees he'd physically throw himself to your food with his mouth wide open🤣 currently giving him a bottle and he's done nearly 5oz already

@Abby my daughter also chews when we eat and launches herself at food and cups (very cute😂) but we won’t be starting weaning untill 6 months. These are just mimicking behaviours and don’t actually mean they need the food or are hungry. 6 months is the recommended age unless there is a medical reason (advised by a doctor etc) as this is when they are most likely ready. If he’s gaining weight well on his formula I personally wouldn’t be weaning until that age but of course he’s your boy so you know him best. Totally agree that weaning is confusing as there are lots of options. As others have said one veg a day is a great start. I personally used Ella’s pouches for some days with my first when weaning though and she’s absolutely fine and eats a well balanced diet. I think it’s all about balance. Sounds like your being very vigilant and doing a fab job though :)! X

@Molly Thankyou! i always said i wouldn't start until 6 months but then i had older people who have had multiple babies and family members all at me saying he is ready to be weaned he's routing for food he's chewing he wants food and saying that him going like 2 hours between bottles and having a lot of oz in them bottles meant he was ready so i just listened to them tbh. It's so easy as a first time mum to listen to what other people are telling you. It's so hard to get in contact with a doctor where i live and even harder with health visitor. I spoke about weaning with health visitor last time she came me all she said was 6 months in recommended but some people do start at 4 months so it's basically upto me and if i need any support to call, when i've called nobody answers 🤣. It's so hard but i think I'll deffo leave it now until he's a bit older. I literally track everything i track his bottles, naps, dirty nappies so i always can tell if there's something not right xx

The previous generation will advise weaning at 4 months because that was the norm back then, as was putting rusks in milk. Heck, breastfeeding wasn't even a norm. But back then they did give excessively sugary foods. Baby custard was so normal. My suggestion would be to listen to the guidelines as opposed to those people who say "that's how we did it" they have little understanding on what weaning readiness looks like

@Molly just wanted to say this was wrote so beautifully! Not judgemental in the slightest & very informative 😊 I always panic when I see people weaning before 6 months as like you say, absolutely no reason unless medically advised (can actually be damaging) but the way you’ve wrote this is perfect x

There is no need to wean a 4 month old baby, and certainly not on sugary things like rusks. If you're going to do it then start on vegetables.

@Abby chewing their hands isn't a sign of being ready to wean. My baby does this all the time and I don't think she's hungry for food (she'll be 6 months this month).

@Rebecca Yeh i wasn't aware of this but this just seems a bit passive agressive, i've made a mistake he's had half a rusk for a 3 days, i realised something wasn't right and stopped and asked for advice. I was following advice given my older generations and also a health visitor telling me if he's ready at 4 months then it's okay to start. He's not had anything today other than formula and it'll carry on like this until he's older but it just feels like you've put me down a bit with the way you've worded that comment which i would never do to another new young mum who only has older generations and other people to listen to about what to do. I was also advised to put rusks in his bottle to make him sleep longer but i would never do that due to the risk of choking so i aren't completely useless

@Jade I agree with you she's definitely put it in a good way and helped me realise where i was going wrong and that maybe the older generations aren't always right so he taken her advice on board and will be leaving the weaning for now until he's older. It's hard when your parents say they did it with u and u was fine so u just do the same things as them even if i knew in the back of my mind maybe it wasn't the right thing to do

@Abby oh 100% it’s very confusing and people will give you lots of conflicting information, often in a very convincing way! Food companies also make it confusing by putting things like 4+ months on packets etc. Also every generation has been given different information which is also very confusing - and the people telling you you were fine are not wrong as you were but we just have better information than they did, although it’s not always easy to find! Minefield 🤪!! You were doing what you thought was best based on information you had been given and you trusted your instincts to ask when you were unsure if it was going well - can’t do any more than that ❤️! I’m on my second and still learning new things every day 😂❤️! Xx

@Molly yes it's definitely hard especially with the 4+ months on the labels with the fruit puree things i thought he'd be fine with them but i knew something wasn't right. I've had people today tell me i'm silly for stopping weaning as i was 'teasing him' with food and now taken it away it's like you can't bloody win these days i just wanna do best by him. It's the same people giving me this not so good advice and then putting me down when i do something wrong as the ones who laughed at me for asking so many questions when i was pregnant so i do need to stop listening to them. I've made lots of mistakes since having my boy i had my own friends calling me a bad mum because i couldn't bath him in the bath is bought cos it gave me anxiety bad that he'd slip in so he was in with me every bath time and the same mums that laughed that i bought stuff from other friends that had had babies saying i hadn't got my baby anything new even tho that was a big lie in every 10 new things he has he

@Molly .... probably has 1 second hand thing that's barely second hand. Was also called a bad mum because i hadn't bought any summery clothes for my boy but that was a question i'd asked when pregnant if id need any with him being born in middle of summer i assumed he'd just be cold so only got 2 or 3 summer sets but they laughed at me for being so over the tip and told me i should know. I appreciate you being so kind in your replies as i've had so many put downs since i had my boy i spent the first month crying none stop due to nasty comments and remarks so it's a breath of fresh air that i needed having someone that's a stranger be so kind x

@Abby your not teasing him your adjusting your plan based on new information - he won’t feel like he’s had anything taken away - he is going to be safer and will enjoy his food when his time comes ❤️! It sounds like your very much doing your best by him and are doing a really good job! ‘Mistakes’ are a BIG part of motherhood, we learn with them and we can’t get it right all the time, the main thing is we love them, we show up for them and we’re open to learn and develop as we go! There is no right way to be a mother, we’re all different! I’m sorry you’ve had so many negative comments from people you know. Your boy is lucky to have you and your doing great ☺️ X

@Molly Thankyou so much! You're doing an amazing job too! motherhood is hard x

@Abby thank you 💕💕