NEED HELP WEANING BABY!!!?

Weaning is a process that takes a year or more. Babies are meant to get the bulk of their nutrition for the entire first year from breastmilk or formula. Until a year, food is nutritionally fairly unimportant.

If you wean from the breast before a year, the baby needs formula. But you can continue to breastfeed for a year or more for optimal health and development. Should you chose not to continue to breastfeed, you will have to introduce a bottle with formula, which she may be quite resistant to by this age.

Babies never need cereal, and the iron in it interferes with the absorption of iron in breastmilk. You can begin with real food-avocado, banana, squash, applesauce, etc. as a first food. When you do start, she gets about 1 tablespoon, once a day.

Has she lost her tongue thrust reflex? To check for this put a tiny amount of baby food in her mouth, if she pushes it out with her tongue she still has that reflex and is not yet ready for solids.

You don't start solids until they are exhibiting the following signs-

Independent sitter, in other words she can sit with out support.

Has lost the tongue thrust reflex.

Is showing an interest in YOUR foods when you are eating.

You also don't need to do baby cereals OR purees with breastfed babies, you can go straight to finger foods if you so desire. Finger foods are a LOT easier than purees. Babies under 12 months of age need to get 99% of their nutrients from either breastmilk or formula. If you want to wean her completely off the breast you are going to have to bottle feed formula.

a) She has to learn how to suck a bottle. Buy a teat (similar to breast nipple to start) Baby's suck breast with their throat muscles and suck bottle with their cheeks muscles.

b) When you decide to stop breast feeding - just stop.

c) There are lots of formula's on the market - choose one and stick to it - don't keep changing without asking Health Visitor /paed advice.

d) Two weeks before 6/12 start weaning. Mix rice to sloppy consistency with milk and give little tasters on the tip of a tea spoon at about 11 am. After a couple of days increase amount and after a week or two increase texture = less and less sloppy. Baby may spit out ALL new tastes in the beginning. This is because her taste buds are new. Same nuisance as an adult has with a hair on tongue.

e) Family foods is best for baby's because you know exactly what is in the food. Ask HV can you have a weaning lesson = gives tips on menus and what foods to give.

Mashed carrot and potato with milk and full fat butter is one idea.

Baby's do not need desserts until 12/12 except for ONE weekly dish of stewed apple and pear mixed with milk (takes tardiness away). If sweet stuffs are given early and frequently you will have trouble with feeding later on. Also not good for health.

Hope this helps.

Your daughter should not be introduced to solids until she is at least 6 months old, and even then it needs to be slowly so that you can watch out for allergies.

You can switch her to formula, but you must also monitor her reaction to it. Not all formulas are made the same, check with your pediatrician to see what they recommend. Cereals are usually introduced before jarred foods.

I know this seems quite complicated, but actually it is very simple. I suggest you keep breastfeeding a little longer. At 6 months she will be old enough to go onto solids. By this age, most babies will take to solids quite quickly, and it doesn't matter if she won't take a bottle once she is eating and drinking enough other than breast milk. Start now by offering a feeder cup with water in. She will play with this at first, but should soon get the hang of this. Once she is able to drink out of it, start putting a little formula in. My kids drank a whole mug full at a time by 7 months old. Don't offer juice - it is full of sugar and fills baby up so she won't eat enough nutritious food. Juice also rots the teeth. You can add expressed milk or formula to cereal, but I never did. I started with a rice cereal, but just made it up with water. Then I mashed very ripe bananas. They must be very ripe - then they are one of the easiest foods for baby to digest and full of nutrients. Baby can eat plain banana or banana with cereal. I also quickly introduced oat porridge - 1 tablespoon oats, covered in water in a plastic jug, microwave on HIGH for 1-2 mins until boiled (don't let boil over). Babies usually love this, especially if you add mashed banana or cooked apple. Great to feed not just for breakfast, but last thing at night to fill baby up and help to sleep. Introduce veg one at a time. Cook up in bulk and freeze in ice cube trays, until baby is eating a bit more. I also offered finger foods like cooked peas, bread sticks, organic breakfast cereals, etc. I also adapted cooking for the family so I didn't add salt or sugar. We could add it later if we wanted, but by making homemade fish pie, cottage pie, shepherds pie, etc. It meant baby could just eat with us. At 6 months most babies are ready for proper food, but some take longer than other to get used to it. It also depends how much patience you have with the feeding process. Avoid honey (can cause anaphylactic shock), avoid spinach (can be toxic), and avoid fried foods and salt and sugar. Look up calcium and a list of all the foods you can feed baby, so you don't need to worry about making her take a bottle. She is unlikely to accept one at this stage.