Weaning..

Bens 6 months on Saturday. So thats when (in the uk) we should start weaning him. I'm of to the health visitor today, to ask advice.

I won't be telling her that Bens already had some solids (mushy food...) already! He loves banana, melon, and baby rice (yuk) the list goes on...

He doesn't like strawberries! but there not in season so I'm not keen on them at the moment either!

Any tips on weaning at all? Should we start giving him cows milk? or to go on to use cow and gate 3? (its formula we're on 2 at the moment. 1 is for 0-6 months , 2 is 0-6 months for hungier babies, 3 is 6-12 months) Not sure if formula is better than cows milk?

I am giving him water.. but should I be giving him milk also? how do you do it during the days? how many times water? how many times milk? when? how much etc?

And how do I teach him to use a Sippy cup? We're trying at the moment, but he just blows on it. And he's soaked in minuites. Quite funny!

Hm entirely different than here then. Here they tell you NO cow milk before the age of one cause it can cause intestinal bleeding. If you do not tell her he is already on solids how can she advise you properly? Watch strawberries they are a fruit some people are allergic to.

At 6 months most of his nutrients come from FORMULA, not cow's milk. Babies need about 24 ounces of formula daily up until 1 year old. My son is 13 months old and we stopped the formula just recently, but he still gets milk in a bottle at night. Do not stop the formula until he's at least a year old.

No strawberries until 1 year old, no honey or peanut butter until 2 years old. No cows milk until 1 year old. Your pediatrician should be telling you this stuff as well not to stop the formula.

And DO NOT GIVE HIM WATER. My pediatrician said at only 6 months it's a huhe no no as it fills him up but gives him no nutrients or vitamins. Only give him formula. No juice, no water, no milk. And then at a year old, you can give him water.

Sippy cups...dont worry about it right now, he should still be on the bottle.

Yeah everything Cat said,,, I do not know who is feeding you all your info Sami, but it sounds sketchy at best.

I cant believe that child care could be so different between the UK and US. they are still babies that need the same things no matter where they live.

I cant believe that child care could be so different between the UK and US. they are still babies that need the same things no matter where they live.

You would think so, unless there is a vast "cultural" difference we are talking about, but that is not it. I would talk to a pediatrician Sami.

Also too babies actually have a NEED to suck things some more than others and some till they are almost 3 years old. This hurry hurry out of bottles and soothers confuses me. Why the hurry a baby out of being a baby, seems silly. My son had a soother till 15 months and a bottle till he was 2 and a half (after the breast) He had formula and eventually milk after being weaned from the breast. His dr recommended formula till he was 17 months because he was so small and whole milk till he was 3 because they need the fat for brain development.

Also too babies actually have a NEED to suck things some more than others and some till they are almost 3 years old. This hurry hurry of bottles and soothers confuses me. Why the hurry a baby out of being a baby, seems silly.

Exactly!! I want Landon to be a baby for as long as he wants to. They grow so fast and I know that Landon is now more of toddler, but if he's fussy at night and wants a bottle, then I give it to him. I'm in no hurry for him for grow up, but I'm not going to hold him back either. If you are in tune with your baby, you will see that they will let you know what they want and need. At 6 months Landon loved drinking from a regular cup. He still does. But it didnt stop us from giving him his bottles. We just gave an occasional sip of something when he wanted it.

Yes, quite a difference between UK and US! We do bottles/breastfeeding until 1 year, I introduced solids at 7 months or so. I did start introducing the sippy cup (with formula or breastmilk) at about 10 months. Littlepants is turning 19 months in a couple days and she STILL gets 1 to 2 bottles a day. I am still giving her fomula at the moment as she is not a huge fan of meats and I'm afraid she is not getting enough protien in her regular diet. She gets milk in a sippy when she gets up in the morning, occasionally gets a bottle of water or milk for the ride to daycare, gets a sippy cup with water or milk all day at daycare, she gets one bottle of formula for the ride home, sippy with milk for dinner, and one last bottle of regular whole milk before bed.

I also think "what's the rush to get rid of the binkies or bottles?" Littlepants self-weaned from breastfeeding at about 11 months, we were already working on the sippy cup at that point, but I couldn't see totally taking away her nightime or naptime bottle at a year. She's still a baby, for goodness sakes! The do have a need to suckle to self-soothe. Why are we forcing our babies to grow up so fast? I am just up front and honest with her pediatrician with what route we are choosing to take, luckilly he is a great doc and very supportive of baby-led weaning, etc.

You know your baby best, do what YOU think is right mama. So much of child rearing is total conjecture, and every child is going to be different than the next. Personally, to me 6 months is a little early to be taking away the bottle completely. But there is nothing wrong with starting to give a sippy cup with formula or breastmilk in place of a daytime bottle to start getting your LO used to the cup. I started with the soft-spout ones at first to not hurt her gums, but she has the regular hard plastic ones now and does great with them.

Good luck!

bear gave up his binky at 5 months, dot didnt give hers up until 8 months.

bear gave up bottles before he turned 11 months, dot is still happily loving hers at 11 1/2 months.

bear started baby food at 4 months, dot wouldnt take it until 6 months.

bear ate baby food until he was over a year old, dot gave it up at 7 months.

i say this to illustrate that every child is different. even ones in the same family. if something doesnt feel right to you as a parent, don't do it. i use all those things as guide lines and suggestions, not laws [except for medically proven things of course]. but if it doesnt work for us, we change it or don't do it.

however, i firmly believe that at 6 months, you should not be weaning anything. formula or breast milk should be the main source of nutrition, and solids should merely supplement it as practice for eating table food.

i started giving dot a sippy cup at 6 months but she didnt really start drinking from it until around 9 or 10 months old. i alwase gave it to her for practice though even if she didnt use it and i never expected the cup to become her source of liquid at that age. even now she still drinks 3-4 bottles a day, she gets her cup too, she gets both.

formula at this age is much better than cow's milk. and you should not be giving more than 4-6 ounces of water/juice per DAY, and really it's not reccomended at all unless you are having constipation issues.

too much water will upset the electrolytes and cause actually cause severe damage if it goes on too long.

too much juice causes diarhhea and rashes.

also, please be honest that you are already feeding your LO some solids. even if they get upset/mad at you, its better ot know it all so that they can give good advice. if they dont know, the advice isn't as safe because all the facts arent known.

I saw my health visitor yesterday.

I was told to start giving him cows milk in things like weatabix etc.

She said yes to strawberries...

Yes to sunscreen.

And to start giving him a sippy cup with only water in. Do not use juice.

And that I can start using number 3 (formula) then go on to cows milk also when Bens ready.

And she said try to get rid of the bottle by 12 months old.

And that we can completely go for solids now. To start giving him boiled carrot sticks, or slices of cheese.

Bens never really liked his dummy. So we never encouraged it, due to the effects on the teeth that we've been told about. So we only give it him if he gets really upset and doesn't want a bottle.

It really is different to the USA. It's shocking. Why can't people all say the same thing ?

I was not even warned not to try anything. And in 2008 when I was having Sophie, it was formula until 4 months. And then solids, and water. It's really shocking.

Also Health visitor asked if hes had any solids up to now. And I told her exactly what we've been giving him! I've never been a good liar! So I thought may as well get told off! but she was ok with it.

And we've always been adviced to give Ben water. Even the forumla 1&2 suggest to give 5oz of water between feeds. Espesially 2 as it can cause constipation!

Wow. I'm really shocked at how different it is between the UK and US. It just seems to me that they're all babies, shouldnt there be a standard everywhere?

Wow. I'm really shocked at how different it is between the UK and US. It just seems to me that they're all babies, shouldnt there be a standard everywhere?

Yeah, me too..........seems weird. Oh well.

since your health perosn didn't say this, i want to mention it, HONEY is very dangerous to children under a year old. the spores left in honey can cause link removed and a baby's system cannot protect against it. please be very careful about honey with your little guy.

since your health perosn didn't say this, i want to mention it, HONEY is very dangerous to children under a year old. the spores left in honey can cause link removed and a baby's system cannot protect against it. please be very careful about honey with your little guy.

This is true too!!

oh ok.

Good thing we don't use honey! =D

Its really stupid that they don't warn us about things like this. =( I shall be mentioning it when I see her nxt month