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ewmoda

Weaning.... Milk or Solids first

75

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 11 May 2013 - 08:23

I am about to start weaning and have both the Gina Ford and Annabel Karmel books however I am confused if I give the milk first or solids and both say different would be interested to find what overs do. What time of day is best to start.... After 11am feed???

I am going to give baby rice first then have read once baby is taking this move to the 6pm feed and bring in pear purée to the morning then once this is ok move to 6pm and add to rice and then use vegetables for the 11am.

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345

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 15 May 2013 - 12:24

thanks for the link ilovewine, I'll take a look. may come back to you in a few months about borrowing the book - no 3 not born yet : )

477

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 15 May 2013 - 10:56

KH, it's very interesting and once you start reading, you'll realise just how it makes sense. have a look at this: http://www.rapleyweaning.com/ i have gill's book if you want to borrow it (not sure how old your little one is ...) i was (am) an avid fan of baby whisperer. i was so 'dumb' as a first time mum and her schedule/routines (especially the awake times!) helped me so much. DS is a champ at giving tired q's, and he transitioned from month to month so easily. DS just wasnt a gina ford baby. i tried - had schedules pasted all over the house but failed miserably at feeding/burping/changing/bathing/whatever along her time-lines. i have a friend, however, whose DD is now 2 1/2 and still follows a RIGID gf schedule. we didnt see her for the first 4 months of her DD's life as she spent all her time in the nursery fine-turning and perfecting the gf schedule. you could blow a whistle and her DD would fall asleep on cue! so it does work for some. <em>edited by ilovewine on 15/05/2013</em>

kiwispiers15400

2782

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 15 May 2013 - 08:23

Unfortunately, Gina Ford is neither a trained nutritionist, lactation consultant nor a pediatrician. Not even a mother. Annabel Karmel is a dietician though (I think) so you'd think she would be more up to date with the guidelines of major health bodies ( such as AAP, WHO etc but then again, even the advice from paediatricians here is very outdated. Studies have shown that babies weaned onto foods that are not nutrient dense ( ie when babies are weaned onto just fruit veg and grains) they are worse of nutritionally and far more likely to be low in iron than babies who are not given solids at all ( ie purely breastfed until 9 months). edited by kiwispiers on 14/05/2013 Wow I know GF is an emotive issue, but surely not all nannies are mothers, dieticians or paediatricians? As I understand it, she is someone who has had a lot of experience caring for babies and has written books based on this experience. As a new first time mom, I found her books hugely helpful, as I did tracey hogg's baby whisperer. The routines and guidelines about what to expect in terms of development, how much baby needs to sleep and eat were like a roadmap for me. I never left my babies to cry, and didn't expect them to follow the routines to the minute, but generally, they seemed to work. On the weaning, protein was always the key ingredient for baby's main meal (lunch) and GF introduced different types of fish as well as chicken, lamb from quite early on. My kids had lots of fruit, veg, soups and meat before they turned one, and I used mainly GF recipes. I was more surprised to hear of babies skipping the first phase of purees/ baby rice and going straight to 'whole' food...will defo read up on it in due course. I wasn't being emotive but I just think if you are going to write a book telling people what foods to give their baby it should be research based not just based on nannying experience. I actually agree that there is lots of good information in both the GF and BW books regarding sleep and development, I just think the nutritional advice is incorrect and outdated. ( both in regards to solids and breastfeeding). I think a mother is more invested in the long term consequences of nutrition ( like if you only give puréed fruit and veg for a couple of months and delay eggs and meat then your baby could be missing out on iron and zinc which in turn effects brain development) than a nanny, who is really more interested in how to make a child more " manageable". Which is what I meant by " not even a mother". Some people treat those books like bibles.

87

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 21:04

I started with solids my 6 month old now, but we are doing old fashioned pureed food first. After consulting a lot of books (including few books from pediatrics as I am in the medical field) I wouldn't be very worried what is the first food to offer. At the end of the day, this depends on tradition in different parts of the world. Right now, it doesn't really matter how much solid food they eat, milk is what matters. Solids are just to discover different texture and taste. And once they are 6 months old, their digestive system can take up pretty much everything. The only foods I am going to be careful are egg whites, cereals containing gluten, citrus fruits, honey and nuts. My little one has bad eczema, and she reacts with rash when I have nuts or too much milk. We are giving her few baby spoons of pureed food with our dinner and somewhere midday. Dinner is time when we sit at the table as family, we want her to be part of it. I started to use midday for any new food I offer, to watch for reactions (recommended by her pediatrician, but I think its overrated- she is getting food, not bee stings). She eats how much she wants, which is anywhere between nothing to the full table spoon. As she is breastfed baby (expressed breast milk when I am working, and breastfed when together), she eats on demand and not on schedule.

345

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 20:55

Unfortunately, Gina Ford is neither a trained nutritionist, lactation consultant nor a pediatrician. Not even a mother. Annabel Karmel is a dietician though (I think) so you'd think she would be more up to date with the guidelines of major health bodies ( such as AAP, WHO etc but then again, even the advice from paediatricians here is very outdated. Studies have shown that babies weaned onto foods that are not nutrient dense ( ie when babies are weaned onto just fruit veg and grains) they are worse of nutritionally and far more likely to be low in iron than babies who are not given solids at all ( ie purely breastfed until 9 months). edited by kiwispiers on 14/05/2013 Wow I know GF is an emotive issue, but surely not all nannies are mothers, dieticians or paediatricians? As I understand it, she is someone who has had a lot of experience caring for babies and has written books based on this experience. As a new first time mom, I found her books hugely helpful, as I did tracey hogg's baby whisperer. The routines and guidelines about what to expect in terms of development, how much baby needs to sleep and eat were like a roadmap for me. I never left my babies to cry, and didn't expect them to follow the routines to the minute, but generally, they seemed to work. On the weaning, protein was always the key ingredient for baby's main meal (lunch) and GF introduced different types of fish as well as chicken, lamb from quite early on. My kids had lots of fruit, veg, soups and meat before they turned one, and I used mainly GF recipes. I was more surprised to hear of babies skipping the first phase of purees/ baby rice and going straight to 'whole' food...will defo read up on it in due course.

kiwispiers15400

2782

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 16:32

Unfortunately, Gina Ford is neither a trained nutritionist, lactation consultant nor a pediatrician. Not even a mother. Annabel Karmel is a dietician though (I think) so you'd think she would be more up to date with the guidelines of major health bodies ( such as AAP, WHO etc but then again, even the advice from paediatricians here is very outdated. Studies have shown that babies weaned onto foods that are not nutrient dense ( ie when babies are weaned onto just fruit veg and grains) they are worse of nutritionally and far more likely to be low in iron than babies who are not given solids at all ( ie purely breastfed until 9 months). <em>edited by kiwispiers on 14/05/2013</em>

Thunderbird73255

200

Posts

EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 16:09

we did (are doing) BLW with our son and it's been fantastic. no pureeing, no mush, no battles with textures. my son's first meal was rump steak, brocolli and sweet potato - bang on 6 months! he sucked that steak till it was grey LOL like a PP said "food is for fun until one" eta: gina ford nearly made me lost my mind! DH had the best time tearing up her books and adding them to a nice bbq fire edited by ilovewine on 14/05/2013 edited by ilovewine on 14/05/2013 That's awesome! I am in the process of weaning right now. I might give my boy a steak to suck on ;)

477

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 15:15

we did (are doing) BLW with our son and it's been fantastic. no pureeing, no mush, no battles with textures. my son's first meal was rump steak, brocolli and sweet potato - bang on 6 months! he sucked that steak till it was grey LOL like a PP said "food is for fun until one" eta: gina ford nearly made me lost my mind! DH had the best time tearing up her books and adding them to a nice bbq fire edited by ilovewine on 14/05/2013 <em>edited by ilovewine on 14/05/2013</em>

849

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 13:38

Unfortunately, Gina Ford is neither a trained nutritionist, lactation consultant nor a pediatrician.

345

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 14 May 2013 - 11:57

this is really interesting...5/6 yrs ago i used gina ford weaning and that based around baby rice with fruit/ veg purees added for first stage weaning. didnt realise the advice had changed, will have to read up on it for the next one! TBH it makes more common sense to add solids for nutritional value rather than just filling up on starch, so i may take a more relaxed approach this time : ) if it saves the hassle of endless pureeing everything in sight - even better!!

kiwispiers15400

2782

Posts

EW EXPERT

Latest post on 12 May 2013 - 20:06

This is one of those parenting areas where opinions will vary wildly and you really need to take a look at all approaches and decide what sounds right to you. I did baby led weaning and allowed my children to lead the way with solids as they wished. They never had purees at all. Also, I lived by the motto "food (solids) under (the age of) one, are just for fun" ie almost all their nutritional needs can still be met by milk ( with the exception mentioned below) and eating is more a developmental thing. Personally I would give the milk first and then let baby explore solids. Taking the pressure off and being sure they're not hungry will avoid the dinner battles! Do make sure you offer meat as baby needs more iron than milk alone will give ( about the only exception to the "food under one" advice above! I gave it as a lamb chop for baby to gnaw on. If you're not comfortable with that approach, you can puree any form of food with iron in it. I would however, strongly suggest that you stay away from rice cereal completely. There is absolutely no nutritional value in it at all - all you are doing with it is filling up babys tummy with glug. If you want to go the puree route, give pureed food with nutritional value. no real need for me to write anything, 100% agree with the post above basically you want to move from milk being 100% of your baby's diet at 6 months, to milk being the complimentary food at around age 1(or a little later). So by age 1 you should give solids first then milk, I would not start out that way now as your baby should not really be taking a drop less milk at this stage and it should be solids that are the extra on top.Its really important for brain develeopment that they get the nutrients they need at this age. Both the Gina Ford and the Anablel Karmel books are based on the outdated idea of stages and delaying certain foods somewhat, the latest advice is not to do this as you want to be giving nutrient dense foods from day one and with solids not started now until babies are actually ready to eat, you can give finger foods from the get go. Baby rice is essentially the same as mixing cornstarch with a multivitamin. It's not food. Pear is a good first food, so is lamb (I chose to give mine pureed) Its good to give foods in the morning so you have the day to watch for any reactions but aside fromt hat, yu actually don't need to be so formulated about it, its food, not medicine, just offer things to your baby and let them decide how much, and what they like eating.

849

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 12 May 2013 - 10:13

Milk/formula should be the primary component of their diet until they are a year old. It is a more complete food than just about any solids you can offer. We always gave breastmilk (I nursed and pumped for the nanny/nursery), and solids within an hour after. They will still eat after the milk feed. We also did a combination of babyled weaning and purees with both kids. My daughter was slower with solids than my son, so she got a little more spoon feeding than him. But, both kids were 100% self feeding well before their first birthdays.

327

Posts

EW EXPLORER

Latest post on 11 May 2013 - 10:27

This is one of those parenting areas where opinions will vary wildly and you really need to take a look at all approaches and decide what sounds right to you. I did baby led weaning and allowed my children to lead the way with solids as they wished. They never had purees at all. Also, I lived by the motto "food (solids) under (the age of) one, are just for fun" ie almost all their nutritional needs can still be met by milk ( with the exception mentioned below) and eating is more a developmental thing. Personally I would give the milk first and then let baby explore solids. Taking the pressure off and being sure they're not hungry will avoid the dinner battles! Do make sure you offer meat as baby needs more iron than milk alone will give ( about the only exception to the "food under one" advice above! I gave it as a lamb chop for baby to gnaw on. If you're not comfortable with that approach, you can puree any form of food with iron in it. I would however, strongly suggest that you stay away from rice cereal completely. There is absolutely no nutritional value in it at all - all you are doing with it is filling up babys tummy with glug. If you want to go the puree route, give pureed food with nutritional value.

501

Posts

EW GURU

Latest post on 11 May 2013 - 10:08

Give the baby solids first. If you give your baby milk first, he won't be interested in the solids. They say if your baby is very hungry and won't eat the solids, you should give a bit of milk and then the solids, but I've never known a baby who is ready for solids to resist.

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