Advice on baby led weaning? page

[Valkyria]

The twins have been exclusively breast fed so far, but we would like to try baby led weaning when they are ready for solids. Anyone here got any experience with that?

[InSearchOfAbs]

Well, I didn't have twins, but I have two kids and let them self wean.

One was 9months - went comPLETELY from nursing to Full Time Food, and
my second was 11 months, who ditched a nursing session for a solid food
meal.

I was determined to do it THAT way, instead of "Oh I'll have a snack of boob here
and there and throw in some solid food too."

NO, unless it replaced a nursing session, then by gum it, they were NOT going to get
solid food.

Mama ain't no snack shack cow!

Anyway, not sure if that answered your question.... but it was mostly baby led weaning.

Second child completely weaned for Real Food All The Time in about two weeks.

Julie

[kaylaerin]

Shortly after my son turned 6 months we started with baby led weaning. For the first month maybe, he didn't ingest much; he spent a lot of time playing with the food and tasting it. By the second and third month, he was actually eating food, but nursing was still his main source of nutrition. He's almost a year now and he eats basically whatever we eat (haven't given him too much spicy food yet). Some days he'll eat food allllll day and nurse only 2-3 times; other days, he'll eat nothing and nurse all day. Only until very recently have I begun to really put a little bit more focus on solids, but I plan on letting him self-wean from breastfeeding so I'm not stressing about it. Either way he's eating and growing.

Also, when we started offering him solid food, we gave most fruits and cooked vegetables (sweet potatoes were a huge hit). He was an early teether so he also liked scraping his teeth on a big chunk of cold apple. I would just recommend brushing up on infant CPR and watching out for choking hazards in the foods you offer (the skin on some fruits, cutting up foods too small initially, etc.). Give big chunks of food so they can bit (or gnaw) off a size that's appropriate for them and recognize that gagging is an important part of the learning process for babies. Baby led weaning was intuitive for us, even before I knew that there was a name for it. It's messy but it's so easy and convenient.

[Tribal Rob]

Yep on the second time now, it's fun and messy, both of mine were/are late with teeth (11.5 months for first tooth and 1 year 5 days and still no tooth). Just give em a bit of what your having - apart from spring greens they just can't chew them without teeth - let them play (full coverage bibs from ikea are verrrry useful). It gets nummed and chewed and spat out, some goes in, alot dosn't, but if you keep BFing on demand it doesn't matter (a friend of mine exclisly BF for over a year due to worries about allergies developing)

NCT have good info in BLW I think, but it really is simple as give em a bit of what you are having (obviously you can't give a baby booze, or lovely brown nuts to go with the lovely brown booze)

[VacillateWildly]

Hi Valkyria,

I did baby lead weaning with both of my children. My eldest son was a whopper and wasn't interested in solid food till he was about 8 months old, though I started trying with him at 6 months. Then he very much got into his solid food and I kept feeding, dropping from 3 feeds a day, then to two, and finally at night time. He weaned himself compeltely when he was aboutg 13 months old, I was 2 months pregnant and I think my milk tasted different. He never had a bottle or formula and I went to cow's milk.

My second son weaned himself at 8 months, he took to food at 6 months and refused breast milk. He would however take a bottle of formula which I continued with. He was lactose intolerant for a couple of years but now can manage A2 milk.

Breastfeeding is more than about just food, it'd bonding, comfort and safety too. I planned to feed mine till they were at least two, but they had other plans.

[Louisa655]

I nursed four children -- my last two were twins. Nursing is a very emotional experience for both babies and mom. So many factors affect nursing babies and mom, including teething by babies, their physical health, and any other external factors that can/may upset babies. Self weaning can mean anything from 6 months to 3 years -- all babies are different and there's no right or wrong answer. If you have questions or concerns, try contacting your local Midwifery association and get some good advice from a wonderful group of qualified professionals. To continue nursing or weaning is a decision that only a mother and baby can make and there's no right or wrong way. Good luck to you, and don't be afraid to follow your 'heart'. After all, your body was clever enough to produce two babies, so your body will help guide you in this important decision.

/Lu

[Primal123]

Based on some of the other answers I am not sure if I understood your question. I interpret child-led weaning to mean the child weans when they are ready. Basically, don't ask-don't refuse.

We did child-led weaning to a point and then I needed to intervene some as I felt she would never stop. My dd nursed until she reached 5 times her birth weight which I understand is the norm for mammals. If you were to ask her now she would say I did not nurse her long enough and that she needed another year.

World average for nursing is I believe about 4 years. Mothering.com has a great child-led weaning forum with lots of very knowledgeable mom's who nurse as long as their children both physically and emotionally need to.

[kaylaerin]

The word "weaning" in this instance focuses on adding complimentary foods, not stopping breastfeeding. Baby led weaning is just the term applied to starting solids with babies when they show signs of readiness by skipping cereals and pureed foods and offering babies chunks of solid food. They explore and play with food and if they want to they eat, if not they don't.

[LauraSB]

I think every baby is different. It's best if you're prepared to go with the flow.

DS started solids at 6 mo, took to them like a starving man, and within a month started to seriously lose interest in nursing. I wasn't ready for that. He had been getting bottles of pumped milk while I was at work and was very fond of the bottle, no matter what milk was in it, until about 2yo. Mama, apparently, was not portable enough.

DD started solids at 5 mo and was a good eater, but was not interested in giving up her "mama juice" even at two. I had to take antibiotics for Lyme disease and cut her off in less than a week, explaining as best I could to a 2yo. There were a sad couple of days before she moved on. Now at 14, she thinks breastfeeding is weird and icky. I keep telling her she will feel differently when she has a hungry baby of her own.

With twins, you could have two completely different experiences at the same time.

[Urban Forager]

DS started on some solids around 10 months but continued to nurse until 4, though by then he was just nursing in the evening. I had several people ask me when I was going to stop nursing him I am glad I didn't listen to them. Shortly after DS stopped nursing he started having health problems that were eventually diagnosed as a genetic disease. Prior to that he was always robust and healthy and to this his day he is healthier than most that have his condition. I really feel like the extended nursing helped him get a good start. Ultimately you need to trust your intuition and do what feels best for you and your children.