Weaning - Day 1

Recently, Alfie has become a lot more unsettled and he seems very uncomfortable when he’s feeding.  I spoke to a doctor and my health visitor and both came up with the conclusion that his reflux is for some reason not being controlled as well by the medicines anymore.  This could be for many reasons, mainly his weight VS dosage.  I mentioned in a previous post that we were advised to wean Alfie earlier than 6 months for medical reasons; at first this really upset me as I wanted to wait until he was 6 months old however recently my opinion has changed.

Yesterday we gave Alfie his first taste of porridge and it’s safe to say he enjoyed it!  It was officially the first day of weaning him.  I understand some of you reading this will disagree completely with weaning before 6 months but for Alfie it’s just the right time.  Babies with reflux rarely get to 6 months on milk alone because it is so painful for them.  Pureed food is thicker and therefore easier to keep down.  I think until you go through a similar experience where your child is so unhappy and in pain you can’t understand.  I too was against weaning before 6 months until I was advised otherwise by a professional.

The plan is to give Alfie porridge after his morning feed for a week or two then we’ll introduce fruit and vegetables and eventually meat.  I plan on weaning him slowly so he can get used to the tastes and textures of the foods.  We’re hoping to stick to making the purees ourselves so I know exactly what he’s eating although there are certain brands I’ll use if needed such as Plum Baby.  I’m both excited and nervous about weaning him.  Mostly, the excitement is because I know in time he’ll feel so much better with the reflux easing off.  The nerves are because I’m a new mum and have no idea about weaning!  I’m following Alfie’s lead all the way on this and the fact that he was smiling eating his porridge tells me he enjoyed it  - that and he practically ate the spoon too!