Archive Feeding FAQ: 6-9 months

My daughter Olivia is seven months and I would like to reduce breastfeeding and move to bottle feeding. Unfortunately the only advice in Gina’s book I didn't listen to was to introduce a bottle early on in her life. Now Olivia will not take a bottle and I have to go back to work soon.
She is 20lbs and is a gorgeously contented baby. She follows the routine to the letter and I have no other problems with her (she is prone to constipation from time to time).
Team Response

For the last month, my son has started refusing almost all milk feeds. He is offered a 7oz bottle at 7am and will only drink 4 to 5oz. I will then use the remaining milk to mix with his breakfast which is a whole weetabix. At 11.45am he will eat lunch ( I use all the recipes in CLB of Weaning). He will take 5 cubes of a savoury such as chicken risotto. He is offered another 5oz bottle at 2.30pm and will refuse the entire bottle. I give him his at 5pm; he eats half of it (I offer him five cubes of cauliflower cheese). He is then offered a bedtime bottle from which he will only drink 2-3ozs. At present he weighs 18lbs 5ozs.
By day he sleeps for 1 hour at 8.30-9.30am and another hour at lunchtime, between 12 and 1pm.
All this has resulted in early wakings and a very unhappy, unsettled baby. And I really do not know what to do next.
Team Response

My daughter Ione is almost 7 months old. She was 71b 3oz at birth and currently weighs 151b. She is fed Hipp Organic Formula at 7.30am (6oz), 2.30pm (4-5oz), 6.30pm (7-8oz) and solids at 8am (half a Weetabix plus fruit purée/Ready Brek/baby cereal), 11.30am (7 cubes consisting of fish/chicken/turkey/pork with various vegetables plus yoghurt or fruit) and 5pm (7 cubes of vegetables plus a banana). She is fed 70% homemade and 30% commercial food.
She wakes at 7.30am, naps 9-9.45am, 12.15-2.15pm and has a catnap in the afternoon if required. She settles herself at all nap times and goes down at 7pm and has slept through consistently since she was 9 weeks (I have not needed to go to her once!).
My problem is that Ione will not take water I have tried 2 different beakers and tried buying diluted water (Heinz) and adding orange juice. She acts like it is poison and keeps her mouth firmly closed. When I pretend to drink from the beaker she will sometimes copy but most of the water will get spat out!
She is never constipated, seems to wee fairly frequently and doesn’t seem to be suffering healthwise. However, her lack of fluids worry me as her solids increase and her milk decreases.
Team Response

My daughter’s feeding and sleeping patters are going completely off track. We need help encouraging her to eat/drink more during the day so we can eliminate the nighttime waking. She was 5lb 15oz at birth and has maintained a slow but gradual progress and now weighs 13lb 3oz at 6 months. I have assurances from health visitors that she is fine, and she has had hospital tests to check that there is no underlying problem. However, since introducing solids at 22 weeks my daughter's weight gain has dropped and, at the weigh-in last week, she had only put on 1.5 oz in two weeks – although the health visitor did not seem concerned. Her milk intake is hit and miss. Most days she achieves 20oz (including what is added to solids), but it is a struggle and often she only reaches 20oz by having a feed in the night. I have tried different bottles and, on advice, switched formula to Aptamil Forward, but she will not take more than 4oz at a feed, except the 6.30pm feed when she will happily take up to 7oz. I have also tried giving a small amount, letting her play, then feeding again, but she is not interested. She just appears to have a very small appetite. Progress with solids has been ok but she will only eat with enthusiasm if she is really hungry. I have tried giving a few ounces then solids but she will not eat anything and I now have to leave a gap of at least an hour between milk and solids. During the day my daughter is a very active and happy baby. At 10.30am and 1.30pm she seems genuinely hungry, but a couple of ounces still seem to satisfy her. I have also adjusted the times of feeds, but there is still no increase in milk intake. Bedtime is 7pm and she goes to sleep straight away and, other than the night feedings, will sleep until 7am. I have tried to extend the lunchtime nap, but without success. I stopped giving her baby rice, but she has a wide variety of vegetables and the odd jar, which has been eaten with enthusiasm!
At present she takes: 7am - 3oz formula; 8.30am- 2 tsp baby porridge made with 0.5oz formula and 1 cube fruit; 10.30am - 1.5oz formula; 11.30am - 2 cubes veg, 2-3tsp yoghurt, small amount of water; 1.30pm - 3oz formula; 5pm - 3 cubes veg, small amount of water; 6.30pm - 5-7oz formula; 11pm - 3oz taken reluctantly after being woken; 1.30am - wakes and takes 3-4ozs.
She naps at 9.15-10.00am, 12.15-1.00pm and 4.00-4.30pm.
Team Response

What is the general view on feeding a 7-month-old baby eggs at teatime? I was thinking about scrambled egg with tomato and cream cheese. I am not an egg eater, but I’m sure it would make a nutritious, easy and quick tea.

Fiona Hinton's Response

My daughter is seven months old and I am giving her baby cereal, which she likes. Can I use boiled milk on the cereal, or do I need to use formula? I know she’s still supposed to have formula in her bottle, not milk, and I’m a bit confused.

Fiona Hinton's Response

We dropped the 10pm feed over a week ago, as he was waking up in the morning and only taking 3 - 4 oz of formula. He weighs just over 23 pounds in weight and, following the latest weaning guidelines, we started weaning him at six months, but he is not overly keen on solids and it can be a struggle to get him to take even the smallest amount; he has also started getting fussy with his milk feeds. A typical day is:

7.00am awake and takes 210 ml formula
9.00am nap of 40 minutes
11.00am 210 ml formula plus one cube of sweet potato
12.00pm nap of 2.15 hours
2.30pm 210 ml of formula
4.00pm nap of 30 minutes
5.00pm 2 teaspoons of baby rice mixed with milk and one cube of fruit puree
6.00pm 210mls of formula

I am really concerned that giving him the dummy in the night is going to cause a long term sleep association problem, but I also realise that at his age he should not need to be fed in the middle of the night.
Team Response

My 6mth daughter weighs 18lbs, is generally a very happy baby and has always slept well during the night. I am concerned about the amount of solids/formula she is having, as I have been advised to keep an eye on her weight.   Her weight has increased quite a bit over the past few months since I stopped breastfeeding at 6 weeks and switched to formula. It has gone from dipping below average centile range to now hitting 86th centile range. She always seems as if she wants more milk or solids than I give her although she does not cry for it. At present she is taking Hipp 1st stage formula milk, which I am intend to change to 2nd stage.

Feeding details

7.30am - 5-7ozs formula, followed by 3 cubes fruit and 1tsp baby rice
11.00am - 4-6ozs formula, followed by 2 cubes of sweet potatoes with 2 cubes of peas or 2 cubes of carrot and 2 cubes of parsnips
2.30/3pm - 6ozs formula
5pm - 2 cubes of potato and 2 cubes of broccoli, 2ozs water
6.30pm - 7ozs formula

Daily Milk intake - 23-26ozs
Team Response

My baby is nearly seven months and weighs 7.7kgs.
We introduced breakfast when he was six months and have managed to gradually increase the amount of gluten free oat cereal to 4/5 teaspoons with fruit puree. However for the last few days he has absolutely refused his solids at breakfast and his milk intake has also dropped too. Today I managed to get him to eat a small amount of Weetabix.
Is there a reason for this behaviour? Is there a solution? Might I be over feeding him at lunch?

My son feeds at 7.10am, 180-200mls formula taken with a 10 minute rest after two thirds. Now he refuses the last 60-80mls.
4-5teaspoons oat cereal and 1 cube of fruit, now refused.
11.40am, 6-7cubes of protein such as chicken casserole with 1 cube of vegetables, ½ baby yoghurt, mango sticks as finger food, a little water.
3.00pm 150-180mls formula
4.15pm, offered water, takes a little, sucks on a crust of bread and fruit stick
6.00pm 200-240mls formula, 6tsp baby rice mixed with 40mls formula, 2 cubes fruit puree.

My son naps at 9.15-10am, 12.40-2.15pm and 4-4.20pm.
Team Response

I have been trying to move tea to 5pm, but finding it difficult to find anything my 7mth old son will eat at this time of day. I have tried thick soups, pasta with sauce; jacket/mashed potato with various toppings, baby rice with vegetables mixed in. He eats really well at other times of the day, but at tea time just screams and has now begun to wake up in the night hungry. It was 4 times in the last week - he had been sleeping 12 hours from approx 5 months. I have resorted to feeding him, usually 4-5ozs after trying the core night method.

One night I tried moving back to baby rice and fruit after his milk - which he ate, but still woke in the night. Any suggestions of what I should do? I’m thinking of reintroducing the 10pm feed just so we aren't up in the night.

My son feeds at 7.15am 8ozs formula, followed by 2-3teaspoons of porridge with pureed fruit.
11.30am, 6-8 cubes of meat casserole with vegetables. 3-4ozs juice
2.30pm, 4-5ozs formula
5.00pm, attempt at tea
6.30pm, 8ozs formula.

My son weighs 17lbs 12ozs.

He naps at 9.20-9.40am and 12.20-2.20pm. He is settled by 7pm.
Team Response

Since starting second stage weaning three weeks ago the routine is going completely wrong.
I did initially start with organic baby food jars as we moved from the USA to the UK and then stayed in various places before settling down. The last two weeks I have made their own food. The twins were 6 weeks early so I use their adjusted age for weaning.

Both babies seem to be able to take much breakfast. I have tried tier feeding, solids first, full bottle first etc. I have now found an amount of milk they will drink when they first wake and the cereal quantity is the maximum they can manage.So around 10.30am they are puckish and I give them a small feed of 2ozs each. For lunch they used to take 2 jars of the organic baby food, since making my own form the GF Weaning Book I have measured that they can hardly eat the equivalent of 1.5 jars between them.
Once again I tried tier feeding, offering milk right after solids and right before lunchtime nap etc, but things seem to have got worse since introducing protein.
My son in particular doesn’t seem keen on the 2.30pm feed until later. The 5pm dinner goes just as badly as the babies don’t seem hungry until 6pm. The last two nights both babies have had dinner, bedtime milk and then the baby rice/oats with fruit as they were still hungry.
¾ of the way through each meal the babies start crying hysterically and I have offered milk and water/juice to no avail. Eventually I sop feeding them as they are tired and grumpy and I can’t tell if they have had enough. It seems to me that they are eating less and less each day.
My daughter’s problem is that she always wakes up crying at lunchtime after 1hour, though often settles herself again but wakes her brother. She used to do this when I gave her a top up of milk before going down, I am not sure if the reflux she suffered made it worse. Things got better after I introduced her to solids but worse again since the introduction of protein.
My son’s problem is that he is waking earlier and earlier each morning, 5.30am now [though not crying but waking his sister up]. I have tried to wean him off the late afternoon nap, but this results in him being hysterical over dinner and falling asleep during it. I tried moving this meal to 4.45pm but they are not hungry and if moved to later he won’t drink his bedtime bottle. The early morning waking means that both babies want to sleep much longer first thing in the morning, although I don’t let them. I also have to stretch them to 9.15am; otherwise they become overtired at lunch. I start lunch by 11.30am so they can be settled for their nap by 12.15pm. This means they don’t wake too late and so can have a quick nap before dinner.
I am getting really stressed as for the last two months the routine has worked like magic despite moving countries, houses and both babies cutting 4 teeth in one go!
I just don’t know how to make them eat more and sleep properly like before. The whole day is just a constant round of feeding, unsettled babies and clock watching so they get their naps in order to stay awake and happy during meal times.
The only good part of our day seems to be the 3.30-5pm walk, should they be at home playing instead? I can’t go to any mother and baby groups as my son cries hysterically at the other babies’ noises and it always seems to be their feed time. I feel so trapped. Please help as I want my happy babies back.

My son feeds at 7.15am 5.5ozs, 8.15am ½ weetabix/oats mixed with 1.5ozs formula, 10.30am 2ozs, 11.30am, equivalent of ¾ jar of homemade vegetables with chicken/lentils/ fish or turkey, 1petit filous, 3.00pm 6-6.5ozs, 5pm equivalent of ¾ jar home made vegetable soup/ root medley, toast, 6.45pm 8ozs. He weighs 20lbs.

My daughter feeds at 7.15am 4.5ozs, 8.15am, ¼ weetabix/oats mixed with 1oz formula, 10.30am 2ozs formula, 11.30am equivalent of ½ jar of homemade vegetables with chicken/lentils/ fish or turkey, 1petit filous, 2.30pm 5.5ozs, 5pm, equivalent of ½ jar of home made vegetable soup/root medley and toast, 6.45pm 6ozs.

Both babies are offered water/diluted juice in a beaker at lunch and dinner. She weighs15lbs.

The twins nap at 9.15-9.55am, 12.15-2.15pm and 4.40-5pm. They settle at 7pm.
Team Response

I started giving my daughter solids when 6 months following Norwegian guidelines. Since starting solids she first started to wake up more often at night, about 3-4 times per night. Now she is back on twice. We decided to drop the afternoon nap after she took almost 45 minutes to fall asleep, if she did at all. Now she is really tired and grumpy from 4.30 instead. She also wakes earlier in the morning now since dropping the afternoon nap.
But our main problem is that she hates eating solids. I have tried baby rice and babyhirse, pear (her favorite so far), carrot, prunes and apple. She has eaten a whole cube of pear once, but normally only half a cube of vegetables or half a teaspoon porridge.

At present she is fully breast fed taking feeds at 7am 2mins, 8am 3mins, 10.45am 5mins, 2.30pm 7mins, 5.30pm 7mins, 6.30pm 3mins, 10pm 5mins and 2.30am 5mins. She will take 20mls of water at 11am and 5.30pm with her solids. At 10.45am she takes ½ cube of apple or carrot and at 5.45pm she takes ½-1 teaspoons of baby hirse porridge, this is equivalent to baby rice with more iron. This is mixed with 1 cube pear or ½ cube prune puree.

My daughter weighs 7500gr [16lbs 9ozs].

She naps at 9-9.25am and 12-2.30pm. She settles at 7pm.
Team Response

My daughter is very much a contented baby, thanks to your routines. She is now 7 months and is about to start the second weaning stage where protein will be introduced at lunch time. My issue is that my husband leaves the house at 7am and does not return until 7pm. If I put my daughter to bed at 7pm he will not see her until the weekend which is not acceptable to us. Up until now my daughter has been feeding and sleeping according to the schedule and then with dinner at 6pm, bath at 7pm and bed at 7:45pm or 8pm. This way my husband gives her a bath and has an hour with her before bed. I would like to maintain her bed at 8pm but the book now says to move her dinner to 5pm (solids) then milk at 6:30pm and bed at 7:00pm. How can I adjust the feeding/sleeping so she can still go to bed at 7:45pm/8pm? Why is the dinner time moved from 6pm back to 5pm with milk at 6:30pm at the six month stage in the book? Please advise a feeding schedule for bed at 8pm.

At present my daughter receives full breast feeds at 7am, 11.30am having one breast before and one after her solids, 2.30 and 6pm. She takes 3tsps oat or barley cereal mixed with 2 cubes of fruit puree at breakfast. At 11.30am she takes 5 cubes of pureed vegetables and at 6pm 3tsp rice cereal with two cubes of fruit puree.

My daughter naps at 9-9.40am, 12.30-2.15pm 5.15-5.30pm. She settles from 8pm -6.45am.
Team Response

My daughter who is just 8 months is still waking for a feed in the night. Can she really still be hungry at this age? We started the CLB routines from week 1, but she has never consistently slept through the night. However we dropped the 10/10.30pm feed at 4 months, as she was still waking up again for another feed before 7am. We found that if we let her sleep, she would only wake up once in the night before 7am. We felt that this was acceptable to us, and we honestly thought that once we started her on solids, she would eventually sleep through the night.

Her weight gain has always been slow, (6th percentile), but she is currently in the 70th percentile for her height. She has also been hitting all the developmental milestones, so the doctor’s have not been too concerned.

We started her on solids at 6 1/2 months, which my daughter has taken to quite happily. We have been following Gina’s weaning plan, although I have been trying to introduce new foods every 2 days. We have not introduced any protein as yet, as I wanted to get through all the first stage weaning foods first. My daughter has slept through the night a couple of times since we started her on solids, but it has never been consistent. When she wakes up in the night, we always leave her for 10-15mins to see if she will resettle on her own. Sometimes she does resettle, but if she is persistent, she will only go back to sleep if she is fully breastfed. I have also been reducing the time of this night feed.

I’m also worried that this night waking is now so much a habit, that we'll have to do some controlled crying if its not hunger. I would like to get a decent night’s sleep!

My daughter is totally breast fed. She has full feeds at 7.30am, 2.30pm, and 11.45pm. At 11am she has half a feed before her solids of 10-15 minutes, and 5 minutes afterwards. She takes a half feed of 5 minutes at 5pm and another 20 minutes at 6.15pm.
She takes 1-1.5tablespoons oatmeal cereal mixed with 1oz expressed milk and 2 cubes of pear or peach puree at breakfast.
At 11am she takes 6-7 cubes of vegetable purees, finger food such as cooked carrots and beans are offered. Water is offered in a cup.
After her small feed at 5pm she is given 1-2 tablespoons rice cereal mixed with 1oz expressed breast milk and 2 cubes of pear or apple puree.
My daughter weighed 14lbs 10ozs at 7.5 months.
She naps at 9-9.50am and 12.15-2.15pm. She settles at 7pm.
Team Response

As my husband had a severe wheat intolerance as a child (almost fatal!), we waited until 9 months before introducing gluten to my older son's diet, and will do the same with my 8-month-old baby. However, this restricts the finger foods we can give him. My older son (4 years old), was very slow to accept textured food, or lumps, and his brother is showing signs of going the same way. I've tried introducing fruit: pieces of banana, melon, raspberries etc, and he is very keen, but he invariably gags, often bringing everything back up. He has no teeth yet, which probably doesn't help! So far, all he's managed in terms of finger foods are rice cakes and gluten-free rusks. I do try to give home cooked meals where possible – he actually prefers them to the jars, which I mainly use when out and about, but these also need to be well pureed. I can't give him toast or pasta yet; can you suggest any alternative finger foods for a baby with no teeth?
He is breast fed at 7am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm. He is offered formula in a cup with breakfast and water at lunchtime. He eats porridge with fruit at breakfast, a varied selection of protein dishes such as cottage pie, chicken with squash, apricot and carrot or sweet potato with beef and carrot. At tea he has root vegetables in “cheese” sauce, broccoli, cauliflower, potato and cheese and other vegetarian dishes.
Team Response

My 7-month-old daughter has been feeding and sleeping well on the CLB routine. However, she does seem to get very irritable and hungry well before her feed times at 11.30am and 5.30pm. She seems satisfied after each meal, so I am not sure whether I should also be giving her snacks between meals.
At present she is being weaned from the breast, recently dropping the 11 and 2pm feeds. At breakfast she takes 2 tbsp porridge or small unsweetened yoghurt, half a banana or 2 cubes of apple/pear and approx 6oz milk. Lunch is 5 cubes of vegetables including lentils, chicken and fish. She is still having 3ozs of formula with this and I am feeding her with the "tier" method; she does get upset when I take the bottle away. She has a 6 oz bottle at 2.15pm and tea is 3 cubes of vegetables then 2 cubes of fruit. I am planning to drop this breast feed soon. She weighs 8kgs.
Team Response

I started weaning my son at 4.5 months according to the guidelines in Gina's weaning book, and he took to all the solids I introduced (the "first foods" as stated) very well. However, I took him on holiday to America for 3 weeks (we have just returned) and while I did continue feeding him solids to keep him interested, after making sure he had had a full breast feed before each "meal" , I didn't venture beyond the "first foods" which are baby rice, pear, apple, carrot, sweet potato, green bean and courgette. He has been sleeping very well on the CLBB routines, although I have only recently dropped the 10:30pm feed, because I was too afraid to have him waking up with all the changes to his routine brought about by the holiday.
Now that he is 6 months old I'm not sure how to up his solid intake. I have started him on a little baby oat porridge in the morning, which he takes well, just as he does everything. There is no history of food allergies in my family that I know of, although because I occasionally suffer from hay fever I have been staying away from peanuts while I am breastfeeding. He is large for his age so I was wondering whether I need to go through the whole 5-6 month routine, or whether it would be safe to get a little more adventurous now.
At present my son is breast fed at 7.15am, 11am, 2.30pm and 6pm. He takes 2-3 tsp oat porridge mixed with breast milk at breakfast, 2 cubes carrot puree and 1 cube green bean (or similar combination) at lunch and 1 tbsp baby rice with 2 cubes of apple/pear mixed with breast milk at 6pm. He weighs about 20lbs.
Team Response

My son has recently begun to be difficult to feed at lunchtime. For three weeks now, he will not give up his milk at lunchtime. We are down to 5oz, but he refuses his solids and cries throughout lunch for his bottle. He is not content to just have some of it between spoonfuls. He does eat the solids, but is very unhappy throughout. I have tried feeding him earlier, and giving him a mid-morning snack in case he was just too hungry to wait for solids to fill him up; neither worked. Now, he is beginning to do the same at breakfast and tea time. My once good eater is now totally unhappy and stressed at mealtimes.
He feeds at 7am 8ozs and 3 tbsp oats with 2 cubes fruit puree, fruit or rusk as snack, 11.15am 5ozs and 5 cubes of various vegetables, 2.30pm 7ozs, 5.30pm 5tsps rice with 2 cubes of pear, 6.30pm 6ozs.
He has also started waking two or three times during the night, when previously he had slept through 7-7. He wakes screaming, but there is nothing I can see that is wrong. We have let him cry it out, and he does eventually settle after 30-45 minutes.
Team Response

My son will not eat food with lumps of any size nor will he eat finger foods. When this is tried, he gags and coughs until he violently throws up what would appear to be his feed and any previous feeds. As soon as he feels something of a slight lump on his tongue he starts to gag.
I have tried banana in very small pieces, yogurt with small bits, cheese strings, bread and toast with the same result of gagging and making himself violently sick. He has mild reflux and has just been prescribed Ranitidine and Domperidone which he is to be started on. I have been in touch with a couple of baby food manufacturers but neither do food in between puree and lumps.
As I cannot cook, I use jars to ensure he gets the vitamins required.
When he was first weaned he refused baby rice and other mixes, clamping his mouth shut or throwing up. He took to fruit and veg puree (jars) straight away. I am getting to the stage where I am afraid to give him finger foods or foods with lumps as the amount of vomit that he brings up seems excessive. When he has thrown up he is always very hungry at his next feed as if he has emptied his stomach. The nursery staff are also experiencing the same problems with him throwing up, as it was thought that if he saw other children eating things he would copy them. They do try and give him cooked food mashed down without lumps. He has been experiencing problems with being congested and mucus-y for approx 8 weeks and his weight has been up and down with a very low weight gain during this time (approx 5oz), but I have been told that as long as he's getting fluids in him not to worry too much about food. So I am wary about him gagging and throwing up on lumps at present, if this makes any sense. My son is normally a happy smiley baby and doing very well in all other areas of development.
At present he has a jar of breakfast food or weetabix after having 4-6 oz milk at 7am, at 11.45 he takes a jar of baby food (meat) and a jar of fruit or yoghurt. He takes 3-4 ozs of milk at 3pm and at 5.15pm has a jar of baby food sometimes followed by 1/2 jar fruit. At 6.30pm 4-7 ozs milk.
Team Response

Samuel is a happy baby and has always eaten well until two weeks ago. Now he refuses everything offered to him regardless of what it is. I have tried finger foods and he just throws them on the floor. I have given him a spoon to hold whilst I feed him; it makes no difference, he just won't open his mouth. I have tried tricking him by offering water which he will always take and getting a spoon in as he opens his mouth, but he is wise to this now. He is having three milk feeds a day, but because of his lack of food intake is waking once again in the night for feeds.
Last night he woke at 12.15am, I tried not to feed him but he was still crying at 2.15am so I gave in, fed him and he slept to 6.30am. Samuel has been breast fed since birth, he refuses a bottle when offered and has done so for months.
Before this problem began he was sleeping twelve hours a night. Samuel is now grumpy and I am exhausted through lack of sleep.
I have tried teething gel before a feed but that makes no difference. He has had a cold this week but is getting over it, otherwise he is well.
He is taking breast feeds at 7am, 2.30pm, 7.30pm and 2.30am. He takes water at 11.45am. He presently weighs 17lbs 7ozs.
His rejected his breakfast of cereal and fruit puree. He took some pork and apple casserole after being tricked with a feeder cup and the yoghurt. He took some spaghetti and tomatoes with cheese, again eaten by being tricked, along with apples and custard, again taken when tricked into eating. Most of each meal was rejected. He took three cups of water during the day.
He slept from 9-9.30am and 12.30-2.30pm. He settled to sleep at 8pm.
Team Response

18.

Olivia is refusing 95% of her solids. I have tried: self-feeding, spreading veggies on bread fingers, veggie fingers and offering a few ozs of milk then her solids. I have tried to give her a few ozs of milk before solids, but she just grizzles until she gets her bottle (usually after 30-60 minutes of getting her to eat). She has been "teething" for a few months now and I am wondering if that could be the reason, but it could still be months before her first tooth appears. Olivia does not seem to be hungry between meals and is not waking in the night. Mealtimes are becoming quite stressful.
She still has 4 milk feeds a day: 7.30am 240 ml, 11.30am 150 ml, 2.30pm 200 ml and 6pm 240mls. At 4.15pm she has 2-3 ozs water. Her present weight is 7.5 kg.
Her breakfast is: 1tsp yoghurt, 1 mouthful of toast and lunch is 2-3 mouthfuls veggies and /or cheese, chicken or tuna.
She has two naps in the day: 9-9.45am and 12.30-2.30pm and settles at 7pm.
Team Response

I have started to follow the weaning plan for my second daughter, having had success with it for my first. I began to wean Jenna at 5 months. The first month went really well. She ate a wide range of vegetables and by 6 months was accepting lentils and chicken. However, over the last two weeks she has started to refuse solids. At first it was just lunch and I thought the cause could be tiredness. I moved lunch from 11.30am to 11am but it has made no difference. She screams at the first sight of a spoon. The same thing now happens at breakfast and tea.
I had her weighed this week for the first time in 6 weeks and she has dropped from the 25th to the 5th percentile. Please give me some advice as mealtimes are becoming very stressful.
Jenna weighed 7lbs 1oz at birth and now at 6.5mths is 14lbs 11ozs. She drinks between 20-23 ozs of milk a day.
Team Response

I tried to introduce solids at 5.5 months and things went well for a few days. Then she became ill with rotavirus and the doctor told me to stop weaning until the sickness and diarrhoea cleared up. This took just over 4 weeks. I tried to start weaning again when she was better but now she just clamps her mouth shut and refuses to eat anything. I have tried all sorts of foods, but when I manage to get any food in her mouth she just gags and refuses even more vigorously. I have tried some of the suggestions sent to me via the message boards, but all to no avail. She is 8 months next week and still not weaned.
I have tried solids before, during or after bottles. If I feed her formula first, she throws all her milk back up when she gags.
At present her feeds are 07.15 6ozs, 11.00 8ozs, 14.30 6ozs, 18.30 8ozs giving a total of 28ozs.
She is not putting on any weight and has dropped from the 50th to 25th percentile on her weight chart. At present she weighs 16lbs 2ozs. I am really worried and running out of things to try. She also refuses water. Apart from this issue, she is a perfect contented little baby.
Team Response

My daughter has recently started to refuse breakfast following her breastfeed in the morning. I now only feed her from one side in the hope she will have more of an appetite for her cereal, but this does not seemed to have worked. She is offered Weetabix and half a banana followed by finger food such as toast or a rice cake, but she isn’t interested. Despite her small breakfast she manages to wait until 11.45 for lunch. She eats a protein meal, followed by fruit or yoghurt and has dinner at 5pm with another meal followed by fruit or yoghurt. At both meals she has water from a beaker. She has a breast feed before bed at 6.45pm. Despite eating her lunch and dinner well I find she is not at all interested in finger food and despite my bests efforts eats nothing herself.
She has always been a good sleeper. However she now is waking at around 5.15 and 6.15am, although she settles herself again. When I fetch her at 7.15am she may have been awake for a while but is not crying from hunger. Is this normal?
My daughter is 8 months old and weighs 21lbs 2 ozs.
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I started weaning Olivia at about 41/2 months, strictly following the CLB Book of Weaning. She took solids with no problems and seemed happy on them. About 4 weeks ago she got a slight cold. Since then she refuses to take her solids and is only happy with milk and water. Sometimes she will eat solids (rice cereal and pureed apple or pear) at the 6pm feed. We were at the end of the first stage of weaning when she got the cold.
Olivia is now almost 7 months and weighs 8kg. She has 4 milk feeds a day: 7.30am 240mls, 11.30am 180mls, 2.30pm 180mls, 6.00pm 240mls and 60ml of water at 4.15pm.
She doesn’t seem hungry as she is not looking for feeds earlier or waking in the night. She sleeps well from 7pm to 7am.
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Please help! Edward is seven months old and has been fantastic for ages, we went on holiday and roughly four days after we came back he has been waking several times a night.
His schedule is breakfast of one weetabix with fruit puree and buttered toast fingers at 7.30am and 9oz of milk between 8 and 8.30am; lunch at 12pm of chicken, potato and carrot mixed with fruit puree, 3-4 mild cheese slices and a petit filous with a 2oz drink of well-diluted ribena. He’ll have 8oz of formula at about 3.30pm. His supper at around 5.30pm is something like 2tbs tomato pasta mixed with fruit puree, 3 bread & butter fingers, 2-3 mild cheese slices, 3tbs fruit puree and a drink of 2 oz of well-diluted ribena. He’ll have 9oz of formula between 6.30 and 7pm and then go down for the night. He has a morning nap of 45 minutes at 9.30. His lunchtime nap is two hours or so at about 1pm.
He is refusing his food. I know he is not eating enough but he just clamps his mouth shut and starts blowing raspberries! He will take the first couple of spoons with no trouble but then the only way to get it into him is by putting fruit puree on the front of the spoon, this works for a few more spoons but then he gets wise and won’t take anymore. Meal times have become a real strain, as I am well aware of the fact that if he doesn’t eat enough he doesn’t sleep properly, so I spend ages trying to make him eat his full quota. I have now taken to letting him eat as much or little as he wants because it’s just becoming too stressful spending an hour getting him to eat. He has always eaten fantastically well, so I don’t know what has happened. He loves feeding himself with finger food but as soon as the spoon appears it’s another story. I let him have a spoon of his own but if there is ever food on it, it mainly ends up in his ears or hair . The only meal that actually sees him opening his mouth to take his food without protest is breakfast and even then he sometimes will only eat half a weetabix. I know that he is going down for his lunchtime sleep too late but this is just because he is taking so long to eat his lunch.
The wakings in the night are now catching up on me. I am three months pregnant and desperately need to get a good night’s sleep. I spoke with Gina pre going on holiday and she advised me that he should be having 7tbs spoons of protein at lunch, he was eating that and more on holiday and for a few days when we got back but then suddenly everything went topsy-turvey. I know he is teething but am not sure what I should do. I have on a couple of occasions thought that I should just feed him when he first wakes at around 1am but I really don’t want to start feeding him in the night as I know it can become a difficult habit to break. Even when he was a little baby, he wasn’t waking as many times as this! I am just not used to it. HELP!
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I started weaning Elliot at 5 months, following the Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning. Then, when he was six months old and just after introducing protein at lunch, both Elliot and I suffered with on-going colds, flu, tummy bugs etc. I was too unwell to prepare many different meals for him and introduced organic commercial jars of food instead. When I tried to introduce home-cooked meals again I was met with refusal, tears and tantrums so kept up with the jars. Over the last couple of weeks, we have had more tantrums at mealtimes until he started refusing the jars and even the sweet fruits he used to love. I decided to start the weaning process again from scratch (baby rice etc) in a speeded-up version and we're now on different mixed veg. The first four or five mouthfuls are a success but then he starts fidgeting in his seat and thrashing his arms about until he refuses any more food. I know he’s still hungry because if I offer him a favourite fruit, he eats it all. I really try and stay calm and try to distract him but I'm at the end of my tether. I can't see how we can progress. He has also started to wake between 5.30-6am, very hungry.
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I need advice how to get back on track after my 6-month-old son has been ill with sickness and diarrhoea for over two weeks. He’s been feeding like a young baby with high fluid intake and totally off solids. He has taken a few spoons of food today, so that’s a good sign, but my health visitor says I should try changing my routine, with milk at 7am, breakfast at 10am, milk at 1pm, then food in the late afternoon. I really don’t want to do this, as Morgan was so happy with Gina's plan, but I want to get Morgan’s weight back up and stop the two night feeds he has been having, both a full 7oz, one at 10.30pm-ish, and the other around 3am. Please help as I just don’t know where to start first. Should I start to dilute one of the night feeds now or should I wait? His last weight was 16lb 4oz but should have been around 17lbs according to his growth chart. Will it be a slow recovery? Should I stop worrying?
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Please help, I'm desperate! I've followed the routines since Ben was around one month old and we've not been doing too badly but for the last month, things have been going from bad to worse with feeding solids. He is now eight months old and has started to clamp his mouth shut when I try to feed him solid food. As soon as I put the spoon near his mouth, he starts getting very angry. As a result, he wants more milk feeds and is waking earlier. If I put the TV on, I can sometimes get a few spoonfuls down him but he is getting wise to this now and I don't really want to depend on the TV distracting him to get food down him anyway. My HV said to offer him finger foods but he has no teeth and just throws everything I offer on the floor. I've always given him homemade food. In the last few days, I've tried jars in desperation but he refuses them as well. He drinks 18-20oz of milk each day. He will take sweet foods slightly better but in the last week I have cut these out, so he hasn't had any fruit at all. I thought that might work but it hasn't!
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Help. My son is 6 ½ months old, he weighs 18lb and is extremely happy and contented. My problem, I think, has been self inflicted, but I am desperate to get him back on track. I recently weaned Henry from breast to bottle. He wakes around 6.30-7am and I give him a bottle of formula; sometimes he will take 8oz and others 4-5 oz. He then has a little play for a couple of hours and I feed him his breakfast around 8.30am which typically would be fruit puree with yoghurt or baby cereal mixed with fruit. Again, I offer him the remaining milk after making up the cereal and he happily takes this. I then put him down for a sleep which usually is for about 45 minutes. I give Henry his lunch around 12-12.30pm which is usually chicken or fish with vegetables, and this is where the problem starts. He has a little drink of water first, then he refuses to take anything savoury. I made the mistake of mixing apple puree in with this meal and he then would finish the bowl. After this meal, he takes 2-3oz of milk. He then plays for a short while and I put him back down for a sleep, which is usually for about one hour. Dinner is around 4.30pm and I usually give him a rusk mixed with fruit puree and 2 teaspoons of natural yoghurt which he finishes, followed by a bottle of formula and he usually takes around 4-5oz. He plays and then dozes for about thirty minutes in his highchair and is in the bath with his sister around 6.30pm, and ready for bed at 7pm. He is given a bottle then and usually takes 7-8oz. Henry usually sleeps right through, but he has been waking in the night and playing – I leave him and he goes back to sleep. I feel that feeding times have become a constant battleground with screaming and crying unless the option is sweet. I have been tough and not given in, but I need some help over which way to go. Do I go back to basics again?
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I am an older mother (nearing 40) of a seven-month-old baby girl, and pregnant with our second child (in the first trimester). Our daughter, Cassidy, is generally a very happy baby, and has been a Gina baby all her life. Her sleep patterns, her feeding, weaning etc have all been according to Gina, and this has worked incredibly well for us - if we had a wobble, going back to Gina has always sorted it out.
All Gina's advice has worked really well for us until the last fortnight, when we were suddenly confronted with an apparently fussy eater. With a freezer full of puréed organic vegetables (as Gina advises) and her diet entirely according to Gina's weaning book, all had been going swimmingly. However, we now have a prolonged session of pursed lips and spitting at every meal. The most frustrating thing is that if we trick her into taking a mouthful she quite happily eats it. So mealtimes are now a long series of tricks designed to get her to open her mouth.
She seems to particularly dislike mushy foods, and has taken to small sandwiches with gusto. However, we are concerned at how we get vegetables into her, and how we can vary her diet. And how we can make mealtimes a bit easier - like they used to be!
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I was hoping you could help, my daughter Keira is 6 months old and I have been following Gina's routines since she was 4 weeks old. All of a sudden Keira has been waking up at around 10 to 11.30pm. Below you will find her daily routine. If you could help me with this I would be very grateful.
I look forward to your advice.

DAILY ROUTINE
7am Breast feed 15 min on each side plus two teaspoonfuls of baby porridge and two tablespoons of fruit purée. She doesn't always want much of her breakfast. She is happy until nap time at 9am. She sleeps in the pram at this nap as I go for a run with her for 30-45 minutes. At 11.30am I breastfeed from one breast (6 to 8 min). She stops after this time and wants her solids, which are 6 cubes of 6 months recipes from Gina's weaning book e.g., red lentil savoury, minestrone soup etc... then a very short feed from the second breast.

12.15/12.30pm She settles ok, cries for up to 5 minutes sometimes before getting
off to sleep. 50% of the time she sleeps the whole 2 hours and I then need to wake
her. The other 50% of the time she has 40-60 minutes then wakes up and cries.
I have tried to cut the morning nap down to 20 min in the hope she would sleep better at lunch time but she is then too tired to eat etc.. then gets over-tired!

At 2.30pm she is breastfed from one side for 10 to 15 min. At 5pm she has her dinner - 6 tablespoons of the same recipes as above for lunch I’ve just started giving her a tablespoon of fruit after as she is still looking for more.

5.45pm she has a bath. 6.30pm, a breast feed on each side 15 minutes. Some nights she is ready for bed right after the breast feed; on other nights she has a 5 minute roll on the floor then we go to her room while we sit together for 5 minutes and I wait for her to rub her eyes then place her in bed awake.

For the last 3 weeks she has started waking between 10-11.30pm. I have tried to settle her with a cuddle or water but she screams until I offer her the breast. Then she usually will feed from both breasts again for 20-30 minutes in total. She will then sleep for the rest of the night but then not want much milk or breakfast in the morning. This waking happens about 25% of the time.
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I started to wean my son at 18 weeks and followed the CLB guidelines to the letter. By 20 weeks he just wasn't bothered with solids at all. By 21 weeks he wouldn't take them from me at all. We were travelling a lot and I have to admit that I ended up giving in and most of his feeds went back to breastfeeding with only one feed of solids every day; even that was a struggle. I was back to totally feeding on demand. Now he is 6-months-old I really want to do the right thing for him and get into a disciplined feeding pattern - I also would like to introduce formula for the afternoon feed. Although he took a bottle of expressed milk up to 9 weeks, he has point blankly refused it since; he does take water from a sippy cup though. I just don't know where to start and I am so confused with it all and desperately need some guidance.
From 3 weeks he would sleep from 10.30 pm through to 7.30am and by 12 weeks it was 9pm - 8am. At 16 weeks he started to wake up during the night so put him down at 7.30, giving him a dream feed as suggested. That worked for a while but now he takes his dream feed and still wakes up at night.
He has never slept much during the day.
At present he breast feeds at 8am, 11am, 2.30pm, 5pm, 7.30pm,11pm, 4am. He is given solids at 11.45am of carrot and sweet potato or baby rice and fruit puree. He eats about 3 tablespoons. At 6pm he takes carrot and sweet potato, or avocado or baby rice and fruit puree (up to 2 tablespoons). He weighs 20lbs.
He sleeps from 10-10.45am, 12.30-1.30pm, 4.30-5pm.
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I am just a little confused about what the balance of my twins boys’ milk/ solids should be, as they are being introduced to solids later. In the weaning book it starts at 4 months i.e. still offering the milk first followed by 1tsb of baby rice etc. Should I be offering more solids to my boys than the book suggests for 4-5 months, as they will be 6 months next week. In the book it says they should be on 3 meals a day by 6 months and cutting down on their milk intake.
I am concerned that I am still offering them too much milk and not enough solids - what is the correct balance for babies of this age?
At present they have 1 cube of carrot puree at 11am and 2 tsp baby rice mixed with 1 cube of pear at 6pm.
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My twins are nearly 23 weeks so I am aware that I will need to introduce solids soon, despite them showing no real signs of being ready. How do I adapt the evening routine in the evening to accommodate two babies? At present I am feeding them alone and have to start feeding them their bottle about 5.45pm. It can become difficult if I leave it any later. Do you think I need to bring the feed time forward even further to accommodate the solids?
I do not bath them in the evening as this was too stressful for all of us, so after their feed at 5.45 they are settled by about 6.35pm.
Team Response

Just a quick question. When I’m preparing food for my baby, would it be better to steam the food to purée? If so, for how long? Should I use filtered water in the steamer or is it not necessary?
Team Response

My baby boy, Tyler, will be six months old tomorrow. He was exclusively breast-fed until 24 weeks, at which point we started weaning, and my plan is to continue with breast-feeding. He has followed the contented baby routine from around 10 weeks, which suits him brilliantly, and he is a complete star. He falls asleep as soon as he is put into his cot, and feeds and sleeps when he is supposed to – he’s great!
The only concerns I have at the moment are related to weaning. All the research and reading that I’ve seen, recommends exclusive breastfeeding until six months – which we have done. The problem is, however, that although the government recommends 6 months, the meal planners/suggestions start from 4 months (I have your Contented Weaning book).
Tyler’s weight last week was 15lb 10oz (he was 7lb 8oz at birth) and although he is still within the parameters, he is dipping slightly. The health visitor said he was fine, but recommended increasing his solids. He is taking his solids brilliantly, and has done from day one, although he refuses carrot. I’ve left it for a few days and tried to re-introduce it as you suggest, but I can only get away with very small amounts mixed with rice or sweet potato. At the moment I give him the following, all of which is homemade and organic: 7am - Half breast-feed, 1 tsp baby rice, remainder breast-feed
11am - 2 cubes carrot (or sweet potato)
5.45pm - Half breast-feed, 2 cubes apple (or pear), remainder breast-feed
10pm - 2oz expressed milk
I have been giving him as much solids as he seems to want (within reason) but I’m concerned I might be increasing it too quickly; I’m still sticking to first tastes at the moment. He seems happy and loves his food. I haven’t noticed a decrease in his milk intake, although it is obviously hard to tell. I don’t know the ‘mechanics’ of his digestive system, and perhaps his body needs time to adjust, but he is only filling his nappy every 3-4 days since weaning started, compared to at least once a day previously.
I would be grateful if you could give me your view on how I should adjust the feeding plan for Tyler, in view of him not starting weaning until 24 weeks.
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When my son, Zak, was six months old, I introduced vegetables and protein at teatime, but he began to refuse his savoury altogether, even though he had previously taken vegetables at lunchtime. I think the texture may have put him off. Around the same time, we went on holiday for three weeks and, as he still refused his meals, he ended up on a diet consisting mainly of fruit. He will take his 8oz bottle & baby cereal without any problems and enjoy his 2.30pm (6oz) and 6.30pm (8oz) bottles. But he will not eat his protein lunch or any tea. I have cut out fruit for now and tried baby rice with a small amount of courgette in the evening, which he has eaten, but he will not touch his rice and sweet potato at lunchtime. Nor is he interested in finger foods and rarely puts any food near his mouth by himself. He will not drink much water or juice from a beaker either. Should I go back to baby rice with vegetables? I am, however, worried that he is not getting enough protein. He is not waking at night, sleeps within the routine times and still appears to be contented – but please help.
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Please help! Edward is seven months old and has been fantastic for ages, we went on holiday and roughly four days after we came back he has been waking several times a night.
His schedule is breakfast of one weetabix with fruit puree and buttered toast fingers at 7.30am and 9oz of milk between 8 and 8.30am; lunch at 12pm of chicken, potato and carrot mixed with fruit puree, 3-4 mild cheese slices and a petit filous with a 2oz drink of well-diluted ribena. He’ll have 8oz of formula at about 3.30pm. His supper at around 5.30pm is something like 2tbs tomato pasta mixed with fruit puree, 3 bread & butter fingers, 2-3 mild cheese slices, 3tbs fruit puree and a drink of 2 oz of well-diluted ribena. He’ll have 9oz of formula between 6.30 and 7pm and then go down for the night. He has a morning nap of 45 minutes at 9.30. His lunchtime nap is two hours or so at about 1pm.
He is refusing his food. I know he is not eating enough but he just clamps his mouth shut and starts blowing raspberries! He will take the first couple of spoons with no trouble but then the only way to get it into him is by putting fruit puree on the front of the spoon, this works for a few more spoons but then he gets wise and won’t take anymore. Meal times have become a real strain, as I am well aware of the fact that if he doesn’t eat enough he doesn’t sleep properly, so I spend ages trying to make him eat his full quota. I have now taken to letting him eat as much or little as he wants because it’s just becoming too stressful spending an hour getting him to eat. He has always eaten fantastically well, so I don’t know what has happened. He loves feeding himself with finger food but as soon as the spoon appears it’s another story. I let him have a spoon of his own but if there is ever food on it, it mainly ends up in his ears or hair . The only meal that actually sees him opening his mouth to take his food without protest is breakfast and even then he sometimes will only eat half a weetabix. I know that he is going down for his lunchtime sleep too late but this is just because he is taking so long to eat his lunch.
The wakings in the night are now catching up on me. I am three months pregnant and desperately need to get a good night’s sleep. I spoke with Gina pre going on holiday and she advised me that he should be having 7tbs spoons of protein at lunch, he was eating that and more on holiday and for a few days when we got back but then suddenly everything went topsy-turvey. I know he is teething but am not sure what I should do. I have on a couple of occasions thought that I should just feed him when he first wakes at around 1am but I really don’t want to start feeding him in the night as I know it can become a difficult habit to break. Even when he was a little baby, he wasn’t waking as many times as this! I am just not used to it. HELP!
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Please help, I'm desperate! I've followed the routines since Ben was around one month old and we've not been doing too badly but for the last month, things have been going from bad to worse with feeding solids. He is now eight months old and has started to clamp his mouth shut when I try to feed him solid food. As soon as I put the spoon near his mouth, he starts getting very angry. As a result, he wants more milk feeds and is waking earlier. If I put the TV on, I can sometimes get a few spoonfuls down him but he is getting wise to this now and I don't really want to depend on the TV distracting him to get food down him anyway. My HV said to offer him finger foods but he has no teeth and just throws everything I offer on the floor. I've always given him homemade food. In the last few days, I've tried jars in desperation but he refuses them as well. He drinks 18-20oz of milk each day. He will take sweet foods slightly better but in the last week I have cut these out, so he hasn't had any fruit at all. I thought that might work but it hasn't!
Team Response

Help. My son is 6 ½ months old, he weighs 18lb and is extremely happy and contented. My problem, I think, has been self inflicted, but I am desperate to get him back on track. I recently weaned Henry from breast to bottle. He wakes around 6.30-7am and I give him a bottle of formula; sometimes he will take 8oz and others 4-5 oz. He then has a little play for a couple of hours and I feed him his breakfast around 8.30am which typically would be fruit puree with yoghurt or baby cereal mixed with fruit. Again, I offer him the remaining milk after making up the cereal and he happily takes this. I then put him down for a sleep which usually is for about 45 minutes. I give Henry his lunch around 12-12.30pm which is usually chicken or fish with vegetables, and this is where the problem starts. He has a little drink of water first, then he refuses to take anything savoury. I made the mistake of mixing apple puree in with this meal and he then would finish the bowl. After this meal, he takes 2-3oz of milk. He then plays for a short while and I put him back down for a sleep, which is usually for about one hour. Dinner is around 4.30pm and I usually give him a rusk mixed with fruit puree and 2 teaspoons of natural yoghurt which he finishes, followed by a bottle of formula and he usually takes around 4-5oz. He plays and then dozes for about thirty minutes in his highchair and is in the bath with his sister around 6.30pm, and ready for bed at 7pm. He is given a bottle then and usually takes 7-8oz. Henry usually sleeps right through, but he has been waking in the night and playing – I leave him and he goes back to sleep. I feel that feeding times have become a constant battleground with screaming and crying unless the option is sweet. I have been tough and not given in, but I need some help over which way to go. Do I go back to basics again?
Team Response

I am an older mother (nearing 40) of a seven-month-old baby girl, and pregnant with our second child (in the first trimester). Our daughter, Cassidy, is generally a very happy baby, and has been a Gina baby all her life. Her sleep patterns, her feeding, weaning etc have all been according to Gina, and this has worked incredibly well for us - if we had a wobble, going back to Gina has always sorted it out.
All Gina's advice has worked really well for us until the last fortnight, when we were suddenly confronted with an apparently fussy eater. With a freezer full of puréed organic vegetables (as Gina advises) and her diet entirely according to Gina's weaning book, all had been going swimmingly. However, we now have a prolonged session of pursed lips and spitting at every meal. The most frustrating thing is that if we trick her into taking a mouthful she quite happily eats it. So mealtimes are now a long series of tricks designed to get her to open her mouth.
She seems to particularly dislike mushy foods, and has taken to small sandwiches with gusto. However, we are concerned at how we get vegetables into her, and how we can vary her diet. And how we can make mealtimes a bit easier - like they used to be!
Team Response

My 6mth daughter has accepted her solids well and has been established on 3 feeds a day for the past 2.5 weeks. This has consisted of baby rice or mixed breakfast cereal and pureed fruit for breakfast, a variety of vegetables for lunch and baby rice and pureed fruit for tea (as per the contented baby book of weaning).

I have attempted to introduce fresh home cooked pureed vegetables but I find she will only take a mouthful or two before gagging and spitting them out. So as not to interfere with her feeding routine I opted to stay with the canned vegetables and fruit as she liked them and it was an easy option.

Now that she is 6 months of age and has been on solids for approx 6 weeks I would like to introduce protein. We tried her on the canned option of chicken and vegetables and she took one mouthful of this and then gagged at the next two before spitting out the third mouthful. I stopped offering her this food and went back to her normal vegetable lunch.

I tried her on fresh mashed banana a couple of days earlier and got the same result so again went back to the canned option.

Have you got any advice on how to get my daughter on to home made vegetables and rice and also how to introduce protein without getting the gag spit response.

My daughter feeds at 7am 200mls, 2 tablespoons baby cereal and 3 cubes of fruit puree. 11.30am 150mls formula or expressed breast milk, 5 tablespoons stage 1 vegetables, varied. 2.30pm 150mls formula or expressed breast milk, 6.15pm 200mls formula, 3tsps baby rice mixed with fruit puree. My daughter weighs 8kg [17lbs 10ozs].

She naps at 9-9.30am, 12-2pm and 5-5.15/30pm. She settles at 7pm.
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My son eats his solids well when he is entertained: e.g. at Nursery - he has other children/people to watch, and he was quite content during our recent family holiday to eat whilst watching everything that everyone else was getting up to (we have a large extended family!). However, at home with just 2 parents, he fusses much more. He is particularly difficult in the evening - logical, because he's tired (and so are we!) - But it is worrying because he may not take enough food to get through the night comfortably. That said, he hasn't been waking, except when he had a cold. Do you have any strategies for making this time more enjoyable and less stressful for all of us, please? PS I am gluten intolerant, so my son will not be having gluten until he is 2 years old.

He is breast fed at 7am, 2.30pm and 7pm. He is offered juice and water after his naps and during lunch and dinner.

8.15am, rice porridge and fruit
11.30am, meat and vegetables [including potato], raw fruit given as finger food.
4.30pm snack of rice cake and fruit
6pm rice with vegetables and fruit followed by fruit puree
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Over the last 4 weeks my daughter has been refusing savoury food. She had started on fish and chicken successfully for a week and then stopped eating any savoury foods. She will happily eat yoghurt and custard and can be tempted with fruit purees but is wise to any 'tricks' I try to sneak in some vegetables or protein. She has had various colds and coughs during this time and the week before last she had diarrhea, vomiting and an ear infection so did not eat any food at all (on GP advice). I am aware she is not eating enough as she has not put any weight on in the last 3 weeks and I know she also needs protein. She has no problem taking her milk or breakfast cereal (porridge or up to 1 weetabix with full fat milk) She weighs 18lbs 6ozs.

My daughter drinks 7-8ozs formula at 7am followed by breakfast. She is offered water and a small snack such as a rice cake at 10am. Lunch at 11.45am is 1-2cubes of fruit and a yoghurt or custard. She drinks 7-8ozs formula at 2.30pm and has tea at 4.30pm. This is toast and butter and/ or 4 cubes of fruit puree. She drinks 6oz of formula at 6.30pm.

My daughter naps at 9-9.45am, 12.30-1.30pm and 3.30-4pm. She sleeps from 7pm to 6.30am.
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For about the last 3 weeks, my son who is almost 9 months old has been refusing breakfast solids after being giving most of his milk. I have ignored this and offered him toast of which he eats some.
Over the past 10 days, he is now refusing to eat anything that I offer to him on a spoon. He clamps his mouth shut and goes bright red in the face in refusal. This was just happening at lunchtime but is now happening at tea as well. I did think it might be his teething as he has a 5th tooth coming through, but he goes to nursery one day a week and always feeds well there. His twin brother is a good feeder and consistently eats a good amount. Because there are 2 of them, I do not have the time to spend with him, so if he doesn't want it, I tend to ignore him and carry on feeding his brother. I am worried that he will be losing weight. I am offering finger foods, which he has a go at eating, but most of it ends up elsewhere!
So far it does not seem to have affected his sleep, but I want to sort this out before he does start waking from sleep hungry.
He takes Ready Brek or Weetabix at breakfast with fruit. A piece of toast is offered. Lunch; 4tbsp lamb mince and mashed potato; he eats 3 spoons, organic yogurt. Tea; 3tbsp leek and potato soup: he eats 5 spoonfuls, apple pieces offered.
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My son is now 6 months and 1 week and the last few days he's been refusing his solids. He drinks 180ml (6.2oz) in the morning, which he takes with no problems, but the solids that follow he just doesn’t seem to want. I have to make him smile and sneak the teaspoons in his mouth. He used to really enjoy his solids, so I'm not sure what the problem could be. For his 11.30am feed he started crying when offered his bottle and only takes about 3 tsp of solids, which is forced in him. I thought it could just be that he's not hungry so I moved the feed to 12, but it's still the same. After some fighting he eventually drinks his bottle, but in the process it looks like he's going to fall asleep, but then when I put him down after this he doesn’t fall asleep for a while. He has his normal 1 hour sleep from 9-10, so it's strange that he would be dead tired by 12. Last week he got his two bottom teeth and he's cutting two teeth on the sides at the bottom. Could that be why he doesn’t want to eat? What should I do? I'm worried that he is losing weight.
He presently weighs 9kg. He takes 180ml formula at 7.15am and 3pm, 90 ml 12 midday and 240ml at 6.30pm. He is offered three solid meals a day. Breakfast 3tsp maize cereal with 2 cubes of fruit (but taking none at the moment), chicken risotto at lunch and a blended vegetable meal at tea. He drinks about 80ml diluted juice during the day.
He sleeps at 9-9.45am, 12.20-1.30pm and 4-4.30pm, settles at 7pm- 6.30am.
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My daughter has been a sick baby having had surgery on her bladder 2 weeks ago. She has not been a great eater since she first became ill at 8-weeks-old. She appears to hate milk and when offered will not take it unless she is starving and then it is only a few ounces at most. When she refuses she will drink water. She really does know the difference because when I try to feed her at night and she is sleepy she still does not like it. Given her poor weight gain we have to add calories to the milk and food. My problem is not only with the refusal of the bottle but also of solids. She was better on solids at the start but now will not swallow. She holds food in her mouth and refuses to swallow. I am at my wits end - please help. I have tried letting her go without food/juice but this makes no difference at all. I have to dream feed her at 9pm in her sleep as this is the best bottle of the day and she tolerates it - although again refuses milk after first 2 oz.
At present she takes about 8ozs of milk in 24 hrs, she is given SMA High Energy; each feed being 1-2 ozs each. She is offered 10-15 spoons of food such as baby rice, pear and yoghurt. She weighed 7.1lb at birth and now weighs 11.4ozs.
She naps between 9 and 10am and 12-2pm, then settles at 7pm until 6am.
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My son has been refusing his formula the past few days. First it was only mornings, now its the 14:30 and 18:30 bottle as well. I'm not giving him more solids, and he doesn't get water or diluted juice when he doesn't drink his milk. Today he even refused his evening meal. I woke him up at 20:00 to give him milk, but he simply refused it. He normally loves his home-cooked food. What am I doing wrong? I don't think he's teething at the moment.
He also started waking earlier and earlier. He cries 3-4 times a night, regardless of how much he slept through the day. He obviously gets less sleep at the nursery [3 days a week], but copes happily with it. At present he sleeps at 8.50-9.25am, 12-2.00pm and 4.30-4.40pm. He is settled by 7pm. Most times he settles himself during the night, unless his sleeping bag restricts his movements as he now rolls unto his tummy and he can't roll back unto his back. He won't sleep on his tummy. I normally go into the nursery, and turn him on his back, with the light still off. I never speak to him or pick him up during the night.
We've been so proud of him. He's really doing wonderfully on the routine, even though it doesn't sound like it now.
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I am concerned that my almost 6-month-old daughter is cutting back on her milk, and taking less and less solids, despite having been following Gina's guide for the last 7 weeks.
I started weaning at 17/18 weeks, following the weaning guide. Things had been going extremely well and my daughter was happily sleeping 11-12 hours at night without waking. However, she has begun to cut back on both milk and solids over the last week and, not surprisingly, has started to wake earlier in the morning (although she does not actually cry, neither does she seem to be very hungry). Her eating/sleeping over the last week has roughly been as follows:
7-7.30am 5oz milk (I make up 8 but she will no longer take it) plus a few mouthfuls of porridge and fruit (never the full amount I make up); 11-11.30 am: 3-4oz milk (sometimes as little as 2oz), 2 cubes of vegetables (she was taking 4+), sometimes 2-3ozs diluted fruit juice; 2.30pm: 4-5 oz milk (this is sometimes refused altogether); 5.30pm: 3 spoons baby rice plus 2 cubes fruit (this is the only meal that always goes well) plus diluted fruit juice or a few ounces of milk if she has not taken much at 2.30 pm; 6.45pm 8 oz milk (always finished).
Sleeping generally goes very well during the day: a 30 to 40 minute nap after 9am, between 90 and 140 minutes at lunchtime, and 20-30 minutes at around 4.30, sometimes a little later, depending on how the lunchtime sleep went. She goes down happily at around 7.15pm and was sleeping until at least 6.45am. This can now be as early as 5am.
I am not concerned about her early waking and accept that until solids are really well established she may not sleep until 7am. However, I am concerned that she seems to be eating less and less (and getting much fussier at lunchtime) and cutting back so much on her milk. Her present weight is 17lbs.
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My daughter will not take her milk. During the day she will have a maximum of 2-3 bottles; 2-3 ozs at each feed. Since birth her maximum has been 4ozs. Since introducing solids at 5 months, her milk intake has declined. Eating her solids is a struggle too.
At present she is fed SMA progress with an Avent bottle and variable teat. I use a small baby jar as a portion measure for her food.
During the day she takes:
7am: 1-2 ozs, breakfast: a measure of Ready Brek, with added apricot and banana, and 1oz camomile tea.
9.45am: 1-2ozs formula
11.30am: a measure of a recipe from weaning book; chicken hot-pot, chicken risotto etc, fruit yoghurt and 1 dried apricot (she has no teeth so she gums on this), 1-2 oz diluted juice from cup after meal (she will not drink all of this)
2.30pm: 1-2 ozs formula
5.30pm: a measure of a vegetarian tea, such as pasta or potato with cheese sauce, 1-2 ozs diluted juice from cup.
6.30pm: 1-2 ozs formula, 1 oz camomile tea
10.30pm: 2-3ozs formula
3.30am: 1-2ozs formula
She sleeps at 9-9.30am, 12.30-2.30pm and settles by 7pm. Her present weight is 13lbs 5oz (6.04kg)
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