Does this make me a bad mum?

[Ryatha]

DD2 was feeding every 2-3 hours 24/7 a month ago, and it went on for about 3 weeks, so about two weeks ago I tried her on solids. She grabbed the food, put it in her mouth and started munching on it. She gets solids after a BF some days (farex, avocado, banana, pumpkin, sweet potato etc) and other days she just gets my milk. Since then her feeds are about 2-3 hrs during the day but longer at night.

So all going well I hope but tonight I forgot to give her a BF before dinner and she ate so much dinner I was so surprised, which is when I realised I hadn't given her a feed. Is this going to cause problems? Is introducing solids this early going to be a problem? I'm so confused about the guide lines at the moment that I really don't know if I am doing the right thing.

Any answers or comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Yup, you forget just one thing just the once, they come round with the "dreadful mother" branding iron for your forehead.

No, you're not a bad mother. I did a LOT of research about stomach development when I introduced DS to solids "early": it was in fact late for him. His stomach was ready and he was telling me for a week before I "gave in" or rather he just grabbed my food and ate it. 99.9% of babies are physically ready for solids at 6m and only about 1-2% at 4m, that's why the guidelines changed. But all babies are different so yours will be ready around 4-6m, so don't worry.

One big dinner won't hurt. It's all food she's had before, right? So no allergies. Maybe a bit of a poo issue on the next few days, maybe not. I don't know what "loads" of food is: for DS, even a 5mo DS, "loads" was about an adult yoghurt-pot full then asking for more.

hth

[Doing my best]

Giving her so much in place of BM once off isn't going to hurt her if she is already taking solids so well.

Anyhow, the guidelines do say 6 months to start solids, but every bub is different. Some bubs will handle it earlier, and others won't. Although I am planning on starting DS at 6 months, I will not hesitate to give him solids earlier if I think he will benefit from them. We started DD around 5 months when she would want a feed every 1.5 - 2 hrs.

[Liz]

Yeah, a once off certainly doesn't hurt. And if she's feeding herself, she won't be overfed

I would try to remember to breastfeed first for quite a while to come yet tho, as it has far more calories & nutrients in it than basic solids

[Ryatha]

Yup, you forget just one thing just the once, they come round with the "dreadful mother" branding iron for your forehead.

Really? Well the brand on my head must be massive by now!

Well, I fed her after dinner as she went to bed with her normal routine and it all seemed to go normal. I wont forget a gain, my bb's are so sore at the moment, I'll have to go express and store it.