Start weaning 4 months or 6 months

[Eveadel]

Hi

Sorry if this has been asked before. Ive been looking a baby foods and have noticed baby rice can be given at 4 months but the government recommend 6 months?????

Can anyone recommend a good book for weaning and introducing food ands when.

Thanks girlies

 

I went by 4 months, because Damien had reflux and it was reccomended to us. He was also ready for food. I think anytime from 17 weeks'/4 months is fine if Isabella is showing signs of being ready hun xx

 

[Eveadel]

She isnt ready yet.

Cor blimey I see you are 11 weeks now - that is excellent.

What sort of foods did you introduce

 

Then let her go longer hun As long as you do it by 6 months as waiting too long can affect their speech development.

Yep 11 weeks now, time is flying by!

I started with baby rice but found it to be rubbish Then moved onto very pureed veggies/fruits on their own, things like carrots, pears, apples, cauliflower, sweet potato (firm fave!), squaash, etc, load sof things, anything really! Then later mixed things like sweet mash potato with peas, or carrots with apple (which is actually really nice!).
I also used jars and the packet stuff

 

[Lindsay]

I am in a quandry about this too. My HV didn't want me to start giving Jacob anything until he was 6 months but I felt that he was ready for a bit more so I started to give him a small teaspoon of baby rice mixed with booby milk at lunch time last week as well as a booby feed. Since he had this extra his sleep pattern has gotten better during the day, he now sleeps for 60 mins on the morning and 60/90 mins on the afternoon rather than the odd 20 mins here and there! He is still a nightmare at night time waking every 2/3 hours. But when I took him to be weighed this morning he has lost 2ozs. The HV doesn't want me to give him anything else but I feel so down, he is still feeding regularly but not putting on weight, why?

Xxx

 

[chezzabell]

I started to feed sophie solids when she was 12 weeks old

she was a huge baby and needed more food this was agreed by HV and she said all babies are differnet

 

[Tan]

I'm so glad you asked that Eveadel cause I was going to too! All the stuff i'd read was saying to delay weaning til 6 months and to breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months. But, absolutely nothing said about what to do if you're bottle feeding! Talk about trying to make people feel guilty and crap! Believe me i wanted to breast feed but after 2 weeks of sobbing my way through feeds every hour - 2 hours and blistering nipples I just couldn't cope! Was beginning to resent her too and that certainly wasn't good.

Tan x

 

[nicki]

Do what feels right for you & your baby thats my advice. If the babies are looking hungry, watching your food, fussing & wanting more milk its probably time to try solids & it depends on the size & weight too I think.

We started Jamie on baby rice when he was 3 months because he had so much milk it was getting silly, he was alot happier when he started getting solids, after a couple of weeks on baby rice he had some rusks which he loved & always wanted more.

I had one h/v who told me to wait until J was 6 months & another say I hope you're giving him solids as he's such a big boy! Its all personal opinion at the end of the day.

 

[beanie]

The official line is that it is not advised to wean baby before 17 weeks as research has indicated that their bodies cannot deal with other foods apart from milk at this stage and this can cause damage to their kidneys and digestive system. The six month thing has come about as research has shown that babies do not need anything other then milk for their nutritional needs in the first six months and the later you leave it the less likely allergies are. This is just what the research says, there is a lot of literature out there so I would say read it and make up your own mind. I personally first weaned Seren at 19 weeks but she wasn't ready, so I went back to feeding her (every two hours argh) and eventually she was able to have more solids at 5 months when she was able to feed herself. Babies naturally go through a growth spurt at around 3-4 months so just becareful you do not mistake this as a sign they are ready to wean

 

[Bagpuss17]

It's very confusing isn't it. The world health organisation recommend weaning from between 4-6 months but if your bf to do that exclusively for 6 months. That said I have friends who bf but still weaned their babies at 4 months.

HVs always tell you something else. I only see them to get Isaac weighed and nothing else.

I've quickly learnt that my gut instinct is the best way forward. Isaac started showing signs over the last couple of weeks so I tried him with some baby rice last Friday at 18 weeks +2. I'm starting him on baby rice which he's taking to really well. He had 5 spoonsful today so thought I'd better stop and give him his milk in case he got full up and he polished off the entire 180mls of that too. If he carries on doing well with the baby rice I'm going to start pureeing some veg up.

I've got my Annabelle Karmel book at the ready!

 

[Lindsay]

Jacob was 21 weeks last week when I gave him his first taster of baby rice, he too has taken to it really well and could probably do with more than just the small measly teaspoon the HV have advised I give. Jacob now weighs 16llb 9ozs so isn't a tiny boy.

I have the Annabelle Karmel book at the ready too

Xxx

 

[Amanda]

I'm hoping Charlie will be okay to have a bit of mashed potato nad pureed carrot at about 4 months because I want to get him the My First Christmas Dinner bib from Next!!

 

[Eveadel]

Thank you for your input girls.

Im glad that Im not the only one who is slighly confused when to do it.

Can someone please tell me more about the book a couple of you have mentioned.

Thank you

 

[Lindsay]

Tankett, Jacob has those bibs too, lol!!!

Evadel the book is by Annabel Karmel and is called 'New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner. It has chapters on:
-The best first foods for your baby
-4-6 months and weaning
-6-9 months
-9-12months and
-Toddlers
and has lots of recipes to try out You can get it from Boots.

Xxx

 

[Eveadel]

Ah thanks Lindsay, sounds a good book

 

[Bagpuss17]

I've bought Isaac a lovely big Santa bib from Debenhams. It's so cute.

I'd defo say go with your instincts with regard to weaning and everything else for that matter.

Isaac is always chomping on his fingers now which is a sign that they are ready. I read on one of the baby sites that once they start this chomping you need to start weaning them soon after as it develops their mouth and jaw muscles.

Your baby will soon let you know if they're ready to be weaned or not.

 

[Eveadel]

Isabella is chomping on her hands now but thought she is teething????

 

[hayley]

I probably sound like a bad mother but i decided to try jacob on a tiny amount of baby rice at 9 1/2 weeks. I read a good book which said you'll know when your baby wants something more than milk. He has 6 bottles of 7 to 8 oz milk. He was draining them and waking every 4 hours. I gave him a tiny tea spoon of baby rice. I made it up very runny! he loved it straight away. He only get's up once through the night for a feed... I will probably keep him on one tea spoon a day of baby rice for a few more weeks. Then introduce him to some vegies..

He gets weighted every friday.. he's right on line for his birth weight...

x

 

[Rosieroo]

These are some good guidelines on telling if your baby is ready for solids:

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:
Baby can sit up well without support.
Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
Baby is ready and willing to chew.
Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.
We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.

Personally I believe that the longer you delay introducing solids the better, your baby is less likely to develop food allergies/intolerances and it's better for their health. Weaning before 4 months is really advised against due to a baby's kidneys not being mature enough to process the food.
I've never read that you should wean by 6 months at the latest due to a baby not being able to talk properly if you don't and would be interested to read the evidence for this claim. All the research I did into weaning said it was definately best to wait as long as possible.

 

[Eveadel]

Hi Kina,

Ive only just realised you are pregnant again - congratulations.

Isabella is chomping away on her hand and my mum and MIL have been saying she is hungry but I thought it was her teething. When you was researching weaning, what did chomping on the hand indicate??

Thanks