Weaning

[Thailand1]

Anyone starting weaning there LO early? My LO is 18 weeks old he can sit up but still wobbly, when he can sit up & hold himself up better I'm going to start with a little porridge. I know he will probably spit it out at first, I'm really keen on how he react to food. They say start from 6 months however there is no harm in starting now. I love to here everyone's weaning stories & any advice?

 

[Mel32]

I just followed their advice and waited till 6 months xx

 

[mylullaby]

Why the rush? NHS advises waiting until 6 months - as well as ticking all the boxes of sitting up unaided, etc - I just don't get why you feel like it's advice worth ignoring? I realise some people are advised by medical professionals to wean early for whatever reason, but unless this is the case I'd just hang on a while. Your baby has a lifetime of lovely food related joy ahead, but for now ALL of their nutritional needs can be met with breastmilk or formula. One of the main problems with early weaning is that you could fill your baby up on solids and they then don't take enough nutrition-rich milk, which could mean they miss out on important calories, vitamins, minerals, etc. Personally, I'd wait.

 

[JD.Deedee]

Why not give purreed vegs and fruit instead of empty calories on porridge ...??

 

[Thailand1]

I don't appreciate aggressive responses!!

It's my decision! I wanted positive ADVISE

 

[millielaura]

We weaned at 16 weeks but due to her severe reflux. She was in pain 24/7 and was refusing milk etc..she's like a different baby now and could stop her meds.
I started on a bit of baby rice and then porridge but once I could see she was swalloeing fine and had lost tongue thrust reflux I just moved onto puurees. So very very smooth veg or fruit puuree and I tried one thing at a time till she had tried a lot of different things then I started to give her mix's of stuff. She's very nearly 6 months now and is on textures and also started giving her a lot of finger foods. But for the first 6 weeks or so I just did the puurees. Luckily she had lost tongue thrust reflex but I would try baby if you are wanting to wean early as they say if they push it out with their tongue they aren't ready. Xxx

 

[Belfa]

I started my son at exactly 5 months, I was always against doing it before 6 months and got annoyed at my MIL for suggesting it but one night he grabbed some of my bread at dinner and ate it! Also, he started to drop weight and the amount of milk he was taking. After I started to introduce foods my health visitor told me she would have done the same but couldn't advise it before hand due to NHS legislation.

I'd be inclined to hold off until he's properly sitting up and when he shows his own interest in it x

 

[dolly26]

I started weaning at 18 weeks as my daughter is quite a big child and seemed ready. We started with porridge but she didn't respond well so stopped and retried 2 weeks later. She had porridge and purée veg to start. As long as they are getting the right amount of milk I see no harm in early weaning. I now have a 23month old who will eat anything and is on the 99th centile for height and 98th for weight.

 

[mylullaby]

Erm, I wasn't being aggressive. But ok.

 

[Shepherdess]

I don't think you were being aggressive mylullaby and I totally agree with you. There evidence starting to come through that early feeding can be the cause of ibs later in life and after my experience of ibs and knowing my mum starting feeding me at 3 months (correct advice at the time) I just wouldn't bother for "the fun of it"

 

[YorksLass]

The advice says 6 months due to gut maturity. Younger than that and there is more risk of developing allergies and other digestive complications.