Who did actually wait until 6 months to start weaning?

[beanie]

but, how many of those who waited till 6 months and after, did it with their first child? am i right in saying that those who have older children, when the guildlines said 4 months, are more likely to wean earlier, as they think the latest 'fad' with weaning is just in another in a list they decide to give us?

I weaned Seren early at 19 weeks initially, then I stopped and started again when she was 5 1/2 months. The reason I waited longer was because I knew more about the reasons why, and I understood more about exclusive breastfeeding and the benefits, plus the confusing messages around growth spurts etc I was confident enough to hoild out till 6 months. And now I know even more about breastfeeding and the introduction of solids I will probably leave it a bit later if I can. Saying that though when Seren was a baby the guidelines were 6 months, like someone said in a different thread before it has been for quite a number of years now.

 

[mumtotwo]

I weaned my first child at 4 months - she is fine.
Since then the guidelines have changed and I plan to wean my second at 6 months.
Please don't think I'm criticising anyone for weaning early as I strongly believe in personal choice and doing what is right for your own child.
However, the guidelines changed due to new research and information becoming available.
I was having a discussion with a relative the other day who said that the cot death guidelines changed in between the births of her children - one slept on the tummy and one on the back. To me it's a similar thing - as research advances and we find out more about keeping our babies safe and healthy then it is important to take this into account when deciding what is best for our own children. If they are ready at 4 months then fair enough - but before the guidelines changed people weaned at 4 months whether their baby was ready or not!

 

[Jade&Evie]

Try to get to as near to 6 months as possible- Baby Led Weaning is great! We were advised to wean early because of Evie's refulx so we started on veg/fruit purees and when she hit 6 months we switched to fingers foods. She can now feed herself (kind of!) with a spoon and everything else she eats with her hands- it's so easy to take her out and about whereas I found it daunting going out before because of warming the food etc etc

 

[mandspice]

The guidelines are there to help but I think we have to take the lead from our individual babies. Dexter had two teeth at 5 months so it seemed silly to wait - after all, teeth are for eating with! However, there's no point in rushing if mum and baby aren't ready.

 

[Jade&Evie]

The guidelines are there to help but I think we have to take the lead from our individual babies. Dexter had two teeth at 5 months so it seemed silly to wait - after all, teeth are for eating with! However, there's no point in rushing if mum and baby aren't ready.

Evie hasn't got any teeth but she eats fine!

 

[christmasbabygirl]

hi all
i didnt know thw guideline waa 6 mnths, if thats true then why do some baby jars say from 4 months on? just a question as im getting confused x

 

[abcd1234]

hi all
i didnt know thw guideline waa 6 mnths, if thats true then why do some baby jars say from 4 months on? just a question as im getting confused x

THey say 4 months onwards because they say a baby should be at least 4 months before having solid food, but they recommend waiting until 6 months (if that makes sense) so they're trying to say they can start having it between 4 and 6 months, when they're ready.

DD was one grumpy madam at 41/2 months, she spent literally all night attached to my boobs, and most of the day, and she stopped gaining weight, we decided we could either give her food or give her formula top-ups. We choose food, and i'm glad we did, she LOVES food, she's never hada bad tummy from food, and on her first try and food she ate an entire pot of baby yoghurt, the girl was ready for food, so she got food lol.

I strongly believe that your intuition will tell you when a baby is ready for food, ve that 4 months or 12 We had hoped to wait until 6 months but i know we made the right choice.

 

[Laur_250]

Yep we waited til 6 months, Reggie was showing the signs in advance but I just fed him myself on demand until 6 months then started BLW. He still doesn't eat that much, more experimenting still, but I always offer breast first so I know he's being fed.

The guideline is 6 months but the law never changed to say that companies can't still advertise their food from 4 months onwards, which they do of course as it benefits them to sell it earlier. Thats what my BLW book says.

 

[zebrastripes]

see i don't get this. why is it all of a sudden we are told that babies shouldn't be weaned at 4 months? for both oliver and benjamin i was told it was fine to start at 4 months.

i mean, why? it seems daft to me.

but, how many of those who waited till 6 months and after, did it with their first child? am i right in saying that those who have older children, when the guildlines said 4 months, are more likely to wean earlier, as they think the latest 'fad' with weaning is just in another in a list they decide to give us?

Willow is my first child, and I would have weaned her at the time I did regardless of any changes in expert advice.

 

[debecca]

see i don't get this. why is it all of a sudden we are told that babies shouldn't be weaned at 4 months? for both oliver and benjamin i was told it was fine to start at 4 months.

i mean, why? it seems daft to me.

According to my doctor and HV it is because the new guidelines are based on the WORLD Health Organisation guidelines. Of course in places like Africa it's better for children to be weaned as late as possible because their mum's milk is hygienic and plentiful, unlike food supplies in some areas. However in the UK, we have healthy and nutritious food available so there is no reason not to wean early if that's what is right for your child. The new evidence about allergies is as yet unproven (hence the survey being done where they're feeding babies peanuts before 12 months for half the sample, and after for the other half - was on the recent BBC programme about the allergy epidemic).

As someone said earlier, you have to do what is right for you and your child. I weaned Connie early (18 weeks) because she had terrible reflux and it made such a huge difference to her life. Before weaning, she spent most of each day in pain. However, I took into account the guidelines on certain foods being prohibited before 6 months, such as gluten and tomatoes, because both Jim and I are asthmatic, and with me having had this terrible reaction to ADs we're clearly a bit allergic in our family.

Good luck to everyone weaning. It can be fun but it can be a complete nightmare. I agree wholeheartedly with the person who said it's way more hassle going out afterwards!! (Same person as I agreed with before? Great opinions - was it babymagic?)

I think for my second I'll wean later for convenience reasons, but I probably won't wait all the way to 6 months. However, if I have another child with reflux I won't hesitate to wean early if it's necessary.

Hope that makes sense. I'm rambling at the moment with this stupid mania thing.

 

[LisaJ1986]

I weaned Angel at 18 weeks. It was definately the right decision for us. She'd steal food off our plates, eat it and follow with "Mmmm" noises. I didn't do it for sleep purposes. She was already a terrible sleeper anyway so if it made a difference then fantastic, if not then not difference to me anyway. It did work for about a week then stopped. It made no alteration to her weight gain at all.
And she eats absolutely everything! There is not a food she has tried and doesn't like! I think weaning early has encouraged this love of all food.

I have to say though in the early days i was lazy with it. She had it at a similar time in the evening, but if we were out or i forgot it was no big deal. If i went out over lunch time she'd just get boob as before.

She'd eat 10 times a day if i let her. She's slightly below average in weight and over average in length. She seems to be very much on proportion really.

Being a first time mum i tried following the book! Wanted to be exact on all the guidelines and had every intention of waiting til 6 months. But when it came to it i scrapped everything and followed her lead, not a textbook.

She's happy for me to spoon feed, but she insists on some food she feeds herself.

I will certainly do it all again if necessary.

 

[Betula]

see i don't get this. why is it all of a sudden we are told that babies shouldn't be weaned at 4 months? for both oliver and benjamin i was told it was fine to start at 4 months.

i mean, why? it seems daft to me.

but, how many of those who waited till 6 months and after, did it with their first child? am i right in saying that those who have older children, when the guildlines said 4 months, are more likely to wean earlier, as they think the latest 'fad' with weaning is just in another in a list they decide to give us?

It's because a baby's stomach can't handle food at such a young age, so it's best to wait 6 months, from what I've heard. I can't remember exactly what happens, but if they are given solids too early they can end up with stomach problems.

 

[nori]

see i don't get this. why is it all of a sudden we are told that babies shouldn't be weaned at 4 months? for both oliver and benjamin i was told it was fine to start at 4 months.

i mean, why? it seems daft to me.

but, how many of those who waited till 6 months and after, did it with their first child? am i right in saying that those who have older children, when the guildlines said 4 months, are more likely to wean earlier, as they think the latest 'fad' with weaning is just in another in a list they decide to give us?

It's because a baby's stomach can't handle food at such a young age, so it's best to wait 6 months, from what I've heard. I can't remember exactly what happens, but if they are given solids too early they can end up with stomach problems.

Now im confused i was told the same as debecca..

 

[debecca]

see i don't get this. why is it all of a sudden we are told that babies shouldn't be weaned at 4 months? for both oliver and benjamin i was told it was fine to start at 4 months.

i mean, why? it seems daft to me.

but, how many of those who waited till 6 months and after, did it with their first child? am i right in saying that those who have older children, when the guildlines said 4 months, are more likely to wean earlier, as they think the latest 'fad' with weaning is just in another in a list they decide to give us?

It's because a baby's stomach can't handle food at such a young age, so it's best to wait 6 months, from what I've heard. I can't remember exactly what happens, but if they are given solids too early they can end up with stomach problems.

Do you have a source for this? I've never heard this before.

 

[*Star*]

wow, it sounds like im really in the minority of people who are not doing blw.

what a change from a few years ago! well here anyway

 

[x Naomi x]

I am doing BLW in a couple of weeks, i have already given her some carrot and cucumber sticks and orange segments this week to see what she would do and she immediatly put them in her mouth and started chomping amazing!

Macey is my first, i liked the idea of BLW as there seems to many benefits of doing it this way

 

[daftscotslass]

I know there is a lot of literature out there about the signs being confusing but for me the bottom line was that I know my baby best, she was hungry all the time and since weaning was one of the options open to me past 4 months, I took it and it worked. While we did purees to start we made the transition to BLW at 6 months (though officially it's not BLW as she had purees even though she eats everything the way a BLW'd baby would) of introducing solids and she had no problem at all with the transition. She eats what we do and has done since not long after 6 months. I'd do it this way again in a heartbeat.

Interestingly enough if you read a lot of the research you will see that it says "may" cause problems with the digestive system, weight, allergies etc not "does"; findings are pretty inconclusive at the moment as this generation of weaned-at-6-months children have yet to reach adulthood.

If I have another again I'll try to go to 6 months but I won't be kicking myself if I don't make that "milestone" again.

 

[Krystal]

I waited until 6 months with Jack, in fact I think it was a few weeks after his 6 month mark we actually started.

He didn't need solids before this point.

I agree with someone else's point that often the signs for weaning are mistaken with normal child development.

My Aunty is currently weaning her daughter at 12 weeks For no other reason than she thought it was about time. He baby doesn't even know what to do with it and most of it gets spit out. She has no interest in food. Makes me quite sad to see actually. It's something I feel quite strongly about.

Must add a disclaimer before I get people jumping on me I feel quite sad about seeing people wean their children at a very young age just 'because' rather than those children who do actually need to be weaned earlier than 6 months and are definately showing all of the signs. Babies aren't made from textbooks so it's an individual thing however in most cases i'd say 95% of children should manage to get to 6 months before being weaned.

 

[LisaJ1986]

wow, it sounds like im really in the minority of people who are not doing blw.

what a change from a few years ago! well here anyway

I hated the idea of BLW! It scared me. And Angel wasn't really interested in it at all. She only took to finger foods the past couple of weeks and she's 10 months old now.
Goes as you feel comfortable i say. My OH would have his hands over his eyes if i tried giving her something to eat herself! Then it'd get thrown anyway. She'd just lean her face in to my hand and eat it that way.

 

[Becky]

I started weaning DD at months because it seemed like the appropriate thing to do with her and the "signs". This time I'm hoping to wait until 6 months or as close as because I now know that 4 months is the typical age for a growth spurt. I think I was right with DD because she was really interested in food but knowing what I do now I will probably try and hold out past that 4 month period and see if he settles again.

In general though I think it comes down to knowing the guidelines but reading your baby too. There is no "perfect" date that is right for every baby but it's a combination.