Who did actually wait until 6 months to start weaning?

[Jen & Her Men]

I didnt BLW with James.

For me I take the lead off my baby. I aint going to wait til 6 months despite what the text books tell me if my baby is showing all the signs that they need weaning and it would be to his detriment to wait just because I thought it was the "right thing" to do. To me, its only the right thing if baby is thriving and if that means weaning "early" so be it.

As it was I had to wean James (under docs orders) at 12 weeks as he was such a hungry baby.

I will be treating Oliver with a clean slate and will wean him when he is ready - if thats 12 weeks then so be it, if its 6 months then great.

I dont get too hung up over what books tell me to do tbh. I take my lead from my baby and from my own instinct. I will listen to the recommendations and apply them where I can but if I feel that the recommendations dont fit with my children then I will do my own things. At the end of the day text books are there to broadly suit the majority of babies but that doesnt mean that all babies fit within that majority. When it comes to size, and food capacity and his needs, my James certainly wasn't in the majority so I wasnt about to make him miserable just because some text book tells me that i should wait for longer.

 

[purplebluered]

Sorry completely off topic but becky - your pics in your sig are just the cutest!!! I just did a big awwwwww at it!

I'm waiting until 6 months to wean Isaac cos he's just not interested in food. But we're not going the blw route, I want to see more evidence and research before I went that route. I'm sticking to where the research has already been done and what people have done for years with no real issues or problems. There is definitely more awareness of how babies development could be mistaken for a need to wean, but I'd say on the whole people go with their instincts and their instincts are usually right, regardless of what the literature says. I'm going with mine and I know it's best for my baby it might not be right for my next one. I have to say though, interesting debate, there's obviously strong opinions for both sides.

 

[nori]

I need to find out about this BLW business.. I always thought you just added a bit of food when they started showing an interest but not before 17 weeks (not sure where i got 17 weeks from)

Bearing in mind i have serious digestive problems myself i wouldnt want to do Ollie any harm by doing it too early. One thing which upset me a little, when i was at my postnatel class, was when one mother turned around and said "well my girl HAS to be on solids by 4 months as im going back to work full time" Im sure she didnt mean it to come out sounding as harsh as it did though.

Claire x

 

[hennaly]

i will wean Levi the same as i did with all my others, none of them had/have digestive problems and all started weaning at 4 months

 

[siany]

We waited until six months with Lottie. We went the BLW route and I am really enjoying it. It is such a joy to watch her exploring new foods. It is also easy as you dont have to put too much thought in to having meals out ( a bit like breast feeding ). She shows a really interest in food but doesnt seem to actually eat that much, so I am still BFing as normal at the moment.

 

[mum2A&L]

We waited! Although, saying that, we could have probably waited until a year! Mhairi would still live on milk if I let her!

sounds exactly like alice!! food was more a novelty than a need.

we went down the baby led weaning route, and i will most prob try it again this time around. It did have a couple of negatives - dinner time would take ages! where as if i had spoon fed alice it would have been over a lot quicker. also, if i ever needed to give alice calpol on a spoon she refused to take it because she was so independent.

 

[mumtotwo]

(just typed this out once but didn't seem to post so sorry if it's a duplicate).

I don't think the guidelines say that if you wean at 4 months your baby will definately have problems - it's saying it's more likely that they will.

Debecca - I'm not sure about formula fed babies but for breast fed babies, feeding exclusively for longer is thought to lower the risk of gastroeneteritis (unicef).

Personally I'm aiming to wean at 6 months. Whether to do BLW is a whole other subject! As far as I'm aware unicef promote weaning at 6 months but don't endorse (or necessarily disagree with) BLW. It's something I think I might like to try but weaning at 6 months doesn't mean you have to do BLW.

 

[Laur_250]

This is what the BLW book by Gill Rapley says regarding age of weaning.....

When should a baby start solids?

The currect age reccomended is 6 months, before this, digesting anything other than milk feeds is difficult for babies. Giving solids earlier than 6 months is not good for babies because:

Solid foods are not as densely packed with nutrients and calories as breastmilk r formula. Young babies hav small tummies and need a concentrated, easily digestable source of calories and nutrients for healthy growth ; only breastmilk or formula can provide this.

Babies digestive system isnt able to get all the goodness out of solid foods, so they pass through her without giving her proper nurishment.

If she has solids too early, the appetite for milk feeds goes down, so she gets less nourishment.

Babies given solid foods early get more infections and are more at risk of developing allergies than those who stay on milk feeds until 6 months because their immune systems are immature.

Feeding babies solid foods befoe 6 months has been found to make them more prone to risk factors for heart disease in later life, such as high blood pressue.

I know some of you do wean early for your own reasons and I'm not saying you are wrong, just that this is the information I chose to go by so thought it would be useful to share my reasons. xx

 

[zebrastripes]

Couple of sites with good info

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html ... aning.html
http://her.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/16/4/471
http://www.muddlingthroughmotherhood.co ... g-to-wean/

Tbh though, I think anyone'd wean early in the case of,say,a reflux baby. It's not set in stone.

 

[NickyB]

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

I'll try and get this right. When the guidelines were to begin weaning at three months, and then changed to four, the WHO changed the guidelines and Government put in a law saying that babyfoods must not be aimed at children younger than four months.

When the WHO changed the guidelines from four to six months, the Government have not made this change in the law, and so food companies continue to label food as suitable from four months.

I've tried to recall that correctly, it's in the Gill Rapley book for reference.

 

[abcd1234]

If food were labelled 6 months plus some mothers who's babies need weaning earlier would be running around saying they cant give their babies any food, you may think i'm exadurating but it's the truth, my friends jsut like it, she has no common sense.

Firstly, i have no issues with when people decide to wean their babies (or how), at the end of the day they're your babies and as their mothers you know their needs. HOWEVER, i was seriosuly put off BLW because of this attitude it seems to represent that i'm force feeding my baby by giving her food off a spoon and she's going to have all these problems later on in life because she was weaned before 6 months. But i do like the basic idea of BLW and allowing babies control, DD pulls her spoon in to her mouth now anyway, and she seems to realyl enjoy being able to feed herself (though she enjoys most food regardless of how it gets in to her mouth lol) I was weaned at 3 months (it was recommended back then as someones already said) and i have no allergies, no digestive problems etc. If DD had seemed to have any problems digesting the food i'd given her i would have re-thought weaning but again she was fine, another baby however may not be fine.

TBH i think the 4-6 months thing is fine, people can aim for 6 months but they know it's ok to start earlier should your baby need it.

 

[lea m]

I will aim for 6 months as they do have guidelines for a reason BUT when Lola is ready, whether that be 4 months or later I will wean her! I didnt wean my others for any other reason than they were ready to be weaned! I know my own children!

What i dont get though is this "food isn't as nutritional as milk" ?? My children still had milk while being weaned? They never even dropped a feed?!

Lola shows interest in food now! She hasn't even got hand and eye coordination yet shes tries her best to grab the food! She likes to watch, she also begins chewing her hands whilst watching heehee I will know when she is ready to be weaned! Though I do hope it is closer to the 6 month mark than I think it will be!

 

[maria1976]

Ruby has never dropped a feed either lol. I feel really bad after reading all the other posts that I have harmed her in some way by weaning at 4 months

ETA: are homemade purees so bad for a 4month old??

 

[jills10uk]

What i dont get though is this "food isn't as nutritional as milk" ?? My children still had milk while being weaned? They never even dropped a feed?!

ditto - even tho my monster is now on 3 meals a day, he hasn't dropped any feeds, day or night

 

[mumtotwo]

I totally agree with Lea M - the most important thing to remember is that you know your own baby and you wean at the right time for them. I would love to get to 6 months but if my baby is showing definate signs earlier then I might start. What I don't understand though is when people say they will wean at 4 months because that's what they've done before/that's what their friend or relative did - because that's not treating babies as individuals.
Again, this is just my personal opinion, but I really feel it's important to wean when you're baby is ready.

 

[Jade&Evie]

Ruby has never dropped a feed either lol. I feel really bad after reading all the other posts that I have harmed her in some way by weaning at 4 months

ETA: are homemade purees so bad for a 4month old??

Hope not!

The guidelines are for the average baby- not every baby is 'average'

 

[lea m]

Ruby has never dropped a feed either lol. I feel really bad after reading all the other posts that I have harmed her in some way by weaning at 4 months

ETA: are homemade purees so bad for a 4month old??

Hey dont you feel bad! I will bet you a billion quid you have done nothing to harm your Ruby!
I weaned all mine at around 4-5 months and they haven't had any problems so far! I was also weaned at 4 months and I have no problems also!

I can totally understand why the WHO would set these guidelines for the world as a whole etc but Im not totally convinced that it is something that should be strictly followed and especially in the UK! I do feel that once the baby has reached a maturity to wean then it will show outward signs (and they do) once this happens, there is no reason not to wean! We can provide healthy, sanitary foods!
Just my personal opinion of course!

 

[ASD123456]

We are early weaners 17 weeks in fact- shock horror.

It was totaly the right decision for us, not once have I questioned this. He has plenty of finger foods infact a friend of ours (who is BLW) commented how good he is at feeding himself considering he satrted on purees. We stuck to the guidlines and didn't introduce any dairy until 6 months and added gluten to his diet at around a week before 6 months.

The thing is, I started out with such great intentions when I was pregnant, I was going to BF for as long as possible and not wean until 6 months. In fact the reality was very different. I stopped BF at 4 months and introduced solids at 17 weeks. Sometimes sitations are just as simple as that, maybe if I had an 'average' (for want of a better word) things would have been easier but my darling little boy has consitantly been 3 months larger than the majority of babies his age, when you put this into perspective IMO his nutritional needs will be higher.

For the next bambino we will see, I would happily do what we have done with Rudy but if the baby didn't show any signs that Rudy did I would wait as long as possible.

I hate feeling like I have to justify my choices One of the many feelings that come hand in hand with becoming a mother.

x



x

 

[sparky]

Just to add our peadatrican said that the who advice states that babies are ready between 3-6 months physically to accept food. Normally when the digestive system is ready, babies show outward signs that they are ready. Problems can occur when babies are weaned before they are ready.

The advice naturally has to cover every baby, so basically every baby is ready to wean at 6 months.

Obviously babies are not ready at 3-4 months for BLW and its best to wait to nearer 6 months, and obviously air on the side of caution and speak to a professional etc.

 

[christmasbabygirl]

What are the signs they start showing when ready to start then? (my baby is FF)
Also if needed to wean early does that count for the jars or baby rice or what? i was thinking of doing mushed up fruit and things for breakfast and what were having for tea mushed up (if its baby friendly) so is this ok if she does need to be weaned early or only from 6 months?

Sorry for hijacking thread you have all got me interested now lol