Anyone who weaned/is weaning early and wants to talk about it without getting their head bit off step this way

[RagingHormone]

Feel free to chat until your heart's content without being judged on this thread.

What made you decide to wean early? (My baby had awful reflux so I had to, and he was ready for it anyway).

What sort of things did/do you feed your baby at 6 months?

[reikizen]

I started both mine on solids at about 4 months, not in any serious way but with DD1 it was just excitement about the 'next stage' and with DD2 just practicalities of feeding a family.
Just the usual stuff, pasties and fruit shoots.

[fluffykitten08]

My lo is 12 weeks and is on hungry baby milk at the moment, i have decided that when she shows me signs of wanting more then i will start weaning her, but at the moment she is satisfied with milk.... She's drinking 7oz 4hourly, so we will see

[Sallyallyally]

My DS showed he was ready at 5 months by grabbing a piece of garlic bread off my plate and gnawing on it! We bypassed babyrice as he didn't like it and went onto fruit and veg purees, then a spell with the HIPP organic jars (sometimes they can do it better and they have more time!!!), and then his big sister started feeding him family meals and he's never looked back.I just watched the salt intake. Is now 20 months and a very good eater...lively and bouncing with health

[Sallyallyally]

Reikizen....you missed out cola then...tut tut!

[poppy34]

same reason as sallyally - was salivating , chewing with us and grabbing at food...also interesting re baby rice as doesn;t seem that keen

[Sallyallyally]

I may have it all wrong, but I believe the initial tasting thing is to get them used to new tastes and sensations. Baby rice is very bland, although a useful first tool for trying out swallowing thicker textures and pretty harmless in the allergy way of things!That said we were ready to move on from it within a day or so!!!!Fruit purees are far tastier and more interesting...obviously they don't offer the calorific value of milk but they do bring the most incredible new facial expressions to light! Full respect to all you mums who make their own purees, I was never organised enough and my children preferred the jars...despite my health visitors dire warnings, it never stopped them being very keen to try proper cooking (I am a celeb cookery book whore!)...after all what 7 month old can resist Delias three mustard stroganoff!!!!!!!!

[MrsJamin]

Sorry but you are going to be judged on mumsnet if you suggest that babies need anything other than milk before 6 months. Signs that babies are ready for solids are:

• loss of tongue thrust
• sitting up unaided

If they are hungry, then give more milk. Any change in sleep is also not a sign either.

If your child can pick up food, put in mouth, chew and swallow then it would appear their digestive system is ready to digest food - if your child can't do this, then wait until 6 months. This topic has been done to death on MN recently so I won't bore myself by writing anymore.

[lulumama]

depends what you mean by early weaning, i would not get all judgey pants about weaning a 21 week old who was sitting up and grabbed a banana of their mum and ate it

i would get judgey about feeding a 16 week old however

please bear in mind that the NHS advocates weaning at around 26 weeks, that night waking and wanting more milk are not signs of readiness for food and definitely no solids before 17 weeks.

your mother's instinct won;t tell you if your baby;s gut is sealed and mature enough to cope with food, so best to know what the signs are as MrsJamin has pointed out

milk is the primary source of nutrition for the first year

[GreenMonkies]

Well said MrsJamin.

If they need it pureed to be able to eat it, then they are not ready. Purees don't tell you if your child is ready for solids, they don't chew puree, they suck-swallow it off the spoon, there is actually no need for purees at all, if you wait until your child is ready for solid foods they can go straight onto finger foods, they can bite and chew even if they don't have teeth. Spoon feeding over rides thier natural appetite control, babies that feed themselves stop when they have had enough.

Wean early of you like, but don't spout nonsense about how much milk they are drinking etc etc. And be aware that you are taking risks with your childs health.

[AnarchyAunt]

Wot MrsJ and lulu said.

MN is not the best place to find much support for weaning very early - ie before 17 weeks at the very earliest.

[wickedwitch81]

I would never take risks with my childs health. I have not said that i will be weaning her yet, i will wean her when she shows me signs of being ready. At the moment she is satisfied on milk, although she is going through a growth spurt and wants feeding constantly, this does not mean that i am going to give her anything more than milk. I dont care that she doesn't sleep through, in a way i like it because she is dependent on me iygwim.
But please answer this what if a health professional advised a mum to wean early for various reasons, would this person be judged.?
Also i thought that MN was a place where mums could come for advice from each other and not be judged (i may be wrong)

[GreenMonkies]

A health professional who advises weaning early is giving bad advice.

No one is judging here, just putting info etc up for those who are of the "I was weaned at 6 weeks old and it never did me any harm" school. If you want to wean early, go for it, but don't pretend a baby of 12/14/16 weeks is "ready" for anything but milk, because they won't be.

That's all.

[lucykate]

i amazes me as to why some parents are in such a rush to wean, what's the hurry? most answer that question by saying their baby is a 'hungry baby', but if they are hungry, why are you giving solid food, which has a lower calorie content than milk? more milk is the obvious solution, surely!

[Beachcomber]

You know, I find this a tricky one. I know and understand the guidelines but I think like everything we have to treat babies as individuals.

I agree with lulu and Mrs J that really early weaning is not a good idea. However I do think getting too hung up on some magic six months watershed is unhelpful.

I also think, and have said this on other weaning threads, that the whole allergy business has a lot more to it than weaning. My DD1 has serious multiple allergy and they were in evidence way before solids (she was breast fed).

I think that there are babies who are hungry for something else before 6 months. Seems to me that if you take your cues from your baby then you can't go wrong. I know of babies who were sitting, trying to grab food and getting very cross when denied it at 20 weeks. I also know of babies who weren't interested in food before 12 months.

We don't expect them all to walk, sit up, talk, etc at the same age. Why do we expect them all to be ready for food at the same time? Doesn't make sense.

(Yes I do understand the whole virgin/leaky gut thing. Have to having an allergic child. Repeat that IMO weaning is not major factor.)

ITA that spooning mush into a 17 week old is a ridiculous and possibly dangerous practice. But I do think that if there are people who weaned earlier than current guidelines suggest, no doubt on the advice of a HCP, than they should be allowed to have their support thread.

[slightlycrumpled]

greenmonkies Not all health professionals that advise early weaning are giving bad advice.

With DS2 we weaned at 17 weeks with close supervision from a paed and dietician amongst his other doctors. They were entirely right, it was the best thing for him.

Whilst I am a total rule follower with my children, maybe too much so in some areas, I do think that some posters can too often give the advice of ignore health visitors etc, and that this is also bad advice. If I had ignored mine, (and I was tempted) goodness knows what sort of state he would have been in.

[RagingHormone]

I'm with slightlycrumpled. My paed knows what he's on about, he's bloody marvellous that man. And my baby needed weaning early as he had the worst case of reflux the hospital had ever seen. He's thriving now though and he's happy.

This thread isn't for people concerned about the whole issue. It's just for those who have had to wean early, and want to be able to talk about it without being told they're wrong wrong wrong all the time. Everyone knows the risks as it's on here all the time. But if they have had to wean early or made the decision to wean early, they might want to talk about it without everyone getting stressed out and having a go at them.

[GreenMonkies]

I know plenty of health care professionals who do not keep themselves up to date with current guidelines and the research behind them.

I'm not getting stressed, judging or having a go, just making sure there is a "disclaimer" about why the weaning age is 6 months, or there abouts.

[lizziemun]

I baby led weaned dd2 at 19wks because she wouldn't drink formula. I spent an hour trying to get her to take 4oz bottle from birth with her screaming and me crying. I couldn't take it anymore, i treid all the different formulas on the market and she didn't like any of them. I didn't breastfed because i didn't produce any milk .

Even now at 13mths she only has 1 5oz bottle of cows milk a day.

On the other hand dd1 was about 7mths as she loves her milk even now 4.9yrs she has warm milk in the morning and at night.

DD2 eats everything she can get and dd1 is fussy.

[slightlycrumpled]

Okay greenmonkies I'm sure your right and that there are plenty of hcp's who do give incorrect advice. It worries me greatly on these threads when concerned mothers are told to ignore their health visitor etc. I do acknoweldge that some of them do spout rubbish however.

I would always ask for a referral to a paed or dietician if early weaning was advised, (in our case the dietician came to see us when he was very poorly and below the scale on the growth chart). This way you can be sure of getting good advice.

[lulumama]

raging, i agree taht for those who weaned early on the advice of a pead or specialist or GP due to health/feeding issues, great ! however, i won;t agree with those weaning at 12 weeks or giving DCs stuff like choc buttons or weaning with rice in the bottle etc..

i think there are distinctions to be made between early weaning of that nature, and early weaning under medical supervision and weaning where the baby simply grabs food and self feeds

i think that it is really important for parents to have information as to why weaning early (without medical advice) is a bad thing, adding food to bottles is a bad thing and what the real signs of readiness for food are, as lots of parents lurk on MN and the information needs to be given, even if it is not what the OP or particular poster wants to hear IFYSWIm

[RagingHormone]

Oh yes I definately don't think babies should have chocolate or crisps or rice in bottles. If they can't eat off a spoon they can't be weaned.

[missorinoco]

greenmonkies, "don't spout nonsense about how much milk they are drinking" is judgemental and unhelpful, especially given the thread title. Plus if you are trying to tell people not to puree you will put Anna K out of business.

[slightlycrumpled]

No lulumama I would also never agree with giving a baby chocolate or crisps or rice in bottles. Ever. But to be fair, weaning under close supervision of hcp's you are never advised to do any of these!

It is incredibly hard though, I have only once or twice posted on any breast/bottle or weaning thread simply because of the nature of the threads to explode! Despite this I have also lurked and put myself in the position I was in a few years ago, and I wonder if I had been on MN then would I have followed the advice I was given by DS2's hcp, or would I have ignored because of people I had never met telling me to ignore.

I like to think I know my own mind enough. but back then under immense strain and distress I don't know.

Still if I was to have another child, (and they didn't have any underlying problems) I would do as I did with DS1 and stick to the guidelines!

[RagingHormone]

I tried my DS on pureed home made shepherds pie last night made with mince, veg, baby gravy and potato with his milk added to it and he HATED the potato but loved the mince and stuff. The potato went everywhere.

He does absolutely love pureed baby pasta and baby pasta sauces with veggies and chicken. He's 25 weeks now. What other things could he try?

[slightlycrumpled]

raginghormone Are his meals meant to be very high calorie, or just normal baby food?

DS2 had to have very high calorie food, including milk which we got on prescription, I used to use lots of olive oil on his pasta and only use olive oil to fry his veg in chicken casseroles etc. You could still give mashed potato in that with the milk in.