HELP......WHEN TO WEAN

[laneydaye]

hi, please give me some advice on when i should wean. i weaned my son(now 4) vat 4 months, now people are saying its 6 months, my daughter is 14 wks and although shes not even ready for food other mums are saying give her baby rice(no way) some mums i know with babies the same age have already weaned their babies and regularly give them pots of food??????? any advice, thoughts and tips most welcome
THANKS

[Beansmum]

I would wait a bit if I was you. The advice is to wait until 6 months and if your dd is happy and not ready for food then why bother with all that mess!

[poppy101]

You know your child best and you should only wean when you hv agrees and you feel that it is right. I weaned mine at 16 weeks, only starting on baby rice and have followed GF weaning guide since.

Although gov. states 6 months, some hv agree that if the child is ready then you can start at 4 months with agreement, don't start before that.

[Twiglett]

My DS, now 4, also weaned at 4 months (actually 2 weeks earlier because I thought he seemed hungry)

DD, now 8 months, not weaned until 25 weeks

The reason the WHO says 6 months (and has done for a decade, despite the UK only taking that advice in the last year or so) is due to the maturity of the gut .. you can help your child avoid devoloping allergic reactions (asthma / excema) in later life

For me, I thought well I don't know if it will make a difference but if I knew that was the advice and did it earlier then my child developed asthma as a teen, I'd feel it was my fault

They do go through these stages where they eat more (milk) and they exhibit signs that can seem like hunger .. gnawing hands, interest in you eating .. but they are actually only normal development stages

If it was me I'd wait .. smile and nod at those who say to wean her ...and just do what you feel is right for your baby

[nailpolish]

tell the other mums to get lost. if your baby is enjoying her milk and not looking for other food then just wait.

(sorry 'get lost' a bit harsh but it annoys me, my baby is 14 wks too and im getting this sort of pressure also)

[laneydaye]

THANKS..... whats gf weaning advice? and is there any evidence that weaning early actually can harm your baby in any way??? i also dont understand dd !!! new to the site

thanks

[blotto]

I weaned twins at 4 months because they were both continuing to wake up through the night every 3 - 4 hours for feeds and I was at my wits end. Paediatrician said it wouldnt do any harm so long as it was very gradual and milk remained the main food. So I sort of followed GF and started with fruit puree and rice at teatime and suppertime (small amounts) and it worked like magic!

[nailpolish]

gf = gina ford

dd = darling daughter

click on acronyms above if you are stuck again!

[NotQuiteCockney]

Early weaning increases the risk of your child having asthma or excema, and yes there's evidence, but it's a balance of probabilities thing, not a guaranteed effect, if you see what I mean.

DS1 was weaned at 16 weeks, because the hvs were telling me to. DS2 is now 18 weeks (I think?) and won't be having solids any time soon. Why go through all that work for no reason? He can have solids when he can nick them off me.

Although the UK government has only started saying 6 months recently, the WHO have been saying 6 months for years and years.

[lunavix]

I personally weaned ds at 3 and a half months (although currently they say 6 months.)

I only gave him pureed apple, potato etc, and only a tiny tiny bit, like half a spoon, but he'd started eyeing up our food, crying when we wouldn't let him near our plates, waking in the night etc.

For the next LO, I won't be intending on weaning them this early, I think it's important to take your cue from the baby.

[HunkerMunker]

Waking in the night is not a sign they're ready for food, it's a sign they're four months old and have started to be aware of their surroundings. Early introduction to solids can cause health problems and the reason the UK held off going along with WHO guidelines is because they hadn't got their act together with maternity leave (it's still not great - maternity leave may now be paid for six months, but since most people take at least some time off before they have their babies, realistically the baby will be five months old when the money stops).

Plus, anything more than milk is more hassle - and if you give it to them earlier than six months the stuff they can have is SO limited (another big fat hint that it's not right to do it early!).

[Gwenick]

DS1 (4yrs) was weaned at exactly 16 weeks

DS2 (14 months) was weaned at 4 months

[laneydaye]

Thanks a lot for all your thoughts and advice, feel a lot better about the whole thing now suppose my dd will let me know when shes ready
Will feel free to ask for advice now i know how easy and helpful this fantastic site is.....xx

[californiagirl]

At 4 months, my daughter was waking at night, staring at food on plates, and people were pressuring me to wean. I fretted about it for a couple of weeks, and looked at the evidence that says there are no advantages to weaning at 4 months and may be disadvantages, and decided to wait for 6 months. We gave her water in a sippy cup or out of our cups, and spoons to chew on, and that really worked well for us. After a few weeks, the pressure went away, and we were really happy with it. Then when we started at 6 months I discovered how much trouble the whole weaning thing was, plus she wasn't really interested -- yeah, she grabbed for things and stuck them in her mouth, but that was all she really wanted to do. I'm glad we waited.

At 6 months she wasn't weaned at all. At 7 months she ate very little solid food. At 8 months, she was beginning to do noticeable amounts. Now, at 11 months, she eats lots of table food -- people say what a great eater she is. People at other tables in restaurants demand to know how old she is. Friends watch her open-mouthed and call her a bottomless pit.

[aloha]

Another one who weaned just before 4months last time and will be waiting longer with no2. I was constantly told it would help with ds's abysmal sleeping, but it made NO difference whatsoever.

[Amanda3266]

Hi,

I weaned mine at 14 and a half weeks as I thought it would help with his sleeping (it didn't).
I'd wait until you feel it's right for you and your daughter. If she's happy with just milk then there's no need to rush.

Mandy

[oops]

Message withdrawn

[Twiglett]

summaries of research here

haven't read them through though but please be wary on research (they can prove anything it seems)

[Clayhead]

dd weaned at 4 months ish
ds weaned at 6 months

The difference was that I gave into pressure first time round, especially advice that it would help dd sleep. It made no difference at all.

[biglips]

my baba is 4 months this friday coming and last week i bought her Rusks (reduced sugar ones) and she sucks on it all the time so im gonna give her rusks once a week to slowly wean her onto solids.

[Twiglett]

sorry just realised all that research was in terms of breastfeeding .. I just googled .. don't know if you are BF or formula feeding

Biglips .. I was always told that rusks were not a good idea at all, and if you want to wean at 4 month old you should start very slowly with baby rice or pureed vegetables .. obviously your baby you do what you feel is best .. but thought I'd mention it

[biglips]

well ive already started giving her rusks in her milks to fill her up abit more and she seems to like sucking on the rusks too. (im not an expert as im first time mum so i wouldnt have a clue!) but i havent start weaning her properly as yet as giving it couple more weeks (she is so interested watching people eating)

[biglips]

ive only done it once - gave her rusks in her milk - last week. ill have a go on the baby rice.

[Twiglett]

I bet your mum / or someone of the next generation advised the rusk thing .. that was standard practice from 6 weeks in my mum's generation

it really isn't advised nowadays though

[Twiglett]

hope this helps from the BBC website

it is an old page though based on when the advice was to wean at 4 months (which was the advice when just 3 years ago TBH and I followed it for my DS who is now 4)

this Annabel Karmel book is also a great guide for first-time weaners .. it has weekly plans in it to show you how slowly to go

again this is based on starting at 4 months ... but the given advice now is to wait till 6 months

Gawd tis confusing, isn't it?

HTH

[vess]

Hi there!
Here's an extreme example (I'm not saying do this!) - ds was weened at 11/12 weeks. I was brestfeeding, and just when we established a nice feeding routine (every 3-4 hours) which he was perfectly happy with, he then started demanding feeds every two or even one and a half hours, and in the evenings I'd be constantly feeding...So my hv suggested trying formula milk in the evening - in case milk gets 'thinner' and not quite so nutritious then due to tiredness etc - and I tried that but didn't help so she said try a bit of baby rice to see how it goes. Apparently, at some point in the past the rule was to ween at 12 weeks or 12 pounds (ds was about 15 pounds then, and growing fast!) So I tried it one evening (baby rice with formula milk) and he took to it straight away, ate the whole bowl with no hesitation whatsoever, and seemed so happy about it that I thought that was it, weening it is then. He wouldn't take any other fluid apart from breast milk till he was 6-7 months though. No allergies and no asthma so far (at 4 and a half).
My point being, let your baby guide you. It has to feel right. When they need it, they need it - and they let you know.
And I really respect my hv for looking at my ds as a real baby with real, individual needs rather than a statistical figure! (If I had to wait untill he was 6 months, he probably would have bitten my arm off!)