How many people wait until the recommended 6 months before weaning and how many didn't?

[CrapBag]

DS was 17 weeks (3 years ago) when I started weaning him. The HV was adamant that I shouldn't. I was just as adamant that he needed more than milk (was FF). I took it really slowly with baby rice, home made purees or veg then fruit until he was 6 months, then introduced cereal, meat and everything else.

I took it slowly and it went really easily. I am not sure if I know of anyone that waited until 6 months.

DD is 16 weeks tomorrow and is getting increasingly unsettled in the day and struggling to go 3 hours between bottles, the times are getting shorter each day so I am thinking that maybe she may be ready for early weaning too.

There was something in the paper recently about how maybe waiting until 6 months may not be the best thing as babies are running out of iron stores and it is trying to get too much done too quickly within a short space of time. I wish the official recommendations would make their sodding minds up tbh.

I will do what I feel is best for my child but I was curious as to how many people on here waited until 6 months and how many didn't?

[StealthPolarBear]

I waited until almost 6 months (22 weeks I think, with DS, 23 with DD)
Official recommendation is around 6 months, and has been for a long tme. Newspaper reporting is just scare mongering

[Lulumama]

how many ounces of milk is she taking?
formula fed babies also have growth spurts, and this is a classic time for one, offering milk and more milk is the safest most nutritious and filling food/drink you can offer to your baby

I waited until 6 mths with DD. this was 5.5 years ago , the guidlelines don't change all the time

once you get to 6 mths you can offer pretty much everything, including iron rich meat .

offering a bit of puree is unlikely to settle a baby who is hungry, as it's not as filling as milk

it's not unusual for a 16 week old to struggle to go all the time at least 3 hours between feeds

[FutureNannyOgg]

At about a week short of 5 months DS stole the fruit I was eating and shoved it in his mouth. I waited until he was 5 months officially, but he made it very clear he was ready, he is BLW so it took a while for the food to actually start making it as far as his belly.

The behaviour you describe at 16 weeks sounds normal to me, search on here (esp feeding forum) for 4 month growth spurt/sleep regression. It's a major developmental spurt and AFAIK milk is the best thing for it as it is so nutritionally dense. Introducing solids doesn't seem to help with the night waking etc that goes with it either.

[HumphreyCobbler]

I waited till six months with both of mine, one ff and one bf. Dealing with food is a pita, I was happy to wait. I don't see the harm in waiting. Think the iron thing is bollocks tbh

[Georgimama]

No I didn't (20 weeks) although he ate so little actual food I might as well have waited another 4 to 6 weeks. Am pregnant again and will have more confidence in myself and my BFing this time.

[LittleWhiteWolf]

DD was BF'd for 8 weeks then FF. Once she reached 6 months we started BLW and she ate everything we ate.

[MerylStrop]

DS1 was weaned at 20 weeks as was then the guidance (nearly 7 years ago). DD and DS2 weaned at 6 months (apart from stuff DD grabbed in the week or so before)

Honestly? It's probably a growth spurt. Give her a bit more milk. She might drop some night feeds and need more in the day (if you are lucky). Plu why enter into the nightmare of pureeing before you really need to?

[theborrower]

I've got an up to date weaning advice leaflet from NHS Scotland here and it says that "health experts now recommend that babies should start eating solid foods from around the age of 6 months. For the first 6 months, all the nourishment that your baby needs comes from breast milk (or infant formula), but after 6 months she will need more nutrients than milk alone can provide, for example, iron". It also says under a headline "What are the advantages of weaning at 6 months?" that "Before 6 months your baby's digestive system and kidneys are still developing. Weaning too soon may increasethe risk asthma, eczema, digestive problems, allergies, obesity in later life. Weaning is also easier at 6 months because there is no need to puree food". It also says that "weaning at 4 months was the advice given for a number of years, but the new guidance of 6 months is based on more recent research and is supported by the World Health Organisation and by the Scottish Government".

I waited until 6 months and i have to say I found it quite easy as I didn't have to worry about what she could and couldn't eat, and she was developmentally ready for it (she could sit up, and also take the spoon and feed herself).

Sounds like she is probably having a growth spurt and needs more milk for a while. Ther's not evidence to support early weaning making a difference to her sleep. And if you're feeding her formula you don't need to worry about her iron levels.

hope that helps.

[kimberlina]

5.5 months with us

[naturalbaby]

5 1/2months. was planning on blw at 6 months till he grabbed an adult sized rice cake out my hand and ate the whole thing.
i now have a 17week old baby who could be ready if i saw it that way but i've gone past this stage before so will wait till another month till this mega growth spurt is over.

[Jojay]

I waited till 6 months with ds1 and 2 - now 4 1/2 and 2 1/2.

Lots of people I know weaned their first baby early, 'cos it was fun to try something new. Most waited till 6 months with the second as they knew what a faff it was!

Saying that, as I understand it, you are unlikely to cause your baby any harm by weaning at 17 wks, but there is no nutritional need, requires lots of fiddly cooking, pureeing and washing up, and may or may not make any difference to her sleep.

Don't mix up newspaper reports with the official guidelines - they haven't changed since 2003 (?) and there are no plans to do so. Journalists are there to sell newspapers and tend to present statements as gospel, when really they are just the findings of one of many studies.

[CrapBag]

She isn't feeding through the night and hasn't been since 10 weeks. I also had no problems when my DS took it from 17 weeks. He never once spat anything out, ate everything he was given and loved it all (all changed once he hit 20 months and become a very fussy eater). He also has excema from 6 weeks so I know that wasn't linked to early weaning either.

Could be a growth spurt. I'll see how it goes but seeing how she was trying to pinch the ice cream from DH's hand this evening, I see it being sooner than 6 months.

[Nineathena]

I waited until 5 months, 3 weeks. :)

I believe that milk is more than enough for the first 6 months.

[gourd]

22 weeks here. We only gave sticks of roast veg and soft-ish fruit (pear, cooked apple, banana, clementine segments etc) for the first 4 weeks - we didn't introduce cereals, dairy or meat and fish till she was 26 weeks and waited another couple of weeks before offering ground nuts (in cake)/nut butter and raw apple.

[matana]

I waited until my DS was almost 6 months, but i knew he was ready and obviously got the timing right because he's a little eating machine and hasn't looked back!

[Pfriend]

20 weeks here. Took to it like a duck to water!

[BooBearBoo]

15.5 weeks for us.

[BertieBasset]

18 weeks - started with baby rice, which she hated (very wise) and then baby porridge and built up from there. No problems at all and she'll eat anything now, she's nearly 2.

[InFlames]

21 ish weeks- this was after reading the research report that the news headlines came from- it wasn't scaremongering, it was credible scientific research that I used to make up my own mind along with the guidance/ position statement from the Paediatric Group of the British Dietetic Association, as well as some of the research that informed their statement. We have pre- weaning eczema, and I'm still bf, and a family history of egg and fish allergy so we're seeing dietician before trying those. So far DS has had baby porridge, loads if fruit and veg, loves new tastes, going to leave meats and gluten for longer yet :-)

[smokinaces]

DS1 was 26w exactly. Started with some puree, quickly moved onto finger foods.

DS2 was 22w, we had real problems with weight, lactose intollerances and various other things so decided to start him earlier. He started on babyrice for a few weeks until he was nearly 6m when he moved onto feeding himself bits as well.

[RitaMorgan]

I don't understand why people are so resistant to giving babies more milk? 3 hourly and no feeds at night doesn't sound like much to me.

[InFlames]

My DS was on 6 long feeds a day and sleeping well at night- he stil is on 6 long feeds a day. Our decision wasn't about him seeming more hungry or wanting him to sleep longer at night, it was something I researched myself and weighed up evidence for waiting, and decided time was right for him. Would happily have given more mill if he needed it but most early weaners I know based decision on much more than baby being unsatisfied from usual amount of milk- though one started at 10 weeks with baby rice in bottle....

[InFlames]

Which I thought was a tiny bit early :-)

[theborrower]

inflames waaaaaay too early. Goodness, baby rice in the bottle? Do people still do that?

[InFlames]

Yep...10 weeks. It wasn't for me - I figured 21 weeks was early enough! I think that guidelines are always open to interpretation... But suspect that was on the 'I did it and my baby is a healthy 40 year old' sort of advice...!