My baby seems ready to be weaned, but is she too young?

[HappyCatandIzzy]

I'm a first time mum and am not sure what to do. My DD is 22 weeks old. She stares at food while I eat and tries to grab things off my plate. She's not slept as well either in the day or the night recently, and she puts her hands, my hands and anything else she can get hold of in her mouth. She is breastfed and I've tried to encourage her to feed for longer at each feed but she just won't.
My HV says if I could wait 3 weeks longer it would be better, but how do I make sure my DD isn't always hungry? Would it be the end of the world to try baby rice for a couple of weeks and then move on to food when she is almost 6 months?

[KittyLetteMeEatAnEasterEgg]

if you think shes ready go for it, you are her mum - you know her best, trust yourself

[Quootiepie]

I'd allow her to grab at your food, but, you will see she won't actually eat anything. If you thought about baby led weaning, they decide themselves when they are ready and it takes the stress out of it! Basically, if you think she is ready, offer her food... but as I said, she won't eat it more than likely for another few weeks.

[BizzyDint]

what quootie said. let her sit at the table with you so she's enjoying meal times with you. give her a bowl or beaker to bang about. then at 26 weeks start passing food over. no need for the baby rice at all. if you did pass food now (for her to pick up) she probably wouldn't eat and swallow it properly anyway. plus, think logically...if she was hungry she'd take more milk from you.

[Quootiepie]

And, it's been said over and over so before someone else says it anyway, milk has more calories and is more filling than solids. It sounds more like she is havng a growth spurt (which explains waking/feeding more often) and is just curious about your food. I am no expert though, this is just what I think... DS was the same. xXx

[bobsmum]

THe hands thing is a developmental stage, not hunger - it's what babies do. So don't worry about her seeming hungry, she's just experimenting. She would reach for anything onyour plate if it looked interesting enough - not just food.

Developmentally she'll be gearing up to wanting to feed herself. Her gut has another month of maturing to do though to be on the safe side.

Can I just say how amazing it is for you to have an HV who is not only aware of the most up to date weaning research but is advising you stick to it. Hold on to her - she is a very rare gem indeed!!

BLW has loads of threads on here and would be worth a search if you're interested.

Try a "dreamfeed" and feed her before you go to bed - might keep her going that bit longer?

[terramum]

Being interested in what you are doing, eatong, reading, writing etc is normal for this and most other ages come to think of it - thats how they learn - by copying you ....putting things in their mouths is also normal as they use their mouth to explore objects - texture, taste etc....

I guess if you are being truely baby-led, then giving her bits of food to play with at mealtimes would be ok....Im assuming she can sit unaided?....but if you want to wait until 6 months to be sure her gut is mature enough then getting her involved at mealtimes with some cutlery or bowl to play with usually works...

[HappyCatandIzzy]

I think we're going to try and wait a bit longer. It makes sense that if she was really hungry she would be emptying the breast and crying for more, and as she is not I'll stick with the bf for now. If it's better for dd to wait until 6 months then we'll wait. I'm finding it hard that all my friends weaned their babies at 4-5 months. I don't know anyone who waited until 6 months, but of course just because they waened early it doesn't mean I should.

Thanks for all your advice.

[AitchTwoOh]

i've just been reading some reserach that suggests that the whole 'putting everythign in their mouths' bit has less to do with food and more to do with the babies trying to expose themselves to as much gruesome bacteria as possible while 'under cover' of breastfeeding. the thinking is that they are less likely to have allergies etc because of this exposure. i thought that was pretty interesting, actually.

[NoBiggy]

Clever little things, aren't they, if we but let them be!

[hunkermunker]

That is interesting Aitch! Is that research online?

[bigbird2003]

The putting things in mouth is also down to learning about textures, temperature etc

The mouth is full of very sensitive nerves and a baby will put things in their mouths to explore them. They put things to their mouths to explore as it is the easiest way at that age/stage, thier hands aren't that dexterous

A baby mouthing things is no indicator of wanting to eat, a baby swiping food, biting lumps off and swallowing is lol

[AitchTwoOh]

here you go hunker, it's just an abstract but it's an interesting theory.

Infant mouthing behavior: the immunocalibration hypothesis

Daniel M.T. FesslerCorresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author and Elizabeth T. Abrams

Department of Anthropology, 341 Haines Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553, USA

Received 26 July 2004; accepted 5 August 2004. Available online 25 September 2004.


Summary

Avid mouthing, the propensity of infants to suck objects and put them in their mouths, is a pattern characteristic of the first 2?3 years of life, with its most intensive manifestation occurring during the first year. Although traditional accounts explain infant mouthing as a source of sensual gratification and/or environmental exploration, these proximate hypotheses are inconsistent with the high costs of mouthing, including choking, poisoning, and exposure to pathogens. We propose that mouthing serves to proactively expose the naive gastrointestinal tract to environmental antigens and commensal bacteria while under the sheltering umbrella of breastfeeding. Mouthing functions to accurately calibrate the developing immune system, including antibody production and mucosal immunity, to the local disease ecology. The critical exposure period is not open-ended, as failure to expose the gut to an adequate number of antigens early in life is associated with an increased risk of allergies, asthma, and atopy. Weaning initiates a number of immune changes that may program the neonatal immune system into certain life-long responses.

[BizzyDint]

tis very interesting

[hunkermunker]

That's really interesting, Aitch - thanks for that.

I think early weaning and sterilising fecking spoons/plates and bowls has a lot to answer for, really.

This bit is particularly interesting/scary, given the kinds of responses we're seeing in people wrt allergies: Weaning initiates a number of immune changes that may program the neonatal immune system into certain life-long responses.

[Piffle]

v v interesting research...

[BizzyDint]

makes me wonder about babies who spend almost all day with a sterilised dummy in their mouth.

[AitchTwoOh]

it's just a theory, of course, but what jumped out for me was that if mouthing is a way of learning then ehy do they not stop mouthing a particular object once they've learned? i'm not disputing the learning thing, btw, but it's fascinating to think that there are other benefits. am thrilled to report that i stopped sterilising at 10 weeks and started slinging things in the dishwasher.

[NoBiggy]

Wasn't there research quite a while back (or maybe just an observation) that children with dogs in the house were less likely to have asthma? Believed to be due to exposure to different types of poo as I recall!