Early weaning

[April2017]

So I've been doing some research regarding weaning baby. After much consideration I have decided to wait untill 6 months purely because because want my LO to be a good eater so I want him to start on veggies to get the taste for it without getting him hooked on sweet flavours first like rusk n fruits and puddings. My only confusion is why do so many say there is no nutritional benefit from early weaning? So if I was to give my LO steamed veg now at 21wks he won't get any benefits from this? How is that true and if it is why do all weaning books tell u to steam veg rather than boil so not to loose All the nutrients from the veg?
Also why are mums getting so much stick for doing it 2 or 3 weeks b4 the 6 months. If your health visitor comes and asks what baby is doing so far? Reaching out for toys, following u round the room with their eyes etc and if u say no they reply don't worry all babies develop at different rates. Well if this is so why can't that also be the case for thier digestive system. Why is it so hard to believe some babies are mature enough to begin solids. Just like some crawl earlier than others etc? I can't believe the nasty comments some mothers get for taking thier babies ques and begin weaning. The world's gone mad. And before u jump on my back yes I know about allergies, bowel issues, choking hazards etc I'm not talking about the extremely early weaners here but those at 18 n 19 weeks on.. why can't we just all support each other. U may decide to give ur children things throughout thier life that other mothers think isn't a choice they would make but u don't see the Web blow up in debates and arguments over it 😦

[gingerbreadbiscuits]

18 weeks is at 4 months instead of 6 months. That is very early in comparison. Unless you have done very invasive medical tests on a baby there is no way of knowing what stage of development their digestive tract is, so while one baby maybe ready at 18 weeks you can’t know that.

I think people are quick to judge because they feel very strongly about avoiding potential long term health problems in babies.

[April2017]

I agree, I'm not for or against either way I'm just confused at the statement that it has no nutritional value to the baby ? How can veggies with all that nutrition not provide any benefit whatsoever... I myself have digestive issues and have done so since my late teens so I know all to well how it effects ur life as an adult so I won't risk causing that to my child (if this is what causes it atall) my mother said I didn't wean untill 7 months.. my 15 year old has the same issues now n he didn't wean untill 6 months. I'm guessing ours is just a lovely family gene passed down as we like to share 😕 that info aside I still can't get no scientific evidence regarding the "it has no nutritional value" ? I think people read these guidelines and become scare mongerd by the "it could cause" into decisions and then jump on the argumentative band wagon as it's what they truly believe but where's the evidence? No one is providing the evidence to their argument just their personal belief from reading countless articles provided by the government n we all know how manipulative they are... for all we know it could be to prevent obesity in kids to save the nhs money in the long term so they add a few more scary potential side effects to sway mothers decisions who knows

[wintertravel1980]

When people say "early weaning food has no nutritional value", they mean "most of early weaning food contains fewer calories than milk". Of course, there are multiple exceptions - potatoes, sweat potato, avocado, banana, etc. are more calorific than milk. Also, once the baby is established on fruit/veg, you can move to protein based meals (chicken, meat, fish) which contain even more calories.

Another popular phrase is "baby rice is empty calories". Again, this should be read as "baby rice does not contain any fats or proteins". It does contain carbs and, no, it is not full of sugar (all sugar content in baby cereal comes from added milk).

There is some emerging evidence that "early" weaning reduces risk of allergies. It is inconclusive and can be challenged but when I read the underlying research, it convinced me to start weaning at 17 weeks.

[Tiptopj]

I know what you mean. There was a poster recently asking about weaning at 5 1/2 months as she felt her baby was showing signs of being ready. She got blasted for even thinking about starting before 6 months- it's 2 weeks difference ffs! Fine if you think 6 months and no earlier but I really didn't understand the aggression she got for just asking.

[April2017]

It's crazy.. does having babies do something to some women that I'm missing... I'm on a Facebook page called "2am club" it was mentioned on there n the poor girl got so much stick it was like a witch hunt. If they were in the same room I imagined they'd stone her to death it got that nasty 😕

[arbrighton]

No nutritional value is also because it just passes straight through without being digested. TRUST me on that one....