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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why some people can't wait to wean?

114 replies

NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 17:23

I have a fb friend whose little boy is 12 weeks old today. She posted a status saying she was thinking of weaning him last week because he had been looking at her while she was eating. She got a load of comments saying - 'you know best', 'I weaned my baby at 5 days and they're fine' and 'don't speak the the evil hv they will just tell you to wait' and lo and behold yesterday there were pictures up of him looking 'cute' with baby rice all round his mouth.
Now I quite understand that some babies are ready before 6 months and that some medical conditions may necessitate very early weaning but why the hell would you choose to wean against advice, at 3 months, because your baby was looking at you while you ate?
I weaned both dd and ds at around 6 months. For quite a while before that they had been looking at food (amongst other things) and probably would have tried to put some in their mouths had I let them (as that's what babies do with everything). DS was also sitting up at 4 months - I could have interpreted these as 'signs' they were ready. As it turned out ds wasn't even that bothered about food until about 7 months or so.
I realise that some people have to wean early but if you don't have to why would you take the risk? I know the advice used to be 3 months then 4 and then 6 but 4-6 months is the most up to date advice based on all the research we have at present. Most people seem to take medical advice at face value in other areas. You would take a painkiller for a headache, for example, without speculating that in a few years research might conclude that painkillers are ineffective for headaches.
If the baby is perfectly contented just having milk the only reason I can see that parents would start weaning is because they are either ignorant of the risks (not the case with fb friend as she discussed the risks on there and went ahead anyway) or over-excited about their baby entering the next stage of their development.
Sorry for the rant it just made me really cross that this childs health is being put at risk due to his parents impatience.

OP posts:
PrincessScrumpy · 09/07/2011 18:58

dd1 had colic and reflux so rarely slept and when she did 1 1/2 hours at a time was the max. In desperation, especially as she was showing all the signs of being ready, we tentatively tried weaning. She loved it, colic stopped and reflux improved vastly... and she started sleeping, waking for one feed a night. It was amazing. She was 17 weeks and 1 day. I only know one mum whose baby was happy to wait for 6 months.

HV wanted me to supplement bf with formula but I decided I wanted to continue bfing and introduce solids instead - starting with babyrice mixed with breast milk.

I just wish people would worry about their own babies and stop judging others for such silly things. If she was giving her baby alcohol then maybe but some mushed veg? Really?

Oh and my brother was weaned at 9 weeks on the advice my mum received from her HV at the time. He went from crying baby to content little baby overnight and is now 31 with a degree from Cambridge and enjoys lots of different foods with no known allergies.

lambethlil · 09/07/2011 18:59

it isn't poison

Some would disagree....the gut is not mature at 3 months we now know before everyone wades in saying I weaned at 5 minutes blah blah blah.

Early weaning has been linked to digestive disorders and increased likelihood of allergies.

Fifis25StottieCakes · 09/07/2011 19:02

I weaned 2 at 4 months as was reccommened at the time

DD3 i weaned even earlier on advice. She had reflux and brohilitis so could not manage milk. I used to have to spoon feed her milk from a cup. After she lost loads of weight i weaned her and continued so spoon feed milk until she could manage a bottle a good few weeks later.

Original poster
NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 19:04

I don't think it's a silly thing to judge about imo. Whether someone dresses their kids in 'tacky' clothes from Primark is something silly to judge about but weaning a child because you think it will be cute and YOU (not the child) can't wait is not right.

OP posts:
worraliberty · 09/07/2011 19:04

Early weaning has been linked to digestive disorders and increased likelihood of allergies

It's 'linked' now, but will it be linked to something else tomorrow?

I know what you're saying...research is ongoing and therefore advice will always change.

But it's difficult to get worked up about it when I look around me and see no evidence of this whatsoever.

I'm the youngest of five (all weaned early on advice from HV) None of us have any allergies at all. None of my 3 kids have any known allergies...and apart from one friend's DD, I can't think of anyone else with a food allergy either.

Babies tend to let us know when they're ready. They're all individual little people and therefore I think it's best to treat them as such.

Fifis25StottieCakes · 09/07/2011 19:05

Just to add, non of mine have any allergies

lambethlil · 09/07/2011 19:09

Op isn't being judgey, she's having an opinion.

Its not the same thing Shock

Weaning your baby on a whim, egged on by friends with vested interests, isn't too clever.

Judgey would be pushing her into the village duckpond or phoning SS.

Original poster
NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 19:10

Smoking is linked with cancer now - is it a good idea to smoke?

OP posts:
Original poster
NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 19:13

Even though there are many people who will say - my uncle Bob smoked 60 a day til he was 95 and he was fit as a fiddle etc?

OP posts:
BooyHoo · 09/07/2011 19:13

nobbeda you are making yourself sound ridiculous now. smoking is avoidable by everyone. no-one has a need to smoke. we all have a need to consume food. the point at which we can start consuming solid foods differs from individual to individual. it isn't the same as making a baby smoke a cigarette. calm down.

Original poster
NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 19:15

Yes because I said it's the same as making a baby smoke a cigarette Hmm.

The point I was making (which I'm sure you're aware of but would rather argue against a point I wasn't making) was that if you don't think it's a good idea to act on the current weaning advice because it could change do you also think it's a good idea to ignore the current advice about smoking - that COULD change too.

OP posts:
lambethlil · 09/07/2011 19:16

WinkNobbedaBuilder

For years people ignored the data comforting themselves with stories of nonogenarian chain smoking relatives, eventually realising that the plural of annecdote is not data.

Original poster
NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 19:16

And a lot of people who smoke don't get cancer.

OP posts:
lambethlil · 09/07/2011 19:18

Booyhoo early weaning is avoidable by everyone too.

ZX80ChosenOne · 09/07/2011 19:20

DH's grandmother smokes like a chimney and is fit and well at ninety.

She eats really well though, none of your processed stuff, never has.

BooyHoo · 09/07/2011 19:23

actually lambet it isn't. some parents are advised to wean early.

ZX80ChosenOne · 09/07/2011 19:24

Well not that pointless, she was BF and a form of BLW went on when she was a baby. Three out of four of her children have died though - cancer Sad

CurlyhairedAssassin · 09/07/2011 19:24

3 cheers for cbear6, the voice of reason! Common sense, parents' intuition, awareness about appropriate first foods and a complete absence of competitive parenting is surely all that is needed when it comes to weaning.

All you lot blathering on about research into gut development..... Well, by the same token all babies would be walking and talking and growing at exactly the same age/ rate and we all know that's just not true.

With ds1 he seemed to be showing. Big interest in food at 4 months, I tried him with baby rice and pear but it upset his stomach a bit so I stopped and tRied again a month later and by then his stomach was obviously more mature and it all went v well from tHen on. Ds2 showed the same interest at 4 months, i gave it a go and it went brilliantly, no tummy upset and really helped his reflux.

When will parents stop acting like daily Mail readers and believing every single bit of health advice that comes out? Read it, take it in, don't take a cavalier attitude and just do what is best for YOUR baby.

GilbonzoTheSecretPsychoDuck · 09/07/2011 19:25

I weaned ds at 12 weeks (on doctor's advice) and dd at 16 weeks. They were both ready and have suffered no ill affects from it. I know other parents who have weaned before 6 months and their dcs are fine. The only child I know with severe allergies is the one who was breast fed until 4 yrs and weaned after 6 months. Most of the time it's pot luck that a child will have allergies. Yes, research can show links but no one knows definite causes so I can't see why people get so het up over this.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 09/07/2011 19:25

Shit, zx60, thAt is awful!!!!

Original poster
NobbedaBuilder · 09/07/2011 19:28

I don't believe every bit of health advice that comes out and I have never read the DM in my life and never will. But the weaning guidelines are official, well researched guidelines that are there for a reason and unless you have good reason not to follow them I can't understand why you would choose not to. I don't think you can compare the current weaning guidelines to the 'Jam jars cause cancer' stories in the DM and their ilk.

OP posts:
nethunsreject · 09/07/2011 19:32

Yanbu.

Rofl at all the 'never did mine/me any harm' stories.

Plus, it is a pita when you have to give 'em real food. Milk is so much easier.

trixymalixy · 09/07/2011 19:37

My DS showed signs of allergies before weaning, he was reacting to the proteins in my breastmilk, and his first bottle of formula was like a scene from the exorcist. On the advice of the allergy consultant we waited until he was 6 months before we weaned. On the same advice we waited until DD was tested for allergies at 6 months and then weaned her.

DS showed no interest until he was 9 months,he just wasn't ready yet. DD I think was ready for solids before 6 months and took to it straight away.

trixymalixy · 09/07/2011 19:38

OP YANBU, it bugs me that parents wean so early when the advice is not too. Bloody selfish IMO.

Fifis25StottieCakes · 09/07/2011 19:39

But the guidelines were 4 months when i weaned the eldest 2. They must have been wrong and i followed them.

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