to not really understand why people are weaning already?!

[nightowlmostly]

Hi, my DS is 4 months old. My nct group were round the other day and are all talking weaning already! The babies are all around the same age, some a little younger. They mentioned baby rice, and the usual pureed carrots and stuff.

I'm a bit confused, as I thought it was 6 months that you should wait until, and didn't realise that so many people started so early. I have read a few things on here about how early weaning can lead to long term health issues, and specifically about baby rice being nutritionally worthless.

I just wanted to ask for your opinions on this issue, and was wondering whether the anti-baby rice thing was possibly one of those things that people get all worked up about on here but nobody cares in RL? Is it the norm to wean at 17 weeks still, regardless of the guidelines, or am I just in a weird bubble where people do this?

Not trying to start a bunfight, as I've seen this debate end there before, just honest opinions. We will be weaning in a couple of months anyway and have no real plans yet, so any advice generally would be great too!

I just noticed there is another thread which is weaning related, didn't see it before!

I think a lot of people start at 4 months when there baby gets more hungry, I did and most of my friends did. Its your baby and its when your baby ready. I wouldnt worry about what other people are doing though.

Dd was weaned at 4 mo but that was with hv agreement because she refused milk (and still does now shes 7yo)

But advice is 6mo and with ds (who had no problems with milk etc) I stuck to that as the advice is there for a reason.

I think some people get a kind of competitive thing whereby they feel their baby is 'advanced' if weaned early.

Ask them?

A lot of people think the minimum age is an official start time. I waited til dd was six months and went straight to her feeding herself as the thought of yuck baby rice or atanding blending carrots just did not appeal.

I weaned my 3 DC at 3 months as that was the guidelines when they were born.

Our paediatrician (with an interest in gastro) is adamant that the guidelines are 4-6 months, and in his opinion is better at closer to 4 than 6. He also recommended carefully weaning my v allergic child at 13 weeks, which I couldn't get my head around.

Guidelines have been 4-6 months since 1994 at least.

At least they are waiting til 4 months though OP, so probably won't be doing any harm.

I think some people just like to be first - it's the same kind of mentality that makes people turn their babies forward facing in car seats at 9 months (or earlier!) even though they weigh less than 9kg. Being able to say "oh but my baby is soooo advanced" bizarrely outweighs their concern for that baby's health and safety.

Some people treat it like a race.

Some people go with the flow and if their baby is grabbing chocolate buttons gently steer them onto pureed carrot.

Some people are using old advice given out by people who were raising babies a generation ago.

Some people were putting rusks and baby rice in their baby's bottle from 2 weeks old 'to make them sleep through'.

Some people are die-hards who wait to the exact minute that their baby turns 6 months old. (Me :o)

I think that about covers it. There has been so much advice given out about weaning, mostly contradictory, that a lot of people just throw their hands in the air and make a sound judgement about what's good for their baby. The ony consistent professional advice I've seen in the 2.5 years my son has been alive is that babies should not be given anythign other than correctly made up formula milk or breastmilk before they are 17 weeks old.

I weaned my DS at about 17/18 weeks. Believe me, I really didn't want to be dealing with multicoloured nappies, however milk only was not cutting it and the milk feeds were becoming so frequent that it was necessary IMO. Before I get told off by anyone (yes I'm a bit defensive I know!), I had a long discussion with our gp and she was the one who suggested weaning 'early'.

Gnocchi, I think that's true too. When guidelines were 4-6 months, there was concern that HVs were interpreting this as "must wean all babies at 16 weeks exactly" which of course is not what was meant at all - one of the reasons it was changed to a straight 6 months in 2003 was to discourage weaning at 16 weeks and encourage people to wait til nearer 6 months.

Because it is a competition, innit?

Their DCs must be so advanced, they can't possibly manage with just milk any longer!

Thanks for your responses. As far as asking them goes, it's difficult to not seem critical, so I just said that I thought it was too early and left it at that, they then discussed it amongst themselves.

And even if your baby is trying to grab food, they try to grab anything, it doesn't necessarily mean they're ready for solids!

After 4 months I think the best thing to do is watch your baby and go with what suits them. I weaned all of mine at aorund 4 months. I do think weaning closer to 6 months is easier as you have to exclude certain things till then. I always enjoyed the puree stage I was always very slow to get them on to three meals a day though because I wanted to offer solids plus milk feeds not instead of iyswim. dd1 wasn't on three meals a day till after 9 months as she wouldn't take milk during the day if she'd had lunch and I thought milk was more important. My HV was horrified.

Mine were weaned at 4 months on advice of doctor (10 years ago) a lot of medical professionals do advise 4 months, a lot advise pure BF for 6 months - most people "know" what is right for their kids - mine did not have baby rice or "purées" but we did baby led weaning, where they got given a bit of stuff off our plates to "play" with - we eat homemade stuff and don't add salt anyhow.

The guidelines chop and change over time depending on the latest 'research'. And remember- research isn't the Word of God- it's often funded by some body which may have a particular bias, and will be carried out when funding is available anyway ( in other words, even if hypothetically there were some different age other than 6 months which is 'right', we wouldn't know that until research projects show that) And you also have to factor in that sometimes research completely overturns previous theories.

In other words, don't assume that guidelines are an absolute rule. They are exactly what they say- guidelines. Do what you feel is right for your baby alongside guidance from your GP or health visitor and don't fret about what other mums are doing

In what way do guidelines chop and change Janey? They have been pretty consistent for almost 20 years now.

AKMD - you missed one...lazy arses like myself who are happy to wait as long as possible as weaning is a ball ache when you are just used to providing milk as needed

I also could not be bothered with hours of steaming and mushing, so it was BLW chez the Gnomists

OP - if you're not inclined to do it, don't rush. A couple of months is neither here nor there in the scheme of things.

My guidline was when we had to leave the room to get away from the "feed me" looks at tea time. Oh and the grabbing of anything they were close to and sticking it in their mouths. The pizza crust incident is a family story...

leave your friends to do their thing weaning is Ok after 4 months even when dd was little you weaned between 4 and 6 months dd is 19 , It hasnt really changed i dont think just some advice leans towards 6moths

I had a very hungry little boy who by the time he got to 4 1/2 months old just wasn't satisfied by milk any more.

I agree with what some of the other mums are saying. This just goes in with all the other things to do with babies & children that can't have an exact one size fits all date for everyone.

I started with home made organic blended food and some baby porridge to help him and to be honest the process of them learning to eat from a spoon instead of drinking from a bottle can be very gradual so they aren't actually being weaned until they are 6 months anyway. (DS just swished his tongue round for the 1st few weeks until he got the hang of it - messy!)

This is down to you and your little one. Whatever decision you make will be the right one.

My DS was weaned at about 4 1/2 mo ish. He was grabbing food and wanted to try.

and weaning isnt meals is it it is just tastes and bites of food the are still drinking milk,

why does it matter to you when others do it? Why does it matter to anyone when others do it?

My dd was weaned at 4.5 months. I dont think it harmed the child next door, or yours, or anybodies. She was not satiated with milk. We tried baby rice to see if she wanted it, she loved it, we gradually introduced other flavours following the Gina Ford weaning book- i love routine and she became a great eater. It worked for us. It may not work for anyone else. That is not my problem! DD's godmother is a paediatrician, she says 4-6m is fine from gastro point of view. She was the one who suggested the rice. I dont think a paed would suggest something deliberately harmful.

As for people saying its a race, or to prove how advanced the kids are, what a crock of shit. Each child has their own needs and develops at their own rate. Me feeding at 4.5m did not mean i thought DD was any better than any other kid in NCT...infact it annoyed me she had such an enormous appetite!