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!

Rubirosa I suspect you'd have to take that up with my health visitor, GP etc from 13 years ago. Like I say, they're under review again anyway so if there's a chance they will be changed back to what they were 10+ years ago it diminishes their relevance somewhat IMHO.

I think health professionals have become far too reliant on guidelines and adhere to them as rules rather than advice. I saw a trainee GP who was shocked last week when I mentioned that I have been feeding my son from a spoon to familiarise him with it. The food that provoked such horror was breast milk... "he's eating from a spoon?! But he's too young!"

"Erm, yes but its breast milk..."

"But you can't wean before 6 months"

"Yes... but... it's... BREAST... MILK!"

I could almost see the internal confusion as she referred to the rules in her head to check this was OK. I know she was a trainee so had no experience to give context to her interpretation of the rules but it did make me sigh a bit. This also being the same GP who said that the rash I was enquiring about could be baby "acme"

I think it would be a bit bonkers to think that 6 months exactly is the right time for every child, since there are MONTHS AND MONTHS between when babies of the same age crawl, walk, talk etc

The other point is that being able to sit unaided is important but many don't sit unaided until 7/8/9 months maybe more and then they bang on about iron stores being low at six months and good nutrition is important so ya kinda damned if you do and damned if you don't

Baby acne is a real thing.

Yes I know, but a doctor thought it was acme... which raised my eyebrow slightly.

I'm of the view that any solids before 6 months are fillers and first tastes, not meals and certainly not to interrupt milk intake. If milk intake drops, so does the food. Milk is their food until 6 months. 6+ months is when I start 'meals' and drop the milk intake as they don't need so much.

Ah sorry I didn't notice the deliberate error!

FFS meconium the whole point of telling you that was because people were saying I was trying to be the 'perfect mother' or some shit. The point I was making, in case you missed it, is that I am aware that all babies are different and need different things.

My DS was really unsettled in the evenings, and I thought he had colic. When we put him upstairs on his own he slept for hours with no bother. Turned out the problem was only that he needed quiet and dark to sleep, and his moses basket is too small. So, the question I asked at the start of this thread was, what are the reasons people start weaning early, because I could see reasons for other things that go against guidelines, but not for this. Now I can because people have been kind enough to tell me, mostly without being rude. You, on the other hand, don't seem to be able to engage without name-calling, which tbh I can do without!

Op They have only just changed this to six months and even amoungst hv they dont seemed convinved

I satrted weaning at 4 months for my 13 year okd and the baby i have now 5 months she aas starving and as soon as we started feeding her sleep improved infact she grabbed the spoon and didnt stop crying uuntil she had the next mouth ful i think any absoultes with chikdren are dogey its about what works with the child some children 4 months is ok to start some babies wont wean till 8 months

I think you need to listen to you baby personally i think this is a big mistake on the part on hv to give out this advise espically when they dont even seen to belive it themslevs

I think most mums who have neve had a child will follow this but most experined mums will know when their child is ready to wean dose not come at a golden age of six months

Well DS was a very sicky baby. Very. Sicky. I weaned him the second he hit 4 months as we thought he would keep solid food down easier. He did, most of the time.

Some babies just seem ready for it. Maybe some of the mothers are planning on going back to work soon and want to wean their babies themselves.

Just like some mums potty train their toddlers really early and you might think 'why are they doing that?' because you're happy leaving it a bit later, you never know what's going on in someone else's house.