To be a bit shocked that people are still weaning their babies really early?

[bumbleymummy]

I'm not talking about within a few weeks of 6 months and I know that some babies with reflux are weaned a bit earlier under the guidance of a paediatrician - I'm talking 3 week olds being given bottles of baby rice/rusks because they're big/hungry/whatever. I just can't believe that some people still think this is ok and will argue about how milk just wasn't enough for their baby at that age

Some people just aren't very bright.

Some people struggle to understand health advice for various reasons so rely on doing what their mothers/grandmothers/neighbours tell them to.

Some people see parenting as a race and are desperate to be "first" - see also forward facing car seats.

Some people believe giving food very early will make a baby sleep, and weigh up sleep now against possible future health problems.

Yes, I agree LeBFG I think if more people were aware of the risks associated with early weaning they would hold off as long as possible.

I started weaning DS at 24 weeks (so just under 6 months) and this was mainly due to the pressure I'd had for weeks from DMIL and DGMIL about "poor boy only being on milk" He was ready then imo, lost tongue thrust, had been sitting unaided for a few weeks, and general interest in food.

Dp has cousins weaning their babies at less than 3 months just so baby is full and sleeps through night so they can sleep. My dd is almost 3 months and I'm waiting for the lectures because we want to hold off as long as possible.
A family friend works on the health visitor team for my area and having weaning explained by her has really made my mind up about weaning and the consequences of doing it early.
I recently read advice from one mum to another about the benefits of weaning at 4 weeks! The mind boggles...

Seems unnecessary to me. although I'm response to the couple of comments about not doing it before 6mo as the advice it's clear... Actually prem baby advice is different and you are advised to wean earlier as baby missed iron from last few Weeks pg. for my dtds 5mo worked well and I did it at their pace... Healthy now!
If you live in northern Ireland they day from 4mo - are their babies so different to ours?
Every one parents differently and every child is different. Just do what you believe is right for your dc.

what is 'shocking' is how much medical advice and parenting fashions chip and change over the years.

according to my dm I was on solids at 4 weeks, that was th fashion in the late 60s.

my older kids had solids at 3 months as that was medical advice at the time. along with placing babies on their tummies to sleep and NEVER on their backs😒 and we all know how that had changed.

the best thing to do is to listen to advice but always remember nothing is set in stone, nothing is completely right for one baby or another baby as all are different.

and don't judge others. especially over trivial stuff like weaning and feeding. it's really nobody else's business but your own is it?

Would have thought anything put into the bottle was dangerous to be honest, how do they suck it through the teat??

FWIW, both of mine were weaned and off bottles by 6 months (started at about 3.5 months) - they were both big and hungry babies, both had reflux from birth and neither had/have had any problems from being weaned at that age.

I (like skinnybitch) don't give a monkeys about being judged, and think it's nobody's business bar your own how/when you wean your child so long as you are not forcing them to do something they do not want/are not ready for.

thebody - weaning advice really hasn't changed much over the years. NHS advice has been 4 months+ since the 1970s, only changing to 4-6 months in 1994 and 6 months in 2003.

Princess i an in NI and the advice here is 6 months not 4 months

Just do what you beleive is right for your DC is terrible advice!
Did you see the report in the papers today about a woman, told to put her baby in her own room at 6 months, put her in a bunk bed ? The baby died at 8 months as they got stuck and basically hanged themselves. She believed a bunk bed was right for her DC, that was not at all a good idea.
People think giving them gravy at 6 weeks is right for them. It isn't. People think giving them chocolate is right for them, it isn't.

I can see the confusion/debate etc over the upper age limit - different countries have different advice, new research and so on. But everyone agrees on the lower age limit...

Sorry - not clear - I mean to say everyone agrees that 3 months is too young.

I don't really understand the hungry baby argument. Babies have a growth spurt and sleep regression at 4 months. They are hungry but not necessarily for solids.

I can't speak for ff, but breast milk is the most calorific and nutrient rich food you can give a baby so surely it's best to stick to milk until 6 months.

Food and feeding your baby is a very emotive subject and I know that I'm unlikely to change my opinion, so other people that disagree with me probably won't either!

I mean that people who disagree with me probably won't change their opinion either! Bit that they won't change my opinion

My boy is just under 5 months and I tried him on solids today - sweet potato mashed with my milk. He loved it. He can sit unaided and is a big boy, although I know his size doesn't dictate the size of his appetite.

I agree that before 17 weeks while the gut is too undeveloped not to introduce solids, but all babies develop at different rates.

no everyone did not always agree that 3 months was too young. that was the advice of HV and doctors when my lads were born.

Maja00 I weaned my babies late at 4 months in the late 80s and can assure you that all of my friends babies were weaned at 3 months.

Annabelle, of course there are patents who make dangerous choices for their babies/children but that does not negate the fact that pregnant and new mothers CAN still listen to advice but have some degree of sensible filtration.

all of my babies were born well over 81b and I can assure you that they would not have been able to wait until 6 months to wean. not unless I was feeding them milk non stop day and night and as a working parent that would have been difficult.

my point to the op was my oldest is now 23 and medical opinions in everything from sleep position to weaning have altered and will alter again.

pick what seems best to suit YOUR baby and mind your business about others choices unless obviously dangerous.

Could it be that some people trust and go with the advice of their own mothers or grandmothers without question or reference to how advice has changed?

I took a lot of good advice from my mum she's a sensible lady but when she had me it was usual to give food from much younger and breastfeeding wasn't as popular either. She was really good with finding out about bf and was all excited I was going to be doing it (curious I think!) but others parents might put them off certain approaches or put undue pressure on the new mum by telling them they're wrong etc...

When I started weaning after 6 months I hardly even reduced bf that much until 9 months. Weaning involved me chucking bits of steamed brocolli at DD from my dinner plate and watching her play with it! I wouldn't have liked to start earlier as that would have meant smelly nappies starting earlier, having to puree stuff and sterilise things... I'm far too lazy for all that :)

I agree totally with snowfedup

However rice in the bottle is still sometimes suggested as a reflux treatment early on. I had a midwife and a health visitor suggest it to me separately for DS (he's only 10m now, was 3-4 weeks then). I didn't do that, surprisingly.

But... there are so many things people do outside of guidelines that people judge about that unless you're a health professional who is directly advising or have been asked you should let go.

I don't understand why people are so keen to offer solids early. Surely it's easier to bf/ff than mess around with solid food? A lot of people seem to think it's good to get them on solids as soon as possible.

My ds is 20 and the official advice then was to offer solids at 3 or 4 months but my breastfeeding book suggested that bf was enough til 7 months and there seemed to be quite a lot of experts suggesting 6 months. My ds was big and never showed signs of needing anything but bf. I introduced solids very slowly from about 4.5 months, a teaspoon a day, but he wasn't having 3 meals a day until 12 months. I was surprised that most parents went from introducing solids to 3 meals a day in a few weeks. I also remember being given a leaflet about introducing solids by the hv at a clinic when he was only weeks old and I wonder if that might push parents into introducing solids too soon.

My mum tells me tales of her friends in the 70s adding baby rice to formula from a few weeks old - I had no idea people still did it, especially as we're so better informed these days.

I think I may have had the hungriest baby ever. He was 9lb2 at birth and was simply, permanently ravenous.

How I exclusively breast fed him for those first few months, I'll never know. He got fatter and fatter to the point where people use to prod him, fascinated by his porkiness.

I didn't have the confidence to do anything other than what I was told to do by HCPs, so it just didn't occur to me to wean him early and go against current advice. I don't know anyone who weaned early either.

thebody - what people did, and what the NHS/DoH guidance was, isn't always the same thing.

Not everyone was weaned at 3 months in the 80s - I certainly wasn't, and my mum judged my aunt for weaning hers at 3 months

I really don't understand the "my baby was born at 8/10/12lbs so obviously couldn't survive on milk. How do you think 16lb 4 month olds manage on just milk? Or breastfed twins?

Bigger babies might need more milk, but since breastmilk is made to order and formula is available in shops this really isn't an issue.

if a baby starts waking in the night hungry (after sleeping through for a while) then it is probably a good idea to try something more substantial than just milk, almost regardless of age.

Just for laughs, this is called a sleep regression usually linked to a growth spurt. Nothing to do with needing food. It's a common mistake. There's rarely a need to introduce solids to a baby's virgin gut before 6 months.

The problem a lot of the time is the older extended family saying 'oh I did it and it never did my children any harm' I hate that sort of saying about anything!

All these health visitors giving outdated advice need to be complained about! It does my head in!

Another case of 'we did it before and i'll still give out that advice as I think it was fine!'

Some of them need a huge dose of re-training!

ARRRGH!

Someone i know 'weaned' all three of their dc by 7 weeks - just so they'd sleep through the night and they could'get peace' :(

They mentioned it repeatedly to me because ds wakes in the night - he's just off 21 months, eats like a horse and god help me still wakes through the night. I doubt introducing solids early would have helped.

My mum was an early weaner - my sister and I had bread and jam etc at 7 weeks old apparently 'it did us no harm' when I mentioned my crippling IBS to her the other day I got a guilty but indignant look and told to ''oh shut up''