To start weaning my twins at 4 months?

[mummybearah]

Everyone I speak to and everything I read says that I should wait until 6 months.

However I feel that they are so ready! Of course I'll still be giving them their milk, but to be honest they aren't that interested in milk anymore.

Found that they would eat more solids than milk (baby porridge, rusks etc.)

I feel so bad- AIBU?

Fizzymummy's post ! Excellent.

Milk has more calories than solids and they need the calories and nutrients/vitamins etc it brings, whether it's breast milk or formula.

When it comes to it, it's up to you to do what sees right at the time.

Personally I found solids a total pain in the arse and longed for the days of milk only. SOlids also made my dcs wake more in the night for milk feeds as they were too busy and distracted by life/new exciting foods to be feeding in daylight hours!

FizzyMummy, sorry, but your paed must be out of date. The "breastfeeding has negligible benefits after 6m" myth has been thoroughly debunked.

I won't speak to the weaning cause I haven't read enough research on that and it is recommended from 5 months here.

We had the weaning chat from a health visitor at my post natal group recently (DD is 14 weeks). She said no harm in weaning before 6 months but talk to your health visitor first to get the best advice on how to go about it. She made us all try some different baby foods and I can tell you now that baby rice tastes like wallpaper paste! She said it's far better to use it mixed with pureed food to help thicken it rather than give it on it's own. If your first taste of solid food was something so bland you'd probably think it's not worth bothering with!

My best friend weaned her little boy at 17 weeks as he was such a hungry baby, she couldn't get food into him fast enough!

20 years ago, I was 'encouraged' by my heath visitor to start trying baby rice with my twins at 12wks (they were born one month early), when the official advice was not before 16 weeks. So I told her they just spat it out and she said 'oh - that shows they just aren't ready yet' (in a Philadlelphia cream cheese voice, if you remember the adverts).

They started at about 20 weeks, were very keen, but all the mushing up in the foodprocessor and freezing was a faff, especially as I was still bf. Now, I would just give them milk and put them in high chairs with some bits to play with. They used to nick stuff off our plates and had to be rescued from unsuitable bits of courgette. Back then, six months was considered a bit too late and we were told they must get used to different tastes and textures and would get anaemic because their iron stores were depleted.

My mum used to give my little brother baby rice and mashed egg yolk mixed with milk off a spoon which he would suck off. A little hole would appear in the middle. Used to fascinate me. He must have been very young and was born a month early as well. He was probably being weaned way too early by today's standards (and those of 20 years ago). He is ok though, so no harm done :D

There are several studies claiming that waiting until 6 months is actually not good for babies. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110113213100.htm

Weaned both of mine around 4 months ( dd1 a bit earlier as he told me too, was ok 10 years ago ), never had any problems, dd2 was ready at 4 months, was eying up our food and chomping away when we were eating, she had quite a few teeth so we just fed her finger food ( never needed to purée ).

Do what you feel is best and don't worry about what others think.

I don't think it will do any great harm but the real question is what benefits will it bring, why would you? Mine didn't sleep longer after weaning, it wasn't easier for me particularly than milk.

They did seem to enjoy it fine, & The big benefit was I could hand them to someone else for a few hours & know they'd be fed something (were breastfed & reluctant to take a bottle).

Both my girls went straight to finger food at 6mo, no purees or spoonfeeding at all. The youngest is just 9mobut eats everything, eleldest at 2 is going through a fussy phase but it generally a good eater.

For me it was about giving them the control and also the ease of them being able to try anything at that age. And also I'm a bit lazy so only need to prepare one mealfor whole family!

I weaned all three of mine between the ages of three and four months. None were harmed by it. My eldest is 19 and youngest 11.

Do what seems right for your child. Don't feel guilty.

Go blw ie chunks of food for them to gum and suck. Then when they are a little older I would then spoon feed. Personally I think risks are the work of the devil as they have so much sugar they are basically biscuits.

So the MayoClinic has it wrong, FizzyM?

My 3rd grabbed toast out of my hand at just over 4 months and shoved it in his mouth (he was on my hip at toddler group). So I just let him have bits of veggies ect when we were eating.

Sorry to hijack, how's you get those flags next to your nn?

I want one please.

go to your profile page, there's an option to pick a football team to support.

just done it,

Thanks Hec

With my DS being the age they are I'm not up to date with the research/current guidelines re weaning, but reading through this thread has got me thinking about the whole intolerance issue; given that the number of children wiith food tolerences has increased vastly but everyone has been weaning later than we did 15 years ago is this not worth thinking about?

Very true cricket balls. Look at the whole eating peanuts in pregnancy debacle. They've now discovered that not eating peanuts in pregnancy makes your child more prone to peanut allergy. Often these guidelines are produced after 1 piece of flawed research.

Yes yes do your own research is good advice of course it is but for goodness sake no Nazi insults. They diminish your argument as well as being horribly offensive

#Godwin'sLaw

I think you'll find that the women who are on the receiving end of 'you're a crap mother if you don't breastfeed' remarks are also insulted. And I say that as someone who found breastfeeding easy but who has seen friends pushed into post natal depression by hurtful comments.

I'd be interested to know who's funding this research. Because its not like formula companies have ever funded this sort of research to make it say what they want it to say.

Back to the OP. I weaned my twins at 6 m