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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think baby weaning seems odd.

99 replies

ghostspirit · 15/08/2015 15:50

baby weaning used to start at 3 months. would start of with very basic baby rice. then would start adding new flavours tectures etc could take time doing it all was good...now from what HV says its start at 6 months and they say to intruduce lumps/flavours rather fast its like theres a rush i would have thought it a bit odd to rush them.

OP posts:
Feline9 · 15/08/2015 16:12

TheHouse and coconut no of course I'd let them eat toast and some food they can grab, it's when they're given things like pasta or messy food and no spoons. Personally I prefer the spoon feeding route, I don't think it means they never learn to be neat. Most of us were spoon fed and I'm sure we're all neat eaters

scallopsrgreat · 15/08/2015 16:13

My youngest took ages through BLW to actually eat much of anything rather than just tasting it btw. He was probably about 10-11 months before he was actually getting a decent amount of sustenance. He was breast fed through that time. So there doesn't need to be a rush. He certainly didn't lack in energy (or much of anything) - he was walking at 9 months. Bless him .

I've known of babies still being exclusively breast fed at 18months - 2yrs and been as right as rain. My MIL used to be a nurse/HV from in the 50s. She has some stories to tell. She saw them start feeding babies in hospital at one end of the spectrum all the way to 9 months before starting weaning.

MammaTJ · 15/08/2015 16:14

My PFB is now 20 and I am Blush to admit I fed her with a spoon until she was pretty much a tidy eater! The advice then was wean at 3 months but she was not interested until 4.5 months anyway.

My younger DC, the advice had changed. They were still fed puréed food though. I let them feed themselves at a much more reasonable age! Grin

Feline9 · 15/08/2015 16:14

RedToothBrush no offense was meant, it's more what I'd prefer to do for mine. I should have said I wouldn't like seeing mine do it. It doesn't bother me if other people's kids do it, I'm not the one who has to clean it!

ThisIsClemFandango · 15/08/2015 16:15

Btw OP, it definitely didn't feel 'rushed' for us... We weren't trying to cram as many different types of food as possible into him the second he turned 6 months...
Basically if I had toast I would give him some toast, if I had a banana I would give him some of it.. When we cooked dinner I would give him some off my plate.. IME they want whatever you're eating anyway Grin

Mehitabel6 · 15/08/2015 16:15

Babies are going to be messy eaters whatever way you do it.

ElderlyKoreanLady · 15/08/2015 16:15

Red I feel your pain. DD is 16mo and a great eater, but will she use a spoon? Will she buggery!

cardibach · 15/08/2015 16:16

Actually, latest research suggests weaning from 4 months is better than waiting until 6 months...

BollockyBollocks · 15/08/2015 16:17

How is it a rush to wait until 6 months then slowly introduce solids?! Confused
Dd is 11mo and still not on a full 3 meals a day. How is that rushing it compared to shovelling in nutrition free baby rice from 3mo?
The whole point of puréed food was because people were weaning babies early and babies can't deal with solids before roughly 6mo.
Each to their own but saying you're 'rushing' if you wait till 6mo is a bit daft if you ask me.
YABU

Discopanda · 15/08/2015 16:17

My mum had a friend who wouldn't let her children feed themselves until 3 years because she hated mess. DD1 started weaning at 17 weeks but wouldn't touch purees once she tried finger food, DD2 is currently 17 weeks and definitely doesn't need solids yet.

Totality22 · 15/08/2015 16:19

I didn't enjoy weaning last time (BLW and ironically child is the fussiest eater I know) and I'm not enjoying it this time (BLW again but child is showing signs of milk allergy so we're being referred for this).

I hate the mess and the waste and the expense but its never occured to me to feed either child something out of a jar. It all looks and sounds vile!!! I'm no food snob but I wouldn't feed my kids something I wouldn't eat. I've tried a few of the Ella's Kitchen first taste pouches (just the one flavour) and they taste nothing like what they say on the packet.

I'd sooner a few months of mess and hassle and expense than feeding shop bought jars.

Have no issue per se with pureeing actual food but we never used to have a freezer (I know!!) and that was the main reason we went with BLW.

Weaning to me is a gradual process. Baby starts at 99.9% milk and food is initially an experiment, a toy, a sensory experience. It's not meant for nutrition immediately. By the time they are a year the ratio will be completely different... mainly food with milk (and water).

I don't understand why some people are in such a rush to get their baby onto '3 meals a day'

Totality22 · 15/08/2015 16:21

Also there is absolutely no nutritional value to baby rice and I've never bought or used it.

DirtyMugPolice · 15/08/2015 16:21

It's like any parenting thing though some people will never agree with you about your choices. I prefer to be informed and make my own choices.I mostly choose things that are regarded as best practice - doesn't mean I'm a perfect parent just going for what suits me!

Do your own research op to see what suits you. Baby led weaning by Gill rapley was informative and talks about infant nutrition, tells you what signs to lookout for to tell if baby is ready and talks about why early weaning isn't ideal.

Original poster
ghostspirit · 15/08/2015 16:22

boll waiting till 6 months then doing it slowly seems ok.my hv seems in a rush from 6 months :/ thats what made me think i want to start ar 4 ish month and do it slowly then time my baby is 6 months should be on lumps. but what you say makes sence to.

OP posts:
Goldmandra · 15/08/2015 16:23

i just dont think the lumps should be rushed..unless baby is happy.

That applies to any sort of weaning. You don't rush/push/cajole them in any way. If it feels wrong or the baby isn't happy, whether the food is in your hand their hand or on a spoon, you stop.

It seems far more natural to allow babies to pick up food themselves and eat it as and when they feel ready. That is how nature designed babies to learn to eat so it is probably the most appropriate way to do it. If they don't like the taste or texture of something, they will soon put it down and choose something else.

shitebag · 15/08/2015 16:26

We've done both.

DS was fed jars/pouches from 17 weeks and DD was just given finger foods from 5.5 months.

Both kids were using cutlery confidently by 18 months and both knew how to eat soft and hard foods by then too.

They're 2 and 9 now and I can honestly say I don't think its made any difference to them (DS has food issues stemming back to about 16 months but tbh I doubt it has anything to do with weaning) but it did make my life easier second time round :o

Totality22 · 15/08/2015 16:28

Actually, latest research suggests weaning from 4 months is better than waiting until 6 months...

I found the report really interesting actually, although this did stand out to me

"The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has criticised the report, along with the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health"

Not sure we're going to see guidelines changing anytime soon.

Totality22 · 15/08/2015 16:29

ghostspirit, your HV is an idiot as sadly so many of them are

ThisIsClemFandango · 15/08/2015 16:30

Don't worry so much about 'timing' it OP. You don't have to follow your hv advice completely. Your baby doesn't have to be eating X amount and A,B and C by 6 months. It's all a guide.

If you want to know if your baby is ready for solids then watch out for the signs:
Can sit up unaided or with minimal support
Can pick up objects and put them to their mouth
Loss of tongue thrust reflex
Can make chewing motions

LaLyra · 15/08/2015 16:30

There's no rush from 6 months. I was taught the mantra 'food is for fun until they are one' because until they are 12 months they get their nutrition from their milk. So food at 6 months is just about learning new textures and tastes and building up their intake slowly.

Also don't feel that because your HV is pushing it that it means you have to do it bang on six months. It's just roughly halfway through the first year - for my littlest one that was 7.5 months whereas for DS it was 5 months when he swiped a chip from DH's plate!

I think it sounds like your HV has explained it badly if it seems like rushing, as it's waiting longer to wean and then should be a slow process.

Glitteryfrog · 15/08/2015 16:32

Someone who doesnt have children.
I don't understand the purees and introducing foods singularly?
Why not just feed them mini portions of what you're eating? Most food is fairly mushy anyway - pasta, lasagna, mashed potatoes etc. Even well cooked meat is easy to eat.
I wouldn't want to eat pureed single veg, why would a baby who can see and smell your food.

RedToothBrush · 15/08/2015 16:32

Feline, I would have preferred to do it differently so could do without smug comments like that. I can't stand the mess. I did not have the choice. There you go. Have another Biscuit or tell me how to force feed a baby.

Feline9 · 15/08/2015 16:33

RedToothBrush sorry it wasn't supposed to be smug.

BollockyBollocks · 15/08/2015 16:33

Ghost I'm echoing total in that your hv sounds like a bit of a dick. They should be slowly introduced to solids from 6mo onwards with milk being their nutritional main until they're 1.
Honestly, just a bit of whatever you're having when you're eating is enough.

RedToothBrush · 15/08/2015 16:37

Out of interest. What is with the twelve month thing too. It seems a stupid line in the sand just as much and anything else. Surely that means at 10 months some babies won't be getting enough whilst others will be fine until 14 months.