To think that weaning at 16 weeks is too young?

[ThePowerOfThree]

That is the advice my friend has had from her HV yesterday. I thought it was 6 months when you started weaning. My DD is only 2 months so I haven't researched it properly yet, but 16 weeks seems quite early to me.

If the guidance is 'from' 17 weeks there's not really a problem, is there? It's only out by 7 days, at the most.
When my children were babies earlier weaning was advised (from 13 weeks with my eldest) but it was done very gradually, so a teaspoon or two of baby rice after the bottle,Gradually building up to 'real food' at 6 months or so.
That was official, according to the booklet I was given (never saw a hv apart from him being weighed).
Did still get given lots of advice re putting farex in the bottle and that sort of nonsense from other people but I knew enough to ignore it.

baby babyrice is better than carrots

"If the guidance is 'from' 17 weeks there's not really a problem, is there? It's only out by 7 days, at the most."

Yeah, though I'm sure a fair bit can happen to the growing digestive system in those 7 days, they didn't just pull it out of a hat to mean "ah yeah, but y'know, a week or two earlier is grand". Also it's the absolute earliest time you can start, not when all babies should start.

I am genuinely puzzled (and not in a judgey way) why people want to rush into weaning as soon as possible. As I said above, the nappies alone would put me off. Also, IME, it helps sleep not one jot.

noeffingidea baby rice is shit. Why would you want your baby's first food to be a processed carbohydrate with most of the goodness removed?

*first solid food, I should say

Yes, it's too early. The current guidelines say 6 months with 17 weeks as being the absolute earliest. Guidelines aren't just fashion, they're based on the latest research. The gut is immature before 17 weeks and early weaning can cause problems in later life.

I don't buy into some babies needing food early - milk is far more calorific than baby rice or pureed carrot or whatever. If they're hungry, give them more milk.

Too early. Literally just had that convo with my HV and baby should not be weaned before 6 months now as milk alone is best until then. I asked because I thought porridge might help him sleep at night, but actually has no affect as waking is to do with a light/deep sleep pattern and not a full belly. Started weaning my dd at 4 months old a few years ago but she said the advice has now changed as their understanding of baby development has changed over the last few years.

I prefer to wait until six months to be on the safe side, but accept that generally 4-6 months is reasonable, as babies may have varying levels of development. I've weaned at twenty weeks, and six months, my first baby weaned well and had a large appetite and very little issues with food, and my second wasn't really all that interested in food when it was introduced and took longer to wean (probably didn't start eating properly until nine months).

Before the four months mark, I think it is way too early, and personally I'd put it off as long as possible until I was sure that my baby was definitely ready, rather than just hoping to make them sleep longer at night, or being over enthusiastic about next stages and pushing baby on too early (I think I may have been such with my first baby).

My dd was weaned at 16 weeks as that was advice back in 2004.
Ds1 weaned at 13 weeks as he showed all the signs of being ready - he went from 6oz every 4 hours to 8oz every 2 and still seemed hungry, waking through night when previously sleeping through, etc. Every baby is different and you must work to you child. It's like saying all babies must be walking at 12months or using the toilet before they are 2. Some are ready, some are not. Never compare

It's very off topic and Mumsnet charge for this sort of thing.

Janeadams01, you're not supposed to post these kinds of requests on the general boards. There are subsections under Classified where you're supposed to post.

And yes, it's a massive and unnecessary hijack.

I've reported all of your posts jane. You could at least have tried to find relevant threads. This seems s but pathetic really.

I weaned my oldest at 13 weeks. He was starving! There was baby food from 3 months in shops then! He's 24 now, tall fit healthy. When DD 21 was born, they advised 4 months earliest. Its got progressively later over time . I had 3 further DC and tried to hold off as long as I could, but none could have lasted 6 months!

SmellsLikeMiddleAgedSpirit, this may be a daft question, but how did you know your DS1 was starving? And what made you feel that solids would be better at staving off that hunger than more milk feeds?

DS was a hungry baby but I didn't wean him early because when you look into it, things like baby rice are actually less calorific than milk and don't fill babies up more. In addition to that it's pretty much nutritionally empty.

And more frequent waking and more frequent feeds are not "all the signs of being ready" for solids, they're signs of, eg, a growth spurt. Pretty much all babies do it, "ready" or not.

I think there's a pervasive idea that formula milk or breastmilk isn't actually food/won't fill them up "properly", so if they're hungry they must need "real" food.

6 months is perfect for various reasons. Maybe google related studies and follow WHO recommendations.

6-12 months is just 'trying' and 'tasting' various foods. 12 months plus is when food needs to be properly established

Weaning is a major pita! I don't know why anyone would want to rush into it, but anyway current guidelines are 6 months and these haven't changed for a long time. I don't buy into "hungry baby" stuff, sorry, all babies are hungry, they eat, sleep and poo at that age, how is introducing a few spoonfuls of baby rice or purée going to fill a baby up better than an extra bottle or breastfeed??

Hi culture DS was a large baby, and got to the stage of feeding - bf- all the time. I couldn't move! He had been waking one or twice a night, then it had become every hour or so. Literally wasn't possible to give him any more milk when already constantly bfing! These days with the current advice I'd have held off, of course, but then we were told it was OK.
He did start to sleep better, too, as it happens.

frequent wakings around 3-4 month mark, when baby has previously slept well, is not a sign that baby is hungry and needs more food, but a totally normal sleep regression stage.

If you read my message you'll have noticed that I said he was bfing all the time too, Katharine . This was day and night.
It was suggested by my HV that I start weaning.

Oh and by my mum, who reckons she started weaning m brother at 10 weeks!

Milk is packed full of calories!